Recent reviews by Vogelscript

[Played on Nintendo Switch (which took me about 10 hours) but I also bought on Steam so I could leave a review. This game deserves so many more eyes and is woefully underrated]

I'll cut to the chase: this is one of best games I have ever played, and probably the best writing I have ever experienced in a game. Perfect Tides: Station to Station is a coming of age story about life, death, relationships, and learning to understand oneself. It's not the kind of story full of plot twists, grand adventures, or climactic moments. Rather, it's a small scale, personal and intimate story grounded in realism. I found myself relating to the main character and her struggles more than I ever would have expected, and it has given me a wonderfully expanded new perspective on life and my relationships, past and present. This game is more thought provoking than most of the media I've experienced and any of the therapy sessions I've had. Not to mention the music, artwork, and animation are all gorgeous as well and serve as perfect backdrops to the core of the gameplay which is talking to people and clicking on things in the world to inspect them.

I can't recommend Station to Station enough. I feel strongly that everyone will find something to relate to here—the writing is so grounded in reality and there are several topics and moments in this game that I have never seen covered as elegantly in a game before. This should absolutely be regarded as a groundbreaking moment for storytelling games and the new high bar of comparison.

Consume Me is deeply autobiographical life sim centered on a high school teen's life, and it's unlike anything I've played before. I felt many emotions in its short runtime and was invested in the characters all the way through—the gameplay was excellent at providing strategic tension mixed with fun cutscenes and humorous animation. The unique blend of Warioware-style minigames and Persona-style time management worked well to simulate a stress-filled life without losing the distinct charm and whimsy that was an important contrast for the darker themes. The minigames got a little repetitive and less fun as time went on, but I was glad each chapter still introduced new challenges to keep the day-to-day planning component fresh. Despite the focus one person's real life experiences, the variety of the situations and thematic grounding of the gameplay means that almost anyone would find something to relate to here. And even if not, it's worth a play purely for the novelty of it all.