Samantha Lienhard
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Writing For
MonsterVine
KeenGamerLatest Reviews
Tokyo Dark
It is a supernatural, sometimes surreal type of horror story as you dig deeper into the secrets of the mask and the girl your partner was pursuing. There are some lighter moments—such as eating pancakes in a cat maid café—but the overall tone is dark, unsettling, and always intriguing.
The second route, unfortunately, feels almost extraneous. Without fondness for Tamamo no Mae from the previous games, her story feels too much like repetition of Nero’s route, while the third route is when the story truly breaks away from that formula. There are also side stories for the allied characters,...
The Lion's Song
Surprisingly the fourth episode feels the most disconnected from the rest, despite being the one that ties them all together. It is titled “Closure,” and that really is its purpose—rather than flesh out the new characters introduced, it provides an outsider’s look into the lives of the other three characters....
RiME
The game’s buildup is at times too subtle for the story it wants to tell, but it’s not as ambiguous as the beginning might make you believe, either. RiME isn’t the game to go to for challenging puzzles or a direct story, but it gives you a beautiful world to...
Conarium
Conarium can be completed in roughly 5 hours, depending on how long you spend on exploration, but those 5 hours are filled to the brim with Lovecraftian themes. While it rarely places you in any danger, Conarium instead builds up horror through its compelling atmosphere, dark storytelling, and a growing...
The Caligula Effect 2
Finally, the music deserves a mention. Since idols and musicians play an important role in the story, you’d hope for a strong soundtrack, and it succeeds. The dungeon themes are exciting and catchy, with a neat transition from the instrumental to vocal version whenever you enter combat.
Beat Cop
With rampant corruption and tough choices to make, Beat Cop can be grim. At the same time, it’s often funny, if only because of the insane situations Kelly ends up involved in. Unexpected complications await you as you try to solve the mystery, and you never know just what the...
Stories Untold
It’s a short game, as each episode can be finished in under an hour. Yet the story’s presentation—the dialogue, atmosphere, mystery, and growing sense that nothing is what it seems—makes it work well as a tight, concise package. If you like horror stories and adventure games, Stories Untold is worth...
Owlboy
Although Otus can’t speak, his posture and facial expressions convey his thoughts enough to make him lovable, and his companions are all entertaining in their own ways. Optional scenes flesh them out even more, and the only downside is that such a fantastic cast of characters deserves a more satisfactory...
Unfortunately, its story isn’t on the same level. Your journey begins when a young man named Amon finds a mysterious artifact and begins to investigate it. Despite some interesting lore, however, the story is rarely compelling, between bland plot developments, villains whose motivations go unexplained, and protagonists with almost no...
The overarching plot is strong, as are the individual cases. Some fans might take issue with the fourth case, as it doesn’t contribute to the larger story, but it is a lighthearted breather in a game where the stakes are otherwise quite high. Spirit of Justice builds on previous Ace...
Indeed, the entire game feels as though it could have—and perhaps should have—been longer. Its story and world are full of possibilities for a bigger game, and the ending feels slightly unfinished. The journey through I Am Setsuna is enjoyable, but it leaves behind so much unused potential. It will...
