mcflappyjaw

Member
Sep 7, 2019
133
165
166
I dunno, the gameplay is kind of dogshit in an endearing way? being a 10 year old and getting cornered by a feral obese NEET, then getting fucking decked and dying instantly in earlygame feels uncomfortable in a fun way. Like yeah it's unfair but that itself contributes to the vibe. Even "late"game has a very vivid rags-to-riches feel
I've never really seen anything like this. It's less mechanical but more so stylistically coherent- while still actually being a gameplay loop rather than a token visual novel minigame

>find stray dog
>sigh, put on earplugs, bend over
>WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF
>you are now 1/5 closer to a 3% stat increase

that's just funny
 
Last edited:
Nov 28, 2019
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I dunno, the gameplay is kind of dogshit in an endearing way? being a 10 year old and getting cornered by a feral obese NEET, then getting fucking decked and dying instantly in earlygame feels uncomfortable in a fun way. Like yeah it's unfair but that itself contributes to the vibe. Even "late"game has a very vivid rags-to-riches feel
I've never really seen anything like this. It's less mechanical but more so stylistically coherent- while still actually being a gameplay loop rather than a token visual novel minigame

>find stray dog
>sigh, put on earplugs, bend over
>WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF
>you are now 1/5 closer to a 3% stat increase

that's just funny
Fair enough, I think the game does occupy a unique niche, I just wish the "game" was a bit more fun to play. The "vibes" of the game actually remind me a lot of Dohna Dohna, which seems to be its complete opposite - the gameplay of Dohna Dohna is legitimately the most fun I've ever had in any singleplayer game (it's darkest dungeon but better), soundtrack is peak to the extent I have it in my usual playlist, but the story lacked substance, being another generic story about rebellious teens taking down an evil megacorp by beating the CEO up. If only this game could keep its current story (literally would win an Oscar if it came out in 1990) but improve the gameplay...
 

Dodominus

New Member
Aug 6, 2023
4
4
38
I might write a longer review later but this "game" should be better marketed as a visual novel given how there's barely any gameplay. I would rate it very highly as an exploration of contemporary social issues in Japan (racism against Zainichi Koreans and Chinese, idol culture/hikikomori culture where lonely young people put all their hopes in parasocial figures, corruption and hypocrisy in law enforcement), which makes it very similar to the Yakuza series in terms of topics tackled, though the Yakuza series actually manages to have somewhat compelling gameplay in it.

I think the dev has also realized how he likes writing stories more than games, since the new casino arc is literally entirely a cutscene and features some overly complex baccarat cheating that's straight out of the Kaiji manga + the overall "mafia conflict disguised by gambling" plot that's straight out of God of Gamblers (1989 starring Chow Yun-Fat and Andy Lau). The chigyus are also pretty much just a mockery of the playerbase of the game (lol) as well as the dev himself, given how one of them is a failed doujin game developer and the other is a traditional martial arts otaku... Yanikas is clearly the dev's idealized version of a man, a gigachad mafia boss who is a judo expert (?) and every woman is obsessed with having sex with, while the chigyus are his way of returning to reality (especially with the tongue in cheek about Luffy and his "Haki").

The problem just lies in the gameplay being horrendous and just straight up detracting from the beauty of the plot and art. Hopefully the dev actually decides to just release this as a visual novel instead, and gets to focus on writing the story he is aiming to.
I had the same opinion, as a hardcore rougue-like fan the least important part is the story, take Elona+ as an example, the story is there yeah, but is not this huge ass VN and you can skip it really easy, also the difficult doesn't scale with you every time you level up so it gets to a point that the game become repetitive and too easy, the game is simple but catchy...the first 3 hours, i feel it has potential, but NOT in the direction the dev is taking, and is such a shame really.

Also i don't understand his hate-boner for Hideo Kojima
 

RimmHardingan

Newbie
May 18, 2020
27
35
96
Also i don't understand his hate-boner for Hideo Kojima
I might have missed this; where is there a reference to Hideous Kojimbles? (The Nuclear MGSV trailer built my hype up way too much, so i understand the loathing)

I might write a longer review later but this "game" should be better marketed as a visual novel given how there's barely any gameplay. I would rate it very highly as an exploration of contemporary social issues in Japan ( idol culture/hikikomori culture where lonely young people put all their hopes in parasocial figures).
Looks like DKT is going down this route, judging by the Host Club that's getting added to the game.
 
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Dodominus

New Member
Aug 6, 2023
4
4
38
I might have missed this; where is there a reference to Hideous Kojimbles? (The Nuclear MGSV trailer built my hype up way too much, so i understand the loathing)
It was the Otaku guy who had a "Pekora" keychain, everyone knows Pekora is Kojima's Oshi, also the guy is a "Frustrated game developer" as Kojumbo is a "Frustrated Movie Director" :WeSmart:
 

STarius

Newbie
Sep 12, 2020
27
10
56
I feel that it is a long shot to consider the creator of the Metal Gear franchise as the inspiration behind the 'Pokora' fan in-story.

The character felt more like a deconstruction of people that are self-proclaimed developers that instead use their time and money on satisfying their vices instead. Just reading on how abusive said character was towards his parents and openly declaring he is sending said money to the Vtuber was enough...
 

BlindTraveler

Newbie
Feb 22, 2018
27
21
37
my biggest problem with the gameplay is early game is pure dogshit rng to get to the later parts of the game, for example had to start from scratch again for the newest version I have been given over 40 fuck you levels of death in a row and Im not even done with the second level. infact the rng currently for early game feels WORSE than a few versions ago as now fleeing is much harder, which wouldnt be a problem if negociating actually worked, if unarmed attacks werent a death sentence, if the best healing consumable in the game wasnt pure rng to aquire at first. seeing a whopping 20-40 dmg IN the second level no matter how hard you try to escape or bribe or flirt your way out of it. sorry if this is boardering on a rant, just a few versions ago this was actually comedically fun. now its awful and not even lona rpg awful where I feel proud of myself for finding some way to cheese a realy bad encounter, more bashing my skull against a wall bad.
 

RimmHardingan

Newbie
May 18, 2020
27
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96
It was the Otaku guy who had a "Pekora" keychain, everyone knows Pekora is Kojima's Oshi, also the guy is a "Frustrated game developer" as Kojumbo is a "Frustrated Movie Director" :WeSmart:
I forgot that Kojima was a Pekora fan; I never played the DS games though. I also don't know if the game was written with the intention of that parallel due to the nature of it being MTL, but I guess I can see it.

I took that sequence as a sort of comedic part lampooning current otaku, a sort of "isekai in real life" (kidnapped by criminals and shot up with meth).
 
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Takatwo

Newbie
Sep 26, 2025
26
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idk why people so angry about game being difficult, game's challenging from the start, isnt it supposed to be like that? the only part im sad about is end game feels way too easy, i'd want for npc to grow up in lvls as well
I think people are upset at the difficulty because a lot of it comes from things you can't control, if you get to the boss of the first level without enough weapons to kill them quickly, you're just done, and there's likely not much you could have done differently, so you just restart the level feeling like you didn't really lose because you played bad
 

dodactem

Newbie
May 4, 2018
40
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I think people are upset at the difficulty because a lot of it comes from things you can't control, if you get to the boss of the first level without enough weapons to kill them quickly, you're just done, and there's likely not much you could have done differently, so you just restart the level feeling like you didn't really lose because you played bad
sure but you're playing as like an 8 yr old girl. completely without support and incredibly damaged already. the game and its immersion/atmosphere wouldn't hit the same if you started out with much of a fighting chance against adult criminals or anything else for that matter

just imagine that all of the failed playthroughs are how this kind of life usually ends. the one playthrough where you barely manage to scrape together a win condition is 1 in 1000 irl

it's designed so that you're supposed to lose every now and then, especially on the first run. your margin for error is super thin at first to give you an idea of the brutal world you're dealing with and how quickly, easily, and without any regard for fairness things can get rough for our protagonist (a sex-addicted, prepubescent on crime ridden streets, imagine that)

basically, it's an atmosphere thing. game wouldn't be the same or even compelling if it were any less forgiving, imo.
 

Takatwo

Newbie
Sep 26, 2025
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sure but you're playing as like an 8 yr old girl. completely without support and incredibly damaged already. the game and its immersion/atmosphere wouldn't hit the same if you started out with much of a fighting chance against adult criminals or anything else for that matter

just imagine that all of the failed playthroughs are how this kind of life usually ends. the one playthrough where you barely manage to scrape together a win condition is 1 in 1000 irl

it's designed so that you're supposed to lose every now and then, especially on the first run. your margin for error is super thin at first to give you an idea of the brutal world you're dealing with and how quickly, easily, and without any regard for fairness things can get rough for our protagonist (a sex-addicted, prepubescent on crime ridden streets, imagine that)

basically, it's an atmosphere thing. game wouldn't be the same or even compelling if it were any less forgiving, imo.
Intended or not, losing when you've done nothing wrong is bound to create frustration, people don't get upset at the game because it's "hard" (it's really not) they get upset because it's unfair, the first couple stages might as well be lotteries with how little agency you have in there, and that's what causes frustration for people

Also the excuse "you're playing a little girl in a world of dangerous adults" doesn't work, after a couple hours of gameplay, my kicks deal more damage than guns
 
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dodactem

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May 4, 2018
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Intended or not, losing when you've done nothing wrong is bound to create frustration, people don't get upset at the game because it's "hard" (it's really not) they get upset because it's unfair, the first couple stages might as well be lotteries with how little agency you have in there, and that's what causes frustration for people

Also the excuse "you're playing a little girl in a world of dangerous adults" doesn't work, after a couple hours of gameplay, my kicks deal more damage than guns
yeah, I agree. a lack of fairness in gameplay creates frustration, as does most forms of removing player agency. that said, it is a bit "hard" at first. there's a way to play it well, and there's a way to play it poorly. learning how to optimally avoid death is a part of those first couple of runs

also, the power scaling is totally off, i agree. you get too strong too fast and the tone suffers for it.

the point with that "excuse" as you call it, is simply to set that tone in the first place. like I said before, I think the game would struggle to get players invested/immersed without having this kind of experience. it sets a brutal and apathetic impression of the mc's world. sure, there's other ways to do it, but this way does it efficiently and smoothly, without the bloat or awkwardness of a ton of dialogue or exposition or whatever. not that those things are bad necessarily, but they're pretty easy to do poorly.
 

Takatwo

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Sep 26, 2025
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yeah, I agree. a lack of fairness in gameplay creates frustration, as does most forms of removing player agency. that said, it is a bit "hard" at first. there's a way to play it well, and there's a way to play it poorly. learning how to optimally avoid death is a part of those first couple of runs

also, the power scaling is totally off, i agree. you get too strong too fast and the tone suffers for it.

the point with that "excuse" as you call it, is simply to set that tone in the first place. like I said before, I think the game would struggle to get players invested/immersed without having this kind of experience. it sets a brutal and apathetic impression of the mc's world. sure, there's other ways to do it, but this way does it efficiently and smoothly, without the bloat or awkwardness of a ton of dialogue or exposition or whatever. not that those things are bad necessarily, but they're pretty easy to do poorly.
You have more chances to win if you don't put yourself in unnecessary danger, and you know when it's worth it to take risks, yea, it's bad faith to call it pure lottery, but what would be the internet without a lot of bad faith

I agree that the game's dark and cruel tones wouldn't hit if you could just steamroll the game every time (which is why that aspect completely dissapears past stage 2 when you just get absolutely broken and nothing poses a threat to you anymore, making a huge dissonance between the gameplay and the story) but I think making it unfair like this isn't the solution, even if it is thematically relevant. It is still a game and the goal is for you to enjoy it, not rip your hair out because for the 15th time in a row you get to the boss without enough weapons to deal with it. Granted, making turn based games difficult without making them unfair is easier said than done and I genuinely have no idea on how to do that, the original topic was the origin of the frustration which still is the lack of agency in the first stages of the game
 
4.10 star(s) 39 Votes