Velvet Crowe
Game Junkie
Member Since: 03 Jun 2010
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Age: 32
Bio: Former journalist, invested in humanities, fitness, and consuming garbage.
Subtlety is overrated.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/176986912-drew
https://twitter.com/DrewStr56396515
Subtlety is overrated.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/176986912-drew
https://twitter.com/DrewStr56396515
Recent Ratings
Check out Velvet Crowe's...
Citizen Sleeper (2022) - Rated 17 Apr 2025
"Toothless cyberpunk that presents a cool enough setting and premise but virtually everyone is an exposition machine where the PC has no real agency on anything other than following the directions of quest givers which wouldn't be so bad if there was more cohesion to how these factions played with each other and if the character conflict wasn't so weak and milquetoast. The gameplay also ends up being trivialized by the end, just felt like I was going through the motions after a certain point."
Growing Up (2021) - Rated 14 Apr 2025
"Main gripe is that the core of the game is its visual novel aspects and so much of it is gated behind lame mini-games that are largely rng. You want to explore multiple routes but doing so requires a grind that's mind numbing as hell. But for what it's worth the actual VN stuff is novel and you do have enough control to at least create a personality and niche for your PC. Storytelling doesn't land on anything strong and it's too ubiquitous to be believable but it lands a solid cozyness I like."
Refind Self: The Personality Test Game (2021) - Rated 13 Apr 2025
"Personality tests are nothing that should be taken seriously but I dig this because I like the abstract way it plays with the concept and it also just has a cool vibe. What makes this neat too is that it gets interesting on subsequent playthroughs to figure out unique ways to route yourself to really start uncovering the nitty of its narrative. I don't think it lands on any hugely moving plot beats but I do think it's conceptually interesting in a lot of ways that I like."
Stranded: Alien Dawn (2023) - Rated 13 Apr 2025
"I think the gameplay loop is shallow and the base building is novel but rudimentary. Fundamentally it's a game about how well you manage the wait times but there's so many small annoying things relating to that. Like how the map is excessively large yet the game doesn't have ways to speed up navigation nor a map to quickly jump to any area on the map. Considering you're so confined to one area, what's the point? It's also not too hard to snowball yourself to victory unless you get rng screwed."
RoboCop: Rogue City (2023) - Rated 13 Apr 2025
"This game is weird in how it's structured like an imsim but there's really only one playstyle the levels allow for and you're not given any variety on how to approach objectives. But man I just love how it plays into the "walking tank" gimmick of the character and tossing shit around is such a satisfying novelty to play with. I think encounters get are a bit poorly paced but I think its enemy variety is solid. It captures the aesthetic and vibe of the movies perfectly, too."
In Stars and Time (2023) - Rated 08 Mar 2025
"A lot of stuff in its narrative are perhaps underbaked or don't go anywhere and maybe the conceit it lands on is cheesy as hell, but this is such a cool title that takes the Groundhog Day premise and plays with the psychological aspect of it that lands both within the game's context and elevating that through its mechanics. It being as draining as it is to get to the end adds so much to the core narrative, and the fact its main cast is so enjoyable makes its conceit land somehow."
Angel's Punishment (2021) - Rated 08 Feb 2025
"It's kind of interesting in terms of how much of the map is open to you and the amount of space you can cover from the getko. A shame the actual gameplay is boring as piss. Enemies are all slow and cover space in the most obvious, generic way possible and after a certain point you'll be one shotting them with zero effort. The progression system is boring since your baseline kit is the most barebones shit imaginable and the level design doesn't allow for any sort of unique traversal."
Onimusha 3: Demon Siege (2004) - Rated 14 Jan 2025
"Has much less personality of previous games but there's a funny novelty in the insane premise it exudes. Personally though, I'm less into the idea of making the level design more wide when the tighter spaces of older games were better at emphasizing the games core spacing mechanics. I'm also not too big into the new additions either, a lot of it feels like it's not adding much utility and there's more gimmicky stuff that I thought was boring. Generally okay game but I think it's underwhelming."
Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny (2002) - Rated 11 Jan 2025
"A step up just on the side stuff alone which gives so much life and personality to the game. Part of me wants to not like the more polished and mobile movement options but it's so consistently enjoyable with how it plays with spacing and enemy design that I can't seriously complain about it. Hell, I even love the way the game just does shit with no forewarning. Very funny to give you this hub area and give you a point of no return without telling you!"
Onimusha: Warlords (2001) - Rated 10 Jan 2025
"Onimusha has a lot of funny stuff from the awful dubbing it has to the fact it so obviously has Resident Evil's DNA in it. But what makes it so cool is its novelty. It's an action game that heavily restricts your movement and makes combat entirely about spacing which is executed nicely because you get so much out of basic actions and parrying feels good. The camera can be total ass at times and there's some setpieces that's boring padding but I just dig a lot of what this game does."
