Recent reviews by Bem

Nowadays, I usually let myself play a game a bit more before I write a review so I can be as concrete as possible. But I want to help contribute to this game's visibility because I think it's really cool.

I found HYPERBEAT purely by chance through a streamer, and I'm genuinely glad I gave it a chance.

The main narrative sequence is fairly short, but there is some additional dialogue to explore beyond this as well. There are a good handful of tracks, all of them original works and great fun to listen to.
The visual style is minimalistic and fits the expressionist vibes of the characters and setting. It's simple and thematic, I dig it.

The gameplay has a fixed boundary around the playing field that the beats appear on, so you essentially 'ride the gate' with whatever peripheral you're using; this seems to be with gamepad analogs in mind. I found mouse and keyboard to be the most intuitive for me personally, but having tried both a Dualsense and Mouse only: I think the controls overall feel comfortable and accessible.

Generally, the scoring values consistency over accuracy as graded beats only give you up to a couple bonus points as opposed to the 100 you receive from a successful hit. It's not especially strict, so even if you're swinging your mouse, you generally won't struggle to hit the beats (although your arm might get tired if you're not used to it.. I got sore during the first couple hours. lol) It's a simple yet challenging system that emphasizes motion just as much as timing, and the charts can get very creative.

HYPERBEAT overall has a relaxed air to it. It doesn't show you an online leaderboard. Instead of bragging rights, your scores earn progress nodes for unlocking cosmetic features to customize your avatar with. People will enjoy this at different rates, but I'll admit it's fun to collect them and adjust your look.

FC can be a meaningful grind for even the entry level charts. And depending on your experience, the higher difficulties may keep many players busy just to get all the stars.

There is mod support for creating your own charts, but it's attached to a tool that comes with the game (you access it under your Tools in your steam library). The developers have written resources for people interested in exploring this. The game reads a MIDI file to build the chart.
There is also a discord, although I have not perused this myself. But that's all there if you feel the urge to check it out. On top of this, there is clear interest from the devs in adding more content as of this review.

To offer my interpretation: this game's message is about 'doing it for you'. There's nothing to prove or people to compare yourself to. No pressure, no hurry. You just slash and fly through the beats (other beat slashing games unrelated) to your heart's content and vibe. It's oddly satisfying to enter the zone in this game, it's like driving down an empty freeway in the dead of night. You're focused on the road and everything else just feels far away in the moment.

Aesthetic and function rolled into one. A truly sweet indie game, highly recommend if it looks like your jam.

Been following this project since its announcement. Can scarcely believe it finally exists, and incredibly it still managed to blow away my expectations. I've played the game an extensive amount both on my own and with friends of varying skill levels; having experienced all the difficulties *(I cleared Lunar in the demo, but still need to go through it in the full game), I feel the game has a solid curve.

Even if you're intimidated by bullet hell or 'raid mechanics', I strongly believe you don't need a background in either of these to improve at or enjoy the game. The roguelike mechanics are well implemented and scratch the itch if you're a fan of the genre. The demo is a good representation of the game's feel if you need your own convincing, but the full game is much more than that if you still find yourself hungry.

Solo experience is a bit different. Like the store page description, it's a bit more like playing an action shmup, although not quite like traditional ones. It's great practice for multiplayer, and still very challenging. There's also a bit of story to read for those who like snippets of lore. While it does feel like an afterthought weighed in comparison to the gameplay, it adds a bit of personality to the world and the characters you encounter. For a title like this, it's a nice little treat and I appreciate it being there.

The solo is great and well worth the price, but I do believe that like mmos the ideal experience is to play with others. Don't have friends? :^) The mino discord is hopping, so if you don't mind pugs that's the place to go if noone is online [that won't be a problem for a while since the game is hot at the time of writing]. There's incredible replay value here, and plenty to explore.

Don't take my word for it. You should value your time and money, so do whatever diligence is necessary for you to decide if it's worth it for you. But I wanted to leave this review because I really treasure this game, and I hope it continues to see great success.

6/1/24 Postscript: Played for over 100 hours at this point. Been going through Lunar (and getting rocked). My previous statement still stands; this game has absolutely become one of my personal favorites.

I'll try to keep this short as I can for brevity's sake, but I strongly believe this game deserves a proper review.

This is one of the best indie games I've ever played. Yeah, it certainly takes cues from MBBN. But at the same time it's completely its own thing and I really appreciate that; the overall presentation is incredible.

I believe I'm a pretty relaxed critic, but I still want to say there's almost nothing I can think to complain about.

Controls are smooth, haven't run into any bugs, and the game gives you just enough information to figure it all out for yourself.

I really love the aesthetic and music. Like anything else it may not be for everyone. But in terms of quality, it is definitely on the level and perhaps even beyond for a project like this.


The game delivers enough of a challenge that I think it caters to a wide audience quite well. I play a lot of different things, but I learn at a fairly average rate and I'm not really savvy when it comes to 'solving' games right away.

However, OSFE was more than enough to keep me engaged for some time, and I could see myself only getting better with each and every run. Even though it's an action game, you don't feel pressured to speed through it; you can take your time and observe the situation and then react. That strategic pacing to the game feels so deliberate, I was surprised how much more I learned from just playing and making my choices slower. That said, if you're experienced and confident, you can definitely play fast and win just as easily.

Anyway, time to cut it before I go off on a tangent. Thank you for this incredible game, Thomas. If you all didn't know: the developer is still updating and tweaking the game after its full release, which I feel really speaks of its sincerity. Really sad I didn't get to kickstart this project, but man am I glad it's finally here.

I need to leave this here so I don't forget.

This is it, the much awaited prequel to SC2VN.

If you haven't read SC2VN, it's free and you can get it on steam. I strongly recommend it before this one as it sets the backdrop for a lot of things.

I have a review for that game as well, but I won't steer you towards it. I have no intention of making this one as longwinded as that one was, but basically: it's worth it. Even if you've never played a day of Starcraft in your life, the game still manages to give you enough explanation and world building to involve every would-be reader.

There is a great APM minigame that feels much more robust and engaging than the SC2VN "choose your answer", and can actually feel as engaging as trying to learn real Starcraft. And the Starsense system serves as a nice medium to read deeper into conversations and the reasonings that drive these characters.

The writer has already done a lot of firefighting to remedy the inevitable typos and other errors that were present in the original script, as well as various bugs thanks to readers' attention and meticulous review on his part. You can tell the entire development team put a lot of love into it.

What's left is a very polished product and a great legacy for English visual novels. This is a read that will probably span a spectrum of a couple days, but "short but sweet" doesn't even begin to do this work justice. If you care at all about e-sports, the struggles of competition, or are merely curious about the subject of Korean Starcraft and pro-gaming; this novel is for you.

Saw some summer sale dorks posting lousy, unfair reviews on this and had to write a counter.

It's a roguelike with a very solid premise in that you have to run away from a constantly moving darkness on the left side of the screen. If you are consumed by the darkness your run immediately ends, resulting in a forced sidescroller type game. It's actually quite intuitive, and the game teaches you to adapt very quickly. Expect to fail a lot in the beginning.

The system is subtlely brilliant in that it requires you to play in a number of different ways. Even if you make mistakes or a bad situation RNGs itself upon you, you can use your resources to play your way out. And if you do make a mistake that is actually fatal, it will definitely feel deserved. "Bad luck" is more often the result of ill preparation and poor management.

To make the game more interesting, there are various objectives and classes to choose from that vary the play experience. Additionally, you can choose from different 'perks' in order to build your character how you choose, or to even make the game more difficult for yourself.

Each of the ally NPCs in the game are charming to look at and have their own unique personalities and dialogue. I won't spoil any of it, but the bonding process and backstory of the game that slowly comes to light through them is a delightful experience that adds a lot of color to the game. The art is handdrawn from the looks of it, and is pretty refreshing to be honest. Sprites are mostly what you'd see in RPG maker games, seeing as how the original engine is based off of Wolf.

I won't say it's impossible to get random'd (darn teleport pills), but the decision making in the long run is what makes the experience. If you want a challenge, try tougher win conditions on harder difficulties! There are many ways to customize your run, so you can adjust the edge as much as you like.


The least satisfying thing about the game is probably the content. This is remedied quite a bit with the Plus Edition DLC, which I STRONGLY recommend for the sake of balance and expansion. If you are playing vanilla and you don't think it's enough, I definitely think Plus is the way the game is meant to be played. Of course, this means shilling out more $$$ for a more complete game. However, purchasing Plus not only supports the localization, but the original developer of the game as well.


This is a really quick RPG roguelike experience with an easy to understand system, but it comes with a surprising amount of depth that's fun to explore. Daily worlds make completionist goals much easier, and adds a bit of fun to the game by comparing your runs with other participants in Online mode.

At the very least, I would recommend giving this indie classic a fair try. If you can get your hands on Plus, the game is priceless.

I'm going to try really hard to write an unbiased review here as I know the writer for this novel personally, but everything I write here will be an honest representation of my thoughts on the game. But first, some minor background to the expectations I had.


I've been playing visual novel games for several years. In a similar comparison, I've also played JRPGs for years. On that note, there exists a well-known engine called RPGmaker that has slowly built itself a notorious reputation in the world of game development. What I mean to say is: most RPGmaker games are middling (which is the nice way of putting it).

Most does not mean all. Likewise, I've been around the block with the world of VNs (which is largely a dark and esoteric extension of the anime fandom); there exists a similar engine created called Ren'Py that largely opened up the accessibility of VN creation; particularly on the international front.

On that note, there are a great many Ren'Py novels that are... not great. Let me be clear that creating a VN of any proportion is an incredible feat. It requires a great many resources just to make something complete, many of which may not be accessible to most typical indie developers. That being said; VNs are not exactly a thriving business in the west due to low demand and serious quality control.

To create something memorable is an extreme challenge and worthy of praise. Sorry for all the exposition, here's what you actually came for:


SC2VN is unique for its subject matter, but does not immediately differentiate itself outside of its setting. The strongest part of this novel is easily its readability and pacing. It is just the right length for a kinetic novel, the kind that doesn't offer meaningful choices and generally reaches a singular ending. The story quickly identifies key characters and differentiates them enough to stand out in the player's mind.

While it does not necessarily offer the most original or in-depth story, what really draws you in is how seamlessly the novel ties realistic reprsentations of the Korean eSports scene with meaningful plot progression. It is made to be very easily followed along, even for the casual reader. Whether you are an enthusiast of Starcraft or completely oblivious to the franchise, the writing easily carries the player along and allows you to enjoy even the more exclusive concepts of its theming.

To make things even easier, it even comes with an in-game glossary to offer definition for jargon and some Korean vocabulary used throughout the novel. This is a really nice feature.

A powerful thing to make your VN really stand out is good presentation. Small attention to detail, especially in GUI, can make a huge difference in my experience. SC2VN applies this concept quite well; one of the nicer touches is how character names (and their appearances to an extent) are color coded to increase distinction from one another. On top of this, an especially nice touch is how there is a small icon next to the names that identify the race that each character plays. Even tiny things like this can go a really long way!

The standard features of a typical VN engine apply, thanks to Ren'Py's great versatility. You have your history log, easily accessible by scrolling up with the mouse wheel. Main menu is right click by default, mostly just the intuitive stuff you'd come to expect from reading PC novels. You think I wouldn't have to mention this stuff, but then you'd be wrong. A lot of Ren'Py novels keep the default options like having to scroll through previous text one block at a time. For perspective: even Key's 'Little Busters' does text history like this. That novel is the GOAT, but holy-muh-convenience dude. Having an actual log come up that you can leisurely scroll through and cancel at any time is doing it right, plain and simple.

No event skip/navigation menu, but this is a superfluous feature for a novel of this length. For the most part, save states are more than enough to secure and recall your favorite scenes if you are inclined to do so.

The visuals and sound are an influential part of this medium. The musical score doesn't sound at all out of place, but it isn't all too memorable. It does borrow tracks and SFX directly from Starcraft, which is a great thematic element. The character art and backdrops exceed the par for quality in indie novels. While it's not the type of work you'd jump to frame on your desktop, it's more than enough to promote the game and appeal its presentation. The art style is also fairly distinctive from your typical 'moe bishojo meta' spam, which is refreshing to say the least.

I've been mainly positive so far, which is intentional because the novel is good. While I definitely recommend it, there are faults that I'm more than willing to address.

The plot is probably the weakest part of the novel. The characterization is fantastic, but I have little to say regarding
the actual story. In the novel's climax, it unwittingly spirals into a very clichéd scenario between the two rival factions. There are some character tropes established throughout, but it would be unfair to criticize this without nitpicking as archetyping is a fairly common approach nowadays (why fix what isn't broken?). Despite this slight defect, the novel promotes itself off of its theme alone, which it does very effectively. An honest glimpse into the Korean pro Starcraft scene makes this more than worth the read on its own.

Choices are strewn throughout, but are more to elicit player interaction than any sort of actual influence on the game's outcome. I'd say this is a plus and a minus, because it serves its purpose well (it explains Starcraft to you. T H E M I N G B O Y S). It is simply not a gratifying way to present choices that the player can easily reload and correct, leading to what becomes more of a roadblock than actual gameplay.

Finally, the length is just okay. Keep in mind that this is a free to play game, so that says a lot. You can complete the read in about 2-5 hours, depending on how meticulous you are. For some, this can be a negative. You could say, it's too short. Finishing the novel is quick, but then it feels like a letdown when you find out that its over. Of course, being short means that the chances of you actually finishing the novel are extremely high, which is a very strong feature in the VN market. It also cuts out a lot of the obligatory 'filler' you see in a lot of Japanese VNs. It's important to note that this game isn't a dating sim, so the construction and focus is quite different. It would simply be nice to prolong the experience, but such is the reality of indie content.


Overview:

Presentation - A+

Music/Art - B+

Story - C+

Characters/Setting - A

+ Strong thematic elements throughout.
+ Memorable characters.
+ Unique Design
+ It costs the low low price of "nothing but your time."

+- Length
+- Depth of plot. It's effective and realistic, though. Satisfying conclusion.

- Obligatory choice gameplay.
- Shallow route deviations.

Overall, this is probably one of the best indie VNs I've ever read by a long shot. It's a very impressive offering, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the sequel has in store (Yes, there is a [pre]quel in development. Look up "Don't Forget Our eSports Dream"). A great glimpse into the Starcraft eSports culture in a clean, easy to digest visual novel format.

Apologies for the long review. If you made it this far, congratulations.

And if you haven't read SC2VN yet, then what are you waiting for? It's free, buddy.

I guess I put off putting a review up for this game long enough.

100% OJ is an ensemble game featuring characters from titles developed by the doujin group Orange Juice. They're primarily known for shoot-em-up titles, (some of which are also available on Steam!) but 100% OJ offers something quite different. The game is a multiplayer board game focused on dice rolling and using cards to inhibit various effects. It's very simple to learn, and easy to get into even if you know nothing of the characters and the games they originate from.

Easily the best thing about the game is its accessibility. It's very cheap, especially when put on sale, and there is a lot of value to be had from playing with friends and pubs alike. The community majority is very friendly, and creating/joining lobbies is hassle-free.

The base game offers single player campaigns, a number of default characters, and a few free to play unlockables. Unfortunately, most of the game has expanded by way of DLC, however it's worth the investment if you enjoy the game enough and the additional characters and cards add a lot of flavor.

Games are relatively short (maybe 20-30 minutes), but it can depend on the stage. The game is largely RNG based being a dice-rolling game, but there are subtle elements that can increase your chances of winning. It's an interesting dynamic that lets you play about as seriously as you want, although few things pan out perfectly. There are lots of really fun plays you can make by combining different cards and characters, these give the game some depth without making it too complicated.

A lot of people compare the game to Mario Party, but I think that's a bit of a loose analogy. While they're both video board games, 100% OJ plays a bit more like a gambling/fighting game in terms of choices and options. There is nothing to learn mechanically, it's really all just knowledge and risk.

The game is pretty well-balanced and offers a lot of replayability. As it's been said, you can easily play with people online. However, the ideal experience by far is playing with people you know, especially if you have voice chat.


The game is certainly not perfect. Although many nuances have slowly been improved upon by the developers, the game could certainly still grow in terms of gameplay. However, as it stands: the game has only gotten better and better. That really shows.

If you want something to just derp around with your friends or to get away from all that "skill-based" nonsense, it's priceless. A hallmark of minimalistic multiplayer and easy fun.

Short, but sweet. I don't mind writing a review for it since it's a very brief experience, but not in a bad way. Rather, it's expected considering you can play it for the low, low cost of nothing.

The experience is essentially a series of double-perspective escape the room puzzles. You and another person co-operate by sharing information through voice chat (there is a built-in comms through an in-game radio if you don't want to use 3rd party) and then use said information to progress from room to room. There are a few random elements concerning symbols used in the puzzles, but certain features are static to make things easier. It's not terribly challenging, but miscommunication and confusion could make things more difficult.

It's worth noting that you can fail certain rooms due to time limitation, but you get a checkpoint to save your progress. I'm happy to say that the game is jump scare free, so don't worry about any cheap surprises. Some environments can be slightly unsettling, though. Depends on your personality/experiences.

A full single playthrough is about an hour and a half long, give or take. I think the game loses its novelty after the first run, but it's an interesting experience to say the least. I'd probably recommend a playthrough from each of the two perspectives at least once to get everything there is out of it.

The game is free, but it's well designed. Good visuals, runs nicely. Minimalistic HUD, although I had slight trouble interacting with certain objects. You'll know what they are, if it happens to you. I won't spoil it. That issue could possibly screw someone up, but more of a one time mistake. It's just a minor tick; very easy to live with.

And that's it. Quality game to say the least. Definitely a cool indie title.