Gamer--freakz

Gamespot Score: 8.5 (Great)

My Score: 8.8


(+)Pros: - Lengthy main adventure, - Great story that builds on Laura's character, - Excellent stealth and combat mechanics, - Controlling Laura feels smoother than most other games in the genre, -  Breathtaking visuals and incredibly varied environments, - Tons of upgrades that can be purchased as Laura "levels up" or salvages for loot, - Intense puzzle solving via tombs for the hardcore, - Strikes a great balance between main story content and optional content.

(-)Cons: - Meh multiplayer that PALES in comparison to the main story mode, - While the entire game is fun, it takes quite awhile for it to ramp up and become challenging.


Gameplay time: 15 hours or so

It takes a lot for a game to be as great as "Tomb Raider". A 3rd person action stealth adventure isn't exactly the rarest of game types nowadays, but making one work as well as "Tomb Raider" is a pretty amazing feat. With some of the best visuals and gameplay mechanics around, the game is a technical wonder to no end, almost "Uncharted" level, some would even argue that "Tomb Raider" IS better than "Uncharted". Portraying Laura's orgin story, the game is pretty much a reboot of the already popular series, meaning that it'll appeal to both fans of the franchise and newcomers alike. I myself am a newcomer, I've watched "Tomb Raider" films but I've never played a single game of it. As my first one, this reboot really gives me an awesome impression of what the franchise can offer.




Laura Croft is the famous tomb raider, known across the world. But not everything starts as it should be. Focusing on Laura in her early 20s, it shows how she got into the entire "tomb raiding" thing. She was on a ship to study the culture of the himiko on the Bahamas, along with a set of crew, included are a seasoned veteran and her friends. The ship gets wrecked by the storm, and the entire crew is stranded ashore. Laura is split from the entire crew, and seemingly captured. She wakes up in a cave, and immediately tries to escape. She soon finds out that she has been taken into custody in the island that she and her group had been searching for in the first place. With many things, her and her friends' lives at stake, Laura must search for a way so that she and her crew can return home safely, all whilst trying to uncover the secret of the sun goddess's tomb.

So it begins..

As mentioned earlier, this is my entry to the "Tomb Raider" franchise as far as games are concerned, this is my very first "Tomb Raider" game, and I'm lucky that it is so. I thought it'd be something similar to that akin of "Dishonored" , with a rather short campaign. Well "Tomb Raider" is a lot longer than it looks. Many times during the game I'd tell myself, "well I guess the game ends here", but right after the cutscene there's something new to do. For a triple A experience, you will be keeping yourself on edge for the entire lengthy campaign, which is a good 15 hours AT LEAST, and easily more if you're one to go for tomb puzzles and discovering relics.


The story also works really well here. Since this is mostly a tale about Laura and how she became the badass chick that she is considered nowadays, it was really intriguing to see how Laura grows as a character in this origin story. You see her go through many trails and situations that a normal young adult normally would, and you see her change as the game progresses. How she progressively gets tougher, braver, more resilient to pain, or how to handle certain situations seems nice, and you can relate to that, because you were there seeing through everything (seriously, try not to skip cutscenes for the first time, the story for this game is  really great).

Aim....shoot stuff. Rinse and repeat.

"Tomb Raider" actually has a lot of gameplay to it. Platforming and running around feels really fluid, the flow of movement is flawless. As an action/adventure/stealth hybrid, there are some really well done gameplay mechanics here. How you sneak around is key, because there are usually many enemies lurking around at once. Having Laura crouch behind trees, boxes or performing parkour to get to unnoticeable areas so that you can get the jump on your mechanics. Controlling Laura feels smooth here, and this gives you an easy way of freedom around your surroundings, which means a lot more than you think.


If you don't like the way of the sneak, then upfront combat is an option for all you battle-hungry bastards. Laura is but a mere young woman, thus having her die to enemy fire is more common than not. While most of the game has you battling small to medium group sized enemies at most (thus you'll find yourself having the jump on your enemies and dispatching them with ease), its the large groups that jump you late game which proves to be dangerous. Laura has lots of tools up her sleeve, ranging from the trusty bow (my favorite snipe and quickfire weapon), to pistols, rifles and even shotguns. She has a machete to smack someone across the face, but Laura will take a lot more damage from enemies up close, so that's more of a last resort move.

You'll be swarmed with things to do most of the time.

Despite being on an island throughout the entire game, your environments are varied. There are snowy mountains, tribe camps, temples, savaged ships and caves....your surroundings affect how you fight in combat. Taking cover behind a box or rusted plate costs you dearly if you don't make your move quickly. Enemy fire tears through most walls, so in the appropriate environment, you need different tactics. Huge wide spaces like caves or forests allow you to play the role of a predator, taking enemies out one by one with them knowing that you're lurking around somewhere. Lets not forget you're doing all this while looking fabulous too, since the game has some of the best graphics around (minus BF 3 on ultra). Super high settings can get Laura's hair to be animated PER STRAND OF HAIR.


As you explore the many different locations of the island, you'll discover landmarks or relics that will grant you some insight on the history of what's going on. They'll also grant Laura some XP, which can be used for upgrades. This very same XP is also received from taking down enemies. You'll also get salvage, both from spoils during battle or some gathering. Mostly though, you'll need salvage, which opens upgrades for your much needed weapons. These include zooms for better aiming, reduced recoil for better handling, or just better damage overall. You know the drill, however, its worth noting that getting your bows to fire flaming arrows at an enemy is just so satisfying overall.

Upgrading time.

The game wouldn't be called "Tomb Raider" without a little tomb raiding now, wouldn't it? Ever feel like you need a little puzzle in your game? Look no further for the optional tombs in "Tomb Raider" are here to seemingly crack open your thick headed skull. Most of the main game is easily streamed through with just battle tactics alone, but if you feel like you need a mental challenge, there are little "tombs" spread across the different locations of the island that you can tackle for some relics, XP and salvage. These are completely optional, and for good reason, they're HARD. 


These tombs take EVERYTHING you've learnt throughout the game until that point and expects you to use them all masterfully. Thankfully, the game tells you whether or not you have the required equipment needed to tackle said tomb, but even when you have all the equipment needed, you may find yourself scratching your head while inside the tomb, asking yourself , "What in the flying f**k am I missing?". However, as earlier mentioned these are thankfully optional, and if you intend to tackle these tombs, you'll be spending A LOT OF TIME on them, so much that its become a part of the core main experience. Do attempt these tombs, but only let last minute desperation drive you to use an FAQ (I used an FAQ during the 2nd tomb already).

Honestly, I never played much multiplayer.

Its good to note that the game has multiplayer, but its also worth to note that it really doesn't deserve your attention. I mean its good that there IS multiplayer, but its so vanilla (team deathmatch, free for all, a mode where you search for supplies)! The brilliant single player campaign far outshines the multiplayer so much that it might as well not have existed in the first place! As mentioned earlier, the game also feels too easy until a certain point in the game (probably the 60% mark). The AI isn't exactly smart, and until they relentlessly gang up on you like a pack of wolves jumping on a single deer, you're not going to have that much of a hard time clearing the game. 


"Tomb Raider" is an amazing game overall with so much to like. The entire main campaign is nothing short of awesome, outshining its multiplayer so much that it feels like its a burden. The game is worth more than its value SOLELY for the single player campaign alone, just because there's so much that's done so well. If you're looking for an "Uncharted" esque experience, there's no reason "Tomb Raider" shouldn't be on your list already.

The "Tales Of" series is great, I love it. I myself haven't played most of the games in the series (only played Eternia, Abyss, Graces and the Radiant Mythology spin-offs), but I intend to get my hands on all the titles to come. "Tales Of Graces F" was the latest one I played, and if you've read my review, you would know that I enjoyed it. Well, at least enough for me to do a post about its cast of characters and how they fare in my book. Here's a rundown of the party in "Tales Of Graces F".


SPOILERS as usual.

Mina no mamoru miseru!

Name: Asbel Lhant
Traits: Great combo potential between A-artes and B-artes, Fast string of DPS
Rating: 7/10


After playing as Asbel for the huge majority of the game, I thought he was potentially the best character in the game. When I went to climb the tower where I had to switch characters solo during every few floors, I realized that I was so wrong. Asbel is easily the most BEGINNER-FRIENDLY character in the game. You have the leniency to make mistakes with him, his A-artes are ridiculously fast, easy to combo and are hard to punish. His B-artes can also be easily comboed, but they have some start-up time. Hell, his accel mode lets you combo even more than you usually can, with that damaging floating ball.


All of this makes for a lots of rooms to make mistakes and you'll still be fine. You can even combo his A-artes and B-artes together. Because you'll be attacking almost all the time, you'll be doing some crazy good DPS in good time, though this comes with a weakness. Asbel can attack relentlessly and only so, he's good for nothing else. His damage is good but he isn't the tankiest guy in the game, get caught by enemy combos and he drops fast. This also means that his CC gauge depletion is the fastest in the game, which isn't a good thing by any means. The AI controlled Asbel is reckless and stupid.

BAMCO! WHY YOU NO DUAL AUDIO! I WANT MY KANA HANAZAWA!

Name: Sophie
Traits: Great combo potential between A-artes and B-artes, Healing
Rating: 10/10


She is in my opinion, the best character in the game, second to Cheria. Sophie brings so much to the table that she simply outclasses everyone. When you think Sophie, think Asbel, with the same amount of DPS (perhaps even higher against heavy enemy crowds), higher defenses, mobility and the ability to heal/resurrect any of your team mates during battle. Sound juicy enough? No? How about she's one of the two characters in the game with the ability to resurrect? Most of her B-artes cannot be spammed so she isn't AS effective against enemies with high defenses. 


Sophie isn't as "easy" as Asbel, because she has some orders and priorities that you need to get used to. Her range is considerably short for a combo based fighter, combing multiple enemies together to make use of her AOE splash damage can be hard at times, and her B-artes might not be the best. Still, she probably lasts longer than Asbel, and because of her fast regular movement speed, outmaneuvering attacks is easy as all hell. Lets not forget her priceless ability to heal and revive your party members. Having her and Cheria in your party is a f**king godsend. Her accel mode gives you godly health regen while its active. Its more of a live saving accel mode than a offensive one, it has its uses.

There's no busty hot chick in Graces, so she'll suffice :)

Name: Cheria Barnes
Traits: High magic damage, Heals...heals and revives all f**king day
Rating: 9/10


When you think Cheria think the Psychic from "7th Dragon 2020". She does almost everything you need out of a spell caster, heals and damage included. How many times do you remember having to manually prompt the AI to cast nurse or resurrection? That's how many times Cheria has saved your ass. You can't live without a healer in RPGs, thus the conclusion that you can't live without Cheria. Not picking Cheria is like playing hard mode. Not picking Cheria OR Sophie is suicidal. 


Using Cheria is like using a typical spell caster in a "Tales Of" game. She isn't too fit in terms of A-artes (her damage here is low, her combo is pitiful, and she doesn't offer much), so she'll have her B-artes to carry her the rest of the way. She has powerful offensive spells like "Indignation" which spread across a huge AOE and deals tons of damage. Her healing is over the top, while Sophie heals single targets, Cheria's healing artes go across the map. Nurse is OP, and she has an AOE revive too (can't remember the name of the ability). When controlling Cheria, just run around, avoid focus fire, stand there and cast your spells, easy as pie. Lets not forget too that her accel mode f**king stops time, OP as hell (probably the best in the game).

Sup teach.

Name: Malik Caesars
Traits: High magic damage, High defensive stats
Rating: 6/10


I really like Malik, but he's easily the worst caster type in the game. He has some good damage, but that's pretty much it. He's the tankiest guy in the game, but it really doesn't help that much that all your defensive stats goes on a backline caster. If he was a melee fighter in the front trying to taunt and soak up all the damage, he would be better. A tanky caster just means you get to do more damage, but nothing much else when your entire more useful team dies out.


Magic damage means that he's mostly a B-artes caster. He has some mean B-artes up his sleeve, mostly AOE, but so do Pascal and Cheria. He doesn't let up in terms of B-artes damage, but his A-artes are really lacking. He actually has STRONG A-artes, but his combo range is awkward and his attacks are really slow to be of actual use against fast and powerful enemies. As mentioned, he has nothing much else, and he has a really....awkward accel mode. I mean the kicking is great for stacking combos, but enemies drop off of it easily and sometimes it doesn't really do much.

Pascal!

Name: Pascal
Traits: High Magical Damage, Summons, Powerful far ranged A-artes
Rating: 8/10


Pascal is the ranged version of....Asbel. Its an exaggeration, but I do feel that Pascal shines in her A-artes, despite being completely far ranged. Her mod staff allows her to attack from far away, her A-artes moves are easy to chain, do a lot of damage and cause a lot of disruption. She's the most unique mage-type character in the game, and while she may not be really strong early on, she'll really pick up the pace and become stronger than most others as the game progresses.


Pascal is the only character in the game to be able to utilize summons. They acts as regular burst artes for her, dealing good AOE magic damage. The rest of her B-artes are really utility based. While they do good damage, they are best used to cover for her as she blasts away with her other stronger abilities. Most of her B-artes are casted up close (she draws circles around herself), so she can be a little bit of a risk at times. Her accel mode is incredibly strong, giving a huge damage reduction to everyone in her accel mode radius is pretty game breaking.

Megane power!

Name: Hubert Oswell
Traits: Good A-artes combo potential, Ranged B-artes
Rating: 7/10


Hubert isn't a bad character, but is probably more unique than anything. Having dual gunblades probably means that he has good melee and ranged combat capabilities, which is the case. He's a mix of Asbel's A-artes and Pascal's A-artes as B-artes. He can also heal, though its just a pathetic healing wind, which is nothing compared to what Sophie or Cheria can pull out. He's a great solo fighter, but in a team you'd need to make full use of him.


Hubert is a CC-eating machine, just as much as Asbel is when up close. His A-artes are easily comboed together, meaning that you'll be spamming them to do damage. His damage isn't amazing, but at the same time, its decent enough to get the job done. His specialty comes in his ability to be able to fight from afar when he gets low. His B-artes have a good focus on ranged attacks, and switching between a good balance of melee and ranged attacks is the key to victory as Hubert. His accel mode is pretty good against multiple enemies.

We all need our bishonen prince characters

Name: Richard
Traits: Great combo potential between A-artes and B-artes, Has ranged B-artes
Rating: 8/10


He's basically a better Asbel. Richard kicks ASS. His A-artes combo strings are just as hectic as the likes of Asbel and Hubert, but his are way more stylish. He plays very much like Asbel, so if you're good as Asbel, you're going to be just as good with Richard once you get your hands on him. His combo strings are long as hell and do painfully high damage, as he is able to string B-artes into A-artes combos. What can I say, he plays very much like old school "Tales Of" swordsmen (he has skills like sword rain alpha and tempest).


There's really nothing much to say here. Richard can do a good deal of damage by just rushing the enemy down. Rapid combo strings will destroy enemies, and if the need arises, he can dish out good B-artes damage as well, both combo type ones AND magic spells. He is the very definition of a magic swordsman, and is a good pick for your team. And bitch please, his accel mode just means more spamming than anything.


I use every character in the game in my party, switching in and out from time to time.


-------------------------------------------------

Me: Asbel/Sophie/Richard
Cheria
Pascal
Hubert/Malik

-------------------------------------------------


I like to put Sophie in even if I'm not using her. Because she's just too good.


Peace, more to come.

Opening songs
OP 1 - Energy (Earthmind)

Ending songs
ED* - Vivid Shining Sky (Ayane Sakura, Aya Uchida, Maaya Uchida, Rie Murakawa, Otsubo Yuka)

Genre: Action, Science Fiction

Episodes: 12



What do you get when the director for "Strike Witches" decides to do something similar? You get "Vividred Operation", a "version" of "Strike Witches" that seems to be even girlier, has more visual flair, more CG and more cheesiness. Honestly, its good that we got something similar to "Strike Witches" (which I f**king loved the crap out of), but I do think that "Vividred Operation" lacks the charm. It has its own charms, that's for sure, and it may be conceptually similar to "Strike Witches", but there's a different feel to it. Make no mistake, I too, like "Vividred Operation", but for a different reason. After all, its still about teenage girls, flying around with weapons and destroying big ass monsters that threaten the safety of mankind. Also, fan service, how can we forget that? Its all here.

Another tale about friendship

With almost everything being similar to "Strike Witches", its no surprise that the songs don't sound too different. "Energy" by Earthmind is a great opening song that fits the anime's theme. It has this uplifting, techno beat that somehow gets me grooving along with it : | . There are actually many endings to the anime, but I'll pick the one that gets sang throughout the most of the episodes. "Vivid Shining Sky" is sang by all the seiyuus of every main girl in the anime, and I'd say that it sounds a lot like "Super Stream" from "Infinite Stratos". The multiple voices singing in sync makes it sound pretty good.


Rating: 7.5/10


"Vividred Operation" is, without a doubt, another different kind of "Strike Witches". If you've watched "Strike Witches", you'd kind of know what to expect. The same concept of a bunch of girls being best friends that have the power to defeat monsters and save mankind....its the very same magical girl concept that we've all come to know. However, it takes on a rather different theme. "Vividred Operation" is way more futuristic and sci-fi than "Strike Witches" ever could be, and while in "Strike Witches" everyone teamed up to fight this general race of monsters (the neuroi), "Vividred Operation" actually has a villain behind everything (though how they dealt with it was similar to how "Strike Witches" had everyone teaming up to fight the final big bad neuroi). Also, the amount of girls. There are way lesser characters than "Strike Witches" insane 11 character roster, this actually opens up more room for screen time for each of the characters, but on the other hand, there's less characters to love....

Erm...the awkwardness is over the top in this scene....

Isshiki Akane is a regular girl whose grandfather, Isshiki Kenjiro is the most successful engineer in the world. He invented the manifestation engine, which sits there to provide energy to the entire world. However since then he hasn't been doing much and has just been living with his granddaughters. One day, while living life as per normal, a signal appeared off shore and somehow Kenjiro expected it to come. After finding out that the signal turned out to be a giant robotic monster, it wiped out the military in an instant. Kenjiro calls it "alone", a species of intelligent life forms whose purpose is to attack the manifestation engine and destroy it, ruining the world's energy source. Akane wants to help stop it, and Kenjiro gives her a key to access the vivid system, which allows her to equip herself with the pallet suit, which gives her superhuman abilities and a weapon to fight the "alone".


Overall I do like "Vividred Operation", but as a series alone I prefer "Strike Witches". Lesser characters is good sometimes but I do find that there aren't as many likable characters here than in "Strike Witches". The combat and everything else is still pretty good, and I actually dig the docking sequences (yuri ftw). Well seeing as how everything ended, it should be the end of the series already. Its rather short, but I kind of enjoyed my time here.


Peace.

I'm thinking whether or not to do one for "Eureka Seven AO", because my favorite guy is Truth, and I already listed Truth in "Top 5 Badass Villains". I dislike writing the same thing about him if I decide to put him into "Favorite Anime Characters".....


"Girls Und Panzer" is about girls riding tanks trying to fulfill their dreams. Its very cliche in a sense that its another anime all about friends and how they are the best things in the world (we all know that feel when we watch similar animes), but hey, to each his own, its for you if you like tanks. I'm not sure if I did one of these for "Macademi Wasshoi", but when I hit it up on my search bar they say I didn't, but I'm quite sure I did...


"Macademi Wasshoi" is about a magical academy where students attend to....learn magic, and then use that knowledge to solve problems that are related to magic that may affect others. It also has a psuedo harem feel to it. "Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai" is a full on, action/harem hybrid, which was adapted from an eroge. Great for harem lovers.



Girls Und Panzer

I wasn't really into "Girls Und Panzer", but that doesn't mean it was bad. Girls in tanks galore, everyone loves tanks and most of them are happy young girls. Here's my favorite.

Agreed Mako, agreed....

In an anime where most characters act so happy/normal/peaceful, its always good to have a character that's different from the rest. I'm into spoiled brat loli girls like Mako, so it works even well that she is vastly different from the rest of her team. When I saw her for the first time I was like, "Damn, she's my girl!" Unlike all the other students of Nishizawa's team, Mako is a complete 180 from what you would expect from a girl who belongs in a tank.


I think we can all relate to Mako. She's lazy, she's constantly tired, she hates to do work, she doesn't really like to socialize, and when it comes to talking with others, she always on the lower end. She was actually not convinced to join tankery, but because she was constantly late to school and did not have enough credits to graduate, she needed tankery to pass. So, sad as the little girl she is, she took it up and ended up in Nishizawa's team as the team driver.


She's a natural genius. She didn't take long to learn how to operate the tank like a pro. Easily the best driver out of all the teams, she makes driving a tank look like "Initial D". Still though, despite all that, she cares for her team. She shows up for practice (though late), she hangs out with them, so on and so forth. She also has a badass grandma and some really funky quotes about life.



Macademi Wasshoi!

I don't remember too much about this, but I do remember my favorite character. Even if you only vaguely remember about an anime you watched long ago, you'd still remember a favorite or two.




You wouldn't hate this pretty son of a bitch if you watched "Macademi Wasshoi". He may look like a cool, powerful, badass pretty boy that girls go after, but believe me when I say its the complete opposite. Sakuma is cool, but he excels in the side of being "retarded". He's funny as all hell, he's a pervert, and even though he is a teacher in a magical academy, he doesn't act like one most of the time. We can all fathom how powerful he truly is, but with the way he is, it doesn't seem like it.


Being a teacher who likes girls, he is essentially a perverted man with a dream. Because of this, most of his beloved students are girls, and to make things worse, he has a sexy maid cleaning up after him all the time (although she herself detests his pervertic attitude). When he gets two sexy demons working for him later on, things really get out of his when he forces them to cosplay and do lewd things for his entertainment all the time..


Dude even brews a potion for Takuto to become a girl, now that's OP. He over-reacts to many things, and when all is said and done, he is still ridiculously powerful (he is shown to be able to summon some f**king demon from hell to blast at others, and others consider him really powerful). What I find fascinating from characters like Sakuma, is that underneath all that crazy exterior, he really is a kind hearted teacher reaching out for his students deep within.



Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai

Harem rules, and you know it. There are those that move beyond harem animes, and suddenly there's so little left to watch in the world of anime. "Maji De" is a pretty awesome harem that mixes in some wicked comedy (dick jokes, we all love those) and nice girls, which is what we're all here for!

Yay for German girls~

Christiane is awesome. Not only does she have the best weapon of choice among all the other girls (in my opinion), she is tsundere, she is hot, AND she is voiced by Shizuka Ito. What's there not to like? Sure, all the girls in the anime pretty much have equal screentime, so there's pretty much not really any room for focus except for Momoyo. So all in all, Chris is just character preference.


Her character is surely fleshed out in the eroge version of the game, but in the anime, she isn't THAT detailed or shown in-depth. We can only know that she's addicted to freaking old Japanese drama, which is kind of weird. When Yamato runs into her in the bath and catches her naked, they both have a very...awkward conversation to say the least.


Like all the other girls, Chris listens to Yamato, because she knows for a fact that while he cannot fight, his tactics carry the girls to victory. Also, she collects teddie bears, how can you f**king say no to that? Its nothing against the other girls, but I do find Chris to be the most attractive, and in most cases, she seems to be the most "normal" out of the bunch.


Peace.

Gamespot Score: n/a

My Score: 8.0


(+)Pros: - Thought provoking story that wraps up really well towards the end, - Great protagonist that we can relate to, - Characters that you would want to save and protect, - The Crooked Man is one scary son of a gun, -  Good variety of environments and puzzles, - Bad ends and scenarios for each chapter.

(-)Cons: - The entire game's scare is based on The Crooked Man and him alone, - Starting segment is draggy.


Gameplay time: About 5 hours

You know I could start off the review by reciting the entire "Crooked Man" rhyme, but that shit is creepy and I'd honestly rather NOT do it. "The Crooked Man" is another pixel horror RPG, made by Uri I believe, the creator of other pixel horror RPGs like "Paranoic" (which sucked) and "Mermaid Swamp". "The Crooked Man" is a pixel horror RPG with a story different from most other games in its genre so far. Unlike the other games which usually talk about curses, ghosts, horrors and occult stuff, "The Crooked Man" tackles the problems of real life, and that what happened could eventually happen to any of us. This is easily the game's selling point, and the rest is just icing on the cake. "The Crooked Man" is perfect for those looking for a pixel horror RPG with a different kind of story.


The story talks about David, a 26 year old man leading a troubled life. He just moved into a new apartment under recommendation from two of his friends, Paul and Marion. David's life has been filled with misfortune, and he just wants to lead the rest of his life in peace. His mother is in the hospital and is suffering from mental problems, his girl left him, he has nothing left. When finally deciding to settle down in his new apartment however, he starts to see things. His radio emitting static, his television going freaky, and he sees words on his apartment walls. Then black liquid starts to leak out of a crack in the wall. David finds a slip of paper talking about the apartment's previous owner, and how he left to look for an answer. David sees an address on the paper, and decides to go there...

S-shut up, there was no Crooked Man....

With a story tackling different themes than you'd normally expect in a horror game, "The Crooked Man" draws sympathy from the player onto its main character, David. The story itself already makes you think about the many things in life that can really screw you over in the future, and the many ordeals that David faces can easily be related to us in real life. Going on a journey to chase after an imaginary entity that might not exist sounds really stupid, but the things that happen over the course of the game are intriguing to say the least.


David is a really troubled man. Nothing goes his way, and he may just be a sad, unlucky individual, but we can all relate to his problems. The problems he face in the games are very human, and the way the story is told really shows the many ways to heal one can deal with inner problems. David isn't strong, he isn't brave, he doesn't know how to take control of his life, but everything that he experiences slightly changes the way he acts, and the character development in David alone is much better than any character I have seen in pixel horror RPGs.

Yeap, something ain't right.

Throughout the course of the game you'll be running into many characters that are somewhat troubled themselves. They will talk with David, and eventually get to know one another. These characters are very different from one another and they relate to David. You'll soon grow to like these characters, and as with most games in its genre, there always comes a time where your choices start to matter. Whether or not the other characters get to live or die, its all in your hands. With the characters you started to like, would you want them to die? 


Of course when most things lead to dieing, it leads to bad ends, and I'll tell you up front that each chapter has quite a few bad ends...Most of the time when someone dies, its a bad end, and there are a good deal of ways to make wrong choices. Its nice to see a game with multiple chapters and each having their own bad ends, not just a variety of ends at the game's conclusion. However though, the multiple ends doesn't quite match up to something "Corpse Party" offers.....

You'd pretty damn well try to save Sisi or you're one huge douche bag.

"The Crooked Man" IS a horror game, so expect some scares, even though it lacks quite the ghosts, zombies or walking mannequins that other pixel horror RPGs do provide, "The Crooked Man" has something that'll bring you nightmares. Yes, its the Crooked Man himself. This dude is wacked out, and makes up for something much more than what you'd see in other pixel horror RPGs. He is the ONE guy tailing you and trying to kill you throughout the entire game. There will be chase sequences, battle sequences, and just jump scares, ALL FROM THIS GUY.


Yes, you heard me, battle sequences, old-school "The Legend Of Zelda" style.


Also no pixel horror RPG would be complete without puzzles. The game has its good share of problems, and of course, they're well done (puzzles are the core of these games). Finding keys and pass codes galore! You'll even be searching trash cans for items. You'll also go through some good, atmospheric environments fitting for a horror game. What kind? Oh you know, abandoned buildings mostly, an empty motel, an empty school and an empty hospital. Typical horror game environments, no?

True dat.

"The Crooked Man" is probably the longest of the pixel horror RPGs I have played, which means that it deserves some praise there. However there are flaws to that. The opening segment of the game (figuring out his apartment) is too long, and its mostly uneventful, without any problem solving whatsoever. Its just walking around mindlessly to examine stuff. Also, since there are no natural "threats" or "enemies", the entire game's horror segment is based on the Crooked Man and him alone, which means you'll spend quite awhile of the game not feeling any "danger" until he actually comes by.


"The Crooked Man" is easily one of the better pixel horror RPGs and this made me see the jump in Uri's games. I played "Paranoic" which was easily the worst of the pixel horror RPGs (too repetitive, luck dependent and boring), and I finished it, but I didn't like it (thus no review of it). "The Crooked Man" was a MASSIVE improvement over the mess of the game that was "Paranoic". A great game when put next to others in it genre.