Parasite

Super based game and concept. I love it

could be better but it is what it is

The base concepts in this game are promising. I enjoy this dev's works, and recognize that working as a solo dev is a difficult undertaking that often sees little to no return. Due to well-meaning yet misguided choices in the development of this game: prioritizing implementing AI art over much needed improvements to the gameplay loop, bug fixes, et cetera, and as such I cannot in good faith recommend this game as of now. I recommend that those reading this delve into research on the effects of AI on the environment and the individuals that have their art fed into AI without their permission on their own accord. There are many many papers out there, and it is ultimately up to the consumer to filter through fact and fiction in how data sets are presented. My reasons for disliking AI art is as follows: AI art is incredibly bad for the environment (There's a decent recent study, titled: [u]"Power Hungry Processing: Watts Driving the Cost of AI Deployment?"[/u] by Alexandria Sasha Luccioni, et al.) To make a long report short, it requires extreme energy draw, which ultimately has a negative impact on the environment (and an impact on your pocket, if you consider that energy is a limited resource that you are charged for). That is not to mention the morally dubious nature of AI art. Obviously, I cannot tell you, reader, how your moral code should be or what you should believe in terms of ethics. I find that [u]"On the Dangers of Stochastic Pollocks"[/u] by Goetze et al. is a good read and argument as to why AI art can harm individual artists, and I definitely recommend giving it a read no matter your position on the topic. The sources listed in the paper are also (mostly) good reads (though I do find some chosen sources as quite biased or strange). Ultimately, I fear that the use of AI art in this game not only sets a bad precedent for developers as a whole, but takes away from the original art style the game had going for it, It was charming, though not complex and lacking in certain areas. I firmly believe that the developer could have created the missing art in the same art style that had been used up until this recent update, and that the game would have been more charming as a result, as it shows heart and care in a way that AI art simply cannot.