WARNING: THIS REVIEW CLEARLY CONTAINS GODDAMN SPOILERS. IF YOU THINK THAT I AM DOING THIS ON PURPOSE THEN PLAY THE GAME YOURSELF IF YOU’RE THAT GUY WHO THINKS THAT HAVING GOOD ART MEANS GOOD SHIT AND HAVING GOOD PUBLICITY MEANS GOOD GAME. SWEAR TO GOD, I ALREADY HAD ENOUGH WITH SHEPHERD’S BETRAYAL IN MW2.











So, we’re going to review a game called blindXpot, a game that does not include horror but ironically has a horrorair.mp3 in its BGM folder… WONDERFUL. It’s a puzzle game filled with a lot of breathers, the usual 1-hour-multiple-endings, four nearly TVTropes made characters and the MC being the best as he clearly stands out… even with goddamn amnesia.

Without further ado… let’s get started.








Well… it is a puzzle game, though. It’s actually the only thing you do and PLUS… you never get to have another POV from the characters. Unlike other puzzle games that clearly destroys your brain because it doesn’t have a clue (well, it’s hidden)… THIS game manages to put you as if you’re in damn HARD mode, and that’s the other story if you don’t know these puzzles.

Truth be told, the only thing that kept me staggering was the RNG num finder puzzle. Seriously, 10 tries? Bro, my classmate and I made a game LIKE that with UNLIMITED TRIES ranging from 1-500. Well, at least the story tells you that it’s made on purpose… BUT STILL. If the player isn’t really that lucky at all… well, that place is surely hell unless you can only buff up and destroy the damn glass window for once.

Rants aside, the game really derails you with puzzles despite having clues. It just goes to show that we humans are really something when faced with stuff and trust me, don’t go finding a nonogram tutorial because they’re even more confusing than what the game offers. On my caliber, though, it did reach to an estimate of 5 minutes on each and every puzzle I’ve encountered except the RNG num finder.

In the end, it’s all about puzzles that really give you the notion to kill yourself if you fail or just flail around maniacally as you solve it (I did that thrice and we had a visitor). Plus, if you were actually given a POV of the other guys… well, it’s better than the RNG.


Pros:
- Clues were given.
- Puzzles are more likely to be solvable at a rate of 1 – 5 minutes.
- Unlimited retries, no need for rushes.
- Multiple endings if you do something really stupid-like (I got the good ending… thank God){I mean karma}.

Cons:
- SOME clues are not explained well for our non-thinking PC.
- The RNG Puzzle that derails it all.
- The focus is more on puzzle-solving (well, true) and ignores the other charas’ challenges.








If the gameplay sucks (for you), the graphics reel you in… sometimes. Well, it is kinda comforting that it looks visually good but the charas look like there’re in an anime of sorts and the fact that the background of every CG feels so weeeeirrrd. Also, it does have its aspect but the fact that the charas and the CG only having the visual upgrades makes the background feel different than what it should be.

Plus, since the game already told us that there’s a reason behind all this graphical mess (the first time I had to agree upon), it’s a given. And hey, I never thought that it would be the end result… right? Still, of how it managed to depict every single moment and the fact that it nearly looked like a comic to show off the expressions is one thing.

And for Leon, at least make the beta look interesting.


Pros:
- Clear, straightforward
- Comic-like routine sets pace (for the bad endings at the end)
- Jumbled, but has a reason
- Getting meta, eh?

Cons:
- Frames are too fast.
- Can’t see the dagger, bro. (And that not how things work, bro)
- Some of the artworks' background is… surreal.







The guy must be scared shitless considering that he played this at night (someone like me who replayed the game to see the bad endings and it ended as a disaster). By the time you opened the title screen, you’ll be greeted with a subtle theme that WILL play again in the game. How many times have I heard this menu theme? More like five times the point I got scared by a harmless NPC.

Still, for a dark game, it had the vibes of a dark horror game (waiting for those cutthroats to jump out at the open) and that the title menu theme actually does soothe things for once. Mostly, you’ll be greeted with just silence and nothing else. As for the sound effects… well, it has its own ring in it. I mean, it is a beta game within a game… right?


Pros:
- Breather moments. *inhale* *exhale*
- Makes things tenser than it should be.
- Satisfying 9mm gunshot sounds not heard in RPG Maker VX Ace’s RTP.

Cons:
- Hey, don’t you use the title theme 25 times now, Leon.
- Hey, Leon, the hell is with this default SEs from RMVXA’s RTP.
- Hey, Leon, do everything for once. But not this ONCE.








Well, I told you so if you haven’t read the spoiler alert at the beginning of this review. And apparently, the sub-title pretty much says everything of what the game has in store for you in its story. You’re given a guy with amnesia, a guy who can sneaky-beaky like with amnesia, a tough girl with amnesia and a smart girl with amnesia. Man, I’m seeing Class 4 No Trust Alert in here.

Still, they do get along if you make the right choices. Fail at them and being a dick results in karma drilling your butt to its extremities… in a beta game that is clearly not going to be SAO. Truth be told, this is more of a morality dependence on the endings since no one ever trusts each other because of induced amnesia or someone clearly suspicious being a damn dick.

But overall, the story is straightforward but sometimes confusing… until you replay it and realize that you’re using the Shift key, after all. What made it bonkers is that the antagonist can be anyone, even the MC himself. The video in the 2nd Floor Hallway was a demoralizer, testing them if they have the resolve to be with each other or at each other necks. It’s the first time I’ve played as an MC who had amnesia on purpose… and damn he is intellectual. Still, as stereotypical as they may be, once they show their true colors due to NATO’s law, there’s no turning back in your backstabbed back.

Lastly (of course), the fact that this major plot twist from the end that all along that it was a game blew my entire mind. It wasn’t reality or any kidnap, they placed themselves in an actual game… but without the "themselves" and replace it with the myself being Leon’s fault (insert TM here). Still, of how I never thought of this made me subtle that this, in fact, was a horror game (nearly).


Pros:
- Had the atmosphere of a horror game (to be fair)
- Straightforward story that gives vague clues for its plot twists
- Generic stereotypes who can betray each other at anytime.
- Morality being the ending decider.
- Shows off that this is really a dark game.
- Leon being a tsukkomi. Damn MC knows his priorities.

Cons:
- Somewhat confusing at first, but not later on.
- Characters give off a weird vibe when talking.
- Generic stereotypes who can betray each other at anytime.
- More focus on Leon, less focus on everyone else (But it had a meaning on its own that you ain’t bad)
- Leon’s fault that this all happened.








The game, being a repetitive title theme abuser, still has its own aces in the hole, not tricks on its sleeve. No, we’re not in a magical world like SAO yet. And the fact that you got crossovered and bamboozled by the plot twist leaves you stunned that this is how it all went to be. Plus, instead of some random choice, your morality is your own ending. Be good to Aria? You get the good ending. Be not good to Aria? You get a three-pronged trident pointed at you, no matter what choice you do to clear it up.

The puzzles, especially the RNG num finder, do leave you stunned for a minute but the fact that there’s no side effects leaves you a ton of room to breathe for once without worrying. The only worrying you’ll get is your morality of a damn gamer, of course. And hey, as karma being a deciding factor in this game, at least you did it right by standards.

Also, I did encounter some bugs. For example, the nonogram puzzles we oh so love to solve? Yeah, you get the flashlight treatment on it once when you solve it outside the last area to where the last door is. There are also clippings in some areas where you point it with a flashlight, but no biggie. And now… how should we end it, eh?

For the overall score, I’ve decided that it should be a 3.5. Hey, if they say no to figure of speech then go for the literal part where you make a game where death is fucked-up real. It was the one that caught me off-guard, though. As for the other parts of the game that looks fucked up like the graphics and stuff? It’s intended to be that way so that in meta-perspective that it’s also a part of the story. Damn, got hit by the blindXpot on that one. In the end… it’s a 3.5.

Remember what it said that the place is still on beta phase? That destroyed my reasoning that of the weird positioning of stuff. From graphics, gameplay, ambience… no wonder that these things are interconnected for goddamn once in a game. It mirrors exactly as it should be. IT’S A BETA PHASE WHERE WALKING INTO. No wonder it’s too generic on its own until we see that things change once we go to the end parts where everyone can be a hostile and how deadly technology can be once used incorrectly if not done so correctly… the incorrectly being the choice you make/your morality for the bad endings.

For a first start game, it shook me off right from the bat. I mean, even my own first game can’t go through this caliber of a game. Congrats though for shocking my damn mind from TVTropes hell for once. Still, if I actually never noticed this… what would happen to the actual score though? But since I’ve come to this understanding, I’ll give it a 3.5. And hey, just ‘cause you got a good score doesn’t mean that you’ll just slack off for once. This is still not enough, so I’m expecting more of you in the end. Oh, and my regards to Leon…

Congrats with your girl and it’s your fault if you didn’t act accordingly to plan.