wandererhikari

A chill game about wandering around town, chilling by yourself, getting into fights as a gang leader and trying to survive your last year of high school. It's not strictly a beat-em-up nor a JRPG like Persona where you're always looking for ideal outcomes through your activities. It's not a game you power through for hours continuously or right away. It wants you to embrace aimlessness and the ordinary. No tutorial or map or even specific goals for the most part. It wants you to take your time. It creates a rather immersive, introspective and (at least for me) existential experience that really puts you into the shoes of an adolescent with no idea where he wants his life to go or what his future will be. I enjoyed just playing for a short bit, under an hour or so, everyday, living through the titular Ishikawa dealing with his mundane life and then contemplating and journalling about where my own life is headed as well and where I want to be, whilst going about my desired activities, my routine, just like you're tasked with as Ishikawa. You can choose to beat up rival gang members, stay at home, go to the gym, study, attend school, hang out with friends, or just lie in solitude, either at smoking on your balcony or chucking stones at a body of water elsewhere in the town. All of this is set to a beautiful and chill hip-hop soundtrack that I boot up the game at times just to listen to. Make sure to savour this mindfully and slowly just like Ishikawa when smoking a cigarette.

An underrated SNK classic with a minimalist and ambient essence. The satisfying but simple set of mechanics, less detailed but still beautiful pixel art, the small roster and the quieter environments (taking place just before Japan's Meiji Period), makes an atmospheric fighting experience. It's less showy and grand than it's sibling, Samurai Shodown and certainly less over-the-top than your average Capcom or anime fighter. There's less blood and less exaggerated supernatural feats, with more of a focus on regular swordsplay. I find all of this to be this hidden gem's unique appeal. Also, as a Rurouni Kenshin fan, I adore the references (which makes me want to see this series return spiritually as a 'Rurouni Kenshin FIghterZ' of sorts). I'm glad I took the leap into trying this out. As a fighting game fanatic, it's one of my favourites next to 3rd Strike, Tekken 5 and the Bushido Blade duology.