Recent reviews by Marukyu

An incredibly heartwarming shoot-em-up that provides replay value through its sheer amount of content: monsters to be loved, gifts to be received, adorable characters to be met, and an extensive bestiary to fill out. Encounters and rewards are randomized, making each run feels unique and different from the last.

You're in control of the difficulty curve throughout each run - choose low-level monsters to ensure your survival, or face high-level monsters in the hopes of earning their more powerful items. Mini-challenges add a unique twist to most encounters, rewarding you with more items for clearing a stage under certain restrictions, such as exceeding a score threshold or not using the panic button.

In addition to the rain of bullets to be dodged, the game's combo system plays an important role for scoring and challenges, encouraging the player to remain vertically aligned with each monster and time their charge shots in order to maintain their combo. The combo will expire if no bullets touch the monster for a few seconds, but the combo meter is generously paused during attacks without a clear shot towards the monster, making it possible to full-combo-clear each encounter.

The game's UI between encounters and runs is thoughtfully designed, with countless quality-of-life features in place: confirmations/hold timers for irreversible actions, re-watchable dialogue scenes, an intermission screen for achievements after each encounter, skippable transitions, unlock condition indicators, among many others! The options menu also offers significant customizability: the ability to configure key bindings can't be taken for granted in the shoot-em-up genre (a feeling I'm sure any other QWERTZ user who's tried playing Touhou games can relate to).

The Void Rains Upon Her Heart is a true passion project (hi, fellow gamedev who can't ever let go of their baby), and the attention to detail and meticulous care put into each aspect of this game's design and development can be felt at every moment. I'm very grateful to the kind friend who recommended this game to me, as I might not have come across it otherwise, so I'd like to pass on the favor and spread the word. I love this game, and so should you!

This Unit is experiencing a sudden rise in temperature.

A highly enjoyable and absolutely adorable puzzle game with a variety of game modes.

Each character has their own episode in Story Mode, with cute artwork, entertaining writing, as well as secret encounters and events to discover.

The boards in Puzzle Mode are well-designed, increasing gradually in difficulty while being grouped both thematically and mechanically with each of the characters. The non-linear unlock system for puzzles allows taking a break from particularly complex boards and returning to them later.

The 2-player Versus Mode is already quite enjoyable over Steam Remote Play. With the upcoming release of Petal Crash Online, this game will be sure to scratch a certain itch for new multiplayer titles in the Puzzle Fighter genre.

In terms of mechanics, this game is also very well designed: players must balance whether to take the time to build up complex chains to fill the opponent's board with garbage, or to focus on the Tug-of-War meter by rapidly clearing small petal clusters. The satisfying feeling of constructing and setting off long and elaborate chains is very reminiscent of Puyo Puyo, and I strongly recommend this game to fans of that series, as well as to anyone who enjoys arcade/puzzle games!

(Bonus points for absolutely excellent Linux support!)

/* This review's score was chosen by a fair dice roll. */