✤MURO Mellow : MURO'S Game List (Part 1)✤

 Hi everyone! I'm here with something a little different. I've talked about a couple games individually, but I wanted to talk about games on which I don't feel I could write a whole post. Rather than focusing on each title individually, this is an overview of games that I find particularly inspiring, polished, or noteworthy. I plan on making this multiple parts!

    Warning: These reviews may contain spoilers for side content! I've tried to avoid anything related to the main story of each game, but if you enjoy entering a game completely blind, some details might be spoilers.

 

 1. Wandersong

 

"I'm scared... that no matter how hard I try, I'll never change anything."

    Wandersong, created by Greg Lobanov, is set when your character, the Bard, has a prophetic dream about the world ending and how there's a destined hero needed to set out to save it. You are not that hero. You're a bard! Instead of slaying monsters, our Bard sets out to find the Earthsong - a song that unites every person in the world and can hypothetically save it from ending. 

 

     It's a charming puzzle platformer with fun characters and a surprisingly emotional plot. Characters have real doubts that they talk about and have to work through, and the stakes can't be much higher than 'if you fail, the world ends.' It's family-friendly, rated E for Everyone 10+ by the ESRB, with only a warning for fantasy violence. It's a cozy game oozing with charm, and I'm tempted to replay it every time I see anything about it. Our all-loving hero is balanced out by a snarky witch companion, keeping it from getting too saccharine.

 

    And because the developers seem to know my interests psychically, the game includes a 'dance' button that works at any time, even in cutscenes. Cutting a rug during an otherwise serious and emotional moment is delightful.

2. NieR: Automata

 "Everything that lives is designed to end. We are perpetually trapped in a never-ending spiral of life and death. Is this a curse? Or some kind of punishment? I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle...and wonder if we'll ever get the chance to kill him."

    For a drastic shift in tone, my next game is NieR: Automata, developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix. Everything about this game, from the menus to the combat to the incredible music, is seared into my brain like a brand. Square Enix, you have successfully obtained my money. This game is rated M for Mature 17+ by the ESRB for blood, partial nudity, strong language, and violence. In NieR: Automata, you play as the YoRHa android 2B in a future where humans have long abandoned Earth.

 

    To me, every aspect of this game is overwhelmingly memorable. The crisp black-and-white uniforms of the YoRHa soldiers with their iconic blindfolds, the odd capitalization, the washed-out coloring that made me feel like I was watching a movie—there was little about this game's design that didn't strike a chord with me. It has surreal humor, bleak stories, heartwarming moments, and difficult ethical decisions; it has it all. Writing about NieR: Automata without it just turning into a grocery list praising every aspect of it is difficult because I'm heavily biased. Combat is customizable with an option for 'auto chips' in easy mode to make combat easier. There's auto chips for dodging, aiming, attacking, automatically switching weapons, using healing items, collecting items, and automatically hacking into enemy defenses. You can pick and choose which chips you want to use and switch them out at any time.

 

    Spoilers ahead! There's even the 3C3C1D119440927 DLC (downloadable content), which adds to the side content areas referred to as arenas - places where the player can fight increasingly tricky challenges for rewards - and one of the highest-level boss fights in the game, the 'CEO fight'. Against Yosuke Matsuda, the at-the-time President of Square Enix. Watching a normal man in a suit float down from the ceiling and announce himself as Square Enix's CEO in a setting where humans absolutely shouldn't be around and being immediately thrown into a fight with him had me gobsmacked. The lyrics to the music playing during the fight drive it home, with the main focus being a dramatic song with an unfitting vocal track repeating things like 「社長です」('Shachou desu' in Romanji, roughly translating to 'I'm the CEO / Company President),  「松田です」 ('Matsuda desu', roughly 'I'm Matsuda'),  and "Square Enix".

    And then, halfway through the fight, a voice asks if they can join in. Kenichi Sato, at-the-time CEO and President of PlatinumGames, also floats down from the ceiling looking ready for a business meeting. I've never been stomped flat by a small, bespectacled businessman before, and NieR: Automata has decided to provide me with the opportunity. To be fair, you're told beforehand that this fight 'may end up destroying your sense of immersion'. I think it's a perfect representation of NieR's overall appeal - it's crafted with care and high-quality, but doesn't take itself too seriously even with how bleak the setting is. You can run around and fish (did I mention there's a fishing mechanic?), take in the scenery, and goof off while still experiencing impactful stories.

    This post has gotten long-winded, so I'll end it here. What do you think of these games? Have you played them? Let me know in the comments! If you have any games you want to see on MURO 3D, tell me about them! That's all for today, and see you next time!