Recent reviews by Rock Lobster

It's a short game about mental health, society, but most of all - humanity. Would you trust an AI to listen to your problems and maybe recommend you an app or two to "take your mind off of things"? It's the future of counseling and if you can't allow yourself to go to a licensed therapist you could take "Eliza" for a spin. She comes in various forms and shapes, she might even look and sound human, but she's (or should I say "it's") an actual program that the main character of this game developed a few years ago. The MC's name is Evelyn and she seems a little troubled as well, maybe that's what pushed her to develop a project like Eliza, because she needed a friend to listen? It will keep you wondering about future, even dystopian\utopian future. What awaits us in 10-50 years? What will happen in a 100 years from now? You should definitely grab a friend or two, or even play it by yourself on a Friday night.

I give it 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
And maybe 🤖🤖

This game might be somewhat pandering and romanticised, so take it with a grain of salt (it's only a game, after all). Media usually likes to exaggerate stories and topics for everyone to sympathize. Way more complex and serious than the first game and I love it. It has everything: family, love, little annoying siblings, forsaken children (by their own mother), misogyny, racism, education, parental alcoholism and child abuse, crazy religious cult, sexuality, immigration, politics, vigilantes, hobo-life, cannabis legality (or more like illegality), society in general. The devs tried their best to cover all these topics, and it didn't come out perfect, but there it is. Loud and bold (hence pandering). I wish I knew how couple of French folks came up with an idea like that. I mean, this is no stroll in the park. How the heck does one tackle all those serious topics in a rather short game? And why would they want to push away their youngest teenager fans that drool over a couple of punk girls locking lips together and destroying the whole freaking town? If you expected some fan service from this game - there's none. And that's a relief.

There were some over the top scenes that during them I kept asking myself "how the hell did it escalate to THIS?". There were some ugly looking, poorly rendered unimportant characters (like Chad). There were some rather important characters that made some impact but never reappeared eventually. It was an experiment, this game, but what a good experiment it is! Glad it happened, with all it's beauty and all of it's mess. Again, take everything with a grain of salt.

Anyway, I don't know what I was trying to say; kinda just threw everything out there. But I truly do recommend this non-perfect game. Grab it on sale, though. It's most importantly about family values, and it didn't disappoint. Nobody chooses their family nor parents, and that's that all that.

It's a masterpiece and that will never change. Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition will never come close to this amazing piece of art! Oldie but goldie. Certainly, will replay it over and over.

Didn't make sense, the plot was weak and characters were robotic and full of dad jokes.
The only good thing in the game was the main menu's song, but even then it feels like this game didn't deserve such cool music. Almost impossible to finish without a guide.

This visual novel is an underrated gem. It's vast and big, and has different paths and conclusions. The plot might be cheesy, but it's truly fun. Simply love it.

Political but enjoyable, reminds me of Orwell. The story and the situations are easy to grasp.
The big bad boys from the huge tech company called "Capra" claim they want to ban human-driven cars and make them automatic because human drivers are too dangerous and they kill people. They're really pushing this bill on the folks in Los Ojos ever since a month ago some crazy taxi driver rammed into a crowd of people not just killing some folk but also taking life of their Instagram (or whatever social media they use in the future) ballerina baby-doll that didn't do no harm. Of course people got upset and made sure to wear "moodlet rings" that are actually bracelets\necklaces that read your blood or something and tell you whenever you're getting mood swings (red\green\blue\yellow colors, pretty simple if you want to wear your heart on your sleeve and become someone's prey)..Anyway, imagine those crowds of people wearing sad-blue bracelets and mourning the ballerina-dancer in unison, and imagine another thing: Capra employees taking advantage of the terror attack and giving out their moodlet bracelets for free just to promote their brilliant law of erasing all human drivers at the memorial place/event. Eventually, if Lina the MC wants to keep her taxi job, she'll have to go through the trouble and dangers of sabotaging the Capra system with her best friend, Savy, that is a total manipulative psycho piece of s h i t.

Precious gem, need more immersive games like this! 10/10
Only wish for one thing from the game: skip read text cuz there are multiple endings!

Feelsbadman, this lil game came out a while ago and Steam is still "learning about this game". It's such a wholesome visual novel, I'm glad that i stumbled upon it. It's free and it's amazing!

A truly underrated gem.

Doki doki is not oki doki
I find myself losing some screws
Due to heavy plot line I'm confused
When I try to care
They ruin slice of life atmosphere
Where I don't belong
Because I'm as quiet as a stone
None of these girls wear a thong

I thought I'd write a poem
About this crazy maze
That loops around when it's light outside
And makes me go insane

I hear Sayori yell
It gives my ears a scare
And fills my mind with strange remorse
What have I done to her?
I thought that we were friends
But we can't make amends
I trusted you but all you did
Was break my heart and spit on me
Not to mention you scared a girl
That I was hitting on before
You should've been more honest
Perhaps I didn't care that much
You were the best of friends
But in the end
I took the blame

I thought of spending time
With Natsuki by my side
We made a promise to one another
To have fun with none other than each other
Read manga, bathe in the sun
But someone let us down -

Then our Yuri came to town
And of course to ruin our fun,
She desired it the most
We weren't even close!
I don't know where she came from
But that girl is insane, though.
I swear I'm not to blame
When she sneaks a peek of me
Do you want a piece of me?
I will not get up and leave
That's right, I'm not that good
I'm just a boring dude
Don't tell me you're obsessed
I can't even wipe my @ss
Without Yuri following me around
I will never come around
I don't think I love you
Please, you do you
But I'm not the one for you.

Monika, sweet Monika
You sound like my harmonica
Your smile is wide and bright
As warm as a sunlight
I find it rather suspicious
That a girl like you have no issues
Perfect, smart, no tissues
Here are the brains and here's a heart
Playing the piano
Running late for class
Pretending to be kinder than you actually are
You're mystical and egotistical
For doing what you want
Not listening to one soul
But one day you will learn
Your world does not revolve
Around you anymore
I'm sorry I must go
I got my life, you know
I hope you understand
I shall visit you again
When universes collide
And all that left is to die
I'll be there by your side

Bye bye, dear Literature Club
I shake my head and give a shrug
This is my last goodbye
You'll always be
A part of me
That I will not despise.

I just finished mastur...enjoying this game, and let me tell you something. I'm a skeptical son of a gun when it comes to hidden object games. My childhood is gone, and I'm done playing a detective or a journalist. If I were a main character in real life I wouldn't even try to catch the nuthead killer, I'd just chicken out. How many times the main characters in HOGs find themselves in crucial (I'm talking life and death here) situations and they get out of there unharmed as if it were nothing at all?
This game is a sequel to The Ghosts of Maple Creek, which was alright, but lost to The Mists of Ravenwood. The whole idea of the Ravenwood Park is to lure passersby into some kind of utopia and then eat them and leave nothing but their skeletons. It's creepy enough to find all these crashed cars and all the lost items that belonged to the prey. Some of the actors were actually pretty good at voice acting, surprisingly. Great plot with an unusual gameplay (you find some realism here and there), brilliant locations full of mother nature. The hippies are in the game, too. The ending doesn't feel rushed for once. The detective has to do something important in the end, which doesn't take just one swing or whatsoever. For the first time, the main character has to try harder to get it over with, once and for all. This game is probably one of the best HOGs out there. Hands down.
Also, one of the likable characters actually got killed, which made me feel emotional for their second half in a way. How cool is that?