Crimson Gray: Dusk and Dawn
Very fun and interesting little VN. Like the first game, your perception of the world and even your decisions are influenced by your characters mental problems, this time Lizzie’s instead of John’s, allowing you to see some parts of Lizzie’s character you only got hints of in the first game. Whereas the Crimson Gray had a lot of action segments, Dusk and Dawn is very heavily Slice of Life based in genre which builds into the life John and Lizzie are trying to develop for themselves. If you enjoyed the first game, you’ll absolutely love this sequel, since it really expands the story and your understanding of the characters. If you’re concerned with playtime, my initial playthrough was between 3 and 3.5 hours, and I’ve spent an extra 2 hours or so trying to sort out all the alternate routes, of which there are many due to this games high level of variance. Given the extremely reasonable pricing, I’d recommend this game to anyone who enjoys warped romance or psychological games, though I’d play the original Crimson Gray first so that you understand John’s character.
– Real player with 9.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Alternate History Anime Games.
Honestly, I was actually somewhat disappointed by this one. After wracking my brain for hours trying to find the correct path(s) in the original, this sequal was just too easy. When I read that there would be “an emphasis on unreliable narration”, I expected to story to be more unhinged: that I would be seeing the world from Lizzie’s deranged perspective and and be unable to tell what was real and what was Lizzie being her normal unhinged self. I thought it would be much like the first game, where I was making life-or-death decisions on woefully-lacking information, except that in this game, instead of being unsure what Lizzie was thinking or how to best respond to that, I wouldn’t ever be sure if I was responding to the circumstances I thought I was.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
The Night Fisherman
I found The Night Fisherman a bit underwhelming on its own, but I liked it as a prologue to its follow-up, The Outcast Lovers. Given it’s so short and free, I’d be inclined to recommend it, except… If you read other negative reviews for The Night Fisherman, you’ll see a few accusations that the scene you play through is plagiarized from the opening of the movie Inglourious Basterds. The dev claims that it’s just an “homage.”
So, is it plagiarism or homage? Considering the art is extremely minimal and there is no game play outside of one decision at the end, the dialog that plays out in this scene is all The Night Fisherman really has going for it. I think that makes the question of whether that dialog is original work or not pretty important.
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Alternate History Philosophical Games.
The Sacrifices – Politically Charged Game Series
Amongst the alternate history of The Night Fisherman exists the English Protection Group, vigilantes who keep a watchful eye on the Smuggler’s Run, a renowned crossing for vessels bound from Calais containing illegal immigrants. The player takes on the role of the fisherman in the middle of the ocean, during an encounter with another boat and its shotgun-wielding passenger. The fisherman must direct the conversation and the camera angle in a bid to escape the situation safely.
– Real player with 0.2 hrs in game
Artist Life Simulator
Very interesting theme, art, and interface. I like the auto-pause, and you can study the time before hitting the start on an event. The concepts hit home and stay with you. The Emotionarium and gameplay have interesting descriptions that make you contemplate how you might use the game concepts in real life. For example, working out unwanted emotional conditions by putting them into the product of your work is something that works regardless of what you do for a living.
I am having difficulty finding ways to consistently create passion to sustain painting and the job hunt has not been reliable, but this has not detracted from the beauty of the game.
– Real player with 21.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Alternate History Simulation Games.
This review will be on constant up throughout this game development. Currently the development team is incredibly responsive. Both on the forum and the email. Anytime I spotted a bug I post it forum and email my save, they will kill it in hours.
This game CS inspired without being clone. One does give tutorial which is currently little rough..but least will tell you how mechanics functions as you naturally play the game. But it will still keep you in the dark how to response to threat. So this will be problem for the iron man mode down the line. One if you get bad luck of the draw currently in the game state you maybe not able to come back from it. This could end your run in less then five minutes. Which does need to be balance but it is early access. I would recommend by making place that heal easier to get.
– Real player with 18.0 hrs in game
America is Doing Great
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Immersive RPG. A narrative-driven role-playing game. Unite the region as a post-nuclear drug-running god… guinea pig for science and scavenge as a peaceful vagrant… or experiment as some third kind of person so indefinable you upset the elderly
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Freedom of Exploration. Navigate by landmark as you explore the dilemmas of this rich, open world’s factions and inhabitants. Try to help, ignore them outright, or play both sides as you see fit
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Unforgettable Encounters. A cast overflowing with unique characters, each with secrets to uncover and problems to solve. Have deep conversations, philosophize on society, investigate, rant, provide therapy, or manipulate
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Intricate, Branching Stories. Secrets are devastating in the wrong hands and actions taken at the wrong time can be catastrophic. Numerous endings differ drastically based on player behavior
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Imagination Fuel. An ambient, unobtrusive soundtrack provides each location with a unique theme and underscores the lonely spaciousness of the open prairie
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New World. Discover dozens of bizarre post-apocalyptic locales as you trek the barren landscape. Piece together the connections that tie this world together
Bohemian Killing
During my playthrough I think this game is quite promising and is unfair in dumbing the product down based on some rough edges. I reminisce on Depths of Fear :: Knossos and how a really good indie game got really, really harsh criticism just for trying to be different and proposing something new. The game had quite a few updates, but still needs polish IMHO.
This is just one of those games like Facade from 2005 or like The Path that proposes something very different and questions traditional approach to gameplay and mechanics. It offers a different theme to crime and detective stories inversing things making the trial at court the ultimate battle, not just a sidekick.
– Real player with 12.6 hrs in game
Brief
This game is amazing. I loved all of it. I would recommend this game at it’s price or on sale definitely as a must-get if you enjoy these styles of games. Even 100%ed the achievements so I could see every ending and know all the details. There are some issues with this game though that I have. Though the bugs I did run into were mostly minor even though they could easily be game breaking. I will keep information about very specific instances minimal due to spoilers.
Pros
– Real player with 9.2 hrs in game
Division of Labour
In Division of Labour, the player takes on the role of The Manager in a developing nation called Auriverde during a world ecological collapse.
The player manages the workforce and machinery of a factory, fulfilling contracts and earning profits for the Overseer Corp. Buying resources, manufacturing goods, managing the workers and facing moral and ethical decisions are the core of the game.
Compassion
The player has the option to make their workers more comfortable to improve efficiency, or pay them more to increase worker happiness. Events may occur where the player can do a favour for a worker, give time off for a holiday or generally try to help them.
Exploitation
However, Overseer Corp always demands larger and larger profits, and so balancing these becomes the core of the game. To make greater and greater profits, more sacrifices will need to be made and corners will need to be cut.
Storytelling
Along the way, the player will be presented with moral and ethical decisions regarding their works and the world at large. Whether it’s simply a worker who needs time of for medical reasons or an earthquake on the other side of the world sending migrants flocking to Auriverde for work and security, there’s always decisions to make.
Development Progress
A playable demo will be available very soon. To stay up to date with development you can follow our site. For now, consider adding us to your wishlist!
Herald: An Interactive Period Drama - Book I & II
A charming visual novel with a dash of point&click, though don’t let this game’s(beautiful) visual mislead you, since it soon finds it’s roots in the mystery genre and could deceive when it dedicates its narrative to some heavy topics. Addressing all those it wishes to address with the necessary weight, without bashing it over your head with an anvil.
The narrative follows the “how-we-got-here” model, recounting the sea voyage of a man trying to reconnect with his roots. He finds himself instead being dragged into the mysteries surrounding his fellow passangers on the titular ship, while framing it in the form of a flashback that Devan himself is narrating.
– Real player with 26.6 hrs in game
Herald is a tightly woven dramatic interactive novel, which plays like a mystery play. Some beauty knows no language. But, this beautifully animated point & click choice based drama crosses language and race barriers with issues that we struggle with today like suicide, faith, racism, gun control, interpersonal relationships, & slavery; all set in the 19th Century.
It seems that, in Herald, I am everyman and every woman. The script draws us in to experience the motives & thoughts of each character. The narrative, characterizations, art, & voice acting are incredibly well done.
– Real player with 15.8 hrs in game
Monorail Stories
Silvie and Ahmal travel each day on the same Monorail, but at different times and opposite directions. They will meet different people and make different choices, but they don’t know they are sharing a common story.
Please get on board, enjoy this unique world and try to discover all the possible endings.
Features
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A Monorail!
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Two playable characters
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Multiple endings
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Asynchronous multiplayer mode (local/online/Twitch)
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Endless story mode
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A unique cast of travelers (and their stories)
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A deep and suggestive world
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Charming pixel-art graphics
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A groovy indie soundtrack
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Lots of cats
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A Monorail! (did we already say it?)
Ostalgie: The Berlin Wall
It’s hard to really describe what makes this game so much fun.
Is it the ability to save the Warsaw Pact? Maybe, but that’s not quite it.
Is it the possibility of reforming the Eastern Bloc? Hm, perhaps…oh, no, got it!
It’s the ability to do both those things, while building an excessive number of TV towers and imagining that you’re broadcasting the amazing in-game soundtrack to every citizen of Europe, constantly, at 100 decibels, forever.
Seriously though, this is one of the best ‘small’ games I’ve played in a while now. It’s fairly short, spanning three ingame years, and although you can go longer, not much really happens after 1992, but what happens in those years is enthralling.
– Real player with 258.0 hrs in game
Reminds me of the old-school Paradox Interactive games. You want tooltips? Clear explanations of what is what? Too bad. Stare at a statistics screen for a while, you’ll figure it out.
There is a neat game here, but good luck surviving for even a year. It is very hard.
edit: Okay, I have played enough I can write a little more.
Did you play Crisis in the Kremlin? It was about leading the USSR through the time of political turmoil and reform when there were many factors that would eventually bring the country to its collapse into many autonomous states. In the game you had a lot of freedom to pursue your goal. You could become a liberal reformer, play as a hardline-communist or somewhere in-between with many other variations. However, you were the main actor. You could decide how you would play. The only real condition of the game was “don’t let the USSR collapse outright.”
– Real player with 250.2 hrs in game
The Sundew
I’m thrilled to finally be able to play The Sundew, an impressive effort from solo French developer Agnès Vuillaume. I’ve been rooting for this project for several years. I know the project has faced some heartbreaking setbacks and some high hurdles in its path, so it’s wonderful to see that the developer was able to so gracefully overcome those obstacles and release such an enjoyable, polished game.
In The Sundew, we follow Anna, elite cybercop, who undertakes an unusual mission. After an escalating series of twists and turns, Anna experiences a major revelation that has seismic implications for her personal life. She has no time to process this before she is framed for a crime and shipped to prison. However, she escapes, and now must investigate the conspiracy from the fringes of society where she now lives. The game is set in a neo-Japan, takes us from an urban Tokyo-like city to the snowy ruins of Hokkaido, and features a top-notch aesthetic that had me oohing and aahing every other screen.
– Real player with 12.5 hrs in game
the sundew is a nice-looking point & click adventure set in japan in 2054, with the expected amount of neon-fueled depression and a cyborg cop called anna as protagonist. you are forced to work on a sunday after a cyber attack on the police station and while getting prepped for your next job, something weird happens, followed by more weirdness. hard to talk about the story without spoilers, so I won’t, I’ll just say I didn’t find it particularly interesting and the writing is iffy as well.
– Real player with 7.1 hrs in game