Creaking doors, thumping pipes, and rusty nails make this farmhouse game feel more like a set on an episode of Criminal Minds than a place you’d want to call home. Regardless, it’s the setting for the Yakov Butuzoff-developed adventure game Loretta, a choice-filled murder mystery with a touch of disturbing charm. https://youtu.be/8ahVudn_d4I In Loretta, you play as Loretta Harris – a housewife and self-proclaimed ornithologist living on a farm in the 1940s. The game opens with Loretta being visited by a private investigator named Frank Chambers. He says he’s been sent from New York to look for your husband Walter,…
Author: Noisy Pixel Staff
As a 90’s kid, I’m no stranger to video games made around a product. I remember gems like Chester Cheeto: Too Cool to Fool, Cool Spot, and Captain Novolin, to name a few. Unfortunately, in recent years, you’ve seen less of this happening. The most infamous I can recall is Sneak King, the Burger King game. However, I do remember Monster, the most popular energy drink at the time, also making a game, Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Video Game, back in 2018. I remember loads of jokes and memes about it, but I never saw it again outside of…
Tatsuki Fujimoto is widely known for his hit manga Chainsaw Man, a fast-paced, action-heavy, coming-of-age shounen that garnered praise for its unique themes, depictions of relationships, and cinematic influences. But before Chainsaw Man, what was this acclaimed author up to? The aptly titled ‘Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chain Saw Man’ showcases the author’s manga journey through a collection of one-shots he wrote on his way to the upper echelons of the manga industry. The one being reviewed now is the second rendition of this series covering’ 22-26′ and contains the stories Mermaid Rhapsody, Woke-Up-as-a-Girl Syndrome, Nayuta of the Prophecy, and Sisters.…
A cute story by Tama Mitsuboshi, Call the Name of the Night Vol. 1, centers on a girl named Mira who has a strange power that she thinks is a disease where the area around her turns into darkness whenever she starts to panic or becomes anxious about something. To control what she has, her parents send her off to a magical physician named Rei, who tries to teach Mira to open her shell. However, as Rei tries to help Mira learn to control her powers, the two’s peaceful time in the small cottage they live in becomes interrupted by…
The setup is straightforward, Usada and Kotora are studying in a library at school when Usada finds a book with a letter inside that says, “Find Alice.” They are both pulled into the book, waking up in Wonderland. Throughout this adventure, they’ll meet strange characters, explore whimsical areas, and swing a hammer at things to find Alice and return home. Developed by illuCalab, Alice Escaped markets itself as a Metroidvania-Style game. While the subject of Alice in Wonderland has been used plenty in every media, Alice Escaped still manages to set itself apart. https://youtu.be/e73u65O9_mw The world and characters of Alice…
Written by Ryo Minenami, Boys Abyss Vol. 1 centers around Reiji Kurose as he plans his future. He is caught in a dilemma over how to choose which path to take for his future on the crisp of graduating from high school. However, he soon discovers that idol singer Nagi Aoe has been secretly living in the town with her husband and working at a convenience store for the last few months. Upon discovering this, Reiji soon makes a twisted promise to Nagi that brings about a domino effect on those around him. One of the positives that Boys Abyss…
The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend was initially published on the Internet. It is the first manga of Mieri Hiranishi, a Japanese author who’s been living in the United States for multiple years now. The author wrote and drew the manga while still having a full-time job which is very impressive. As the title implies, the manga is autobiographical and based on the mangaka’s love life. The main protagonist Mieri couldn’t get a girlfriend until she was in college. She’s butch presenting, meaning that she has a somewhat androgynous appearance, and also like butch women but from her experience…
JETT: The Far Shore was released in 2021 to some lukewarm reception. Plagued by various issues but bolstered by a seemingly enjoyable story, developer Superbrothers has created an expansion to hopefully remedy the critiques and allow the story to be fully realized. This expansion comes as a free update to the PlayStation and Epic Games Store versions and is also being released on Steam as Jett: The Far Shore + Given Time. Unfortunately, I played the new Steam version, and I feel my experience might have been worse as a result. https://youtu.be/jSB2zMZwV8c Throughout Jett: The Far Shore, you play as…
Games can take a long time to develop, and the years of development take their toll. Radio the Universe, originally Kickstarted in 2012, is indicative of this elusiveness, though not just concerning the length of development time. Instead, it presents a top-down adventure blending action, platforming, and puzzle-solving within a cryptic and mysterious world. Radio the Universe does not present a lengthy introduction to the world, as the player will be dropped straight into gameplay a minute in. It starts the player with a standard kit, as you begin your adventure with a sword and a dash. Your sword…
The Tower Defense genre often presents reversing the Attacker and Defender role as a novelty. As a core mechanic, Tower Defense reversal has often seen minimal usage within the genre. Affogato heeds the call of this reversal and implements it within a full-fledged JRPG, boasting mechanics and gameplay you typically wouldn’t find in a Tower Defense game. https://youtu.be/v7WPdjGcrb8 The story begins with the player taking control of the titular witch, Affogato, in her quest to do contractual work in the city and meet payments by her deadlines. Affogato runs her coffee shop, the Witchery, which is the base of operations…
The first Another light novel became popular enough to be adapted into both manga and anime. Another 2001 is the sequel to the first light novel. It happens three years after the events of Another. This time we follow a fourteen-year-old boy called Sou Hiratsuka as he starts his third and last year of middle school. However, things take a turn for the worst when he becomes a member of the cursed class 3-3. Let’s go back in time to understand when this curse called “calamity” started. In 1972, Misaki Yomiyama, a student of class 3-3 of Yomiyama North Middle…
A semi-melancholy slice of life story by the talented Yoko Komori, Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand is a story that takes place on the edge of summer involving a girl named Tokiko who moves to the small seaside town of Sunanomori at the request of her father to spend time with him and away from her mother. Tokiko previously went to this town when she was younger, where a merman supposedly saved her from drowning in the sea. Now moving back to Sunanomori, Tokiko tries to adjust to the changes in her life while meeting new friends during…
Taking inspiration from the GBA era of Fire Emblem titles, Studio Daimon has created Path of the Midnight Sun. Not to be confused with the Marvel game, this indie title blends tactical, turn-based, and visual novel aspects into a single RPG package. While noticeably ambitious, its execution flounders in a few areas. https://youtu.be/iQj0mLZTDGI The trope-filled narrative follows two main characters: Suzaku, the amnesiac Captain, and the Vassal of the Demon King, Faratras Hoikade. Faratras receives much attention in the introductory chapters, ensuring you understand her as a character. On the other hand, Suzaku fills the fish-out-of-water role by explaining the…
When I first got my hands on Pandora Seven, I had the reaction many of you are probably having right now. ‘What the heck is Pandora Seven?’ Well, I’m happy to say that, unlike the proverbial Pandora’s Box, this manga isn’t holding something terrible within but instead, hopefully, the start of something extraordinary. The manga is written and illustrated by Yuta Kayashima. It follows the story of Ria Frontier, a human girl living harmoniously on a secluded island amongst several other animal and plant-derived species. Although she loves her friends and her adopted dragon family, she yearns to travel to…
Honey Lemon Soda, the long-awaited romance from Mayu Murata, is finally upon us! I admit that before this, I had little idea to no idea of what to expect. However, when I first saw the front cover and read the synopsis, I immediately felt a resemblance to Kimi ni Todoke, one of my other favorite manga, so naturally, I felt instantly that I’d undoubtedly enjoy it, but we shall see. In Honey Lemon Soda, Ishimori Uka is our typical female protagonist of the genre; fifteen years old and starting her first week at high school, her crush from middle school,…
I’m Quitting Heroing is a manga with art by Nori Kazato and Hana Amano based on the original light novel of the same name written by Quantum and serialized in 2017. Set in a fantasy world, the story follows Leo Demonheart, the world’s strongest hero, who finds himself out of work and vying for a job in the Demon Queen’s army. How did the hero find himself in this situation, you ask? After completely annihilating the demon army single-handedly and saving humanity, his God-like powers have left the human race fearful and paranoid that he may use them for evil…
https://youtu.be/bJKM4BVHIC4 Best Action/Adventure Game God of War Ragnarök We had a feeling that God of War Ragnarok was going to be great, but this title completely blew us away. The development team at Santa Monica Studio proves they understand this series and what makes it amazing. Its story is packed with emotion and action, but the exploration and game mechanics are what truly had us eager to play until the final hours. It’s going to be really tough for any release in the genre to do it better than this. Best JRPG Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is more…
Point-and-Click Adventure Games have been around since the dawn of Video Game media. While a rarity, the indie scene keeps the genre alive. Children of Silentown, made by Elf Games and Studio Luna II, is a Dark Adventure Game heavily inspired by the works of Tim Burton, and it shows entirely in the presentation and plotline. With a handful of demos released since it began development, it will finally release on January 11, 2023. https://youtu.be/bWGOnn42Mao Children of Silentown has you playing as Lucy, a young girl living in a mysterious town full of people afraid of the forest nearby, where…
2022 has been a fantastic year for gaming titles and long-awaited announcements of titles that we have been looking forward to, which makes me more excited for the following year. It’s that time, however, to pick five games released this year that I enjoyed. This is Kyle Clark, and here are my top five games of 2022. Making this list was challenging due to so many titles being released this year, so I apologize if a title you enjoyed this year isn’t on this list; let’s get started. 5. Multiversus If I’m going, to be honest, I didn’t expect Multiversus…
As a recent writer for Noisy Pixel, there wasn’t enough time to express my opinions on the year’s releases. Still, the amazing team here has offered a tremendous amount of insight and support. To celebrate that and to put a nice ribbon tie on 2022, I will be listing the games that marked my experience. Keep in mind that these are only some of the few great releases because it’s easy to get caught up in playing older titles, but it’s always great to look forward to the newer titles that are right around the corner. So without further ado,…