Nick Mangiaracina
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MonsterVine
KeenGamerLatest Reviews
At one point in True Colors, the townsfolk will want to cheer up Ethan, Charlotte’s son. One of the characters is interested in LARPing and decides to set up a town-wide LARP session that results in Alex playing a bard to Ethan’s Thaynor the warrior. This felt targeted because the...
The music is unfortunately lovely, which is only unfortunate because of its composer. Pedro Silva, noted abuser and general toxic person, composed the soundtrack. Though Subliminal released a statement regarding their work with Silva, it must still be noted. That said, it is a beautifully composed soundtrack that fits the...
When you’re not making pointless dialogue choices, you’re walking or performing some quick-time event that offers superficial window dressing to the story. I found myself bored with Last Stop, wondering how the same developer that made Virginia managed to make this game. Even artistically, Last Stop felt like a big...
Musically, Death’s Door offers a soundtrack I could and have listened to outside of playing the game. While much of the music is incredible and absolutely sets the tone for what’s happening in the game, the overall soundtrack could be enjoyed on its own. Specifically though, the track Avarice has...
I was so excited to get a game that reminded me of something like Tokyo Xanadu eX+ but with a modern art style and some quality of life functionality. Instead, I received a really messy game that left me incredibly bored throughout most of it. Scarlet Nexus is a mess.
Another big issue I ran into was the promise of Crisbell being able to make big decisions in order to affect the future. Cris Tales even starts you off by making a small decision early on, determining whose house to provide the house healing salve to, changing the future for...
For a developer that focuses on narrative design, structure, and experimentation, Deconstructeam got off to a bit of a rocky start but my favorite thing about Essays on Empathy is that there’s a narrative thread that goes through the product as a whole. Though each game is different, has its...
As requested by the developers, I would play roughly a half-hour of Cozy Grove a day. In my case, I was playing my half-hour before bed and found it to be a very pleasing and somewhat zen-like experience. From gathering someone else’s mail to setting fire to fish to collect...
As a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously and doesn’t take very long to finish, I consider Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion to be the perfect palate-cleansing game. Whether you’re in-between long games or are just looking for something that doesn’t require brainpower for payoff, Turnip Boy is the...
Finally, we land on the technical issues Bravely Default 2 has. Primarily, the performance is just not what I’ve come to expect in 2021. This series has primarily been on handheld consoles less powerful than my cell phone and its first foray into the console space has extremely long and...
The only disappointing thing about Olija is that there is so much promise and potential in what has been created already. People often say a short game respects their time but I left Olija wanting more. Perhaps the short and concise story is a contributor to what makes Olija so...
While I don’t encourage newcomers to play Ryza 2, fans of the first game should be rightly excited to play the sequel to the best-selling Atelier game of all-time. With improvements to an already fantastic combat system, new characters that add to an already fun and tightly knit cast, and...
