Katawa Shoujo (PC)

Katawa Shoujo is a free indie Visual Novel game by Four Leaf Studios released January 4th 2012. The game was based off a sketch by Doujinshi artist Raita, about disabled girls. The sketch became very popular on 4chan and soon, development on a game was started.

The general premise of the game is you play as Hisao Nakai, a high school student who suddenly finds out he has a very serious heart condition. Because of his condition,  he is sent to a school for disabled students. Being a visual novel game, I'm sure you know what's coming up next haha. So at his new school he meets an astonishing amount of cute disabled girls who for some reason are all extremely interested in him.

Now I usually don't play visual novel games, but the sheer excitement people had for the game was enough to make me want to try it out. All I can say is wow, I am so glad I took the time to play this game.

The game is top notch;  I couldn't tell it was an indie game. It seems like so much thought and care was put into every element of Katawa Shoujo. The level of professionalism really is astounding. The artwork is great to look at, the music always sets the right mood, the writing itself is always clever and interesting. The characters themselves are so fleshed out, you can't help but fall in love with them. It really is something to see how each girl manages their disability.


But there is one issue, and it's that not all stories are created equal. Each character was written by different people, and at times you can definitely tell. The writing style feels vastly different from girl to girl, and some are definitely better than others. I do with the overall package was more consistent, but I suppose it can't be helped when the project was such a group effort. But even at it's low point, it is still a much more well written game than most.

Overall I highly recommend this game. I'm not an expert in the genre, but judging the game by it's own merit, it really is a fine crafted game. If you are like me, once you get your hands on this game you are not going to be able to let go!

Pros
+ High level of Polish for an Indie Game
+ Great Artwork and Characters

Cons
- Writing can be inconsistent

Splatterhouse 3 (Sega Genesis)

The Splatterhouse series is one of the most interesting series out there. You just didn't see many games with this level of brutality outside Mortal Combat in the 90's. Splatterhouse 3, released on the Sega Genesis in 1993 is a horror beat 'em up. Compared to Splatterhouse 1 and 2, it is a more traditional beat 'em up game, allows for free movement, unlike the auto scrolling nature of the first two. Yet this game still finds a way to be unique, separating it from the streets of rage and final fights of it's days.

The thing that really sets this game apart are the design of the levels. Each level has multiple rooms and you are allowed to move freely between them. The boss is marked on your map and you have to navigate throughout each level to find them. It gives the game a feeling of exploration that the first two games really lacked since the levels went by automatically.

Another badass aspect is that Splatterhouse 3 is still as brutal as ever. I'm seriously amazed that Sega was able to put this game out on their console at the time. It definitely goes beyond anything you would see on Super Nintendo. Dead rotting corpses and bloody demonic monsters roaming around make for a great visual treat that any horror fan will enjoy. The visual aesthetic was outstanding and Now Production did a marvelous job. But while this is one of the highlights, there is something big that really brings the game down:
Each level has a time limit. Depending on if you beat the level within the time limit, it affects the storyline. It's really annoying because you are barely given enough time to reach the boss, let alone defeat it. Why add big maps if you are not going to allow the player to explore? Because of that super tight time limit I ended up getting the worst ending lol

The other thing that sucked was the lack of weapons. In Splatterhouse 1 and 2, there were tons of weapons to find and use, but in this game, you find like 2 and that's it. One last thing I think I should address is the level design. The overall design of the stages took a huge hit, as the stages were now much larger, and you saw many of the same rooms repeated over and over.

Overall I did enjoy this game, though despite what most people will say, I don't think it's better then 1 and 2. The overall combat was revamped, but things like the time limit and the lack of weapons really hurts the game for me

Pros
+ Nice Big Levels with room for Exploration
+ Gore and Blood everywhere!

Cons
-  Tight Time limit makes you feel rushed.
-  Lack of Weapons