Hellpoint

At its most basic level, Hellpoint can be summed up with four words: Dark Souls… in space! Obviously that’s reductionist, but that’s what you get for four words. Of course, at this point Souls-like is a subgenre onto its own, meaning there are games that take only the most basic trappings of the “source” and then do something completely different and original.

Hellpoint is not one of those games. Everything in Hellpoint feels like it was either directly lifted from Dark Souls or is a direct response to Dark Souls. Sometimes the developers couldn’t quite compete with FromSoft, but sometimes they knocked it out of the park.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things

This review frustrates me.

Normally I strive to avoid any lies in a review. Half-truths, omitted information, and misleading statements are all fine. If the solution is the murder was faked, in my plot summary I’ll say “So-and-so is apparently murdered in a locked room.” A little wink to those who have already experienced the story that doesn’t tip our hand to those who haven’t. After all, if I lie, what else is left here? How can there be a discussion if I lie about what happened? If I lie about that, what if I lie about my feelings? Accuracy is the best policy.

But that’s not going to work for I’m Thinking of Ending Things. It just can’t. So I officially admit defeat, and submit to I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ lies. As much as I want to cleverly sidestep around the truth, that’d be like trying to jump the Grand Canyon. Another reason this is the intro you're getting is that I had a certain introduction planned in my head for most of the book, but it completely dissipated in the final sequence.

A Detective's Novel

A Detective’s Novel is a detective visual novel that costs $1. If nothing else, the developers understood the value of their product.

Decapitation - Kubikiri Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense User / クビキリサイクル 青色サヴァンと戯言遣い

Nisio Isin has written a lot of books. Like, a lot of books. But the first book he wrote (or at least published) was Kubikiri Cycle. I’ve read one book by Nisio Isin before, the licensed Death Note novel, and I wasn’t particularly impressed. But Kubikiri Cycle was much better.

Doctors in Isolated Room / 冷たい密室と博士たち

Ah, nothing like some good ol' S&M, right? I'm obviously talking about Hiroshi Mori's Saikawa and Moe series. The series stars associate professor of architecture Souhei Saikawa and college student Moe Nishinosono and their run-ins with various scientifically themed murder mysteries. The first book in the series in the series is The Perfect Insider, but I read that before I began this blog, so we're going to start with book two, Doctors in Isolated Room.

Saikawa has a friend who works in their university’s extreme climate laboratory, and he invites Saikawa and Moe to watch them conduct an experiment. The experiment takes place in a special room that can be chilled to sub-zero temperatures, and can only be entered while wearing a special cold-resistant suit. Considering this is a murder mystery, I’m sure you can guess how the experiment goes...

Still Life With Pistol

Sometimes you just want to try something new. For instance, you could try checking out a book by an author you haven't read before, or bringing your girlfriend to a secluded art retreat.

Sometimes doing something new gives you a fresh and unique experience, but other times, even if things start out well, at the end the book ends up being not that great, or someone ends up dead.

Still Life

Three Pines is a small, idyllic town tucked away in rural Quebec where everybody knows everyone and nobody locks their doors. Jane Neal, an elderly spinster, has submitted a drawing to the local art show and invited her friends to celebrate at her house, the first time in the history of the town she has offered to show her art or her home to anyone. Unfortunately, she is soon found murdered in the woods, sending the small town reeling. Just what secret was hidden in her art or her home that drove one of the villagers to murder?

428: Shibuya Scramble / 428 ～封印された渋谷で～

428: Shibuya Scramble is an amazing game. It's a visual novel whose gameplay consists solely of reading and making choices, yet despite being a relatively reserved format, it feels like 428 was developed with the guiding principle of making as many components of the game as possible provide entertainment in some way, which is what allows 428 to transcend the bounds of the format.

The Summer of the Ubume / 姑獲鳥の夏

This book is crazy. And not in the "that was so crazy, dude!" way. In the "needs serious help and should be locked away until it's no longer a threat to itself and others" way.

Telling Tales

Ten years ago, 15-year-old Abigail Mantel was murdered in the small town of Elvet. Jeanie Long, Abigail’s father’s girlfriend, was arrested for the murder. But Jeanie always claimed she was innocent. After ten years in jail, Jeanie commits suicide—but evidence exonerating her is discovered shortly afterwards. Vera Stanhope is assigned to the case to figure out what went wrong in the initial investigation, but with the murder happening so long ago, how much of what Vera hears is the truth, how much is people misremembering—and how much is people telling tales so they can cope with sending an innocent woman to jail?

The First Hardship of Nagomu Ichiyanagi - The Rain-Lattice Mansion / 雨格子の館 一柳和、最初の受難

An isolated house in the rain... A series of gruesome, themed murders... And a wimpy kid who has to solve them all.

These are the elements that make up Nagomu Ichiyanagi.

Remnant: From the Ashes

Should this game have been called "Phoenix," or would that have been a bit too on-the-nose? Maybe, maybe not, since it wasn't clear what remnants or ashes had to do with anything in the game.

If Remnant: From the Ashes needed to be condensed down to one phrase, it'd be "procedurally generated shooter Souls-like," which I think does a pretty good job of covering the game's essential and unique features. I see it as a combination of two twists on the traditional Souls-like formula: the first is making it a shooter and the second is making it semi-random. These are neat ideas with decent execution, but also a few issues.

The Japanese Clock Mansion Murders / 和時計の館の殺人

Tick... tock... tick... tock...

Attorney Shunsaku Morie is a simple man. He just wants to go to his client, do his job, and go home. Nothing fancy. But when his job involves reading the will of a wealthy, eccentric hermit in the deceased's mansion filled with a collection of antique clocks, whose family includes an assortment of odd characters (including a man covered in bandages), even Shunsaku can tell where things are headed.