clickbliss

The Games We Played: Uncharted 4

For the end of the year, we take a look at the Games We Played, and the effects they had on us. This year we’re starting with a piece by friend of the site, M, who is one half of the duo that is the very excellent Abnormal Mapping.

We’re three years past the critical consensus that the dadification of games was upon us, and for all the ink spilled on the issue it seems that games are still just coming into that intersection of creator age and storytelling opportunity, for better or worse. While much of the critique of this not-quite-a-movement has to do with who gets to make games and tell stories, it’s also a critique of the limited view of how protagonists in games can operate. If you aren’t saving someone or something, protecting them becomes the next logical paternalistic step.

Keep reading

Getting “gud” with DoDonPachi Resurrection

By: RJ (@rga_02)

Read our original review of this game here.

I’m no expert in shmups or any bullet hell videogames. You can bug Omar about that. They know everything and anything about the genre. Omar asked me if I wanted to do a second opinion on this game. I told them, “Why not.” That why not attitude became into frustration, and that frustration became joy.

Keep reading

Yomawari Night Alone Short Review

by Omar (@siegarettes)

Yomawari Night Alone
Developer- Nippon Ichi
Publisher- Nippon Ichi
PC, PS Vita

I’m going to be honest: it’s taken me this long to write about Yomawai because just looking at the desktop icon for the game fills me with anxiety. It’s joined Silent Hill 2, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and Neverending Nightmares in the ranks of games that are both imminently compelling, and something I dread playing.

Keep reading

DoDonPachi Resurrection Review

by Omar (@siegarettes)

DoDonPachi Resurrection
Developer- CAVE Ltd.
Publisher- Degica
PC, Xbox 360, iOS, Android, Arcade

It’s hard to know where to start with CAVE shooters. Each version of their games come with so many revisions, arrangements, and alternate modes it’s difficult to work out exactly what each version is bringing in. While the rare physical versions contain manuals that give you at least a preliminary idea, these are almost always absent from the digital versions, including this one. The ritual of finding changelogs in forum discussions might be familiar to the fanatical, but it’s a confusing mess to the more casual players. DoDonPachi Resurrection is no less complicated.

Keep reading

Megatagmension Blanc + Neptune vs Zombies PC review

By: David (@friendshipguy_)

MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune vs Zombies
Developer - Tamsoft/Compile Heart
Publisher - Idea Factory
PC (also on PlayStation Vita)
Rating - T

Read our original review here

Editor’s Note: NepZom is the term we made up to shorten the title for this game.

My inception into the Neptunia universe was bound to happen sooner or later, what I know about the series already is that; it’s about personified versions of hardware or gaming consoles, and that they’ve built a small but loyal fanbase around their jRPGs. It’s gotten to the point that I feel that at least most people into jRPG’s, or are at least somewhat invested in the jRPG scene have heard of the Neptunia series. As a new comer to the series, you could imagine my surprise when I heard they’d made an action game, with a PC version no less. There’s already a review for the game up here on clickbliss, but that happens to be the Vita version, I was tasked with the PC/Steam copy of the game – from what I gather, it’s not that different of an experience.

Keep reading

Superdimension Neptunia vs. SEGA Hard Girls Review

By Omar (@siegarettes)

Superdimension Neptunia vs. SEGA Hard Girls
Developer- Compile Heart, Felistella
Publisher- Idea Factory International
PS Vita, PS TV

If there’s anything that the Neptunia series has become infamous for, it’s the incredible amount of repetition within the games. Art, enemies, and battles are continually reused not only within a single game, but throughout the series. What keeps people coming back, however, is a breezy script full of gags and fun interactions between the established characters, as well as the excellent localization that brings a sense of self awareness to what can often be an overindulgent mess. So it’d only follow that Neptunia would crossover with SEGA Hard Girls, a multimedia project from SEGA and Degenki magazine that uses a similar premise of making moe style girls out of game consoles, SEGA consoles specifically. Unfortunately, the series trend towards bloat takes over here, and the results are less than ideal.

Keep reading

A Little Report on Life in A Spaceport

By Omar (@siegarettes)

Diaries of A Spaceport Janitor
Developer- Sundae Month
Publisher- tinyBuild
PC (itch.io, Steam)

Am I being punished for my hubris? I woke up after my first day in this spaceport feeling hungover and disheveled, in a not exactly luxurious apartment. I’d be so excited to be in a new place I jumped right in, seeking adventure and now I’m penniless, with a bothersome little skull following me. The fortune teller outside my house tells me it’s a curse I picked up for my premature adventure. Now all I can do is clean the trash around this place, and try to earn what little money I can until I find a way to break this curse and get out of here.

Keep reading

RIVE Review

by Omar ( @siegarettes )

RIVE
Developer- Two Tribes
Publisher- Two Tribes Publishing
PS4, PC, Xbox One, Wii U

RIVE is a bit of anachronism in 2016. Despite the current popularity and developments of the twin-stick shooter, RIVE feels like a game from the heyday of Xbox Live Arcade. Between the gruff, blue collar characterization of the protagonist, constant reference to retro arcade games, and fourth wall breaks, RIVE is particularly enamored with an idea of a retro throwback in a way that now feels like a throwback itself.

Keep reading