Snezhinka

• Genre: Shmup(?)
• Spoiler Free Review: No.
• Time Played: 3-4 Hours
• Too Short/Long: Just like it's predecessor, it's fine for what it is. It gives you enough to play around with and doesn't wear out it's welcome. It's a few dollars for a few hours of entertainment. There are additional challenges and such should I want to pursue them and was really looking for more reasons to play but I'm satisfied with what I got.
• Soundtrack: About the same more or less, not really much different.
• Why I played: It's the same as Marfusha really, and since I finished that one and liked it enough, I wanted to play this one.
• Did I cry: Once again, no. It's relatively short, story light, and despite the hopeless war and darker themes, with everything dressed in satire, it makes it hard to be invested, even though it expands upon a preestablished story.
• Jank: A bit less janky than Marfusha, most things are refined. There is still the occasionally very stock looking graphic that feels out of place.
• Difficulty: Similarly, I feel like it's easier than it intends to be. They did a bit better balancing things, and the requirements for the true ending might be a bit more strict, but it's not that tough once you know what you're doing.
• Recommend to others: Another category that is just like Marfusha. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. Especially this one first, I'd sooner recommend Marfusha first and say if you want more of that, then play this.

Snezhinka is a direct sequel to Marfusha and doesn't too much different. It's a little bit more refined, offers a little bit more variety various aspects, but it's mostly the same. You play as Marfusha's sister, there are a handful of endings, some that different depending on your recruited partner, some based off decisions made between missions and some dependent on your performance in mission.  

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Genre: Action Rpg
  
• Spoiler Free Review: Maybe spoilery if you read too much into what I say or analyze screenshots too closely.
• Time Played: 100 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's pretty much just right. I did everything in the game and feel pretty satisfied with my time. Earlier in the final act, I definitely wanted more time with game, and it gives you plenty more to do.
• Soundtrack: This has an absolutely amazing soundtrack. I immediately downloaded it after finishing the game. The fact it was 12 USD for 8 hours of music feels criminal.
• Why I played: Leading up to it, I was pretty excited for this games release and shared a few trailers here and there, I thought it looked like a pretty stylish RPG.
• Did I cry: Yeah, maybe at a few points in the game.
• Jank: This is a pretty polished game. Off the top of my head I can't really think of any jankiness.
• Difficulty: It's pretty up there for turned-based, story-oriented RPGs. The combat is really good, and the characters are each pretty different, each utilizing their own gimmicks, but it can be pretty punishing getting the timing right to parry or dodge.
• Recommend to others: I definitely put this high on my recommendations to others. Above many games I consider my favorites, just because I feel like it's more likely to find appeal to a wider audience. It has a lot going for it in every facet of the game. I would say the biggest hurdle for most people is going to be the difficulty, but I'm also speaking as someone who sought out all the optional content. Like many rpgs, you can definitely come to out level your opponents, so it shouldn't be too inaccessible, even for those who can't get the timing down as well.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 far exceeded my expectations. From the trailers, I just thought I saw something really cool and stylish. An RPG that finally had flair to rival Persona 5's UI, and hype battle music. While they're very different styles of games, I definitely think it succeeds in that aspect. Better? That's a matter of taste, but few rpgs ooze style in the way these games have and I think that has a lot to do with Persona 5's success. I think it similarly will be a reason that Expedition 33 goes unforgotten. 

Maybe weird to compare the game to Persona 5 at all, but I think it's the first thing that comes to many minds when you think "Stylish rpg". I do think they share more than that superficial aspect of it too, but I'll try to keep this review more or less spoiler free. Which now that I think on it, make it hard to discuss a lot of facets of the game.

It's one of those experiences where you kind of go in knowing that people don't know why things are happening, so you're constantly unravelling the story alongside them. That makes every revelation and moment to moment kind of a spoiler, where the main story is concerned anyway.

Changeable Guardian Estique

• Genre: Shmup
• Spoiler Free Review: Included ending screenshots because it's hard to get to play.
• Time Played: 3-4 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's a shmup, so it's not that long, it could have more, but it's also designed to actually work and first on NES hardware, so it's fine.
• Soundtrack: Some good little tunes in here, but very NES style of course.
• Why I played: Somewhere shared it in a gaming group and after seeing some of the visuals I had to get it. Even if they made it as inconvenient as possible.
• Did I cry: No
• Jank: It's pretty basic so it's pretty jank free. That said, I played the famicom version. There is some jank in the choice of production and I think the NES version has some purposeful jank.
• Difficulty: It's a lot more forgiving than most NES shmups. Maybe just because you can alwayts opt to continue where you left off, instead of always restarting from the beginning. They also utilize a health bar, which not too many NES shmups did. Generally I appreciate these leniencies because while I find shmups very fun, I'm not like amazing at them. 
• Recommend to others: I would if I could, but I can't, so I won't. Mainly because you can't buy it for anything modern. It doesn't have a digital version. It can only be played on NES/Famicom hardware. So I guess... the only people I would recommend it to are people really into still using that hardware in particular. Even then, it's a bit pricey for what it is, but I supposed I'd recommend it to anyone willing to get "boutique" games like this. I'm including more screenshots than I usually do for a game this size since it's not as accessible.

To elaborate on the above, Changeable Guardian Estique is a "boutique" Famicom homebrew game. It only exists in a physical format reproduction cartridge. It's a 2023 NES/Famicom game.

Which is kind of annoying, as this makes it pretty inaccessible for a lot of people, and also pretty expensive, for what it is. I'm not complaining, I got it, and I enjoy my little box, and my little instruction booklet, and my little physical game. But that isn't the only thing they did that's kind of annoying. They also "localized" the NES version in the same way the would have in the 80s or early 90s. They made it more difficult. They mess with some of the sprites so they look different, or are like blown up. They cut out stages, and they removed some story(the yuri) and rewrote it with popculture references. The rewriting aside due to subjectivity, it's generally an inferior product - which is something that wasn't too uncommon for NES or even SNES release of games.

So I opted to get the Famicom version even though I don't know japanese. It's a shmup, not story heavy so I only need it so much, and I was easily able to google lens the entire story which is maybe a total of 20 lines of dialog. I also did this to read the instruction booklet. 

Otherwise, the game is pretty basic. It's good, but basic. You can change speed with select, you can fire, you can shift from ship to mech form. Tapping the shoot button rapidly uses one of your specials. It's well designed, but limited by it's format. So it might not be up to what most shmups are doing in 2023, but it was still a joy to play.

Marfusha

• Genre: Shmup(?)
• Spoiler Free Review: Thematic spoilers.
• Time Played: 3-4 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's fine for what it is. It doesn't have much and can quickly get to the point where you figure out the best ways to win, but a few hours of entertainment for a few dollars is worth it.
• Soundtrack: I think there were a few pretty good tracks, but there are only a handful total.
• Why I played: The aesthetic caught my eye. It has classic pixelated still drawings for it's scenes which will almost always get me.
• Did I cry: No. It's depressing, sure, but mostly in a parody way.
• Jank: This one is pretty janky. Not really in performance or controls, just in presentation. It's just what it is.
• Difficulty: I feel like it's a little easy for what it's going for. It only took me a couple attempts before I could run through and "Perfect" every level.
• Recommend to others: Not really, not that it's bad. I just don't know who I would recommend this to.

Marfusha, also called Marfusha: Sentinel Girls, depending where you get it, is a game inspired by the not-entirely well know prequel(that is a sequel in story, and a reimagining of another game, a visual novel with no visuals, that has since had a full remake) to Girls Frontline, the mobile game.

Some of the theming of that is obvious, and by that I mean the fact that you play as anime girl with guns in a highly militaristic setting. Marfusha's story is about a girl recruited to defend the city walls in a USSR inspired dystopia where you have the privilege of paying 98% of your income in taxes. Just when you think you might have more money to get certain upgrades you find out your going to be taxed for the very fact you don't have enough money.

Gameplay wise it's a pretty basic aim+shoot game. You're mostly defending a wall and you can walk back and forth to position yourself for enemies better or get them before they come close to it. You defend against a wave of enemies, get a chance to buy upgrade or usable items, and proceed to the next wave. It's fun for a bit, and there a bunch of a different endings and challenge modes making it worth replaying as long as it keeps your interest.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time

• Genre: Action Rpg
• Spoiler Free Review: I don't think things are really high stake enough to spoil in this game, but there might be some spoilers of things you get.
• Time Played: 80 Hours
• Too Short/Long: I feel like I wrapped up the story just as the game was growing a little tedious for me, so I'd say just right. That said, you can definitely extend your playtime and play much more, or maybe even shorten it a good bit if you want to play a bit more focused. I feel like this has more variety in the "Just right" amount of playtime than most games will.
• Soundtrack: There are some catchy tunes or otherwise generic fantasy world tunes that are fitting for the setting and style of game, but nothing I'm gonna really jam out to on it's own.
• Why I played: I loved the first Fantasy Life and had hopes they were going to make a new one for years, so I was really excited for this one.
• Did I cry: Most of it, even the most dramatic aspects are pretty light hearted, so there isn't much worth shedding a tear over.
• Jank: It's mostly jank free. I feel like the jankiest aspect might be intended game design. Basically out of bounds enemies will become invincible and then eventually return to their start position. This can break some enemies entirely though who won't return. I had a challenge where I kept pushing the enemy out of range and it would become invincible without returning and I would have to leave the area and then come back and restart the fight a few times before I could actually finish it.
• Difficulty: Generally the game is pretty easy, as you can always get better equipment. However, it could be considered a bit tedious to engage with all systems, and late game enemies are pretty strong. Late game might out pace some players before they are willing to put in the effort to face them.
• Recommend to others: Fantasy Life is a really fun game that I would recommend to most people. It's gameplay loop is just a constant stream of dopamine. Make better stuff, fight stronger enemies, get new things, make better stuff, etc. You're always getting something, which makes for a lot of moments where you just wanna keep going to get the next thing.

I really liked the first Fantasy Life and really sung it's praises back when in it's day. I leave off on this one not quite as sure how I'll regard it in the future. I enjoyed it a lot, don't get me wrong, but maybe it just wasn't enough? Not that there isn't enough. The game definitely feels packed, just maybe a little shallow. Maybe I didn't spend enough time with multiplayer, or maybe the way I approach games now - with the goal of finishing them, rather then just something to play for the sake of playing, skews my perspective.

I definitely feel like you can get something out of it in both those regards, if you just want something to play and enjoy with friends, or something to sit back and relax and mess around with. We'll see of course because usually - as I say - when I'm finished, I'm done. But I might actually go back to this one when the DLC is released.