Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery Review Summary

Deep and strategic gameplay: The game offers deep and strategic gameplay, requiring careful planning, resource management, and tactical thinking. Reviewers appreciate the diverse level design, unique mechanics, and the variety of approaches available to overcome challenges. The game is challenging but rewarding, with a good balance of difficulty.

Excellent art and animations: The game has excellent art direction, with detailed character sprites, smooth animations, and beautiful CGs. Reviewers praise the expressive character designs and the overall visual presentation, which enhances the storytelling and combat experience. The voice acting is also frequently mentioned as being top-notch.

Compelling and emotional narrative: The game features a well-written, engaging, and emotional story with surprising twists and turns. The narrative is often compared to visual novels and older JRPGs, with many reviewers praising its depth, complexity, and satisfying conclusion. The story is a major highlight, with some considering it a masterpiece.

Large amount of content: The game offers a substantial amount of content, including a long campaign, numerous levels, and extensive lore. Reviewers appreciate the replayability and the feeling of getting good value for their money. The game world is expansive and immersive, with plenty of secrets and easter eggs to discover.

Connected to Girls' Frontline universe: The game is connected to the Girls' Frontline universe, enhancing the experience for fans of the series. The story and atmosphere are reminiscent of Girls' Frontline, with plenty of references and fan service. However, the game can also be enjoyed as a standalone title without prior knowledge of the Girls' Frontline universe.

Stealth missions poorly designed/implemented: Stealth missions are widely criticized for poor design, linearity, and high difficulty. Players express frustration with the limited tactical options, reliance on trial and error, and the feeling that stealth sections are tedious puzzles rather than strategic challenges. Many reviewers recommend using guides to navigate these sections.

Unbalanced and frustrating difficulty: The game's difficulty is a major point of contention, with many reviewers finding it unbalanced and frustrating. Enemies are often seen as damage sponges or are overwhelming in numbers, leading to reliance on save-scumming and specific strategies. Some reviewers felt the difficulty was artificially inflated.

Poor translation and localization: Numerous reviews cite issues with the game's translation and localization. These range from minor typos and grammatical errors to more significant issues that affect comprehension and immersion. Some reviewers also noted a lack of language options.

Grindy and tedious gameplay: Several reviewers found the game to be grindy and tedious, especially concerning collecting items or replaying training simulations. The game's length and repetitive nature contribute to this feeling, making it a chore to progress.

Unsatisfying and incomplete ending: The game's ending is criticized for being incomplete, unsatisfying, and setting up for a sequel without resolving key plot points. Some reviewers found the ending to be confusing or anticlimactic, diminishing their overall experience.

Varied gameplay: combat, stealth, puzzles: The game features a mix of combat, stealth, and puzzle levels, with new mechanics and items introduced frequently. Stealth missions are a core component, sometimes feeling like puzzles themselves, and can often be approached with either stealth or direct combat.

Deep character customization and progression: Players can customize characters with skills, weapons, and items, upgrading them between missions using a tech tree and crafting system. Effective item usage is crucial due to limited inventory space, and the game emphasizes strategic choices in equipment to counter specific enemies and scenarios.

Linear levels, branching story: The game features linear levels with unique designs, but some maps are reused with different combat experiences. The story has multiple branches and a 'Groundhog Day' structure, encouraging multiple playthroughs to reach the true ending. Replaying chapters is possible, but the ability to replay goes away upon starting the next chapter.

Turn-based tactics, AP system: The game employs turn-based tactics with action points, where players control a squad of characters with limited actions per turn. The focus is on single-unit tactics and strategic item usage, often against overwhelming enemy forces, emphasizing careful planning and unit positioning.

Strategic map design and traps: The game's maps are well-designed with cover and opportunities for ambushes, encouraging players to exploit enemy behavior and vision. Players can use traps, decoys, and environmental effects to their advantage, turning maps into tactical puzzles.

Random FPS drops occur: Several players have reported experiencing random FPS drops during gameplay, sometimes to the point of making the game look like a slideshow. These performance hiccups can occur even on low settings, suggesting optimization issues.

Good Steam Deck compatibility: The game runs well on Steam Deck and works perfectly with proton, but the interface font size is slightly small.

Few technical problems: Some players have reported almost no technical or performance issues, indicating a stable and well-optimized experience for them.

Long CPU turn times: Players are experiencing long CPU turn times due to the high number of mobs present in the game. This can disrupt the flow of gameplay and lead to frustration.

Long loading times: Loading save files can take a significant amount of time, up to 3 minutes on some maps. This can be a major inconvenience for players, especially if they need to reload frequently.

Highly recommended SRPG with depth: The game is overwhelmingly praised as an excellent SRPG with a compelling story, innovative mechanics, and high replay value. Many reviewers consider it a GOTY contender and recommend it to both genre veterans and newcomers, especially if they enjoy story-driven experiences. Some suggest playing on lower difficulties to focus on the narrative.

Challenging; not for everyone: Some reviewers caution that the game may not appeal to all players due to its high difficulty, puzzle-like gameplay, and reliance on trial and error. They suggest newcomers approach the game cautiously or wait for a sale. Some reviewers also mention frustrating stealth sections.

Desire for sequel or DLC: Many reviewers express strong desire for a sequel or DLC to expand the story and world. They feel the ending leaves them wanting more and are eager to see the continuation of the narrative. Some specifically mention the 'Fire Seed Project' as a storyline they wish to see continued.

Mixed or negative sentiments: These points show signs of review bombing. Some reviewers express disappointment and give low scores, while others make extreme statements about the developers. Some reviewers mention issues with DLC spoilers and readability.

Emotional responses without specifics: These points contain emotional language without specific details. Some reviewers express happiness to support the developers, while others hope for a good ending for the team. Some reviewers consider the game their GOTY for 2024.

Variable difficulty, playtime length: The game offers multiple difficulty options and quality-of-life features like loading screen recaps. Playtime varies depending on difficulty and completionist goals, ranging from 50 to 150 hours.

High-quality 2D anime visuals: The game features a distinct 2D anime art style with expressive characters and animated visuals. Reviewers praise the high quality of the art assets, UI, and sound design.

Remake with original included: The game is a remake of "Code Name: Bakery Girl" and includes a remastered version of the original game as an easter egg. The story has been expanded and matured since its original incarnation.

Text-heavy story, complex terminology: The game's story is heavily text-based, relying on dialogues, documents, and visual novel sequences. Some players may find the glossary explanations and professional terms difficult to understand without prior knowledge.

Full Japanese voice acting: The game features full voice acting in both strategy and dialogue modes, with quality Japanese voice acting.