Before the Echo is an RPG rhythm game where you must fight monsters to escape a mysterious tower.

If you've ever played a rhythm game before, then you know for the most part what to expect. Arrows will fly down the screen and you must hit the corresponding buttons on time to succeed. This game does have some different mechanics that set it apart though.

When fighting monsters, you have three different fields that you can switch back and forth through. There is a mana field, a spell field, and a defense field. Each field has a different purpose.

The defense field is your main one. If you don't match the rhythm on this field, you lose health. You want to make the enemy lose all their health before you lose yours. This is where the spell field comes in.

In Before the Echo, you have the ability to craft spells and then use them in battle. With the spell field, you don't have to interact with it until you cast a spell. Once you cast a spell, the arrows will show up on the spell field. If you mess up hitting the arrows, then the spell is not cast and you must recharge it again. If you hit them correctly, you cast the spell.

Lastly, there is the mana field. Arrows will be falling down this field all battle. You get no penalty for not hitting them. You only use this field if you need to collect mana to cast spells. Once you collect enough mana, you can ignore the field until you need mana again.

Maintaining all three fields in a tactical way is the main focus of battle.

It sounds complicated but it's very simple. You can see all three fields at all times and it's very easy to switch between them.

There were a few reviews complaining about a large amount of grind you had to do. I personally didn't have this problem since I barely had to grind. In the game, you have to get items from each monster before entering the next level. I always got the items fairly quickly, but there is a small amount of grind for people who don't like that sort of thing.

Another positive about the game is the voice acting. It's far from perfect but It was apparent the devs enjoyed doing it. (It's especially apparent in the after game credits.) The story is interesting and there are plenty of goofy and entertaining characters.

Overall, if you need another rhythm game to scratch your itch, then Before the Echo is a good choice. It has some flaws. It could use a larger monster and music variety (the music is just so-so) but it's a well-made game with a lot of love put into it. I've seen Before the Echo on sale for a dollar (and even free on some sites) so I think it's a great deal on discount.

911 operator is a police management game where you play a 911 operator who must take calls, make decisions, and send out the appropriate units for the situation.

Right away, 911 operator feels like a smaller version of This is the Police. an incident will pop up (either with a text box or a phone call) and you either send out police, paramedics, or firefighters to the scene. The difficult part is deciding how many units to send out and managing to get as many situations solved as you can.

Overall 911 simulator is fun. If you like simulator/management type games like this, you'll have a good time. The game just has one major flaw that drags it way down.

It's so repetitive.

The game boasts over 50 recorded phone call messages, but most are tiny variations of the same few phone calls, over and over and over again. I even bought a DLC to add more phone calls, and before an hour was up, I was repeating those several times as well.The text incidents also repeat and there aren't a lot of variety of those either. once you know the correct answers to every situation, it's a bit of a bummer.

There are three different campaign modes, and I highly recommend you play "Unique Stories" first. It's the shortest campaign, but also has no repeating phone calls and more variety. The other two repeat a lot.

A nice counter to this issue is that the game does have steam workshop. The workshop is filled with fan-made phone calls. Most can only be used in the free play part of the game though, not the story.

Overall 911 Operator is fun. It's challenging, the idea is great, and it even has some cool features (like picking your own city to play on.) The repetitiveness of the game really drags it down though and I definitely don't recommend it at full price. I got it for $3 though, and I don't regret it.

Higurashi When They Cry (ch.1) is a Visual Novel about a boy named Keiichi who just moved into a new small village called Hinamizawa. He made three best friends and discovered a dark mystery that lies within the village.

I went into Higurashi blind. No expectations and no spoilers, and I ended up really enjoying it. I'm incredibly picky with VN's. It's not even that I only like the best visual novels. I just have a hard time connecting with them. I definitely enjoyed Higurashi from start to finish.

The art is not great, but the writing is detailed and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep you on your feet. The story has a nice build that develops the characters and plot naturally, and the sounds and music add to the feelings you get reading it.

Apparently, there are a crap ton of these games so I'm not sure where to start. I'll definitely pick up the sequel next sale, just to see where the story goes from here.

Spoiler!I just wanted to add that the game reminds me a lot of Doki Doki literature club. It probably came out first, but I played Doki first and both have a dark twist hidden under a cute exterior. I enjoyed this game more though because I didn't expect a twist, but with Doki, it was the main point. . I wonder how they continue the series after the way the game ends. Can't wait to see.

The Coma: Recut is a 2D Korean horror game where you play a student named Youngho, trapped in his school with his psychotic teacher.

The Coma has some really good reviews, but I didn't have a great time with it. I love the art and the atmosphere. I also think the story is pretty interesting. I just really don't like the gameplay. I spent most of the game hiding in closets and dying. After a while, the teacher was not scary anymore, just annoying. Especially when you would enter a room and she would just be there with no warning.
It took me ages to get the good ending. (I even had a guide up after getting the bad ending, but I didn't do one tiny irrelevant thing and missed out on the good ending again.)

As I said, the art, story, and atmosphere are pretty good so if you are interested in the game you'll probably enjoy it. The gameplay just wasn't my cup of tea.

Detroit Become Human is an adventure game that follows three different androids as they "wake up" and fight for their freedom under the rule of humans.

Detroit has so many different paths and my boyfriend and I spent a very long time talking about the pros and cons of the game and each different choice. Basically, I've said so much, I'm not sure what to add any more.

I did really like Detroit. It has its pros and cons but the choices really do matter and there are hundreds and hundreds of different variations. You can easily spend a week on the game finding every little thing. The voice acting is good and overall the characters are likable. The story had some issues. I enjoyed Connors story the most (as did everyone, according to the game's official poll.) He was the best developed and his story carries the game a lot. Kara is a likable mother figure. Her story doesn't break boundaries but it hits you emotionally and you root for her the same way you root for Clem and Lee in The Walking Dead.
I think Marcus had the weakest story. He had a lot of character development, but all of it was predictable and plot pushing. Without saying spoilers, I think he had the weakest sections in the game.
With three protagonists though, it really is up to opinion.

Overall, the motion capture was good, the voice acting was good, I loved how many choices and different paths there were, and Connor's scenes were the highlight of the game for me.

My review was very scattered, but I'm drawing a blank on what to say. If anyone has any questions about it I'd love to answer :P

Marvel's Spiderman had a lot of great reviews so I was really excited to buy and play it. Spiderman is by far my favorite superhero and I haven't played a spiderman game since the Nintendo Wii.

This game has a lot of pros and cons but overall, I'd say I enjoyed it. The combat is a lot of fun and I enjoyed the variety of moves and gadgets you can use. There are plenty of different suits you can unlock and wear, and they look great in every cutscene. I was impressed that even the loading screen showed the proper suit you were wearing.

There are a lot of side missions/side activities to do. The more you play, the more unlock. They are fun overall and doing all of them is probably not very stressful.

I enjoyed the voice actor a lot. For some reason I thought Tom Holland voiced the game before buying, but the game takes place after Peter graduated high school and college, so he's in his 20's now and is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. Overall all the voice actors did a good job.

There were some things that held the game back though. I thought the story wasn't very interesting. The coolest part was the part they showed in the trailer. There are a couple characters in the story that had a cool character arc that I'd like to see continued in the sequel.

The stealth was not enjoyable at all and I groaned every single time I got a stealth mission in the game. I like that they wanted to give playtime to other characters, but I wish they did something more with it.

Overall the game is a little corny and rough around the edges, but I think that's the charm of a spiderman game. I wish the story was better, but I did enjoy it. The gameplay is fun, I think Spiderman was accurate. I like the variety of missions and I plan to go back and 100% it for that last outfit.