Strawberry Chocolate: Miner 8AD 4SS

Fun exploration game, with a lot of hints about an interesting wider world. I'll definitely need to try the other games in the series.

RPG Maker strikes again! Strawberry Chocolate: Miner 8AD 4SS is one of hundreds of low effort retro-pixel RPG Maker asset/construction kit flips spamming the Steam catalog, made with the RPG Maker video game construction kit... in their own words, "Our easy to use tools are simple enough for a child." Like all RPG Maker "games", this is essentially a bunch of low quality/canned assets from RPG Maker coupled with a cringeworthy high school anime club fan fiction. The point can be made that the intention of RPG Maker is to make demos and small games to pass around friends, and shouldn't be used for "professional" game development, especially not for cash grabs/profit making as the developers are trying to here. Notably the developer here couldn't work out how to use RPG Maker to make an RPG... and that's the only thing RPG Maker can do properly... except it's not even very good for making RPGs. Instead, we have a craptastic Zelda ripoff top down brawler with a cave exploring theme... ugh. Seriously, it's garbage. From a technical perspective, this RPG Maker asset flip doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard. As with all RPG Maker games, the poor quality engine displays badly in fullscreen and doesn't have full HD support or any graphics tweaking options, making this unacceptable for any dedicated modern PC gamer. The game only displays in 4:3 pillarboxed aspect ratio. It's possible they developed this using an old CRT they found in a dumpster, or this game has been specifically designed for people gaming on PC's from 1995... either way, this isn't really acceptable in the modern era of PC gaming. The controls can't be customised, which will be an annoyance for many, but it can also render the game unplayable for differently-abled gamers. These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game. The poor quality of this game is reflected in the general public reception. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the all-time peak player number was only 2 players. That's right, only 2. This is a pitiful enough number, and now, the only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 120 million gamers on Steam, the overwhelming lack of interest in the game is remarkable, but also to be expected. This complete and utter rejection of the game from gamers should be a keen information point for anyone considering buying shovelware like this. Gamers just didn't take this seriously, and for good reason. Strawberry Chocolate: Miner 8AD 4SS has the pathetically optimistic price of around $8 USD, it's not worth it given the defects and shortcomings with the product, especially considering the sheer number of completely free, much higher quality games on Steam.

Had a lot of fun with this, wasn't too sure at first based on the style but the character dialogue can get pretty funny and gameplay wise there is quite a lot to do. Love the title honestly ahaha

Finished all 3 episodes, and it's been a blast. The game keeps getting patched and updated too, so even the bugs I never ran into are being fixed. The story is pretty solid, and the new difficulty modes allow for very different experiences in replays. It's the kind of game I can recommend to kids and adults alike, and both audiences would get a lot of fun out of it. Especially considering the sense of humor in it.

Get ready to get marooned on an asteroid and attacked by aliens. You will not escape without getting bitten or licked at least once. 🙃 Alright, as usual, here's the full disclosure: I'm friends with the dev, but I bought this game on my own and these are my honest thoughts on it. To start off, if you've played the other game (Cherry and Trix) from the dev, throw what you're expecting out the window. It's similar in length (took me about 7ish hours to beat the game mostly on easy) and visual style, but the is game is quite different from the other- in pace, gameplay style, and tone. One thing that remains the same though is the distinct characters in the game. The characters we spend the most time with feel fleshed out and they actually have their own personalities. (yes, even the A.I characters). It's one of the things that I really love about these games: I'm always attached to the characters by the end of it. Alright, onto the actual gameplay itself. It's pretty interesting and fun. It's different from the other game in that you have an overworld where there are a bunch of smaller levels within, rather then the linear level format I was expecting going in to this. It matches the overall feel of the game though. You're exploring these asteroids with Alicia Crash, free to wander around to whatever level you want in whatever order you want (given that you upgrade your equipment to access certain areas of the levels), figuring things out as you go. There's really a lot to explore. That said, it does make the main storyline of the game slower, because you're making significant plot progression less frequently. You're still finding tidbits of lore and plot here and there though- enough of a drip feed to keep you on track. It can be challenging at times. You have to trek all the way back to your ship to heal or craft upgrades. Resources are finite so you have to think about what you want to do with them. You also will die if you go into areas of the level that you do not have the equipment for. On top of that, the enemies are not something to scoff at, even if most of them are cute. This game might largely be a beat-em-up, action kind of game, but you also do have to think. It does take some strategy. I played the last two episodes of the game on easy mode because I died so much on normal. (I'm not the best at games though) The tone of this game is honestly great. The dialogue is funny, I love all the characters, and the story is interesting. It's not like the heartwarming and emotional story you got with Cherry and Trix. It's more of an exciting, adventurous kind of story. Finishing the game for me was kind of akin to the satisfaction you get when you finish watching an Indiana Jones type movie or something. Just wrapping up the high energy and action of saving the day. Is this game perfect? Of course not, but like I said in another review: nothing ever is. I did manage to lock this game up more than once by being too overzealous with the button mashing. I also missed the ability to actually press buttons to interact with enemies rather than just running into them. Running into enemies to attack is convenient, but I personally like being able to interact to fight. Overall though, it's a fun game and I enjoyed how the story ties back in to what happened in the other game the dev made (they're in the same universe). I'm also now determined to beat all three parts in normal and hard mode. Just because I'm stubborn and want to best the aliens.

I was hoping this would be as good as the developers previous game, cherry and trix, and although different, it was just as good, better in at least some aspects. It is fun to see the developers grow. The good: -There is so much charm in this game and in the artwork especially. -The devs have major talent in the character/character interaction department. All the characters were likable but the leading lady Alicia is what makes the game shine, even despite some issues gameplay wise. -It was nice to see the story tie in to the previous game. -The humor in the game is nearly always well done. -The music is really amazing. Some of the best music I've heard in any indy game I have played, the ambiance is just fantastic and the songs with lyrics are so catchy and good. Whoever does the music for these games deserves major recognition. The not so good -There was a spot near the end of chapter 2 that had me pretty frustrated. It took a really long time to figure out, and I figured it out by just randomly stumbling on the solution after a good amount of exploring. A little more direction in this spot I think was needed. -The story took a backseat for much of the game, which was a bit disappointing. But Alicia was likable enough that I never felt bored for too long. -It's actually pretty difficult at times, but the devs give you difficulty options, which is greatly appreciated This was a very different game then cherry and trix, but it was cool to see the devs take steps forward and try new things. A lot of it was a major step forward, a few areas maybe not so much, but regardless, I loved seeing them takes some chances and do something a bit different. This was, for the most part, a real treat to play. I want the soundtrack to the game though, and I want it now!