Tasomachi: Behind The Twilight
Anime girl explores cozy towns and collects things. I never want to play anything that isn't like this ever again.
intro
You play as Yukumo, a girl traveling around in an airship because reasons. It breaks down by some abandoned towns and you need to PLATFORM and COLLECT STUFF to make the towns alive again and fix your airship.
gameplay
you jump around and collect stuff. you unlock a few new abilities as you progress through more challenging areas, but it's never very challenging. There's no enemies, the timed sections are mostly very generous. The game's ez-pz and it's relaxing. And that's what I want. I've suffered enough this year, I just want to relax a little. The game is relaxing. LOOK, I'm not some GAMES JOURNALIST who thinks games need an EASY MODE because i suck at everything i do, I've been a PROPER GAMER and finished most of the Souls games without complaint, i always just play everything on Normal, I NEVER EVER PLAY ANYTHING ON EASY MODE-- SOMETIMES IT'S JUST NICE TO PLAY AN EASY GAME, ISN'T IT?
there's little uh, talking cats. You'll do stuff for them for rewards, but it's all really easy "just moving-around" stuff: "pop all these balloons", "smash all these vases", "light all these lamps". And you do the same things in each town. What's kinda-nice about it though is that these cats are introduced over time to all the towns, so there's reasons to be re-visiting places you've been before. You can use your new abilities to reach places you couldn't before, and maybe some new catfrens will be there to give you stuff to do, it's neato. There's only 3 towns, but they're pretty large and with all their streets and rooftops and the occassional house you can enter, they're preddy labyrinthine.
I do wish there was "more to do" in them, because really all there is to do is collect stuff. You can sit on benches which is awesome, and I'm not being sarcastic I actually do love that--but you canT USE THE VENDING MACHINES so that's a point off.
there's a few shops to buy new outfits and decorations for a room that you use as a kind of home-base. the outfits are mostly nice but the decorations are really just there for you to have something to spend your money on.
later in the game you can use your airship. it'ssssssssss okay. it's nothing special gameplay-wise, but it's cool to be able to fly over the towns and get nice views. also there's stuff to COLLECT up there.
the towns dont feel too lonely, they feel "just right". Even though they're abandoned, everything still works because the cats take care of stuff. the street lights come on at night, there's a library and other social places for the cats. it's pretty cool and magical-feeling. kinda like Spirited Away but -- not quite. idk how to elaborate further on that, so i wont.
visuals
it's colorful. it's very pleasant to look at. it makes my heart hurt and i wish i lived in any of these towns irl.
story
there's a story. but it's not very YUGE. but it doesn't need to be. you learn what happened to the towns, you learn about the local talking cats, and you get closure. that's about it. It's nice.
closing
i want all games to be like this lol. i do wish there was more to "do", even if it were just pointless stuff like lmao getting a drink from a vending machine and being able to drink it for no reasonIM NOT OBSESSED WITH VENDING MACHINES OR ANYTHING I PROMISE i just--
anyway i really like the game. it's very simple, but very good. it's gorgeous to look at. what else? the music is good, it's not "omg i have to buy the soundtrack", but it's pleasant and matches the towns. the cats are funny and cool, and just the overall spirit of the game is very very nice.