Humble Sales Are Very Dangerous - Part Sixteen
Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut - I bought and tried this as part of a bundle in 2016. I maintain that the third game was better in a bunch of ways, but I think my opinion of the difficulty curve has softened in the interim. I think my big complaint this time was that while the game feels very open, it’s actually really linear (without that many optional secrets) but completely lacking in direction, and very large for a game of that type. The fast-travel isn’t frequent or accessible enough for the number of weird corners things could be hiding in, and you have to go on semi-arbitrary item hunts far too often. The fact that Shantae’s hits never get stronger (just faster) and that bosses have way too much health is just icing on that. The series definitely improved from here; this game was still rough.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - This isn’t really the Metroidvania-style game the last two games were-if anything, I’d liken it a bit more to a Kirby game. It’s stage-based, but you need to revisit/replay each stage multiple times as you acquire new abilities to find all the secrets hidden in them. Most of the transformation abilities and magical attacks from Risky’s Revenge return, plus a lot of new dances. I was uncertain about this at first because the difficulty curve is a bit steep and fairly front-loaded: This assumes it isn’t your first platformer game. As you acquire the special abilities, replaying the platforming sessions gets a lot easier; though there’s still a very annoying runner section after the final boss that you can’t lose, but you need to get perfect to win. This game is loaded with additional modes, including multiple challenge modes, arcade modes, and alternate story modes-you certainly get your money’s worth of replaying the same half-dozen stages over and over.
HuniePop 2: Double Date - I played the original HuniePop because it came in a bundle. I bought this on sale because I thought it would be mindless entertainment, and I wasn’t wrong. This picks up where the original ended, with the main character so successful at charming women, that he’s chosen to save the world from a pair of goddesses who are about to arise with terrible PMS. The only way to beat them is by charming them into a threesome, and of course he’ll need to get some practice first. This dumps most of the question/answer dating sim mechanics and complicates the money/XP system to compensate, but it’s otherwise basically the same game of giving gifts and playing match-3 until you get a booby picture. (This lets you set your explicitness rating for those pictures on a three-level toggle, but it’s R-rated ta its softest.)
Get In The Car, Loser! - This is probably the queerest game I’ve ever played, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but it is most certainly not for everyone. You play as Sam, who joins Grace and Val on a road trip quest to defeat the Machine Devil before it awakes and corrupts the world. Sam is socially awkward and very much in her own head-the third act is basically her having an extended anxiety spiral. The Machine Devil cultists are all internet trolls-pretty much literally; their dialogue is conservative dialectics 101, with all the misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and ablism that entails. I had no qualms about smushing them into paste, let me tell you. That said, while the story was right up my alley, the mechanics are…not great. The battles are based loosely on Final Fantasy 13’s system, but very simplified; and the repetitiveness of them is only emphasized by there only being one battle song (that has lyrics). In Easy mode, your characters heal after every battle; in Normal you need to balance fighting to get money with attrition between rest stops because in-battle healing only gives you temporary HP. The level system is entirely equipment-based; if you equip everyone with upgraded items from one tier, the next tier unlocks in the shops (though that’s also gated by story progression and whether you buy the DLC). I think I would have preferred if “Story Mode” did away with the combat mechanic entirely; though several battles (particularly boss battles) do advance the plot. I suspect this was a very cathartic game for Christine Love to make in the current day and age; but it’s definitely not for everyone.
Overall: I think there’s a certain amusing irony in playing three games that thrive on male-gaze objectification, and then one that is strongly anti-misogynist and often questions the very concept of gender. But I enjoyed them all, so whatever.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - This isn’t really the Metroidvania-style game the last two games were-if anything, I’d liken it a bit more to a Kirby game. It’s stage-based, but you need to revisit/replay each stage multiple times as you acquire new abilities to find all the secrets hidden in them. Most of the transformation abilities and magical attacks from Risky’s Revenge return, plus a lot of new dances. I was uncertain about this at first because the difficulty curve is a bit steep and fairly front-loaded: This assumes it isn’t your first platformer game. As you acquire the special abilities, replaying the platforming sessions gets a lot easier; though there’s still a very annoying runner section after the final boss that you can’t lose, but you need to get perfect to win. This game is loaded with additional modes, including multiple challenge modes, arcade modes, and alternate story modes-you certainly get your money’s worth of replaying the same half-dozen stages over and over.
HuniePop 2: Double Date - I played the original HuniePop because it came in a bundle. I bought this on sale because I thought it would be mindless entertainment, and I wasn’t wrong. This picks up where the original ended, with the main character so successful at charming women, that he’s chosen to save the world from a pair of goddesses who are about to arise with terrible PMS. The only way to beat them is by charming them into a threesome, and of course he’ll need to get some practice first. This dumps most of the question/answer dating sim mechanics and complicates the money/XP system to compensate, but it’s otherwise basically the same game of giving gifts and playing match-3 until you get a booby picture. (This lets you set your explicitness rating for those pictures on a three-level toggle, but it’s R-rated ta its softest.)
Get In The Car, Loser! - This is probably the queerest game I’ve ever played, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but it is most certainly not for everyone. You play as Sam, who joins Grace and Val on a road trip quest to defeat the Machine Devil before it awakes and corrupts the world. Sam is socially awkward and very much in her own head-the third act is basically her having an extended anxiety spiral. The Machine Devil cultists are all internet trolls-pretty much literally; their dialogue is conservative dialectics 101, with all the misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and ablism that entails. I had no qualms about smushing them into paste, let me tell you. That said, while the story was right up my alley, the mechanics are…not great. The battles are based loosely on Final Fantasy 13’s system, but very simplified; and the repetitiveness of them is only emphasized by there only being one battle song (that has lyrics). In Easy mode, your characters heal after every battle; in Normal you need to balance fighting to get money with attrition between rest stops because in-battle healing only gives you temporary HP. The level system is entirely equipment-based; if you equip everyone with upgraded items from one tier, the next tier unlocks in the shops (though that’s also gated by story progression and whether you buy the DLC). I think I would have preferred if “Story Mode” did away with the combat mechanic entirely; though several battles (particularly boss battles) do advance the plot. I suspect this was a very cathartic game for Christine Love to make in the current day and age; but it’s definitely not for everyone.
Overall: I think there’s a certain amusing irony in playing three games that thrive on male-gaze objectification, and then one that is strongly anti-misogynist and often questions the very concept of gender. But I enjoyed them all, so whatever.