farewell planet / おわかれのほし
Interesting stories, beautiful music - would recommend for anyone longing for more of that Nier Automata style depression.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
This game is just beautiful. The art style, the music, the writing–it all comes together and creates such a moving experience. With just a few words, characters are given such rich backgrounds and varying experiences. We get glimpses of life, tragic little vignettes interspersed with moments of happiness. I cared about these robots, and I mourned them.
Fair warning that this is a sad game. I cried several times while playing. I regret nothing though. I loved every moment of it.
Edit: Note that you can only play this game once! Once you are done, you will have no restart option.
– Real player with 3.6 hrs in game
HIVESWAP: ACT 1
So, you have (most likley) seen allot of reviews where people mention how big of a Homestuck fan they are.
Well, when I played Hiveswap I had no clue what Homestuck was. But you don’t need to know what it is to enjoy this game as it is only loosely connected and has no impact on the plot. But I enjoyed this game so much that I went out of my way to read it (It’s apparently a webcomic) and I love it. Now that that’s out of the way, we can start this review. (Well, I start this review)
Gameplay
– Real player with 17.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Point & Click Games.
A bit of background- I’m a huge Homestuck fan. Hearing about this game immediately got me super-pumped, and while it did take 5 years, I was happy to wait for this game. I wasn’t able to back it, but I was as eager as everyone else to see this game release, and finally it was!
Now, upon first purchasing the game, I experienced some bugs. Cutscene skipping, specifically, which is a common bug with the game. It’s NOT your computer, guys!
++A fair reminder, What Pumpkin is a new developer studio, and even huge AAA-Title games, devs and studios have huge, HUGE game-breaking bugs in their games at launch. (Mass Effect, anyone?)
– Real player with 10.3 hrs in game
NiGHTS Into Dreams
I will never shut up about NiGHTS, so if writing this review will allow me to talk about it, I’m going to!
First off, if you love any of SEGA’s classics and have heard a lot about NiGHTS but you’re not sure if you’ll like it, I would HIGHLY recommend you give it a go. This game is really cheap on Steam these days, which makes sense because game itself is 20+ years old so by today’s standards is ‘worth less’, I guess. However, if even eight dollars (or however much it may be in your country, for US it 8 dollars which is pretty inexpensive) seems like a lot to you to be paying for a game released in 1996 that you’re not even sure if good… IT GOES ON SALE SO OFTEN. I literally got my copy of the game for like, $2 I think? And trust me when I say it’s worth much more than just that. You’re getting a really fun, arcade experience that’s very light on PC usage for almost free. Definitely a wise choice, if you’re looking for something like that.
– Real player with 24.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Classic Games.
This is definitely a recommendation, but a bit of a cautious one at that.
NiGHTS Into Dreams is one of those classic titles from the 90’s that had a cult following well after its release. I remember the Wii sequel unveiling hyping people up-a small number of people, but a number of people nonetheless. Significant enough to note on this review, at least.
NiGHTS Into Dreams is also one of those 90’s games that was trying to figure out how to make 3D gameworlds work. Just two years prior to NiGHTS the team responsible for developing it (Sonic Team) released Sonic 3&K. Originally intended to be a 2D game, the team switched to 3D and was more or less at a loss as to how to effectively make an experience that was enjoyable and easy to grasp and handle. They even made a new controller for the Sega Saturn to effectively control the character in the game. It was really just a standard pad with an analogue stick-something the original saturn controller lacked-which goes to show you how new the entire concept of 3D was at the time.
– Real player with 19.0 hrs in game
Okami HD
I wish I’d played this when it came out
– Real player with 44.2 hrs in game
A beautiful adventure game with “retro” design sensibilities that must be experienced at least once in a lifetime.
A classic tale of an epic, heroic journey to defeat a powerful evil being, paired with a huge and fantastically crafted world to explore. Presentation is definitely this game’s strength, to the point it can sometimes become overwhelming. A few things I didn’t like was that the game draws out for too long on some parts of the story and because of this, the combat can become tiresome due to it not being used to the fullest. Port itself is excellent and while 60 fps would have been amazing, the 30fps cap is understandable and doesn’t get in the way.
– Real player with 38.5 hrs in game
Sonic Forces
This is a game that SEGA spent a lot of time hyping up, and does it live up to their hype? Not even close.
I’ll start with the positives: the game CAN be fun and it does have a few cool stages.
Now we get into the negatives.
Control: All the characters either feel really floaty or really stiff in terms of controls, and this is mostly evident in 2D sections. Often I found myself either overshooting a jump when I jumped from quite a distance away and several instances of bad braking which would send me down to a lower path or to my death. This happened a lot with Classic Sonic and the Avatar specifically, who had 2D sections more often than Modern Sonic did.
– Real player with 42.0 hrs in game
Where do I even begin?
In short: 5.5/10, just bland game.
Please read with an open mind :)
First, the Positives:
1. Music
Sure, Fist Bump (the main theme) can get a little repetitive, but the overall music was great, most of them compliments the level they were in, and the boss battle themes are spot on. Was kinda hoping Modern Sonic’s stages music would put more emphasis on the guitars & rock genre feel, or orchestra like in Unleashed. Most of them are EDM inspired (for me anyway), I don’t enjoy them as much as previous games' music, still great though.
– Real player with 27.4 hrs in game
Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon
See the world through the eyes of an arachnid in Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon!
Spider: RotSM is a puzzle-platformer type game that’s a sequel to an earlier title by Tiger Style, Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor. It’s a game with a unique premise to it - you’re a tiny lil' jumping spider, living her spidery life in the mysterious Blackbird Manor where you hatch. As a spider, your only goal in life is to hunt down insects and eat them, either by catching them in webs or tackling them like real jumping spiders do. The gameplay for this part of the game is really quite fun and interesting. It’s really fun to plan out where you should spin your next web, how to lay webs in sequence, how to catch each insect, and where to find secrets, all in lush hand-drawn and hand-painted levels with soothing music. The game’s smart too - it can look up the weather and moon phase in your area, and use that to change the way the levels work. In fact, that’s a big part of the game’s mechanics, since some insects only come out at night or during certain weather conditions, and some puzzles can only be solved during certain moon phases. The game really, really encourages you to try and find all of its secrets, neatly and intricately tucked away in the hidden corners of its mansion locale, all of which is only made more fun by its surprisingly deep lore.
– Real player with 43.3 hrs in game
Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon is a unique experience and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a change of pace.
As a spider, you will puzzle your way through each level by catching insects, either in your webs or with your swift predatory leap. Once you’ve caught enough, a portal will open somewhere enabling you to finish the level. Scuttle everywhere: under the floorboards, up the walls, and inside the many cracks and crevices of the old estate, seeking prey.
As a player, you will be driven by curiosity about the story behind the scenes your spider explores, and the secret, hidden spaces that your spider finds its way into. A winning example of “show, don’t tell”, Spider succeeds in striking an unusual balance. Finding secrets and “Clues” to solve the mysteries of this place feels rewarding and it’s often unexpected. You will learn to eagerly search everywhere you can to uncover the things that may be hidden in unexpected corners, or in a place which will open to you when you find the right mechanism and figure out how to trigger it.
– Real player with 37.6 hrs in game
The Dig®
I grew up with point and click adventures, which gives you an idea where I am coming from. I have played The Dig in 2016 for the first time, so nobody should assume that I am blinded by nostalgia. Okay, here is what I think: The Dig is one of the best adventures that I have ever played. I loved it to pieces! My favourite titles are: Day of the Tentacle, Loom and Grim Fandango. I think The Dig is up there.
I do NOT like Sam and Max and Monkey Island, because they have too much moon logic for my taste.
– Real player with 15.8 hrs in game
A fun, beautiful, different and must-have point and click adventure game for every retro gamer. This is the kind of game that I think would do really well as a remake. Not everyone has heard of it. It’s setting is very alien, and it has Spielberg’s name attached to it. How could this NOT be a successful remake?! On to the review! …..
ATMOSPHERE:
One thing that Dig focuses on, which a lot of P&C adventures didn’t at the time, is atmosphere. You feel like your’e in a very confusing and mystifying alien world. There are some tablets, writings, art and such that you find that are not explained completely, adding mystery to the world. Also, that sense of being alone is very felt, despite the fact that you have a couple of teammates that you occassionally run into. The music fits nicely and there’s even a sense of danger with each new area. Admittedly, towards the end of the game there is quite a bit of back tracking and story which pulls you out of this.
– Real player with 14.4 hrs in game
Bird Pro Skater
Bird Pro Skater is an addictive runner game to help people relax. Skate across different countries and perform dangerous stunts on trampolines.
Key features:
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Buy unique parrots
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Set new records
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Discover new countries
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Enjoy relaxing music
Locations:
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Brazil
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France
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Italy
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Japan
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Soviet Union
Bokida - Heartfelt Reunion
3D open world adventure. It’s a grand Easter egg hunt where every so often you discover secret entrances to areas containing physics-based puzzles.
Controls
The game first teaches you the movement and tools. Oh, and what glorius controls these are! You can use a controller but I found this to be one of those games where you need accuracy, and the right-stick just doesn’t cut the mustard, you need the mouse for accurate targeting. WASD to move, spacebar to jump and tab (or 1234) to scroll through your four mouse-activated tools, which are: Build - set a ‘seed’ block and then extend more blocks from it in any direction - this is by far the most widely used; Cut - mouse wheel to rotate angle of cut and hold to increase length; Push - rarely used; Clean - remove blocks, hold to increase cleaning area.
– Real player with 28.4 hrs in game
This is a game that could have been great if there had been a map, but it is merely good without it. Apparently there is a map room, but I never found it! The world is huge and I went through it twice and completed 98%. Don’t know where the rest is! I completed the epilogue and tried to find more, but was unsuccessful.
Graphics are minimal with a very pallid monochrome world with flashes of colour when you completed a monolith. Be aware that it is very hard on the eyes!! Along your journey, you come across various collectables such as steles which relate the story of The Way and the downfall of an ancient civilisation. I found only half of the 76 of them. There are also echoes (black spots) - I found 60 of the 67.
– Real player with 23.0 hrs in game
COAST GUARD
One of a handful of titles which would benefit from a “Mediocre” addition to the rating system on here, Coast Guard really never could decide what it wanted to be. For the first two thirds of it, I’d have given this game a positive rating…but then you get to the last third and it all goes down the tubes.
! You follow the duties of coast guard Officer Finn Asdair who ends up rescuing and falling for refugee Fatima Morgane. Fatima is then recaptured by the scumbag trafficker who originally had her, raped, and murdered. Your boss is in on it and sinks the ship with you aboard to cover everything up, the game ends with you saving the seemingly sketchy but actually decent forensics specialist and credits roll. Pretty lame.
– Real player with 20.5 hrs in game
I’m giving this game a 5/10 Some very cool ideas here, and some solid simulation building. The CONCEPT of the story is very cool.
All that said, I am kind of offended as to how little research the developers did into the actual Coast Guard. I was in the Coast Guard. Its nothing like this. This is more like the story of the most well funded, die hard auxilarists the world has ever known.
Also special mention has to be given to the script and voice acting. I think the developers voiced this themselves in their house and had to keep their voice down because the kids were asleep or something. It’s “Jill Sandwich” bad.
– Real player with 9.4 hrs in game