Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance High School, Love, and Cryptids

 Note* I received a Nintendo Switch code for the game for my honest review. Thank you to Rocket Adrift for the game code.

When I read the description of Raptor Boyfriend I was intrigued and amused. A high school romance dating sim set in 1997 in a town called Ladle that has magic creatures referred to as Cryptids and three of those romance options are a Velociraptor, a Fae, and a Bigfoot. What also caught my eye was the artwork because it was colorful, stylish, and really well done. 

As soon as you start the story you're introduced to the main character Stella who has moved to the small town of Ladle her last year of high school. Stella mentions she has been to Ladle before when she was a kid going to Summer camp and about how she had so much fun and that the town has magic creatures called Cryptids. Stella also brings up the fact that she hadn't been back to Ladle in a long time and she's a bit nervous about school. I liked Stella instantly because I recognized a bit of myself in her. I graduated from high school in 1995 so I'm older than Stella by a couple years, but I was that shy awkward kid too so I could understand the anxiety of meeting new people and not knowing anyone. 

We meet Stella for the first time. 

The gameplay is pretty typical of visual novels. It's broken down into seven chapters that you read through and click on to the next page. The story is well thought out as you have moments where you have to choose a response for Stella and how you answer will affect how the other characters interact with her. Stella's first day of school introduces the three love interests and again I was impressed with the comic book art style. The first person Stella meets is the Velociraptor, Robert.

Robert the Velociraptor appears.

Robert is a funny and friendly jock type. He also likes to do silly pranks. I found myself laughing at his antics because I was friends with a guy like Robert in high school. He was always really easy going, liked to make people laugh, and he was a good guy. Robert is the first love interest that is introduced to Stella and they have some pretty interesting dialogue that shows Robert is more than what he appears and that he has some deep insight into things about himself. 

After that, we meet the second love interest Taylor who is a Bigfoot. I was surprised at the reveal that Stella and Taylor knew each other from before when they were kids because Taylor's parents ran the Summer camp that Stella went to. Taylor is definitely cute and he's very much the quiet, brooding musician type. However, there is a gentle warmth to Taylor I found really endearing. The fact that he and Stella had a shared history together definitely added a great layer to their story. 

Taylor shows up.

Finally, we meet Day who is a magical Fae and honestly I thought Day was beautiful. In fact, she was the first romance I chose on the first playthrough of the game. Day is smart, witty, and she's a talented artist. There's a lot of layers to her showing some of the insecurities she struggles with and how she handles that around Stella. I loved their interactions with each other because they were relatable and charming. 

Meeting Day for the first time. 

To get the story going, you have to choose one of your potential love interests to call on the phone at home. This gives you some insights into who they are and will also give you an idea about their feelings. I went for Day the first time through and I really liked her romance a lot because Day was so genuine as she talked about her passion for art and how she wanted to leave Ladle and see more of the world and learn more about herself. She also showed herself to be this incredibly thoughtful, loving person. She was also fun and funny which made me like her even more. 

Chatting with Day on the phone. 

While you do have moments with your love interest, you also get to know the other two characters a bit more as the story progresses. There's of course the high school angst which brought up memories of being that age and how serious everything felt at times, but then also remembering the fun times with your friends and silly things you would do goofing off because you were kids. It ties everything in the story together nicely and it shows overall that each character has things they're struggling with and it makes them all the more endearing. 

Everyone in the car!

I liked all of the romances and seeing the different endings for each, but Day was my favorite. That initial awkwardness of Stella and Day liking each other, but trying to figure out those feelings was beautifully done with care for both characters. The moments alone with Day having those conversations I loved the best because I got to see more of who Day was and was becoming as a person with each chapter and the affection she had for Stella showed through all of it. 

Day and Stella have a conversation.

When I got to the end of the story and the big romance moment with Day, I could not stop smiling. It was sweet, wholesome, and just a beautiful moment. I also loved the fact that there was a bit more after the credits with a bit of a time jump and showing Stella and Day together, having fun and being in the moment with each other. It wraps everything up in the best way. I did play through two more times to get the story arcs with Robert and Taylor and I enjoyed theirs also because I got to see more of who they were in their moments, but Day is still my favorite. 

Raptor Boyfriend isn't very long as I finished it in about three hours, but it's charming and wonderful. The story is good and the characters are definitely memorable with a great art style and a lot of nineties references that brought back some great memories. If you like dating sim romance novels, definitely check this one out because it's fantastic.

A beautiful moment with Day. 

*Raptor Boyfriend A High School Romance is available on the following: Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, Xbox, Steam, itch.io

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

A Space For The Unbound, A Beautiful Journey

 *Note: I received a game code for the Nintendo Switch for my honest review of the game. Thank you to Toge Productions and Mojiken Studio for the game code and thank you for creating such a powerful and beautiful game. 

*Trigger warning: A Space for the Unbound shows and discusses mental health: depression, anxiety, and suicide. These are very serious and heavy topics in the game and we will be going over it in this review with some spoilers. 

A Space for the Unbound is a slice of life adventure story set in Indonesia in the nineties that talks about depression and anxiety. The game starts with introducing the main character of Atma who seems to be having a dream about chatting with a young girl named Nirmala about her story she's writing. Immediately I noticed the beautiful pixel art of the game. The colors are vibrant which work really well with the art. I liked the interaction between Atma and Nirmala because you could really see how close they are as friends. 

Atma and Nirmala in their basecamp. 

Atma wakes up in a classroom with his girlfriend Raya who is very sweet. I found myself smiling as Raya talked to Atma about making a bucket list of things they want to do together before graduating. Raya tells Atma they should do all these things right away and suggests skipping the rest of the school day. This starts the game with playing as Atma figuring out how to sneak by the teachers and meet up with Raya. 

Atma and Raya together. 

You can keep track of everything you do in a red book that shows the bucket list and as you complete each thing, it gets checked off. The book also has a map of the town as well as a list of all the collectibles Atma can find.

Keeping track of the bucket list. 

There's another cute feature in the game which is all the cats in town. You can pet the cats and you can choose among a list of three names to give them which is adorable and I made sure I named and petted every single cat. It's a lovely thing that brought so much joy just being able to hang out with all the cats. 

Atma pets a cute kitty. 

Atma and Raya wander around town doing different things and meeting up with all the various supporting characters in the story. They're having fun together and Atma starts to notice some things about Raya and around town that don't seem right. Raya has a supernatural power she can use and she does show Atma with the adorably named Cat Island who is surprised, but takes it in stride. 

Raya and Atma on Cat Island. 

The red book Atma carries with him is special because it is magical and allows Atma to have the ability to space dive which means he can go into someone's mind and see their memories when certain conditions are met. It's a specific memory that shows something the person is struggling with or trying to overcome. It's up to Atma to solve a unique puzzle in these memories that helps the person by changing something in the real world or gives a clue about the person so that Atma can help them. Each inner mind world looks pretty cool and interesting with the art style showing that character's personality. That's another thing I love about the game too. The music throughout the game is beautiful and captures the mood of each chapter and scene perfectly. 

Atma in someone's memory. 

Besides the main story, there are side quests you can do as well such as beating the high score in Future Fighter which is Atma's favorite game or collecting bottlecaps around town. Future Fighter is a lot of fun and brought up nostalgic memories for me of playing games in the arcade with my friends when I was a kid. It's a nice break from the main story and while it took me quite a few tries, I did beat the high score eventually; a fun thing to cross off the bucket list. 

Future Fighter is so much fun. 

Atma is really likeable and I appreciated his kind heart and concern for Raya especially as he navigated through the fact that he wasn't sure which things were dreams or memories as they blurred together. The more Raya uses her power, the more unstable things around town become. Each chapter reveals a bit more in the story as Atma tries to figure out what is going on and finds out the truth about terrible things Raya went through. 

I'm grateful that the developers of the game had a warning about the heavy topics discussing mental health with depression, anxiety, and suicide because the story in A Space for the Unbound while beautiful is also heartbreaking in places. Atma seeing Raya's memories of being bullied and struggling with feeling like she was enough, feeling like everything was just a pointless endeavor, absolutely resonated with me. It moved me to tears because I have been where Raya is; on the edge of the abyss wondering if it's all worth it and fighting to go on. The earnestness with which this game discusses these things made me feel seen in such a thoughtful and gentle way. That means everything to me because so many times we're told not to talk about mental health and here in A Space for the Unbound it's talked about in such a beautiful open and honest way showing that it is okay to talk about it and that it's important because we need that love and support in order to move forward.

By the end of the story I was sobbing because it wrecked me in the best way. The gentleness of Atma really shines through as he tells Raya how much he loves her and supports her. It perfectly showed all it takes is just one person to care and be there when we need it most. One of my favorite lines in the game is something Atma says, "Don't worry, in the storm you'll find your sunrise." because it shows that even in our darkest moments of despair there is always a little bit of hope and light. In a way, A Space for the Unbound is a love story. It's a story about loving ourselves, even the parts of us that we feel are hard to love and that the people who truly care about us love all of us too and will be there with us every step of the way with patience, love, and kindness. It's a beautiful journey and I'm so grateful I got a chance to play it. It's a wonderful indie gem and I loved all of it.

Beautiful words of wisdom from Atma. 

*A Space for the Unbound is available on: PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Playstation 5

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

 

Shin-chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation, A Fun Summer Adventure

 *Note: I received a free code for the Nintendo Switch for my honest review of the game. Thank you to Neos Corporation for the game code. 

I love Shin-chan and if you've ever read the manga or seen the anime you know it's fun, silly, and also sweet showing the importance of family and friends. I was instantly drawn in by the concept of this game because it looked cute and fun. The official name of the game is Shin-chan: Me and the professor on Summer Vacation - The Endless Seven Day Journey. That's quite a mouthful, but it gives you a hint about what to expect in the game. 

The game starts with five year old Shinnosuke Nohara "Shin-chan" getting ready for a week long trip to visit his mother's childhood friend in a rural town called Assou a play on the real city of Aso. When the family arrives at their destination a mad scientist named Dr. Akuno approaches them and gives Shin a camera that prints illustrations rather than photos. This seems a little odd, but they don't think anything of it until the next day Dr. Akuno shows up with a dinosaur he claims he extracted with time travel in order to wreak havoc. This is the right amount of interesting and silly for a Shin-chan game and the rather calm reaction from the family makes it even funnier. 

Shin-chan is ready for the Summer. 

The first day lets Shin introduce himself to everyone and explore the village a little bit. The game also explains some of the controls and how Shin's camera works. I really liked the camera because you can take a look at the pictures that Shin took in his room and it looks like a very cool picture diary. It's also a neat way to save your game. The illustrations are cute and whimsical, adding a fun way to track things you've done in the game. 

Picture diary of adventures!

Summer Vacation is very much a chill, relaxing experience because getting to play as Shin who is a five year old kid shows that joy of enjoying the Summer and getting to be a kid. The days are about 30 minutes and then you get about 5-10 minutes of night where you can talk to the other characters before Shin has to go to bed. There are quite a few places for Shin to wander and he can do a variety of things such as fishing, catching bugs, or one of my favorites taking pictures with the camera for the local newspaper. The game definitely celebrates that sheer joy that kids have of just getting to be kids during Summer vacation and having fun. At the end of the week, Dr. Akuno shows up and uses his time travel abilities to reset the week, hence the endless Summer aspect of it which keeps things going until the main story is resolved. 

Shin does a little night fishing. 

There are side quests Shin can do as well in the form of doing favors for people in the village like watering crops on a farm, delivering a specific type of herbs to a grocery store owner, or catching a variety of fish for someone. I found it was easier to just pick one or two things to do each day so Shin could wander to his heart's content. I really liked watering crops on the farm because then you could harvest them and those were part of some side quests too. The rewards for the quests gives Shin some cute badges, stickers, and really colorful trading cards. 

Ready to water the crops!

Another thing that amused me was the morning stretches. Every morning, Shin and his family do morning exercise and all the characters in the game join. There's a cheerful fun song and as the story progresses, there are more noticeable characters and dinosaurs added. It's cute and hilarious and put a smile on my face every time. 

Morning exercise time!

My absolute favorite thing in the game however was Dinosaur Showdown. Shin can befriend the kids from the village and play this game with them. It feels very much like a fighting card game and it is such a blast to play. You can get different dino cards when you buy a snack called Chocobi from the grocery store. Then you get to use these cards to play the game with the local kids. It's very easy to follow akin to Rock, Paper, Scissors and you can even compete in a Dinosaur Showdown tournament. The designs for the various dinosaurs are colorful and the battles aren't long so it keeps your attention. I got really hooked on this minigame and strived to collect all the dino cards. 

Dinosaur Showdown is fun! 

There are of course the usual Shin-chan jokes with Shin mishearing things adults say and a few innuendo jokes which if you're familiar with the series itself is a big part of the humor. Some are hit or miss, but I found myself chuckling a lot at most of them. The best part of the game is there's no hurry. You can take your time and enjoy everything. The artwork for the game itself is beautiful. I found myself just stopping to admire the surrounding areas with beautiful, bright flowers or the clear sparkling river. The music and ambient sound for the game is lovely too and together it creates such a relaxing mood and allows you to appreciate everything the game offers. 

Wow, those are some pretty flowers! 

Shin-chan is definitely all about the laid back vibes and it delivers that perfectly. The overall main story itself isn't very long; I finished it in about eight hours. You can play through again with everything you've collected and get things you may have missed. The game was a delight to play and just like the Shin-chan series it shows the importance of family, friends, and enjoying each day as it comes. 

Shin enjoys a rainbow. 

*Shin-chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation is available to play on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and Steam

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Kokoro Clover Season 1: A Fun Romp With The Saturday Morning Cartoon Spirit

 *Note: I received a free game code for the Nintendo Switch for my honest review of the game. Thank       you to Stride PR for the game code! 

The minute I heard and saw the gimmick of Kokoro clover as an anime game that is styled as a Saturday morning cartoon I was intrigued. I'm sure many of us have fond memories of getting up early, pouring that bowl of cereal, and sitting down to watch our favorite Saturday morning cartoons. The game completely has that vibe and right from the start I found it charming with the bright colors, anime style, and a genre I was absolutely familiar with, magical girls. 

The game itself is set up as twelve episodes which give you pieces of the story that tie in quite well to the overall main story. The main menu has the game set up according to how challenging you want it to be with Story mode being the casual setting, Adventure mode is the story with none of the dressing, and Boss Rush mode which lets you do a challenge fighting all the bosses. There are cute mini games that lets you earn coins to purchase monsters for your monster book in the shop and the Library shows you information on all the characters in the game as well as monsters you have fought. 

Lots of options to choose from. 

The story introduces us to the main character, a sweet spirit summoner named Treffy. Treffy has lived alone most of her life with her grandpa in the woods because the people of the village are scared of her because of her powers. Treffy seems happy and is just living her life with her two spirit summons Undine and Salamander until one day the cartoon super villain of the story Valx Vulcan shows up looking for the mysterious Kokoro Clover gem to use for his evil plan. It's here that the story in Kokoro Clover really takes off. 

Treffy and her grandpa. 

The gameplay in Kokoro Clover is fun! It's not hard to follow either as you jump and shoot things with Treffy's wand. She can also transform with the help of Undine and Salamander depending on what the area requires. It plays like a classic side scroll game, but with its own elements with a catchy musical soundtrack, bright colors, and dancing. Yes, dancing. In some fights Treffy can dance and win a battle which is in itself pretty amusing. The episodes aren't terribly long and yet you can replay them to get collectibles such as character trading cards, monster cards, new elemental forms, and new character assists. This makes the game fun for everyone, but not too challenging so you don't feel frustrated. 

Treffy battles a monster. 

Just like a real Saturday morning cartoon, there are also commercial breaks. These are short and adorable with scenes from the game itself setting up the next chapter and showing characters that are part of the story. It blends in really well with the whole aspect of the cute cartoon vibe. There is usually one commercial break per episode so it doesn't wear out its welcome.

One of the cute commercial breaks. 

I liked the story because it was entertaining with comical villains and interesting friends Treffy meets on her adventure. It was easy to follow which works well for younger kids who play the game and it's lighthearted. Even villains like Valx Vulcan aren't so bad as the story reveals why he's a villain and I laughed about it because it was rather silly, but quite amusing. There are also gacha style games in some of the episodes which add a layer of whimsy that makes it a blast to play. I loved the art style and design of the monsters and elemental transformation. The fact that Treffy's hair color and color of her outfits change with them really sells the magical girl aspect and it's very cute. 

A cute monster trading card. 

Kokoro Clover Season 1 isn't a long game, I finished it in about an hour. Don't let the shortness of it fool you however. It brings a lot to the table with the cute anime style, charming characters, fun gameplay, and some very cool extras with the minigames and trading cards. You can even go back and replay episodes to get any collectibles you missed which I did and it was still a great time for me. Kokoro Clover Season 1 is such a cute game and it's a fun romp with the Saturday morning cartoon spirit. Channel that inner child and check it out for yourself because you will have a great time!

Treffy having fun with her spirit summons.

*Kokoro Clover is available on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

God Of War Ragnarok: A Beautiful Journey

 I'm not sure I even have the words for how excited I was for God Of War Ragnarok. I couldn't wait to hang out with Kratos and Atreus again. First, the game does give you a recap of the previous game if you need a memory refresher. Next, I went over the accessibility settings in the game and they're fantastic. I was happy to see that I could adjust the controls, subtitles, and audio to where I was comfortable, but that I could also go back and change them according to what I needed to play comfortably. I was able to adjust the difficulty settings as well so I could just enjoy the story which is what I like to do in my games. 

The story takes place a few years after the events of the previous game and it is Fimbulwinter which lets us know that Ragnarok is coming. Kratos looks even older and more tired and Atreus has grown a lot into a teenage boy. He's trying to figure out more about his giant self as Loki and trying to get Kratos to understand he's not a little kid anymore. There's a lot of push and pull between the two that is beautifully done showing that need for independence and that difficulty of a parent letting their child grow up.  Right from the beginning the game does not pull its punches with an epic wild battle and a bit of a confrontation with Odin himself. This sets up the path of them leaving Midgard and start their quest in searching for a missing god among the nine realms.

Kratos and Atreus are back! 

At the center of the story is prophecy and fate raising questions about if the characters in the story have to follow it or if they can make their own fate. I was blown away by how beautiful the game is and kept stopping to admire every area I was in because they were all so vastly different and yet each had its own unique beauty. My personal favorites were the branches of Yggdrasil and the forests of Vanaheim. I loved exploring everywhere and besides the main story, there are tons of side quests to do in each area. I took my time doing everything, savoring every single moment.

I loved this treehouse! 

Combat is a blast with the Leviathan axe and the chaos blades and then a new weapon is added and that is even more fun. Kratos has some new moves that add some wonderful layers to these fight, but he's not the only one. Atreus has some new tricks too with his archery that lend amazing support skills, but also let him hold his own. This of course gives both of them materials for armor pieces and weapon upgrades which can be done by our favorite dwarves Brok and Sindri. Each piece is gorgeous and depending on what your play style is, they can be mixed and matched to suit you. 

Dragon fight time! 

Christopher Judge absolutely shines as Kratos. Every time Kratos spoke, I would stop and just listen. The nuances of emotion for each scene were beautiful. The moments where Kratos speaks softly to his son about the pain he has endured, how hate hurt everyone around him, and how he wanted his son to be better than him were the moments that punched me right in the gut because they hit so hard emotionally and it touched me deeply causing me to need a moment because they made me cry. That is such a gift to be able to do that with your performance, to tell a story that touches on that emotional connection. The entire cast is incredible honestly and I was invested in the story every step of the way. 

Kratos in Vanaheim with Freya. 

One thing that was different from the previous game which I thought was pretty interesting is that Kratos and Atreus are not always together. Each one is given a chance to be on their own as part of the story and explore on their own with others, meaning I got to play as Atreus in some chapters. This was smartly done because you get to see things from Atreus's perspective and that teenage angst felt so familiar. It's a weird place to be, that in between childhood and adulthood trying to figure out who you want to be and where your place is in the world. They nailed it perfectly and in showing that Atreus was genuinely trying to figure all of it out, but also trying to understand where his dad was coming from made Atreus really able to stand out in the story. It helped that he had fellow giant Angrboda to play those ideas and ideals off of and that she challenged him too. This was someone who was on equal footing with him and was able to cause Atreus to want to keep trying and not give up. I really liked her and appreciated what she brought to the story.  

Atreus and Angrboda. 

The musical soundtrack for the game is incredible and all throughout it, the music is perfect capturing the mood of each area and part in the story. It all ties together with many areas to explore, new things to discover, battles that keep you on your toes, and the story flowing beautifully telling this incredible narrative about these characters we've come to know and love. Once the main story is done, there's still plenty to do with more side quests, unfinished quests, and endgame story tie ins. All of it is perfectly done and gives a good sense of closure to the main story. God Of War Ragnarok packs a lot into so many hours, but I didn't even notice because I was having fun and enjoying everything about it. It also kicked my heart in with the beautifully raw emotional moments throughout the story and I was so glad I got to enjoy this beautiful journey. 

An emotional moment with Kratos and Atreus.

*God Of War Ragnarok is out now and available to play on Playstation 4 and Playstation 5

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Disney Dreamlight Valley Early Access: A Delightful Fun Time

I decided to buy the standard founders pack of Disney Dreamlight Valley for early access. Right from the start, I was pleasantly surprised because of the wide variety of options with character customization down to body type, skin tone, and hairstyles. I was delighted and touched that I was able to create a Filipino character like me. That representation matters and I'm so glad that the game represents that really well. 

Welcome to Dreamlight Valley! 

The game has a very relaxed vibe with you rebuilding the village and using magic of course to rid the valley of dark thorns that cause a dark magic spell of forgetting happen. That's another aspect of the game as well, helping many different characters retrieve their lost memories. You can visit the worlds of notable characters and ask them to come live in the Valley to help rebuild the village. You can plant crops, go fishing, go mining, cook, and craft in the game. You can hang out with the different characters one on one which boosts your friendship with them and you can assign them a role like gardening which helps boost your stats as well and can give you extra crops because of their magic. 

Hang out, make friends! 

This also leads to fetch quests for characters which smartly introduces crafting and how to do it. Sometimes, you'll need to make a specific item for the character like a decoration or a magical item. All the various materials can be found in the different biomes and can be created at your crafting table. There is also cooking in the game and sometimes they will ask for specific dishes which you can cook in your house as long as you have a stove. You can get recipes from your Disney friends or you can experiment and discover new recipes on your own. I like all of it, but the cooking is my favorite because it's fun trying out different things and seeing what dishes I can create. 

Time for some crafting!

There's also the fact that you can change your outfits and you can customize your character at any time with the inventory/user menu. So if you want to try a new hairstyle or try a whole new look, you can do that. You can also decorate your house and your valley with the furniture items. You can visit Scrooge Mcduck for different outfits and furniture. His inventory changes every day so be sure to check it out; that way you don't miss out on anything new. You can also do your own custom design with the clothes, ranging from shirts to dresses which is great and offers a lot of fantastic options. 

You can change your outfit and your look anytime.

Sometimes it can be challenging to find a character when you want to turn a fetch quest in which is why the map comes in handy. You can look at your map and mark the character icon on the map and it will create a sparkly magical trail that you can follow all the way to them. I love that they have this feature because it makes it a lot easier to find everyone.

Finding friends on the map is easy. 

You can take photos with characters, putter around, and just have fun doing what you want. The relaxed vibe of the game is really nice because you can take your time with it and there's no rush. There's a good mix of villains and heroes and it's amusing to be friends with all of them. Scar in particular had me laughing about how snide he can be, but most of the time he's just a big typical cat lounging everywhere. Even funnier is when taking photos with characters in the background, they will stop and pose with you which got me a rather cute and silly photo of Scar and Minnie Mouse. 

Scar is a Minnie Mouse fan! 

That being said there are some definite issues with the game. Remember, it is in early access so there are definitely going to be some things that are buggy and game issues that need work. First up is the constant game crashes. I've been playing this on the Nintendo Switch and I love it, but I have learned to save my game often because after a few hours the game suddenly crashes. This can be very frustrating if you're right in the middle of a quest and then you have to do it again because the game crashed at the worst possible moment. Second is sometimes quests break where something isn't loading the way it's supposed to or a character doesn't load in correctly. It can be a little disconcerting, but reloading the game does seem to fix it. Last is how some of the quests feel a little grindy like making a clocktower for someone and that is because so many materials were needed to craft it and I would have to wait until the next day to get some of them because the drop rate for them was not good. It felt tedious and overlong to the point that by the time I was finished, I was glad to be done with it. The good news is that Gameloft has been great communicating on their social media about the issues, what is getting fixed, and what they're working on. They have a discord as well which helps a lot. 

Ahh, night in the Valley is magical. 

Dreamlight Valley does go free to play next year and there really hasn't been a lot of microtransactions and there's a ton of content that isn't hidden behind a paywall which makes me really happy. There's a ton to do in the game and I've enjoyed all of it immensely because it touches on that cozy, relaxed vibe that I enjoy from my life/farm sim type games. Whether it's having a blast cooking meals with Remy from Ratatouille or having a good time gardening with Wall-e, Dreamlight Valley is an all around delightful fun time. 

I love my garden! 

*Disney Dreamlight Valley in early access is available to play on the following platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Bayonetta 3: Even More Camp and Fun

Yes, there has been a lot happening surrounding Bayonetta 3. The recent Bloomberg article did a great job with talking to both parties and showing that there is more to it than what was initially shown. That being said, voice actors absolutely deserve to be paid well for their work and time. I am not disputing that at all. The problem is the former voice actor for Bayonetta didn't really tell the whole truth and it comes across as very dishonest and her dunking on the new voice actor for Bayonetta was weird. The other issue which I feel is a lot bigger is that she's a bigot. It definitely disappointed me considering that for me personally Bayonetta the character means a lot to me as a queer person. Sometimes, life works out that way and we do our best to learn from it and keep pushing forward. Either way, do your best to be kind. Now, let's get on with the review.

I was excited to play Bayonetta 3. I have played the previous two games and absolutely loved them. Right at the start Bayonetta 3 hooks you in with an epic fight happening with Bayonetta and a shadowy monster. This also introduces us to a new character, Viola who is definitely giving off amazing punk rocker vibes. Bayonetta is defeated by the monster known as Singularity and Viola escapes through a world bridge to another universe to find help fighting Singularity. 

The game then shows the Bayonetta we know driving with Enzo and of course Rodin is here too. That's when Viola shows up and everything goes to hell as a bunch of monsters show up called Homunculi. This gives the game a chance to give a fast tutorial on how the combat buttons work, how to witch walk which slows down time, and how to unleash epic attacks on the monsters.

Bayonetta and Enzo together again.

This first fight is a blast. The combat is even better and I appreciated the sheer camp of the game and loved getting to play as Bayonetta again. There's some new moves to learn as the Homunculi are a little more challenging, but it's a great time. 

She's back! 

After the chaos dies down for a time, Viola explains that she's an Umbran witch from another universe and that Singularity has already destroyed many alternate universes. To stop Singularity they have to travel to the island of Thule which acts as a gateway between universes in order to get the five chaos gears to lead them to the Alphaverse where Singularity is. Thus starts the main chunk of the game as Bayonetta travels to these different universes to find the chaos gears. She of course meets multiverse versions of herself and all of them are very cool as they fight alongside her in some moments. The fights themselves are great. I had a lot of fun just hacking and slashing away as well as using some new moves with Bayonetta's guns.

Taking out a giant monster.

Bayonetta has also learned some new moves and added a few more epic tricks. She can now summon demons to fight. She can have up to three in her amulett and some are familiar faces like Gomorrah while others are brand new like a demon train. All of them are fantastic and it added a layer of planning out fights, because each demon brings a different element so I had a good time deciding which one I wanted to use. There are also moments where you can summon a demon in giant form and this was awesome! The kid in me loved that I got to have giant monster fights. They play like rock, paper, scissors as you either attack or defend. These fights were wild and I enjoyed all of them. 

Giant monster fight! 

I did love the customization in Bayonetta 3. Naturally, you get these new things from Rodin at his bar. You can change Bayonetta's guns and accessories. The biggest thing I liked is that you could change the color of her costume, her glasses, and hair. I went with my favorite color, purple. If you have the money, Rodin is ready to sell you all the colors. There are 7 different costumes too, but you need to reach certain points of the game to unlock those. Once you do however, you can choose your favorite costume.

Bayonetta in my favorite color, purple. 

I was delighted to see we got to play as Viola and Jeanne in certain chapters. Getting to play as Viola was a lot of fun. Viola is a bit of a klutz, but that adds to her charm and I found her rather endearing because she's trying so hard and while she may not really show it, she cares a lot. Her fighting style is different from Bayonetta's and she doesn't have a full arsenal of weapons, but combat with Viola is wildly fun. She fights with a katana and she can toss it to summon her demon, Cheshire. While Cheshire can fight on its own, this means Viola can fist fight alongside him and she can't use witch time. Viola is really fast and I really liked her fighting style. It added another great aspect to the game playing as her. I was always happy to get to play as her when I saw it was a chapter with Viola. Cheshire is wonderful because of my love for Alice in Wonderland and Cheshire is my favorite, but also because when Cheshire teams up with Viola they can do some pretty powerful attacks.

Viola and Cheshire are awesome! 

The chapters with Jeanne are a little different because they're side chapters that play as a stealth side scroller. These missions are short and timed so Jeanne has to get through them quickly. Jeanne can use her powers to change form to crawl through vents, swim underwater, and stealthily get rid of Homunculi enemies in order to get to the elevator undetected. These are a lot of fun and I really liked playing as Jeanne in these. There are four of these side chapters with Jeanne and I enjoyed them. I just wish there had been a few more of them with her. 

Jeanne takes out a boss in her chapter.

The story for Bayonetta 3 is interesting and I was fully invested because of the great gameplay and the introduction of a standout character in Viola. I did like seeing Luka again too because he seemed to be more a part of this story than a side character. Without spoiling, I do understand why many are upset with the ending of Bayonetta 3. I'm saying this as a queer person, Bayonetta has very much brought me a lot of queer joy. I'm pansexual and seeing how much camp and cheeky fun the games have brought, genuinely makes me happy. Did I love the ending? Not really because it made me sad and it felt a little rushed. I do understand the valid concerns about queer baiting in regards to the ending. However, I will say as someone who is in a hetero presenting relationship, it stings a bit seeing once again the bi/pan erasure from some of the people speaking those concerns. I know that my relationship is not queer because I'm married to a man, but I myself am still very much queer. That is the part that bothers me. The idea that if a bi/pan person is in a hetero presenting relationship we're suddenly "not queer enough" or "not really queer" and it's something that I know I have had to fight against for a very long time and still have to fight against, and I'm tired. Other than that, I agree the ending could have been handled differently and while it's not a perfect ending, I do think it leaves some things open ended for the possibility of another Bayonetta game. 

Overall, I loved Bayonetta 3. It brought even more camp and fun. It brought back more of the over the top fights I love, added a cool new character, added the best giant monster fights, and of course showed off those sweet dance moves as only Bayonetta can. I had the best time with all of it. 

What a fun time! 

*Bayonetta 3 is available to play on Ninendo Switch

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