Rakuen

I'm not crying, you're crying! Such a beautiful game, and touching story. The art was whimsical and fun, the characters were all very well written even down to the nurse who has a candy weakness haha. The only negative I have to say is that I do wish it was made in a better game engine, the keyboard controls were iffy and didn't play nice with my controller either. The upscaling made all your beautiful artwork all blurry and filled with artifacts. (a trick for anyone reading this is to use Lossless Scaling. It's on Steam and it's not free, but it at least allowed for the pixel art to look right) All that being said, it says something that I pushed through RPG Maker's short comings. The story line and the MUSIC (omg the music is so good!) were all so amazing, I soon forgot that I was using a weird control schema. I randomly had Sue's little song play on my music player, and I had to see what the game was all about! I'm so glad I did!

Rakuen offers a deeply emotional story centered on a hospitalized boy and his journey to a fantasy world with his mother. The core gameplay involves helping fellow patients find closure by exploring their lives and solving their problems, both in the hospital and through their fantasy alter-egos. Expect dialogue-heavy interactions, thoughtful puzzles (some requiring a guide, in my experience), and a distinct lack of combat. The game's strengths lie in its genuinely heartwarming and often bittersweet narrative, charming pixel art style, and a truly excellent original soundtrack featuring poignant vocal songs tied to each character. Helping each neighbor and gradually improving the hospital environment is rewarding. Technically, Rakuen ran flawlessly on both my Steam Deck OLED (SteamOS/Linux, the game installed on microSD) and my Lenovo ThinkPad T480 (Windows 11, the game installed on microSD), with no issues encountered. While the heavy focus on story and emotional themes isn't typically my preferred genre, I appreciated Rakuen's quality. The beautiful art and music, along with the unique premise and well-crafted puzzles, made it a worthwhile experience I completed. Recommended for players seeking a poignant, character-driven narrative adventure.

Esse jogo é muito bom, pra quem gosta de jogos de plataforma, tem uma ótima historia

8/10

<3