Kisaragi no Hougyoku
The premise of this game is the most forced romance plot I’ve ever seen. Ever.
The translation is atrocious, there are rampant errors in the script, there’s very little use of visuals to aid the writing, there are no choices to be made, and the music is primitive.
The fact that the game is glitched and sticks you in an infinite loop where you can’t advance is actually a blessing. Even though this is an indie game created on a small budget, it’s still inexcusably bad.
– Real player with 5.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Casual Games.
Yooka-Laylee
Yooka-Laylee notably became famous before it was even released, since it broke a crowdfunding record, and this accomplishment, due to context, was glorious on its own. This is common knowledge to many readers, but just in case, a recap: A bit over 20 years ago Rareware made a series called Banjo-Kazooie that became possibly the most beloved 3D platformers of all time. A third game was announced but due to Rare getting sold to Microsoft, delayed a while, and what people ended up getting was a fairly unrelated vehicle-building game with the Banjo license grafted on; worse still, it’s publicity and script constantly lambasted the original formula as outmoded. The game bombed, many staff left Rare, and this was already karmic, but then the rogues went on to twist the knife by forming Playtonic, launched a Kickstarter promising a new game that brought back the old BK style, and made nearly 2 million pounds in under an hour. As such a huge middle finger to those in Rare who betrayed old fans, Playtonic deserves great applause. By now, though, Kickstarter has become infamous for how making profits from appealing concepts alone allows developers to skimp on their execution, and though not without its good points, Yooka-Laylee continues that trend.
– Real player with 44.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Collectathon Games.
Huge, empty worlds that are gorgeous and exciting to explore for the first time, but are painfully tedious to scour for the last few collectables?
Only 5 worlds and a hub, but they’re all unnecessarily massive?
A bunch of annoying physics puzzles, racing challenges, and timers?
Hidden bonus challenges that make you want to tear your hair out?
Wait a minute, this isn’t Banjo-Kazooie. This is Super Mario Sunshine!
Seriously, Yooka-Laylee makes more sense when you look at it as a successor to Sunshine, a game that got just about as much hate as it got love. Like Sunshine, I feel that Yooka-Laylee simultaneously deserves all the love it gets, but also all the hate it gets. I haven’t felt so perfectly ambivalent over a game in a very long time. I had a lot of fun with this game, hence the thumbs-up, but I can perfectly understand why some people don’t like it. If you had a love/hate relationship with Sunshine, you can probably expect to feel exactly the same about Yooka-Laylee.
– Real player with 38.5 hrs in game
apartment: a separated place
There are a lot of ‘break up’ games and this is by far one of the best I’ve ever played. There’s a sophistication and maturity to the storytelling that’s hard to find. Relationships are never simple and each of the vignettes explore the complexities of relationships that fall apart, never come together, or eventually find a way to work. The design of each vignette combined with the story it’s telling is one of the best aspects of this game.
There’s a meditative quality when playing–where I found myself reflecting on my own relationships as I played. May and Rose’s stories were probably the most moving and interesting–with truly unique interactions exploring losing or finding the person for you.
– Real player with 4.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Story Rich Games.
While not perfect, this game still has a story to tell. I found the progression within the main story satisfying, with little touches which enhance the world around you. For me, some of the vignettes are stronger than others but overall they were a pleasing break from the main arc while remaining familiar enough.
Having waited some years for this game I do feel like I wanted more “meat on the bones” with Nick and Madison’s story. The ending did feel a bit sudden and I was left wanting more. For some people this will be perfect and they’ll appreciate the short, sad and sweet nature.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
Unrest
When I first got Unrest I was expecting it to be just another point and click adventure game based around storytelling, I was wrong. Unrest is not just “another one”, I’ll even go as far as to compare this to the Walking Dead game from Telltale. If you’re looking for a real RPG that focus on narrative instead of combat you should just get this one right away.
Unlike most RPGs Unrest doesn’t let you create a character to your liking, instead it lets you play as multiple ones such as a peasant girl, a priest, a slum inhabitant, an ambassador from a mighty empire and a mercenary captain. You play all these characters in Bimhra, which to my understanding is a city located in a fictional ancient India.
– Real player with 10.8 hrs in game
Unrest is an interesting interactive piece of fiction, and it has some really solid ideas regarding the issues it addresses (even if in a fantasy setting) and the way the narrative is told.
The most interesting to me, and a point that should be stressed in video-game storytelling, in my opinion, is not to always give the game a defined plot. Plots aren’t very interesting to me. What is interesting, however, is giving you a setting, with questions and different approaches. Then, you can make choices and see how the world reacts.
– Real player with 8.8 hrs in game
Broken Age
Broken Age is a game that I haven’t yet sat down to distill my thoughts on. It’s the game that brought Double Fine to my attention and would eventually lead me to becoming a key member in the community. Between running Game Club , Bad Golf , becoming a volunteer moderator on the forums, and so on, it’s hard for me to think about Broken Age or the DFA as a whole without stopping to ponder the impact of those activities on my life.
– Real player with 36.3 hrs in game
My rating: 7+/10
Based on: two playthroughs (one full and one speedrun)
TL;DR: Double Fine’s Broken Age may have been one of the early success stories for the Kickstarter-backed projects, but it didn’t live up to the expectations of a long-starved fan of the point-and-click adventure games such as myself. Admittedly, that wasn’t entirely its fault: it’s a good game with a great production value for its budget, but it doesn’t exactly stand tall among the all-time greats of the genre, either. Not an instant classic, but very charming, it offers an intriguing coming-of-age story, memorable characters, excellent writing, art and sound design, but the second act is sort of a drag.
– Real player with 20.7 hrs in game
Shenmue III
Ah, Shenmue 3, how I have longed for the light of your presence to shine upon thee…
Heads up to those who peruse this review: I’m a HUGE shenmue fan. I backed this game on kickstarter and have played the game twice on Sony PlayStation 4.
Let’s forget all of the nonsense associated with Deep Silver and the Epic Game Store exclusivity. How is THE GAME?
A mixed bag.
Let’s start with the graphical presentation. Shenmue 1&2 were AAA games back in the day; the most expensive games every produced up until that time. Shenmue 3 is a AA game; as such you cannot go into this expecting the latest cutting edge graphics.
– Real player with 110.8 hrs in game
Before starting my review, I’d like to point out that we really need a mixed review option on Steam. I hope Gaben will hear our prayers one day. Anyway, as most of you know, Shenmue III is the highest funded Kickstarter game and it is definitely one of the longest awaited one. How long was it… 20 years? I’m not a loyal Shenmue fan, I didn’t wait 20 years for it, in fact, first time I’ve played Shenmue was a few months ago but I was aware of its significance and contributions to the video game culture of course. I also didn’t contributed anything to its Kickstarter campaign but putting myself in one of the loyal fans' place, I’d be extremely disappointed by this game. Especially after waiting nearly 20 years for it. Although I have no doubt that Yu Suzuki and YS Net did their best to bring a solid title to the fans, they’ve made a grave mistake by striking a deal with Deep Silver. 1 year Epic Store exclusivity was straight up disrespectful towards the people who contributed to Kickstarter campaign. Hopefully, they will learn from their mistakes with Shenmue IV. Anyway, let’s take a look at the redeeming qualities first…
– Real player with 108.7 hrs in game
The Gallery - Episode 1: Call of the Starseed
WOW! This is why I bought a Vive! Full Immersion into a great story.
I would highly recommend this game to anyone who values the art of the medium that is video games. Is it a game where you shoot people’s heads off and blow up building for hours? No. But the Gallery is incredibly well crafted, thought through, and engaging by its own merit.
More than any other vr game thus far, I was struck with mystery and wonder.
A must have for you VR library.
As far as the negative views because of the price: please remember that these guys aren’t billion dollar production companies. Yes, the original price of $30 was pretty steep but I doubt these guys are pricing it that way just to screw us over or be greedy. They spent countless hours with a small team of creators (not a hundred of hired hands) and created something beautiful for us to enjoy. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want something back for that effort (so that they can keep working on more products!). You won’t find a good painting being sold for less than a $100, so why not support these artists with $30? I’m just so tired of people complaining about artist’s high prices because they are comparing those prices to mass production goods. They can’t compete with those prices! This is why good artists starve while we complain about “nothing good/original coming out.” Invest in what you want to see more of. That’s the only way they are going to be able to keep making good products.
– Real player with 6.5 hrs in game
The game is really well put together and is one of the most compelling experiences on the Vive so far.
But I simply cannot recommend the game based on the amount of content in the game. It took me a fair amount of time to solve the couple of (actually very simple) puzzles that are there, the time taken mostly by not noticing visual clues which lead to the solution of the puzzle. But even with this relatively slow problem solving the whole game lasted 90mins. Its like a single level of a game.
I fully understand the tiny market the developers are dealing with here and they would like to pay their own wages and invest in the future of the platform, but I have come away from this game feeling very impressed with the content that is there but unhappy with the amount of it.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
Adventures of Pip
As a supporter of this game since its first Kickstarter with high hopes and standards for the game, I’m thoroughly glad to be able to finally recommend this game to everyone!
tl;dr: The Adventures of Pip offers a tight and well-balanced puzzle platforming experience bolstered by its strong soundtrack, visuals, and mechanics but marred by a slightly weak story!
Adventures of Pip showcases, well, Pip’s adventure as he seeks to save the land from the evil Skeleton Queen!
The Bit Stream allows him to transform between 3 different forms/resolutions, from a one-bit boxel to a sword-wielding 16-bit warrior. Each form has its own benefits and drawbacks (as a boxel, Pip is slow, weak, but can float and greatly decrease the speed of his fall), allowing for many variations in gameplay as you evolve and devolve Pip to solve the many puzzles in the game! It’s an awesome concept utilized very well in conjunction with the tight controls and varying game mechanics!
– Real player with 21.1 hrs in game
$15.00 are they serious???
While the game is nowhere near worth that price, it is a very fun, occasionally challenging platformer to play. The story is that some evil queen has kidnapped the kingdom’s princess knowing that she has the ability to create pixels from nothingness. The queen hopes to absorb this power and reverse it, turning game characters in the kingdom back to pixels. The queen further wreaks havoc on the kingdom by taking 108 of its villagers and hiding them in a variety of 5 landscapes that have been divided into 36 levels for your gaming pleasure. Like always the Evil queen lets the power get to her head and for no reason whatsoever decides that she needs to turn everyone into a pixel so that they no longer are a threat.
– Real player with 16.5 hrs in game
Extreme Real Reality HD Remix
An absolute mind blowing experience. This is the Mona Lisa of video games. Had my mind not been destroyed by the first two levels I would have more than 25 minutes into this astonishing accomplishment of our modern times.
– Real player with 16.3 hrs in game
Extreme Real Reality HD Remix is a quaint romp through a modern town featuring a loveable and relateable main character Carlo that may or may not be loosely based on someone you know.
For only a dollar (or less) you, too, can experience.
EXTREME
REAL
REALITY
– Real player with 1.5 hrs in game
Knights And Bikes
Knights and Bikes!
I LOVED this game! I had never heard of Foam Sword prior to this game, but when I heard that Double Fine Presents was publishing it, I was immediately excited. At no point playing Knights and Bikes was I ever bored. The game had me enthralled from start to finish. Playing this game reminded me what it was like to be a kid at that awkward stage where you still believe in magic and fairy stories, but aren’t content to just read them anymore. You desperately want your own adventure. Running around in your bare feet, splashing in puddles on rainy days, and hanging out with your friends until the street lights came on. After completing the game, I felt wistful, joyous, and strangely– a little sad. It’s been awhile since a game has made me feel so many emotions.
– Real player with 77.8 hrs in game
Knights and Bikes is one of the most magical, wonderful experiences I’ve had with a video game in a long time. It’s a beautiful, stunning masterpiece filled with puzzles, charm and heart. It’s a perfect game for anyone of almost any age - accessible without being basic, intuitive to play. It’s a fantastic game in co-op or solo, and the fact it works so well solo despite being clearly designed around co-op is a real achievement by itself.
It’s the kind of game I’m hesitant to say too much about, because a lot of the joy comes from the constantly surprising innovation on display. Demelza and Nessa are two of the most endearing protagonists I’ve encountered, and the game’s just filled with beautiful nostalgia for anyone who was ever a child at any point, which is like 99.4% of people. It’s also really quaint and quirky without being annoyingly twee; whereas in the wrong hands the plot could’ve been saccharine cringe, here it’s tonally spot on at every turn.
– Real player with 54.0 hrs in game