Recent reviews by Spacemensch

A flawed game, but one with a lot of heart and effort put into it. It's clear it is a passion project, and great how much it has expanded and grown. The game has really helped to encourage good community vibes. Also the season passes are very reasonable, since they seem to run for several months. Some other mtx (the cosmetics) are on the pricier side, but it's nice to see it all be optional and without an energy or gacha system to deal with.

The main downside is the game is very buggy, and sometimes it's very unclear a bug is happening and preventing progress. It also can be hard on those sensitive to high contrast visuals, as it uses a lot of glowing effects and white. Some settings in the options menu can help this, but the game woudld benefit from more visual aids, like reducing white point.

This used to be a positive review, but I am now changing it to negative. Runescape has a long Pride event history and ended that this year.

Could barely get the game to run on my gaming laptop that was well above all the specs. (Stuttering, audio cutting in and out, lag so bad in the loading screen I thought it froze, etc.) Also, noticed the install size was not the same as the listed one in specs, so that makes me wonder how true the rest of it is.

Only played for 8 minutes, but between all the issues I experienced in that short time, and other reviews reporting the same issues and more, I do not recommend this game unless they roll out some serious fixes.

I recently went back and played PM2 Refine to compare to PM2 Regeneration. I also own a physical copy of PM2 Refine in Japanese, and have played the DOS abandonware version of PM2.

- The inn work failure bug is present in both Refine and Regeneration.
- The steam versions allow the two marriages removed in the Playstation Regeneration game.

- Refine has a broken steam overlay, can't take native screenshots due to this, as well as lower resolution if you compare the two games directly in full screen. Refine has two sizes, full screen and a small window around 800 pixels wide. Regeneration can only be played full screen as currently the windowed mode has no resolution options and launches in the same size as your screen.
- Regeneration might have new music; I can't get the song I did not recognize to trigger in my playing of Refine.
- Regeneration has a much, much smoother translation, akin to the old DOS/abandonware version's in quality. Refine's is only passable.
- Regeneration has redone the various artworks in game, having the original artist redo them. Some edited have been done (if they had young nudity in the original Refine), and the edits are notably different than the English abandonware game's art as well. (Different clothing has been added over.) I personal think the edits are not visually jarring at all.
- I have not noticed any differences in the mini-RPG segments; they still are a little clunky feeling but extremely fun and full of secrets to find.
- The intro in Regeneration could stand to be slowed down a bit or not auto-played; the English writing can be hard to read in spots.
- Regeneration has moved the stats windows to the side to make them always visible, instead of pop ups like in Refine.
- An animated intro was added to Regeneration.

Overall, for big fans of the game or genre, I do recommend Regeneration, definitely so if on sale. But the price is quite steep for a game with another version on Steam, so it may be worth waiting for a good price if unsure on enjoying the gameplay.

If you haven't played the genre before, I recommend going to other games first (such as Cute Bite or Volcano Princess). However, if you want to see why this is a staple of the genre, then you won't go wrong with this version.

This is the best version of A Wonderful Life. I’m confident in my comparisons, as I would play one of the old games annually. But my bias is that this is probably my favorite game in the series. It fixed several issues present in the old game versions, but it isn't totally free of flaws and has some significant annoyances. (I played on Steam Deck; some of my review accounts for my Switch playtime.) I consider it still worth purchasing.

• The gameplay in AWL is different than any of the other BokuMono games. Befriending villagers and raising livestock is a more nuanced affair.
  
• Almost all the old events from the old games are in this one. Because you befriend people over the years, seeing them all takes time. Any removed events are things like Murray/Pui no longer stealing from your storage, as the storage building is now replaced. All the classic happy and tragic moments are still in game.
  
• The game has fixed many bugs, added many new events, & overall simplified the farming mechanics.
  
• You no longer have to do a yearly cycle of tracking your cow's pregnancies to ensure milk production, nor do you have to buy & sell cattle in a constant cycle (due to calves being born yearly for milk production). Crops no longer lose quality if not planted in a checkerboard grid to preserve quality. Washing animals is much easier.
  
• The game's clock for everything still progresses hourly, not by day. This includes things like watering your crops twice a day and how cows can be milked twice a day (10 hours apart).
  
• Some old bugs are still present; for example, only having a single female duck with your chickens can still produce fertilized duck eggs. Another example is some characters gliding as they walk during a couple events.
  
• Getting the virtual keyboard on Steam Deck to register your typing seems a little finicky, but otherwise it controls great despite it being listed as unsupported at the time of writing.
  
• Some characters (and the valley) got their Japanese version names back; some also got updated looks. Some of the events now are localized better and make more sense (especially when compared to the first boy version's localization).
  
• Mechanically, it plays a bit closer to SE and AnWL's improved mechanics. However, the lag & bugs from the SE version are not present.
  
• The new title song isn't as good as the original, but that one is available as a music disc for your farm's record player.
  
• The game is gorgeous. They did significantly brighten the scenery, which may not be to everyone's taste, and the bar is now a cafe. (Also Lumina was aged up, which is good.)
  
• However, it has some flaws, like how often on the first and second days the tutorial notebook is shown to you. I also think changing your storage building to be outdoor bins was an odd choice.
  
• Many aspects in this version are identical or simplified from the original versions of the game. (Mostly this comment is trying to address the confusion about befriending villagers and your livestock's care.)
  
• Overall the localization is great. A lot of nuance from the Japanese writing are more clear now.
  
• Due to the game's livestock and friendship systems being a bit more difficult to understand, I would say this game might not be the best intro into farming sims if you haven't played many before. In such a case, I would recommend Stardew Valley or Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town as a better introduction. But if you want to play a farming sim with a unique take on the gameplay, this one will serve you well.

I'm not normally a huge fan of kinetic novels, as I generally prefer there to be dialogue options in my visual novels; but I decided to give this one a go, because I love the developer's work. It definitely turned out to be worth the price. It took me about 4.5-5 hours to complete it, so the hour estimate is spot on. I ended up staying up late and finishing the game in one go.

The writing is very well done, and I have to say the art is absolutely gorgeous, especially the background art. The characters are relatable and likable. As for the main plot, it was well worth the read; however, there's not a ton about it that can be said concisely without spoiling it, aside from what the developer's info about the game has already said. There's several small loose ends that the game never fully explains, so it leaves an air of mystery to the story and a few (minor) things are up to interpretation.

Overall, if the game's info on the steam page interests you, I don't think many would be disappointed with the kinetic novel's plot or your purchase.

(Please note that I've sunk an additional 15 hours into this game for the Switch and iOS/Android versions, so some of my review is based on the game across all versions).

Version Differences:
-The iOS/Android version is cheaper, but requires more grinding as there is a premium currency available for purchase in this version (jewels, which are handed out much, much more freely in the Switch and PC versions, whereas they trickle in in the phone one. The game appears to be fully beatable without spending jewels, however, just like its predecessor.)
-The Switch and PC versions have higher resolution graphics, and the loading times are faster, although still present.

Review:
Overall, this game is worth getting if you want a laid-back RPG you can play to relax. It encourages experimentation, and critical thinking in the cooking portion of the game. (For example, if you know how to make Pickled Cucumber, using cucumbers and salt, you can easily apply that knowledge to make Pickled Eggplant etc.) The leveling system is also very charming and well done; you level up your skills by fighting monsters, but your actual overall level goes up by eating food. Therefore, you have to balance whether you put your dishes to work earning you gold, feeding the God of Poverty, or leveling your characters up. If you were a fan of the first game, you'll notice some cameos, but the story stands alone just fine on its own.

Overall, this game will appeal to fans of Recettear or the Atelier series, as it's a RPG with a shop and cooking simulation built in. (If I remember correctly, some people behind the Atelier series brought us this game, too.) While the game doesn't play quite the same as either of them, and isn't quite as in-depth as those in the shop simulation aspects, it's still a very fun and worthy addition to one's library.

There are a couple caveats though. If you dislike grinding and schedules, this may not be the game for you, as it requires you to adventure into the same dungeons to get ingredients; typically each in-game day will involve going into a dungeon in the morning, and then opening your tavern at night. The story is light-hearted and charming, but not something that is very in depth, so if you need a deep story to engross yourself in this won't be the game for you. The controls for PC are a little awkward, too, and would definitely benefit from the ability to remap them. (The game appears to have controller support, though.)

P.S. A tip for those new to the series: steal from every monster you meet, especially bosses!

(While this review also draws from the time I've sunk into the iOS version, after playing DX I can safely say that what I've written applies to both the original and DX versions of the game.)

TLDR; If you want a game as complex as Puzzle Quest or other similar titles, this isn't what you are looking for. But for $5 (or $2 for the iOS version (minus a few features), you can have a fun experience with a game that is charming, and has more depth than you would think from the mechanics. It also has great music, very charming writing and humor, and a consistent and polished art style.


The Map/"Story" System:
Let's get one thing out of the way; there is no story. Instead, you are controlling a hero who is progressing through a 2D land on a side-scrolling path. Each land has two towns, one boss at the end, and various enemies that pop up randomly based on the area. Each town has three randomly selected NPCs which offer various services. After you defeat the boss, you are taken to a randomly selected land (with the difficulty scaled up with each boss you defeat). More lands can be unlocked to explore for your first run as you earn and spend Starblocks. While there isn't any story, the various dialogues for the bosses and monsters are where the writing shines, and the goal is more arcade-style ("get the best score") than plot driven ("save the world").

Your Hero:
Your hero has a single equipment slot and a single consumable item slot, which start off empty, and you can buy or earn items and equipment as you go. The first two heroes have no bonuses, but as you earn Starblocks you can use them unlock more heroes that have different advantages and disadvantages, and require different gameplay strategies. As you unlock and use more characters, you have to learn how to utilize the right stats and blocks for each one, to suit their abilities. As you level up you can upgrade their stats to make them more powerful, of course, and upgrading certain stats benefits some heroes more than others.

Gameplay and Board Mechanics:
Your board stays consistent throughout the game, from when you begin to when you eventually, inevitably, fail, including during and in-between battles. This is a large part of where the strategy lies, because some blocks change what they do when when in battle versus when out of battle, and you have to make various decisions based on that. For example, when not in battle, the sword (physical damage) blocks turn into experience point blocks. So do you use the time spent between battles to rack up experience and level up quicker, and leave yourself without much physical attack power when the next enemy appears, or to arrange your board to do the most damage? Or do you use the time in between battles to build up your defense, heal yourself, or to earn money and treasure?

Matches are made by tapping two or more of the same adjacent blocks. Racking up combinations ups the benefits of the blocks. The blocks above the ones you cleared drop down and new ones appear at the top of the board. While it seems simple at first, you quickly learn that you need to carefully plan out how to get the largest combinations by chaining the same block groups, or arranging the board into massive groups you can clear with a single move. These strategies quickly becomes necessary if you want to survive past the first boss or go into the hardest dungeons.

There are two meters you fill as well; your defense meter and your treasure meter. The defense meter is raised by matching shield blocks, and reduces damage taken in exchange for defense points. (Example: You have 3/5 in your defense meter, and are attacked for 4 damage. You receive 1 damage and your defense meter is reduced to 0.) There also is a treasure meter, which is filled by matching treasure chest blocks, and gives you a random consumable item to use.

Starblocks:
Starblocks are the main "bread and butter” in the game: what you aim to get. They allow you to unlock new characters, lands, or start off with a previously used item or piece of equipment on your new run. Mostly, you get these by completing various tasks (such as not attacking for 30 turns, defeating an enemy in one hit, etc), and by defeating bosses.

Towns, NPCs, and Dungeons:
In each town, there are three randomly selected NPCs which offer various benefits in exchange for coins, ranging from buying armor, weapons, and consumable items, to delving into dungeons or changing the land you are in. (Dungeons are essentially a gauntlet of several enemies in a row, without any time to arrange your board and clear tiles in between battles.) You can only use the services of one NPC per town, so you have to choose which one has the most benefit to you at the time (such as going into a dungeon to gain more experience before the boss fight, or buying armor to raise your defense, etc).

Aesthetic:
I honestly find this game to be one of the most charming battle puzzle RPGs out there. The music is fantastic, reminiscent of older arcade RPGs. Each character is polished, with unique animations and skills. Each monster and NPC has a catchphrase, which is where the humorous writing comes into play. Overall, the game is consistently well rounded, with nothing standing out as being ill-fitting or poor quality.