Recent reviews by Mylen Ploa

Great PC port of a great JRPG series, charming art, detailed backgrounds and good audio. Voice-acting cast is full of familiar voices from other JRPGs and I probably don't need to sell you on how good the soundtrack is.

Mechanical system rewards out-of-battle planning and there are many ways to break the game over your knee if you put in the effort.

Good price, too.

If you're familiar with the Etrian series or games like them, you'll find yourself at home here. Like others within the genre, the level of expression you can reach with your party is vast, and the team's composition is entirely up to you with every character within the 48 being relevant at least half the time. The highest level of difficulty forces you to prepare accordingly, and while you can't out-grind an encounter, investing more time into your characters pays off in many incremental ways.

The game has many systems both in and out of fights that exponentially increase your power, which can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming, but all function as a sort of multiplier for your characters, and the tip system helps integrate you into things as you go.

A bit of roughness around the edges exists, but the developer is constantly addressing the main gripes and the game feels better to play than it did on release, with post-game content to look forward to in the future.

Labyrinth's Story is extremely well done and rather than be something out of left field, it plays off canon events in the Touhou universe in a believable way, while making sure people who don't know anything about Touhou aren't left behind, giving you a brief synopsis of characters as they join your party.

One thing I'd love to see in this system is a character randomizer, changing the order in which you get people in your party.

An extremely well made game with some surprising features they didn't need to add, but did.

I'm not that good at action games, but after one or two stumbles, the game does an amazing job of feeling good for people who struggle as long as you're willing to interact with the system. Some aspects of gameplay are a little too deep into the unlockables - such as grappling an enemy to extend how long they're stunned for - but every run really does make you feel a bit stronger until you gain more experience, confidence, and drive to push further. For those far better than me, there are no-hit achievements for the bosses as well as a prestige system to make each successive run harder.

The game FEELS good. It feels meaty. Your abilities feel impactful, and the choice of characters offers different feeling playstyles that reward either aggression or caution, on top of the regular rougelite upgrades-between-stages.

Knowledge of Touhou isn't required, but is rewarded for those who know it. Nothing goes on that makes you feel like you're out of the know; it's like jumping into any universe with characters that have diverse powers.

I want Suwako to hit me over the head with a large rock

A cute incremental game that rewards you for interacting with the play area in various ways. The spritework is lovely and even if you've no familiarity with the source material, you're not missing out on much - Touhou characters are a mile wide and often an inch deep (and that's coming from someone who enjoys the source material!) There are also options available to set opacity on certain things, the volume of others - if something annoys you, you can absolutely tweak it, and the game itself encourages this.

The scaling/progression is fairly well balanced, but I do wish more talent tree points were available in the post-game, allowing people who've already done everything to scale to silly levels for fun, while exploring interactions between dolls.

I want Suika to hit me over the head with a large boulder

Cosplay a sentient SCP as you hollow out a research facility in search of ever-increasing amounts of goodies. Constantly progress via exploration into the latest and greatest OSHA violations you come across while taping together items to create unholy amalgams of finished products. Make friends with the locals. Repeat.

Remember: If you poop your pants, everyone will know! It's a matter of public record.

This game would be better if they removed IS-0513 but I guess nothing is perfect.

Don't you know?
When rabbits are lonely...
...They...
Make friends!

Lmao what the heck Sony

Made me nostalgic for the older Castlevania series in all the right ways. It's hard to say when something 'moves' you, but this damn well did. It also stands on its own merits, though the only complaint I have is the slightly awkward movement; it doesn't feel as tight as it could be, but that might be because I'm terrible. Worth your time.

Y'like Rail Shooters? Card Management? Hack and Slash? Somehow this enjoyable abomination is all three. Don't ask me how. While the very core of the gameplay doesn't change much and can get stale for some, there's a definite sense of progression, a dip-feed of additional mechanics and lots of little touches you notice playing through. Good times.

Crew Member Bria's Log, 42nd day on board 'Lady Dickbutt's vessel.

Morale is at an all-time low ever since we docked at that weird chapel and I found our missing craftsman's finger (ring included) in the meal they cooked for us. Captain shrugged and made a 'eh, what can ya do' gesture before climbing around some sort of well and screaming. Not as bad as the time we were all viciously savaged by an iceberg, but close. Captain Lady Dickbutt seems to be very fond of this odd, green rubbery humanoid who talks like he's got a mouthful of sardines. She occasionally shoves scintillack in his face before carting him off to her quarters, I don't know what happens but for some reason we all feel a bit less terrified next morning.

Ah well, time to dock at Pigmote Isle and watch our Captain jump off the boat and talk to thin air for a few hours. Judging by the sounds coming from the quarters next to mine, it sounds like Finley's eyes are finally starting to hatch, too.