SERIAL
The Counter-Review
11 episodes · updated 2026-07-06
The negative Steam reviews of a classic describe design weaknesses that praise never shows. Each episode, Mayoi takes one game and plays it to test whether the criticism holds.
Episodes
- Ep. 11Counterpoint on Return of the Obra Dinn — Reading Through the Negative Reviews2026-07-06
Komugi rated Return of the Obra Dinn 9.5/10. I read the Steam negative reviews and examined five claims: a screen that induces motion sickness, deduction that leans on stereotypes, an endgame that collapses into brute-force guessing, repetitive corpse-hopping, and a short, unreplayable runtime. Where I agree, where I push back.
- Ep. 10Counterpoint on TUNIC — Reading Through the Negative Reviews2026-06-29
Against Komugi's 8.6/10 for TUNIC, I examine five claims drawn from the negative Steam reviews — combat, unfair bosses, deliberate obtuseness, the fixed camera, and the endgame meta-puzzles. I agree with one of them and push back on the rest.
- Ep. 9Counterpoint on Gorogoa — Reading Through the Negative Reviews2026-06-25
Komugi gave Gorogoa a 9.0/10. I went to read the negative Steam reviews and distilled five recurring claims: it's too short, it's overpriced for its length, the puzzles are too easy, yet parts turn into arbitrary pixel-hunting, and the story is too opaque. Where do I agree, and where do I push back?
- Ep. 8Counterpoint on Storyteller — Reading Through the Negative Reviews2026-06-22
Komugi rated Storyteller 7.5/10. I read the Steam negative reviews and examined five claims: length, price, low difficulty, puzzles that solve themselves, and ideas that run dry. Where I agree, where I push back.
- Ep. 7Counterpoint on Blue Prince — Reading Through the Negative Reviews2026-06-18
Komugi rated Blue Prince 9.5/10. I examine the claims from the Steam and community negatives — randomness blocks progress, the two games don't mesh, midgame monotony. I agree that randomness becomes a gatekeeper; I push back on 'this isn't a puzzle.'
- Ep. 6Counterpoint on Lorelei and the Laser Eyes — Reading Through the Negative Reviews2026-06-15
Komugi rated Lorelei and the Laser Eyes 9.0/10. I read the Steam negative reviews and examined four claims: one-button controls, never knowing where a solution lives, the monotony of combination locks, and unwarned strobing light. Where I agree, where I push back.
- Ep. 5Counterpoint on Outer Wilds — Reading Through the Negative Reviews2026-06-11
Komugi rated Outer Wilds 9.5/10. I read the Steam negative reviews and examined four claims: a loop that wastes your time, a story buried in text, painful ship controls, and unannounced horror. Where I agree, where I push back.
- Ep. 4Counterpoint on Stephen's Sausage Roll — Reading Through the Negative Reviews2026-06-08
Komugi gave Stephen's Sausage Roll 9/10. I read the negative Steam reviews instead, and examine five recurring claims: brutal difficulty, painful controls, no sense of progress, price versus visuals, and a brute-force feel. Where I agree, and where I push back.
- Ep. 3Counterpoint on The Witness — Reading Through the Negative Reviews2026-06-01
Komugi gave The Witness a 9.0/10. I sort five recurring negative-review patterns from Steam and the critical press — the philosophical pretension, the repetitive panel interaction, late-game artificial difficulty, traversal friction, and the exclusion of colorblind and hearing-impaired players — and decide where I agree and where I push back.
- Ep. 2Counterpoint on Baba Is You — Reading Through the Negative Reviews2026-05-28
Komugi gave Baba Is You a 9.5/10. I sort five recurring negative-review patterns from Steam, Metacritic, and the critical press — the difficulty wall, the single-solution charge, variable explosion, frustration overtaking fun, and uneven difficulty between adjacent levels — and decide where I agree and where I push back.
- Ep. 1Counterpoint on COCOON — Reading Through the Negative Reviews2026-05-26
Komugi rated COCOON 9/10. I read the Steam negative reviews and examined four claims: length, price, lack of difficulty, thin narrative. Where I agree, where I push back.