The Consuming Shadow
Shoggoth’s Scenic Driving Tour of England
Reviewer’s Note: Over 50 Hours with Humble Bundle Copy
“It’s late. At least, I think it’s late. Keeping track of time isn’t a priority - wherever I am now… like a purple nimbus cloud crackling with electricity. What’s important is that I’ve saved the world, and no one will be any the wiser.
…
“Not that I did this for recognition, no! I’m not vainglorious or anything. This was all honestly just a happy byproduct of my pursuit of arcane knowledge, of the Eldritch Truth. I was laughed out of the academy, and the very men and women who found my research so amusing now owe me their insignificant lives. If they had seen what I’ve seen, fought what I’ve fought, learned what I’ve learned, they’d still be laughing - restrained in padded cells, or worse.
– Real player with 55.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Survival Horror Games.
I’ve already put quite a bit of time into the Humble Store version of this game and I have just recently claimed my Steam Key; so I am checking out all the new features, but I will bring you up to speed on what I already know about this game.
The Consuming Shadow is a roguelike RPG much in the vein of FTL, with the overall goal of the game being stopping a Cthulhu-esque entity (simply called ‘the Ancient’) from invading our world. This is done in both of the primary ‘game modes’ The Consuming Shadow features. The first is the overworld map, where you pick a town on your GPS and drive there via your very slow car to look for clues. Various ‘text-only’ events can happen both here and in the towns, where you will have to make a choice. These choices like FTL, can give you bonuses to your cash or equipment, or screw you over royally. There are often pieces of equipment you can use to sway these events in your favor, much like FTL.
– Real player with 21.6 hrs in game
Conarium
EDIT: Fixed formatting error
I think you can tell by my nickname that I like Lovecraft’s stories. So if you think “he loves lovecraftian horror, of course he’s gonna like this game”, you’d be mostly correct. There are some issues, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start out by saying what this game actually is.
Conarium is a first person adventure game with some elements taken from games like Amnesia our Outlast. The game is set after the events of story named “At the Mountains of Madness”, but it’s not a direct sequel, it’s more of a spinoff. It has puzzles, the story is driven by finding notes and visions, there are few monsters you have to avoid, there’s even short submarine scene where you have to find your way without taking too much damage and there are secrets on every corner.
– Real player with 11.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Horror Games.
A creepy horror adventure that actually understood Lovecraft’s approach
Conarium was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed playing it, and it is by no means a “bad” game. At the same time though, I often kept thinking “this could have been done a bit better”. Then again, when I consider that the entire game was created by three people (plus two voice actors and two text editors), the level of quality that was achieved here can only be described as impressive.
Let’s go into the details. Conarium is first and foremost a narrative game, it tells the story of another expedition into the area described by H.P. Lovecraft in his novella “At the Mountains of Madness”. This story is mostly told in retrospect, via text documents and “visions” of past events that you witness or play through. The writing and the atmosphere nail the “Lovecraftian Horror” genre like few other games do. The game has no jumpscares and no fights - the horror derives from the realization that you are just a small, fragile, vulnerable human being who is dabbling with things so alien and powerful that we are incapable of understanding them, and even just learning about them may spell our doom. Unfortunately though, while the atmosphere is excellent, all characters remain underdeveloped.
– Real player with 11.2 hrs in game
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened - Remastered Edition
All of the sudden, it’s actually the quest. Compared to many other games - sorry, Red Comrades , but you too, - you really can make through the game, only using a good amount of thinking. Plus, it’s a long game, it would require 4-5 hours per run. That already makes me to appreciate this game a lot.
In this game, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson investigate the activity of some dark cult, which involved ruthless treatment with people, drug sale, slavery and turning hostages into mindless zealots, a mood provided by Lovecraftian stuff. While in original stories Arthur Conan Doyle didn’t rely on misticism, if only it’s not how frightened people see something explainable by reality, of course… those setting ties as a kind of apocryphical story indeed.
– Real player with 15.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Detective Games.
So once again another Sherlock Holmes themed point and click adventure. This one riffs on H. P Lovecrafts - Call of Cthulhu. Holmes and Dr John Watson are drawn into a strange affair involving the kidnapping of foreign nationals from the streets of London. Slowly but surely they realise that a dark and sinister plot involving dark rites and the darkest magic are afoot.
If you have played any of these Frogwares games before, then you know what you are in for. Classic point and click gameplay, punctuated by puzzles that will veer of simplistic versions of Hanoi Towers to quite brain shredding longitude & latitude number crushing. The graphics are poor and would have been so back in 2008 when this game was released. Voice acting is again a little patchy. But the main draw for these games is how good the story is.
– Real player with 15.6 hrs in game
Arkham Nightmares
I find most of the game’s flaws terribly endearing, but there are a few that make life difficult.
#0, the author uploaded other versions of this game for free to various websites. Google the name, you can apparently play version 1.01 there. So….
#1, there is no way to save. The game has checkpoints at the end of every chapter, but it will take you multiple in-game days worth of guess and check in order to get past the first one. The game is rare enough that there was no guide until I wrote one.
– Real player with 14.3 hrs in game
I’m not really sure what to say about this game…
The story is unclear, the gameplay some kind of overworked old-school and the voice-over are the most terrible i’ve ever heard (only pro: you can disable them by unchecking “sound” in the menu).
EDIT: I needed time to get aroud and actually understande how the game works… now I would give it a 6 out of 10, it’s not thatbad after all.
– Real player with 3.4 hrs in game
Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
First of all, this game was made for those that are familiar with the works of H.P. Lovecraft, so if you have not read his work, you may want to before purchasing. It will give you a greater understanding of the themes and key players in the game.
First lets cover the many positives. This game is genuinely creepy, from beginning to end. The pixelated art is beautiful, if you appreciate pixelated art. I would have done so many screenshots, but sadly with DOSBox I was unable to. The town of Innsmouth is charming, yet you can definitely sense the sinister presence that surrounds and invades the town. The people themselves are also not quite right. It’s fun trying to discern who is there to help, or bring about your demise. The soundtrack is very creepy, letting you know that you are about to enter a world of nightmare. The sound effects are also great. There are times when you are walking through a forest, and you can hear the animals, which can create either a very pleasant or sinister effect, depending on when you go. There is an instance when you have to visit a cemetary, and there is no soundtrack. The sounds of what you would expect to hear in a cemetary at night is all you need to set the mood. The voice acting, for the most part is pretty good, with just a hint of cheese. You can either read the dialogue, listen to the spoken dialogue, or use both. If you use both, expect lag. The written text stays much longer than what the actors say. You can right click if you want to skip the awkward pauses. This really is the only technical hiccup, and I find it forgivable, since there are other modes available.
– Real player with 13.0 hrs in game
HOLY SHIT this game sucks!!!!! I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, I played all the Sierra games, King’s Quest, Space Quest, Quest for glory, Black Cauldron, you name it. This game has all of the bad aspects of those games and none of the good ones. The bad aspects are: you can’t progress in the game until you have done certain things. That means you walk around forever looking for things to do. If you didn’t talk to someone, you have to go do it. And you just can’t move on. In the old sierra games, you might have to backtrack in the game to get a certain item or do a certain action. Here, the game does not progress until you are current with the plot. Here’s an example: You go into the woods with your guide. He’s carrying your camera tripod. He runs away. You use 3 branches and a vine to make a tripod. The problem is, if you don’t have those items, the guide never meets you. So you wander around the game with a tripod, wondering why the hell you can’t move on. It was this kind of crap that caused the death of the point and click adventure games. The great thing about the Sierra games was you knew to go back to an earlier save point and look for what you needed (I can’t get by this laser. Wow, it would be great to have a mirror to blow up the laser. Aw shit, I need to back up and find something mirrored). Now let’s talk about the controls. In the sierra games you direct your mouse at the top of the screen and select an icon to do what you want. In this game, you have to press [TAB] to access those icons, and you can’t even point and select like in the classic adventure games. You have to cheat! You have to go on the internet and find out the keys that correspond to each action. And on top of that, the keys are SLOW!!!! You have to hit (L) to see anything, and then walk around it and hit (G) over and over and over, to pick it up. Every action in this game takes FOREVER. Just picking up a branch takes MINUTES. The logic puzzles are fairly straightforward, but because they take so long to carry out, you’re frustrated. You know you need to talk to the dying man, but you have to be standing in exactly the right position, hit (L), to look at him, then (T) to talk to him. By that time you’re so pissed that you don’t even want to listen to what he’s saying, you just want the game to PROGRESS!!! What would be fun adventure puzzles in an old Sierra game just enrage you in this game, because everything is so damn slow. It’s a badly made game and you shouldn’t get it. Shame on Steam for selling this POS. That’s 6 bucks I’ll never have again.
– Real player with 10.4 hrs in game
Chronicle of Innsmouth
I recommend this game because I enjoyed playing it very much, primarily. The graphics is what people these days call, “old-school pixel-art,” but this was probably about the best possible at time of the game’s creation. It is a point-and-click game with an inventory and a grid in the bottom left-hand corner with the action words, like, “look”, “pick-up,” “talk,” etc., which I have seen in other LucasArts games, such as the ancient, original Indiana Jones games, The Secret of Monkey Island (again, the original), Maniac Mansion (if memory serves me correctly), and the much more recent “Thimbleweed Park.”
– Real player with 101.7 hrs in game
If I could give a neutral, I suppose I would, but I can’t recommend this. It’s not horrible, but it sure isn’t good.
I don’t ding from graphics or such, as this is I think a single/few person game, but it sure doesn’t look good pixel art-wise. Voice acting isn’t bad for the most part, tolerable but not good, except for a few characters which are hideous, but that happened even in most famous adventure titles of the past occasionally.
There are a few good moments in there too.
Gameplaywise, the puzzles are few, and bad. There is pixel-hunting, which is not the lesson you should take from old adventure games. Or putting in a maze with an insta-kill room.
– Real player with 15.7 hrs in game
Curse of the Old Gods
This game was reaaally cool :P. It’s a nice, small, little lovecraftian detective game. It has more than one ending, which is impressive for a game like this; it’s clearly a labor of love. I liked the story, I liked the characters, it’s not the best rational story you could find, but it’s not too cheesy, or too far-fetched (within Lovecraft’s Mythos, of course). Achievements really help, they are fun to get. Keep in mind that I left it open a couple of times while doing something else, so my playtime doesn’t really reflect how long it takes to get 100% (but it’s not that off, however, I estimate 3 hours to get every ending).
– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game
Not what I was expecting tbh. But overall, it was a fine experience. How this point-and-click game differs from other titles is that all clickable areas/parts of a map/scene can be revealed to you. The type of ending you get would be based on the items you keep, and the items you give to people who may be able to use them. For me, games like this deserve to get more recognition than they are getting nowadays, because they really encourage you to think about how to accomplish a certain task, and how to use objects intended for a specific purpose in order to progress in the game. Worth a shot, since apart from it being free, the simplicity can be fulfilling.
– Real player with 3.5 hrs in game
Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness
Edit: I have isolated the files containing the missing cutscenes, from when you complete the puzzle to “waking up in a room with edgar” they are contained at the end of my playthrough here: http://youtu.be/zYzzKiaMocU?t=31m (it will already skip to where the cutscene is in the video, you don’t have to go through the playthrough to find it)
–—-
I am sad to be writing a negative review for this game, but first I will give it the praise that it is due.
It is a very enjoyable game to play, classic point-and-click with a wonderfully creepy atmosphere. The puzzles are challenging, and interesting. It is a great hommage to the style of lovecraft stories, and very enjoyable to play. It is certainly worth playing, and I’m glad that I have done so. I do think it’s important to note this.
– Real player with 12.6 hrs in game
First thing to do if you have any desire to play this game is to download the .exe file from the link below that fixes the missing cutsecene and the game breaking bug of not being able to access your inventory items.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=341051983
All set? Great, now we can talk about the game itself.
William H. Stanton, aka you, find yourself face to face with an old childhood friend Edgar, who seems very scared and gives you an item to take care of and keep away from him under any circumstances. Right after him, a doctor barges in to tell you that Edgar has gone mad and needs to report to him for a medical care. And of course, being the great friend he is, Willy goes on the quest of saving his friend from whatever madness he descended into.
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Theatre of Sorrows
OUR STORY BEGINS…
When a dark cult abducts his sibling, there’s nothing else Killian can do but to comply with their demands. In order to save his sister he travels to the mysterious island of Esha - a place forgotten by even gods themselves, where the unspeakable ritual is about to take place.
Join Killian and Eileen in a deadly journey through Esha and dive into dark secrets of its inhabitants; try to navigate your way through the unknown territory with only a handful of hints that might lead you to a dangerous discovery about things that should have probably been consigned to oblivion…
Because there’s something dark and unspeakable, hidden in Esha’s stormy waves.
EVER-CHANGING ISLAND
Esha will always be a bit different; procedurally-generated map, randomized events and branching narrative will allow you to experience something new in each run.
SURVIVAL THROUGH RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Explore different locations, gather things that might help you survive and be mindful of your own limits. Be careful, though, because every time you walk into an abandoned house, it might not be as abandoned as it would seem…
WIDE VARIETY OF MONSTERS
Sometimes the evil will take particular forms, straight from your worst nightmares… Encounter 20 unique monsters that will remind you of creatures from lovecraftian horrors and try to defend yourself from their attacks.
CUSTOMIZABLE CHARACTERS
You may not be able to fight, but that doesn’t mean you’re defenceless. Find and change your outfits, craft and equip talismans, learn about enemies’ vulnerabilities - all in order to survive.
MULTIPLE ENDINGS
Will you find the way out, or will you succumb to the darkness of Esha? The choices you make throughout the game will lead you to one of the five main endings.
UNIQUE SENSORY EXPERIENCE
Feel the despair of the main characters and the desolation of Esha through the combination of atmospheric graphics, music and narrative, inspired by the works of Lovecraft and other works of the cosmic horror genre.
Transient
I’ve betatested this game, and am now playing the full version for the first time. I may update this review after I’m through, but so far, this is what I can say about the game:
To summarize, this is a very interesting, story-driven, lovecraftian, atmospheric, cyberpunk adventure game, with great locations and attention to detail, that will appeal to any Lovecraft fan, and may just win over anyone who is not one already.
Now, onto the more detailed review:
This game is awesome. Once again, these developers deliver a truly lovecraftian story, set both in Lovecraft’s universe, and in the one they create and expand upon with each coming game. I’ve reviewed all of their previous games, and I never get tired of saying this: these guys know their Lovecraft. They really capture what was his most characteristic and interesting aspect, distilled into all of his tales: the atmosphere.
– Real player with 26.4 hrs in game
! Just in case anyone ever reads this, I’m playing on v0.140 for reference. I’m giving this a thumbs up in part for the genre combination, and for conarium, a good game without too much in the way of a downside. I’ve read a few negative reviews about the end, which i wouldnt mind so much if I got to see the protagonist actually float into the sky eye of nirvana, just end sooner, or something(or just tease a sequel or something, it doesnt have to be cyber, but why not?). I’ve more of a problem with the beginning, let me notice ive got no shaman cinnamon, load into my chair and go to that street with jovarium sunset bar first so I can take a cyber stroll down the punk street to get some meta saffron from the electro apothecary, and maybe swing by the dystopian 7/11 for some digital donuts, and holo-cigarettes. you could have me cyber holo summon up the supplies(or get them from the locker) when i unplug from my nifty padded hacker chair and then put it in my wicken blade runner pantry down stairs. I could avoid a cyber dystopian cop by keeping my distance so i know they want to keep the octopus truth hidden from me. Then at the end near the train station, have my guy go like “wow! nobody would ever believe this train thing! those corporate goons were hiding this all along!”, otherwise the whole cyber punk part falls by the wayside. If you don’t want to add a more cyber start, maybe have the plot dump orb, not immediate go into the thou, and thees. You gotta ease me into thees, lowes, and theretofores, I was just playing some gta, and its a nasty shock. Also the voice FXs on the mushroom headed guy needs another pass, go listen to the starcraft archon merging is complete track guy for reference. Also the first encounter with red mystic goat skull head guy next after the raven explosion friend needs a voice fx rework too, either more cybery, or go listen to the haunting ghosts from deadspace voices or something idk. Also maybe a little more concern on finding my clone whacked, or just some more text logs on that. Also check your text logs for grammar and spelling mistakes. saw a few:/ I’m just posting on steam, you’re publishing. On the upside though, pretty environments, fun mash up of two of my favorite genres, and neat mini games. cool scitar, wind chimes, and chanting music. Fun retro computer consoles, but dont over use antewhateverthat word was, and dont copy paste the same admittedly well done description of indescribable horrors(even if it is a lore acceptable copy paste). I think some of the problems in this game comes from lovecrafts horror often being so different from a lot of cyber punk in it’s fear of the unknown, knowledge, inevitability, slow creeping mutations and occasion body horror. Though cyber punk(and maybe i’m just getting dystopias confused with cyber punk here) are often concerned with conspiracy(hooded cults, big future organizations), inevitability or alterations of self by technology, the focus tends to be more meditations on the ills of technology as opposed to forbidden knowledge in general, ignorance of hidden costs, or dependence on technology. I think there is great potential in the meeting of of the genres, but I don’t believe that Transient really takes advantage of that. It’s a shame because there are some overlaps there, and it would be pretty awesome(get some lovecraft style descriptions of cronenberged cyber monsters, maybe dwell on wires/gears meeting gross flesh the way love craft did on tentacles? Maybe cyber punk lessons brought home with fish/lizard themed horror?) particularly with some occult in there. I had fun though, so even if I can see where it could have been way better story/message wise, thumbs up. I just like this neon, smokey, conspiracy, and occult combination a lot, but played great, zero errors.
– Real player with 15.4 hrs in game