ZAKO NO AHIRU

As a disclaimer upfront, I didn't complete this game, so you can judge me for that and dismiss my review if you want. This game is pretty charming. The artstyle is very bright and cheery, the soundtrack is happy and upbeat, and the general gameplay style is really cool. You play as a little duck that needs to navigate a blocky landscape. You do so by spewing water from your mouth to launch yourself. You can do it multiple times in the air. It's Getting Over it but with multi-jumping and bouncy physics. This gameplay style? Pretty fun. When it's working properly. The direction of your jump is indicated by an arrow pointing in the direction you will launch. One thing about that arrow - it lies, IT LIES!! The whole mesugaki thing genuinely didn't influence me at all, but what I DID find myself yelling at was the game itself actively showing me about to jump in a direction, and then when I press the button, it goes in a different direction. I don't know if it's some weird bug with the physics engine or whatever, but it really kills your whole flow when what FEELS like a bug is the reason for your downfall (literally downfall). There's also the weird water storage mechanic that I don't really understand what is there for. And also, as a final nitpick, the english translation is... Fine. It feels quite google translated at parts, and some things sounded so bizarre they made me laugh out loud. If you like larping as a 35 year old japanese office worker who is autistic about retro hardware (or if you ARE one), and/or having a little girl yell unintelligible things at you for several hours, while simultaneously feeling frustrated that you don't really feel in control of your character due to the wonky physics, then this game will be a smashing homerun for you. It's not for me personally tho.