Knee Deep
Knee Deep is a point and click adventure game revolving around a murder mystery. Set in a small backwater town called Cypress Knee in Florida, you control the three main characters as they investigate an actor’s murder, digging deep into a world of political corruption, blackmail, intrigue and even a bit of sci fi weirdness. The story is accompanied by nice graphics, atmospheric music and a unique take on gameplay where the story takes place as if it was a theater play complete with moving sets and all. The game is available on PS4, XBox One, and PC via Steam, which is the version I played for this review.
– Real player with 19.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Choices Matter Games.
DISCLAIMER: This is a review of the first episode. No score will be given. A full review of the entire season will follow once all three episodes have been released.
It’s a good thing that I’m playing this game on a hot summer evening. It’s also interesting that I live just a few miles away from one of the largest swampland areas in Europe and the humidity, as always, is unbearable. It’s just curious that there are no mosquitoes tonight. All in all, a perfect situation to immerse myself into Knee Deep, a self-proclaimed swamp noir in three acts. And I am immersed in a matter of seconds. The first thing that strikes me is the music, a brilliantly moody mixture of American folk and blues. I start the game up and I am immediately seated in a theater. I silence my mobile phone out of respect for the actors. As the curtain rises on the stage, I find myself in a backwater Florida town of Cypress Knee. It’s a grim start as a washed-up actor has hanged himself from a tower next to a local inn.
– Real player with 8.1 hrs in game
Draugen
I always wanted to visit Norway. Well, maybe not always, but for a long time, and Draugen finally allowed me to do just that. Kinda.
NOTE: I deliberately avoided ALL imaginable SPOILERS about the story, characters and title origins - so enjoy your bulletproof ride through this hand-crafted insanity.
Yes, the Norwegian setting, and ‘Fjord Noir mystery’ fancy description quickly picked up and sparked my curiosity and I closely followed this game to launch and played it shortly after the release date. Over a year later I’ve revisited it and played one more time - to complete my achievements' hunt and to add my 2 cents to the review score.
– Real player with 15.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Atmospheric Games.
How to learn Norwegian in few hours
Draugen is a walking sim, in other words a narrative game with lots of walking around and exploring the beautiful surroundings while trying to uncover the secrets.
I enjoyed the story, I loved the fact it’s kind of based on Norwegian folklore.
You arrive at a small village to look for your sister. The town seems completely empty and you along with your friend Lissie start looking around for people and clues where the people are gone. Can’t say more because it’s hard without spoilers.
– Real player with 8.0 hrs in game
Broken Sword 3 - the Sleeping Dragon
Despite the fact that I liked this game, I can’t recommend this game to everyone (again, a ‘Maybe’ or ‘Mixed’ option would be more fitting). The biggest and most noticeable problem is that the game’s controls are not what you think; the point-and-click interface of the previous games is replaced with a weird adventure-game Sims hybrid control scheme, which is something I’ve never seen before. WARNING!!!: I do NOT recommend using the keyboard for this game. Otherwise you’re gonna have a TERRIBLE time and you’ll experience some of the worst controls in gaming history. And this is coming from a person who loves the controls of Fixed-Camera Resident Evil and Tomb Raider 1-6.
– Real player with 12.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Point & Click Games.
Broken Sword 3 is host to some big problems that unfortunately overshadows a lot of the good aspects of the game.
Just like the previous Broken Sword games, the story is decent though not special. The dialogue and voice acting is definitely one of the strongest aspects of the series, and BS 3 has that too. Most of the puzzles range from okay to pretty interesting.
However, the controls are an unholy collection of awful and rubbish. They suck, they suck in every way possible. Combine the bad controls with the terrible camera and you got a special kind of awful. The camera uses weird angels and it switches them constantly. CONSTANTLY. It jumps back and forth, sometimes as much as five times in a few “meters” of road. It’s enough to make you seasick… and it causes you to run the wrong way since what was one direction a second ago is suddenly the opposite direction or sideways. It also prevents you from seeing the things you wish to see.
– Real player with 12.2 hrs in game
Nancy Drew®: Midnight in Salem
TLDR: Rocky release start, which did nothing to help the game. Long loading screen times. Graphics are terrible. Story is bad and doesn’t make sense a lot of the time. Mostly talking, low puzzles and bad puzzle quality. HER Interactive’s response is horrid. This game is not part of the ND universe previously build, so it feels like a separate game. If you want to play Nancy Drew, play other/older games as they are better.
I’ve been playing Nancy Drew since the early 2000’s, like 2001 or 2002. I own all of the games and was so excited for this game. The original preview, in the Sea of Darkness game, made this game look INCREDIBLE! As the years went by, I eventually gave up on the idea of the game ever coming out, until they announced the new release date and a new trailer. It still looked good and I set an alarm to pre-order. As the day came and went, the game was not available for pre-order. They announced that evening that the pre-order was pushed back by over a month to fix some things in the game. I was disappointed, but excited since this game was finally released.
– Real player with 119.3 hrs in game
I will preface this review with the disclaimer that I am an avid Nancy Drew fan. I own all of the books and every game in this series is on my shelf as a hard copy and in my steam library for instant play. Long story short, I love Nancy Drew wholeheartedly and I believe in Her Interactive and their mission. I rabidly defended them on fan forums when this game was delayed numerous times and despite any of the criticisms I am about to make, I would still recommend this game if you are a fan of this series or point and click adventure and mystery games.
– Real player with 41.2 hrs in game
Finders, Keepers
Finders, Keepers
A hike above ancient woodland on summer solstice; the longest day of the year. Two friends explore an enigmatic forest, talking of life and love. Mysterious landmarks dwell in the primal wood, echoes of beauty and pain that scar the land, and await those who seek the truth.
Finders, Keepers tells a tale through unconventional means; tips left by users of the fyndr/keepr dating app hint at a tragic tale, strange profiles lead to hidden clues, landmarks hold a mysterious history. A dreamlike atmosphere permeates through joyful interactions; blowing dandelions, skimming stones, rustling wind chimes, while the narrative evokes a range of emotions, from humorous dating profiles, to unsettling discoveries.
An Atmospheric Mystery
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A magical realist narrative told through unconventional means.
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Experimental gameplay using a dating app interface.
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Playful interactions use simple swiping mechanics in creative ways.
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Fluid, evolving musical score moves seamlessly with the story.
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Mouse and controller support with innovative thumb interface.
Forgotten Sound 2: Destiny
bad, not interesting, lame gameplay and puzzles. Weak interface.
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Gabriel Knight® 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned
Outstanding game! Outstanding series! If you enjoy the classic point-n-click, give this one a shot. If you like it, try the other two games. If not, move on.
Rather than writing separate reviews for each game, I’m going to briefly cover the entire series in a few paragraphs.
With their love/hate, yin/yang, brain vs. brawn relationship, Gabriel and Grace steal the show! I can tell series' creator Jane Jensen really enjoyed using this to spruce up the character cohesion and back-n-forth banter. In my opinion, this is by far the most enjoyable aspect of the series.
– Real player with 57.1 hrs in game
Cozy, atmosphere rich and intriguing. Gabriel Knight 3 is set in a small village in France where you as Gabriel and Grace are investigating the abduction of an infant child. With an interface not seen in any other major point-n-click adventure (to my knowledge) where you hover around like a drone camera you can really immerse yourself in the environments of the game while investigating with great accuracy, As far as adventure games go, this game has it all, the plot is like any good Agatha Christie novel mixed with occult and religious elements. Add to this, extremely well done voice acting which made me laugh so many times, and great puzzles and a gallery of memorable characters, this game will make you want to check in to a hotel in rural France asap and start looking for clues and interrogating hotel guests. And yes, the music is amazing and superbly fits the game world. This game is one of my all time favorites, but you will probably need a open mind, if you start playing it in 2020. Please do.
– Real player with 41.8 hrs in game
Gothic Murder: Adventure That Changes Destiny
DETECTIVE MAID TO THE RESCUE!
Absolutely adored playing this, it’s the right mix of murder mystery and tropey silliness. I had a ton of fun and am glad I picked this up on a whim.
We play Ellie, an orphan girl in the 1920s who has found a job as a live-in maid in a Victorian mansion, at night she dreams a vision of a terrible murder featuring the lord of the house and he’s far too pretty to die so she must save him somehow! With a shady cast of relatives and strangers showing up for discussion of the late master’s inheritance, who could be behind it?
– Real player with 23.9 hrs in game
A fun, short mystery visual novel i would easily recommend to anyone who likes mystery and/or otome games as a genre. Quite enjoyable and worth the price imo. Since the developers decided to release an english version of this game on steam, i hope they will also consider releasing the DLC content that hasn’t been translated yet. I would love to be able to read it and see more interactions between the characters.
The only criticism i have, regarding something that left me a bit dissatisfied, is that i find the romance a little lacking, and the branching paths a little meaningless, as the only difference between them was one short scene and the epilogue, which changed according to the character you choose to pursue. (especially disappointing for me because i left my favorite boy for last, so i was a bit bummed out to see there was very little interaction with him)
– Real player with 19.1 hrs in game
Interfectorem
The characters are solid and intriguing, the artwork is enjoyable, and although the game as a whole is simplistic in nature and control, the story was original and interesting to follow!
I can tell that the team put a lot of love and effort into this game.
I would reccomend this to someone who wants to play a quick, simple, point and click story game with quality characters and a good storyline. This was a great game to play between homework breaks!
– Real player with 3.6 hrs in game
I think I got this game from a bundle - it’s nice little thing around 1-2$ or at full price when you want to show support, but quality-wise it can’t stand up against other games in the same price range.
It’s a messy game to review - it has strong points, good ideas, but it lacks in cohesion and execution. But then it was literally done by kids/teens, which explains the shortcomings, and make it a solid game. But when comparing it to others, it’s not really up to par. Treat it as a proof of concept, a result of a game jam, or that someone told a story through a game, while not really making it a “gamey” game.
– Real player with 3.6 hrs in game
Marcella Moon: Curse of the Black Cat
This is certainly the best game in the series so far! It has more gameplay and puzzles than the others. This is the first game to have voice acting, and I think it did well. The story feels a bit more personal than the others, too, since Marcella’s mother and roommate are both present. If you liked the other games in the series, you’ll like this one.
– Real player with 4.7 hrs in game
This was a really cute and enjoyable game! It’s fun to play and quick enough to finish in one afternoon.
The small town setting is very quaint and there’s a nice atmosphere. I really liked the story line. It was well paced and there are some touching emotional elements and (kind of comedic) surprises! The soundtrack especially stood out to me, since it set the mood very well and was very pretty at times. The voice acting quality is also pretty good considering that this is an indie/one person developed game (which is very impressive!).
– Real player with 3.6 hrs in game