THE MIDNIGHT QUEENS

I wanted to check this out after playing Viviette Quest RELOADED, which I had a lot of fun with. I liked this one a lot too and am glad I am starting to experience DizzyNPeas' games in earnest. The characters are cute (though if a bit hamstrung by the fact their hairstyles are so similar), the locations sparse in detail and a bit blocky but still homely and pleasant with a nice emphasis on darker tones with eye-catching highlights, and the music was kind of all over the place, but good when good, if that makes sense. I appreciate that there's a modicum of strategy here, as you can't just rely on leveling yourself up to trounce everyone. Knowing when to heal with your items and when to with a special move was one of the main lessons I took away from this game. I will say, you'll probably end up with a lot of money by the time you clear the game, and even in the beginning portions I found myself with a lot more cash to throw around than I did in VQR, and that was despite me running often from street battles, whereas in VQR, I struggled to make much income from the enemies in the city and was often short on items. The story has a strong start - despite her skeevy look I couldn't help but want to help Lin out of her sticky situation and stick it to her abhorrent bosses, and as I heard her talk she grew on me as she reveals herself to be far more kind than the gang she's with. The addition of a power struggle among the Midnight Queens took me off guard as well and only increased my interest. Perhaps my favorite moment out of the main adventure was the scenario in the park where Lin had to protect an artist from a clown with a major ego, which proved far more entertaining than I would've ever guessed. I hope my evaluation doesn't come off as overly critical. Even with its flaws I still had a really good time, and I hope the developer continues her work on these small experiences. There is no hyperbole when I say my life has been enriched by experiencing these games, as it feels as if I've stepped back into 2016 and returned to my younger days when I used to become engrossed in video games before social media snagged me with it's infected claws and turned me into a lethargic husk apathetic to my former hobbies. I'm only now starting to claw my way out of the hole, and I credit this for being a stepping stone towards it.