My experience with Dino Crisis fits exactly with what you're describing.
It's not like I played that many classic horror survival games, but Dino Crisis seems one of the tougher ones in terms of combat and resource limits to me.
Definitely in part because there are only ammunition-based weapons. So once you're out of the very few bullets that are around, you are genuinely incapable of fighting.
Of course there is a focus on choosing your battles wisely, evasion over killing. But those dinos are also beefier than what I'm used to from like Silent Hill or whatever. lol
I probably would have done easy difficulty if I knew beforehand.
And I agree that the level design is kinda frustrating. Even with the map, it's incredibly easy to get confused because the room layout is just so messy.
I'm probably gonna start looking at walkthroughs soon. I've been playing for about 5hrs now and found my way through points of progression pretty well so far, but I'm stumped on what I'm supposed to do right now.

It does have some fun puzzles and cool action sequences. But I also find the game to overcomplicate systems to an unnecessary degree with things like the item crafting, inventory storage, and door locks.

- Matt

I can also +1 this experience. Granted, I only played for about an hour last night, but I feel like I got enough of the gameplay loop to understand how the whole experience might be. I checked a guide to try and get a sense of how much progress I'd made, and it made me realize how much I'd missed because I didn't inspect the exact right spot on a shelf or pile of scattered documents. It's like a pixel-hunting point-and-click, except you constantly have a linebacker tackling you out of your chair and only two band-aids. It's impossible to backtrack anywhere without getting hit at least once by a dino, so backtracking often feels like both a waste of time AND resources, especially when you don't even know what you're looking for.

But I'm still invested, weirdly enough. Maybe I'll watch a longplay instead of playing it myself.

In the meantime, I think I'll focus on Signalis. Already played Alan Wake 2, and I highly recommend it for anyone on the fence. Meta satire has been done to death, but I think they found some fresh ways to mess with the player's sense of reality. If there's enough time left in the month after everything I'm planning on playing, I might do the DLC.

One of my favorite games of all time. The creativity is off the charts and the humor manages to be both clever and just plain goofy at the same time. It’s probably been 15 years since my last replay so I’m probably due to dive back in. Then I can finally get around to playing the sequel too!

Hope you all enjoy this one, it’s a rare treat.

18/08/2025 17:21
So the world is a canvas made as part of the essence of Verso's soul. The paintress was his mother who was grieving his death as he was killed in a fire that damaged the manor in which they lived in. The renoir that I was fighting against was actually a construct created by the paintress or alina and so wouldn't of thought much about the people of luimier. The real renoir turned out to be the curator who now wishes to destroy the canvas as it is preventing Alina from truly getting over the loss of there son. I now have to go back to fight him but first a few side quests from the other characters have started to show up
19/08/2025 22:02
Well I geuss i've reached end game and all thats left is the final boss and optional areas. Gonna try and do as much as I can before the end of the month before hitting up the final boss. For now just doing the side quests from the companions only have maelle and monaco left to do
20/08/2025 22:01
Just doing more of maelle side quests... yeah this area is big enough to be a full on main quest especially compared to all the other side missiosn
22/08/2025 23:02
okay so now reached the peak of the third axon and now fighting Alicia There's a noticeable difficulty spike in the post ghame and io'm finding alot of the game harder now. Still Alicia I realised is a character of which the a paintress (mother) has created and the image is alot uglier then what is seen in the real world and the colour has been drained from her. I feel this ios a view in which the paintresses see her as broken and also from hints in the dialogue is being blamed for Verso's death by at least the a paintress
23/08/2025 22:59
Completed all the relationships now. From what i've read it's best to complete the main story before doing the rest of the post game so gonna do that and move Expedition into a podcast game for the post game content
24/08/2025 23:23
right done with the main story now. The final boss was interesting to me now as Renioir imo was right and I chose to end the canvas. But in the end you can see he and everyone in in his family are grieving in there own way and not in exactly healthy ways. Alicia has withdrawn into herself and trying to escape from the guilt she feels, Clea is an angry and lashing out, Alina has withdrawn into her memories and became the paintress trying to keep the family that once was while Renior desperately tries to pull the family back. None of the family is dealing with the grief healthly but Renior is probably the closest to dealing with it correctly by trying to move forward and Verso accepts his death has come and needs to move on. While I wasn't blown away with the story as most people on this thread were I still feel the game was a great story especially it's start and ending and ultimelty this an excellent game and a real strong RPG which I highly recommend.

I'm going to try and 100% but going to move this into a secondary and podcast game while I go back to Fallout New Vegas but should hopefully make some progress to 100% this game. Not sure If I consider this completed yet or not. Still I just reached Frozen hearts and completed the Nevron quest there. I have also beat Sprong and beat all the gestral games.

Should probably spoiler tag that first paragraph in case anyone wanders into this thread who hasn't completed the first two Acts!

Probably been asked before, but is it possible to get a “save draft” function for writing reviews or forum replies? I’ve lost a lot of longer reviews because the webpage randomly reloads or I hit submit right when my connection suddenly gets spotty.

I know I can draft in another app and then paste it in, but it’s more convenient to do it right on the site. I’m just always afraid to spend 30 minutes writing a thoughtful review only to lose it in the ether.

Planning to get this before the end of the year. A large part of me thinks this game gets the praise that it does is because it's a "mainstream" game with turn based combat that isn't your usual fare of waiting your turn to attack with huge production values. This kind of game on this scale never got this overwhelming amount of exposure therefore it's great.

Hoping I'm proven wrong and it does live up to it's praise but nowadays whenever I see anything get overwhelming amount of positivity or negativity, there's usually some conspiracy theory I come up with attached to it.

I am planning to play more RPGs soon. Did finish one recently. I do hope I'm wrong with this particular game.

It's not really "mainstream," though--it's solidly AA. The director worked at Ubisoft but left his job to pursue this as a passion project. A lot of the team was recruited via social media. Its current popularity is largely from word-of-mouth. And I don't think there's any big conspiracy behind it--it's just lightning in a bottle. The developers settled on a vision and managed to deliver a high quality result. I'd actually recommend reading about the development process, because it's kind of interesting how it all came together.

As for whether or not you'll enjoy it, that's hard to say. If you go in with high expectations, it'll probably disappoint you on some level. But if you convince yourself that it's overrated before you even play it, you might only focus on the flaws and ignore the good parts. That said, I feel like you'll find something in the game to admire.

For example, I'm about halfway through (because I started it last month) and I personally don't love the combat as much as everyone else seemingly does. Character growth and customization feels almost like a deckbuilder, which is great for some players, but for a while it was making me feel like I was spending more time in clunky menus than playing the game. Eventually I decided to use some character builds that other players recommended so I could focus on the parts that I absolutely adore: the environmental design, the dramatic setpieces, the haunting music, and the surprisingly naturalistic dialogue.

There are times that the presentational elements clash with each other, like a music motif that feels out of place or a story beat that doesn't quite land, but I like that there's some messiness here and there. To me, that's the proof that it's not some overcooked AAA product cobbled together by investor demands. It feels very human. It resonates. I doubt it will be my personal Game of the Year, but I really like it so far.

The thing is in Doom 2016 the platforming effectively just adds verticality to the environment, its not a big deal.

In Doom Eternal they lost their minds and decided the game was now a platformer with jump puzzles. One of many terrible design decisions they took with Eternal to undo the good work they did with 2016. Frankly, I'm not taking any interest in the Dark Ages because of my experience with Eternal.

First person platforming is inherently problematic because it's difficult to get a feel for position and first person games simply don't have the movement to make a good platforming experience. Not that third person platforming is always very good, many many games have failed at that too.

I think maybe first-person platforming just isn't for you, because there are absolutely games that make it work well: Portal, Mirror's Edge, Dishonored, Neon White, Ghostrunner, Titanfall 2, Clustertruck, Metroid Prime, Lovely Planet, etc. I even liked the platforming in Doom Eternal (and I think DE's positive reception at least means the platforming wasn't a total dealbreaker for most players).

I wouldn't say it's "inherently problematic," but it does have limitations that third-person platforming doesn't. It is difficult to get a feel for position, that's absolutely a fact. But many of the games I mentioned address that issue by NOT requiring you to do super precise jumps on tiny platforms. In fact, the platforms themselves are typically pretty large and give you generous coyote time. Instead, they're more about utilizing your air time to line up shots, grapples, air-dashes, wall-runs, or whatever other mechanics you have. Their level designs also tend to be more linear and fast-paced, taking advantage of your longer, narrower field of view to take in the obstacle course ahead of you and prepare your techniques in advance.

Not saying all of those games accomplish this perfectly all the time, but I do think they've found some ingenious ways to work around their limitations and even create interesting new challenges out of them. It's hard to get right so there are probably more bad examples than good examples, but I don't think it's inherently bad.

I'm curious how you're going to like "The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-". I think I heard about the game first because of you and since I liked Danganronpa a lot, it might be something I'd be interested in myself.

Btw, random note, but even when googling "The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- steam" the game's steam page is not even on the first 3 google result pages. Completely random note but I haven't seen this before - and with such a specific title!

Are you googling it with the hyphens included? Because the hyphen symbol tells Google to exclude hits with those search terms from your results. When I searched “hundred line last defense academy” with no symbols, the Steam page was the first result.

Nintendo can and should be criticized for these price hikes but don't forget to spare a little anger for the tariffs disrupting global trade which provide the perfect cover for corporations to put the bulk of the financial burden on the end consumer.

As a 30-something who works a part-time job, lives with his parents, and has basically no prospects, I don't like this price model one bit, but games are pretty much the only thing that bring me joy, and seeing Donkey Kong smash things to pieces puts a big dumb smile on my face. So I'll probably scrape together the cash to get a Switch 2. But I don't blame anyone for holding out.

My eleventh hour nomination is Dynasty Warriors: Origins.

I’m not gonna nominate for the 10 year thing… I’m gunning for Bloodborne.

Something I've been mulling over recently... Currently we have "Emulated" as its own platform, but I'm wondering if it would make more sense to have it as a Yes/No toggle for submissions. I think it could be good for list management and database accuracy.

"Emulated" as a platform isn't bad, but I feel like it's not as informative as it could be. Having it as a distinct platform separates emulated games from games being played on physical console hardware, which is a very useful feature: if I'm reviewing my library, I definitely like being able to filter out emulator games so I can visualize my on-hand physical library, or if I'm trying to plan what I'll play while traveling and will only have access to emulators on my Steam Deck.

However, the current system doesn't really give users a way to reintegrate emulated games with console games. Let's say I want to filter my Completed list for all N64 games I've beaten. At that point in time, I would like to see games I've emulated for N64 combined with games I've played physically--but there isn't a convenient way to do that currently. If I do an Intersection filter for N64 and Emulated, it will give me all my physical N64 games + my whole emulator library. Someone might say "Log games as Emulated while they're in the backlog and then change them to the specific platform when submitting a completion." But there are also situations where I might want to see Emulated N64 and Physical N64 games together in my backlog list, like if I'm trying to compare how many games I have backlogged for each console or if I'm picking a console-specific game for the yearly challenge.

I believe a Yes/No toggle in the submission form would be a good way to give users the ability to differentiate between emulated and non-emulated games while giving more flexibility over platform selection. I am by no means a coder, but I think it would be possible to implement a filter option that can check for the emulator toggle and return All Games, Physical Hardware Only, and Emulated Only (for example).

I also think it would help make the database more accurate in the grand scheme of things. If a game was released on multiple platforms, there isn't really an efficient way to specify which version was emulated. A user could list the platform as Emulated and then put which platform was emulated in the playthrough notes or review text, but that would take up a lot of the character limit for the playthrough notes and it might be awkward to mention in a review. They could also do the reverse and pick the platform that was emulated and then write "Emulated" into the playthrough notes or review text, but then that makes the "Emulated" platform redundant. Either way, those results aren't searchable and they aren't factored into any of the site statistics.

In many cases, knowing which specific version of a game was emulated might not make a big difference, but if it's a game like Ratatouille, which was released on the big 3 consoles across two generations (PS2, GC, Xbox, PS3, Wii, 360), then there are likely to be differences in performance, load times, and potentially gameplay even if the overall experience is similar. Those factors could affect a user's completion time and their rating, so I think a greater degree of accuracy in platform selection would contribute to greater accuracy in the data aggregation. But I admit it would probably have a pretty minor impact in that regard.

So yeah, there's my essay. I'm open to hearing any counterpoints I might not have considered, but I think overall it would give list-obsessed users like myself more options for organizing their libraries. It might even be nice if games logged with an emulated toggle had some kind of emblem next to them, like how replays do, but that's just a whim that popped into my head. Happy to discuss this further with anyone.

Note: I haven’t looked through your game list, so sorry if I mention something you’ve already played.

Obligatory recommendation for Nier/Nier Replicant and Nier Automata. Absolute masterpieces (Automata moreso than Replicant but still).

Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2 technically have randomized dungeon floors, but I promise they don’t feel like roguelikes at all. They have neat weapon-leveling systems and some light city sim elements that feel more like puzzles.

Astral Chain is criminally underrated. The combat is thrilling when you get into the rhythm of it, and there’s a good deal of side content. Some people didn’t like the detective elements, but I appreciated that they broke up the pacing a bit.

This one might not be exactly what you’re looking for since the combat is more MMO-ish, but Xenoblade Chronicles has one of my all-favorite game worlds to explore. (See also: Pandora’s Tower)

Darksiders 1 and 2 are kind of like a blend of Zelda and God of War. I enjoyed them both a lot. The third game is a Soulslike, and I wasn’t a huge fan, but the first two have what I think you’re looking for.

You mentioned Ratchet and Clank—you absolutely owe it to yourself to give those a try. The main series, the Future series, and Rift Apart are well worth your time.

Persona 5 Strikers isn’t perfect, but it does do a good job of merging Warriors-style hack-and-slashing with RPG-style command menus. Lots of combos and playable characters. Only caveat: you need to have played Persona 5 first.

Fable 1, 2, and 3 are a bit on the basic side when it comes to combat, but they all have lots of content and ways to develop your character (physically and morally).

Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2 take place in relatively small environments, but they’re densely packed with things to do and opportunities to level up. By the time Frank is max level he basically has the moveset of a fighting game character, which is hilarious to unleash on a horde of zombies. Of course, you can also carve your way through with hedge clippers, trash cans, and electric guitars.

Have you played Judgment and Lost Judgment? If not, don’t sleep on them. They are worthy inheritors of Yakuza’s brawler gameplay.

And if you’re interested in some even older games, you could always try Mega Man Legends, Brave Fencer Musashi, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. You won’t be pulling off elaborate aerial combos in any of those, but they do feel like proper adventures through and through.

That’s all I’ve got for now but hopefully something in this batch piques your interest.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses has a number of gay pairings. Only a small handful of paired endings explicitly say that the characters fell in love/got married, but a LOT of the "platonic" endings heavily imply something romantic. We're talking "historians say they were roommates and very close friends" levels of gayness.

Yakuza/Like a Dragon. A game series about shirtless, oiled Japanese men with chiseled features and kissable lips grappling each other in a red light district. Largely marketed to an audience of men. Two of the series' biggest themes are passion and loyalty in relationships between men. Occasionally the games stumble a bit clumsily through some nuanced social topics but they almost always find their footing in a place of compassion and acceptance for LGBTQI+ folks. Also, one of the most beloved recurring characters (the Earth Angel Mama) is canonically trans.

Octopath Traveler 2 is unexpectedly very, very gay. The majority of the queer content comes from reading the backstories of town NPCs, but there are some openly gay characters in the main story, and there are many others who are just so obvious that it doesn't even need to be stated (e.g., Temenos, the all-women theatre troupe).

No penalty the issue I have is that you have to wait a while before you can add in the information you have found or you haven't finished your investigation before it drops you on the auditing page

Isn't that only the case the first time you view a scene though? It's been a while since I played, but I just checked out a gameplay video to refresh myself and they were able to input information any time they wanted and come and go freely from scenes. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're talking about.

Also, while I'm here, I want to express how much I wish I could erase my memory of this game just so I could experience it for the first time again. This is one of those rare games that managed to delight, surprise, and challenge me in ways I never had been before and probably never will again. I agree with Le_Don that Lucas Pope is probably a genius. The way he puts together puzzles and gameplay loops and slots them into some of the most memorable settings in gaming is nothing short of masterful, in my opinion.

You might enjoy Chibi-Robo and/or Chulip. In Chibi-Robo you play as a tiny cleaning robot who helps a household of humans and sentient toys through their domestic troubles. As you complete quests and chores, you get access to more gadgets, costumes, and better battery efficiency (which is basically your "health"). There are some very barebones combat elements toward the end of the main story, but they represent a very small amount of the overall gameplay.

In Chulip you play as a boy who is trying to confess to his crush. To do this, you need to collect the items necessary to write a heartfelt love letter. What's unique about this game is that there is a dedicated kiss button, and you are supposed to kiss as many NPCs as possible to level up. It's not always straightforward, though, so you may have to complete a side quest or solve a puzzle before they're willing to kiss you. The game can be pretty obtuse and unforgiving with its puzzles sometimes, but the presentation of this game is more unique than a large majority of games out there.

As a side note, if you end up enjoying either of these games, you might want to look into other games by the developers Love-de-Lic, skip Ltd, and Vanpool. There are shared team members among these companies, so they often have a similar design philosophy of making nonviolent RPGs with imaginative social sim mechanics.

I'll nominate Dino Crisis for spooky season.

And thus, burgerkingsauce became a true believer.

I just had a thought pop up for one thing we could do where we could all try and make a mascot creature for the site and vote for the winner. I’m already trying to imagine my HLTBasaurus 😂.

I definitely think it would be pretty awesome to have our creations pop up in each other games.

That would be amazing--if we could get Everdred on board with it. I could probably commission someone to turn the winning creature into a proper mascot design if that were to happen.

Buuuuuut I'm getting ahead of myself. Spore has to win first. #Spore4TheWin (get it? because $4)

I'll throw one last pitch for Spore. I still think it would be a super fun way to get the community engaged by sharing the abominations we come up with. Plus, it has an 80% discount on Steam (only $4 USD) between now and August 10--nudge nudge, wink wink, know what I mean, say no more, say no more.

Sorry to hear about your week. Hope you've been doing better now.

In regards to feedback:

I was initially planning on adding more deaths and a much broader scope to the narrative. The reader (player) was initially going to be given much more options in regards to choices. Even having entire branching story-lines that would completely branch off from the true ending. However, as I learned with my first game (Constricted) that simply wasn't going to be an option, on account of my self-imposed deadline, other factors outside my control and the lingering fear of feature creep in terms of scope. Though going forward for whatever I work on next I'll certainly continue to broaden my scope in terms of player options, as I prefer that method of design.

Yeah, the pacing was definitely a tricky act to maintain, on account of what was mentioned above. And I agree that the 2nd half could have used more choices and buildup.

Definitely want to make any decisions I design less predictable for upcoming projects.

In regards to the choice motivations I wanted to try to make it as modular as possible, but with the time frame hanging over my head only within reason. So I had to make a tough call on whether certain decisions were logical "outs" while giving players agency, without necessarily having the plot veer off to far in any direction that would lead to feature creep or seeming illogical in the long run.

As for some plot points that happen later, I can shed some light on that. When you are given the option to stab Brice that is alluded to being a test of sorts. To see if you have chosen to take and use the gift bestowed to you. This is also why the ghost of the Duke proclaims you are "Ingrat", ungrateful. Its there to further establish that getting rid of the gift, without passing it down to someone or, in that endings case, murdering them, shows how unworthy the bearer of the coin is.. Though I was absolutely at one point contemplating adding more choices and possibilities to that outcome, I was worried about potential inconsistencies in the narrative, as I had previously had to rewrite a section that contained a story ending plot hole prior to that section.

I'm thinking if I use Twine again I'll have a more robust system at play, in regards to options players can take, similar to what you've mentioned if I get around to making another title with the engine.

And yes, your feedback was absolutely helpful, and quite thorough! The only other thing I'm curious about at the moment would be what your opinion on the True Ending is? Did it feel appropriate with how the story panned out to you, or too rushed?

Sorry I just noticed your reply!

To answer your question about the True Ending: I wouldn't say that the ending itself felt rushed, but the sequence of events leading up to the climax moves so fast that I suppose it feels slightly unearned? Like the MC hasn't worked hard enough to get there yet. Maybe if there was one more trial/riddle for them to overcome? I'm putting on my narratology hat here and thinking of the Rule of Threes. There's getting into the temple, cutting the thumb, and tossing the coin, which is technically 3 things, but the bit about tossing the coin feels more like a last trick/twist than a full riddle of its own. One more Indiana Jones/National Treasure style obstacle would really seal the deal.

Other than that, though, I felt like the passage displayed for the True Ending is a satisfying conclusion. It's short relative to the rest of the story, but resolutions are meant to be proportionately small. So I'd say efficient, not rushed.

Excellent advice by KerfMerf.

I've started completing the levels with a guide and the creativity and genius behind this game is absolutely jaw dropping.

I've been going through every single level (including all the bonus ones) and just marveling at the masterpieces that are the levels and the logic.

Frustrating as the game may be, I cannot deny the creator has MAJOR talent, and I will be following them in their future endeavors.

Somewhat regretting that I didn't try harder to complete the game on my own - I potentially could have done it, but it would have taken 100+ hours and countless weeks of frustration and I just wasn't in the mood for that level of commitment.

For what it's worth, I've found that the game is really rewarding to replay after a few years. I also used a guide for some levels on my first playthrough and felt some of that regret, but I've been able to figure things out faster and more independently on the second go-round. The puzzles are complex enough that I've forgotten the specific solutions, but my brain is more hard-wired to think the way the game wants me to think. It's especially satisfying to recognize a level that I used a guide on before because it seemed impossible and conquer it on my own now.

Just wanted to post a handy resource I found for level-by-level hints. They’ll never tell you the solution outright, but if you’re struggling to conceptualize a solution, they can at least point you in the right direction.

This is a replay for me, so I’m already pretty familiar with all the gimmicks. I definitely remember being overwhelmed the first time I played it, but if you develop a process for approaching the puzzles, they become more manageable (mostly).

A few general tips:

- Make sure you understand the rules regarding syntax. Probably seems obvious, but it will save you a lot of time if you remember that nouns always come before properties, and the first noun in a rule is the one that will be acted upon. “AND” can combine two nouns, two properties, or a combination of the two. Two “NOT” blocks can be used in the same statement (eg, “NOT BABA is NOT SINK” would negate the SINK property for every object that is not Baba, even if there is a “LAVA is SINK” rule elsewhere, thus allowing Baba to walk over it safely).

- When you start a new puzzle, figure out if there are any rules that are absolute. Usually, these are your basic “WALL is STOP” kind of deal—rules that are inaccessible and can’t be changed. Knowing what you absolutely CANNOT do can help shrink your list of potential solutions.

- Related to the above, consider all the possible rules you CAN make. For some levels I actually write a physical list, but that may be overkill. Also, consider how any rules can be broken or modified after the fact. If you turn a KEY into a BOX, you can theoretically turn it back into a KEY if you need to (unless there’s a “BOX is BOX” rule that makes the change permanent).

- Observe the nuances of any new rule you encounter, because I guarantee they will be part of a puzzle solution eventually. For example, pushing a BELT changes its orientation to whatever direction you just pushed it in, so if you place an object on it, it will SHIFT it in the new direction. PUSH and PULL both turn on an object’s collision, which can be useful to know if you need them to catch a falling object, for instance.

- Make ample use of the undo move button. I hope this one is obvious, but I have some friends who forgot about it and restarted the entire level every time they misclicked. The undo button lets you experiment with different rules with lower stakes. And as an aside—don’t be afraid to just try something out, even if you know if won’t work. You can gather a lot of intel just by screwing around.

All that advice is pretty straightforward and might not be useful, but I hope it can help even a little bit. I really think this game is something special, so I just wanted to offer whatever might get folks to enjoy it better.

Sorry for the delay in feedback--it's been a rough week, but I finally had a chance to sit down and try out the game.

Overall I quite enjoyed it! It's a fun adventure, and I really came to like Brice over the course of it despite his rough first impression. His charisma carries the story with a healthy sense of humor but also tragedy in his past. I'm also a total sucker for choose-your-own-adventure stories with tons of ways to die. I almost wish there were MORE ways to die, especially once the adventure reaches a global scale.

As far as pacing goes, I think that it moves at a rapid enough clip to keep the player's attention without getting muddled up in unnecessary details. However, something you may want to consider is that the pacing changes pretty drastically between the first half of the game and the second half. The first half has lots of brief passages broken up by choices, but in the second half the passages get much longer, with fewer choices. Neither half is weaker for it, but I did prefer the pacing in the first half since the various bad ends offered a darkly humorous break to the action/exposition.

When it comes to the choices the player can make, I did feel like it was pretty clear which choices were "right" and which were "wrong." In most cases, the options basically boil down to one choice that will probably move the plot forward and one which won't, so a player focusing on the "golden route" will miss a lot of the flavor text from the bad ends. That's not a problem if you're okay with that, but you might consider implementing choices where the results are less predictable.

There were also a few times where I couldn't understand the motive behind certain choices. For example, in the beginning, you can choose to wait in line or leave, which is understandable, but then after you make it to the coin machine, you're faced with the same choice. I couldn't really imagine a situation where anyone would wait in a line for 20 minutes just to leave after finally making it to the front. I tried the "leave" option anyway just to see what would happen, but it was basically the same as the previous "leave" result (except I think the text was slightly different?). Another example was toward the end when you give the player the option to draw their own blood or stab Brice. As a player, I couldn't really think of a good reason to stab Brice, since the ritual didn't really require much blood to begin with and murder seemed a bit drastic. The character seems to get a bit frenzied, which I suppose gives an in-game reason for the stabbing, but since I as a player am not feeling that same frenzy, my rational mind is always going to lean toward the rational choice.

I think you have a couple of ways to deal with those questions of motivation, and I'll use the "Stab Brice" choice as an example. One way would be to write the scenario in such a way that stabbing Brice (or even just using his blood instead of the player-character's) seems like a potentially valid option. You could raise a sense of doubt about whether a random person's blood would even work to lift the curse or if it has to come from a member of the Lafitte bloodline. You could also make it a question of responsibility, with the player-character wondering if it's really fair for them to spill blood when it's Brice's fault that all this happened anyway. Either of those (or a combination of both) could give the player more of a reason to think that Brice should be the one to pony up his blood instead (and thus make them think a little harder about the possible outcome of the choice). However, if you wanted to keep that sense of frenzied bloodlust, you could still make that work by using a very barebones morality system. Basically, every time the player does something thoughtful (like listening to Brice's backstory) they get a point, and every time they do something selfish they lose a point. If they don't have enough morality points by the end of the game, the player may automatically give in to their frenzy and stab Brice, but if they do have enough points, they can resist it. From the little messing around that I've done in Twine, I think it has the capacity to track simple variables like that.

I hope my feedback helps even a little bit! Those were my main takeaways, but if you have questions about anything specific, I'll try to answer to the best of my ability. I'm primarily a writer, so that's what I tend to focus on, but I'm happy to discuss any other aspects!

I’ll nominate Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. No chance it wins but eh worth a shot

If Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak can win, anything can.

I’ll try to take a look at it this weekend! Are you looking for feedback on anything specific or just general impressions?

In any case, kudos to you for following through on this. I’ve always wanted to work on a solo dev project like this, but I tend to not make it very far before I lose heart and give up. So you should be proud of yourself for making it to the end!

Spore did pretty well in the last poll, so I’ll give it another shot.