Exo One
The game itself is very simple. You’re an object that can change between a ball and a disk, using gravity tech to either increase/decrease gravity, making you gain speed very fast very quickly as long as you use slopes smartly as you would in a tony hawk game.
Once you get a bit of speed you store energy, that energy gets used to make you into a disk which you can use to fly around with. Depending on your angle you can use it to go even higher, get more speed, fly even faster and get a sense of speed that even Sonic himself could get jealous of. It’s all up to you how adrenaline-fueled you want to make your adventure.
– Real player with 12.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Atmospheric Walking Simulator Games.
I’m not sure how to proceed with this one…..bear with me and please hear me out. Exo One is a game I really liked but cannot recommend to you. You need to be of a certain ilk to get into this one and I really suggest watching a few bits of a playthrough and reading reviews on both sides of the fence.
I am giving Exo One the thumbs up because it definitely does not deserve a thumbs down. But this is not a thumbs up in the way that if you like a certain kind of game then you will enjoy this. More like I liked it, everyone else on here seems to be going gaga for it but I can’t help but feel a lot of the reviews here are part of the Kickstarter crowd or were at least following it. I honestly expected a Mixed or Positive average on Steam. Not an Overwhelmingly Positive for sure.
– Real player with 9.8 hrs in game
Castle Rock Beach, West Australia
Beautiful, Teleporting is very broken as you fall through the map a lot and the items seem to have a lower resolution as soon as you teleport to the place. On the other hand, walking regularly in game is soothing, beautiful, the movement is realistic and you can hear your footsteps on different surfaces, it also never falls through the surface and every item has time to render in so it’s resolution is much better. The only downside to walking is it makes a high percentage of people who play VR motion sick. Teleporting doesn’t make you as sick, but again, it is broken. I luckily don’t get motion sickness from VR at all, so I can write a great review for this outstanding game.
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Atmospheric Casual Games.
Matt Newell is a young talented 3D artist who deserves more fame. In April 2020 I experienced for the first time his interactive fully explorable virtualscapes on Steam. I started with the exploration of Myrdalssandur, an outwash plain in the south of Iceland. Then I experienced all of his works on Steam: Fushimi Inari, Wakamarina Valley and Castle Rock Beach.
Photorealism is not enough to describe the experiences. Matt brings out the best from Unreal Engine 4; assets, textures, rendering of light and shaders are at the state of the art. Oh yes, rendition of light is superb! He succeeds to create a virtual Nature that is more beautiful than real Nature! It’s not properly Nature, it’s an idealization of Nature! It’s a Nature without perils, without insects, without dangerous animals, without smells, where you don’t risk getting dirty with mud, you don’t get wet even if it rains. It’s a Nature expressing just an outstanding aesthetic beauty able to enjoy your eyes and lull your soul. Walking in such virtual world at sunset or at sunrise or when raining, it is satisfactory, relaxing, charming. There are just you and Nature, accompanied by an ethereal soundtrack and environmental sounds! You just take a stroll, discover interesting places, take a few photos, enjoy beautiful seascapes and landscapes with different lighting and weather conditions. Today, contemplating wild and unpopulated landscapes or seascapes is impossible, tourists are everywhere and everytime; and it’s not rare to find trash even in the more remote lands, reminding you how many two-legged pigs are in the world! Plus, you have to organize and afford long and stressful travels! On the contrary, thanks to Matt’s artworks you need just to turn on your PC and sit on your sofa for enjoying elegiac and spiritual experiences; they are well suited for people searching for a break from the everyday stress in our crowded society, especially during pandemic emergency! “Walden: A Game” (USC Game Innovation Las, 2017) gives you similar feelings.
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game
Fallow
i’m not one to usually review games, and i’ve been putting reviewing this one off for a while now, but: fallow touched me deeply; it made me feel exceedingly personal feelings that games don’t often make you feel - and i think that you should play it as soon as you get the chance. it’s one of those games that you aren’t going to forget if you’ve gone through similar experiences to the ones presented at all, and the almost 8 years of work put into it really shows. small details, extra content that’s practically longer than the game itself, impossible-to-find dev commentary; a soundtrack that i cannot stop listening to on repeat- i bought the physical edition and am ecstatic about it coming in, if only for the bonus tracks on the cassette alone.
– Real player with 15.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Atmospheric Supernatural Games.
Took a few days to chew on this after finishing it because it’s hard to write a review of a game that affected you so deeply. I’ll start by mentioning that I’ve followed Rook for a few years now so I knew I’d enjoy this game, but I was unprepared for how deeply it impacted me.
In just a few short hours, Fallow managed to touch on a great many of my own feelings and insecurities about things that I often cannot talk about, not out of fear but because there simply aren’t words to describe them. It did this in a way that felt totally genuine. Fallow touched me in a way I would say is underneath words.
– Real player with 12.7 hrs in game
Lushfoil Photography Sim
Experience detailed, true-to-life recreations of various landmarks around the world. Each environment is authentically recreated using reference photos taken on location, and includes detail at both a small and large scale.
- Capture Every Detail
Use a realistically inspired DSLR to observe and capture the world around you. Includes an abunance of settings that you’d expect from a real-world professional camera, including Auto/Manual Focus, Exposure, Contrast, White Balance, Aperture and a selection of filters, for full creative control over your shooting. All photos are saved to your hard drive, like a collection of real photos.
- Leave no Stone Unturned
Objectives are not the first priority in the game, but it will reward the types of players who are patient, observant, and like to venture off the beaten path. Each environment is filled with Unlockables, Secret Objectives, Collectibles, and Easter eggs that not everyone will find.
- Smooth as Butter
Each environment is very efficiently optimised and doesn’t need the latest hardware to run. There are extensive custom settings that will help the game run on a wide range of systems, and will still take full advantage of high-end cards.
- VR Support
A Virtual Reality DLC will be released in Early Access shortly after the game comes out. I’m a huge advocate for VR and I would love to give everyone the opportunity to experience the level of immersion that VR offers.
Summoner’s Mess
Worth every cent (and much more) of its price, it’s very entertaining to discover the map and each unsuccessful run makes you go for another one to see how far can you go this time.
It has a really nice art direction, and the sound ambiance goes perfectly with the game. Just buy it, with that price it’s like a gift.
– Real player with 3.8 hrs in game
This is a very nice and interesting game, the graphics, the music, the mood… everything fits perfectly.
I really enjoyed playing it and doing all the possible endings. It is cool to be able to easily remember the rooms and little by little knowing all the place like it was my own house.
If you enjoy games where the progression is based on your own knowledge instead of unlockable skills, then give it a try!
The game gives you a proper amount of hours of game time given the fact that is super cheap!
– Real player with 3.5 hrs in game
A Murmur in the Trees
Good little indie game. I hope there will be more to explore in future.
There are things you could easily miss, if you don’t pay attention, can you find all secrets? :)
I was 1 of many testers, so that is reason why I got it free.
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
A short and sweet story, only takes about an hour to get through. If you like walking simulators you should check it out.
– Real player with 1.9 hrs in game
Across
A STORY TO BE TOLD AND A WORLD TO BE DISCOVERED
After waking up not knowing what happened a lioness cub tries to find her owners with the tracks that they left behind not knowing that it will lead her to a journey that will challenge her and know what happened to her owners. Discover the land of Flihela that is filled with windy plains, crimson red forest and snowy ravines all through the eyes of a lioness cub, and a little girl who just lost her precious furry friend blaming herself for what happened. You as the player will take on this journey with the lioness cub also followed by a mysterious bird, to know what happened to the family and where are they.
SAVE THAT IS FROZEN FROM TIME
Bring back the creatures of Flihela from these mysterious shrines.
FRAGMENTS OF TIME
Pick up the fragments of time that will show you the past.
DUMB: Treasure
Nice excursion.
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
Very nice horror atmosphere
– Real player with 0.2 hrs in game
Farewell North
Restore Color to the World
Explore the islands and uncover memories in order to restore color to the archipelago, unlocking new paths, extinguishing hazards and revealing hidden objects. Explore the hand crafted, atmospheric islands while evading the creatures that would hold you back.
Free Wildlife
Discover and activate frozen wildlife to temporarily bring color back to the world, revealing hidden objects and paths, and distracting the monsters who would harm you.
Discover Hidden Paths
Solve puzzles based on perspective and coloring to reveal hidden objects and paths in the environment. Find the perfect vantage point to reveal the secrets of the islands.
Explore Land and Sea
Journey at your own pace, running through lush grassy fields, hiking steep cliffs, and canoeing the ocean between an open world chain of islands inspired by the Scottish archipelagos of St. Kilda and Orkney. Discover new islands and challenges throughout the world as you work to restore color.
Uncover a Unique Story About Saying Farewell
Unravel a unique story about saying farewell as memories reveal a glimpse into the life of the characters. Discover the events in the past which have led the characters to the archipelago, and caused all color to leave the world.
Key Features
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Restore color to a vibrant, hand crafted world, inspired by the Scottish highlands and the famous isles of St. Kilda and Orkney
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Play as an energetic border collie helping a young woman recover the memories of her life, and uncover the mystery of a colorless world
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Experience two distinct visual modes, with unique challenges and mechanics in each
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Unravel an original story of overcoming depression, and saying farewell
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Discover monsters, creatures and wildlife inspired by the rich history of Scottish folklore
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Travel by foot and by canoe as you make your way through the atmospheric isles
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For fans of games like Journey, GRIS and Lost Ember
Homesick
What is it?
Homesick is a narrative-style indie game that sits somewhere between The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Dear Esther (but with considerably more ‘game’ than the latter). Your objective is no more than to find out what happened, why you are there and how to escape by a small amount of puzzle-solving and decyphering of cryptic code to reveal what happened. Homesick is a short game and mostly entails you unlocking access to various areas that form one floor of an abandoned apartment block and eventually piecing together the story before finding your escape.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
(Based on a review code I got from the developers.)
I have to say that this is one of the best games I’ve played in a long time: it’s definitely the best new game I’ve played this year. Playing it filled me with a vague sense of trepidation, but also an overwhelming need to explore and to find out where I was, why I was there and what my purpose was in that place, if I even had one. The puzzles rely on real world logic, so they’re quite straightforward and uncomplicated, and I didn’t wish they presented a bigger challenge, because to me, it doesn’t seem like Homesick is the kind of game that focuses on brain challenges: it’s all about exploration, and the puzzles (and their solutions) are just a way of helping you better explore the place around you. The way most of them leave a mark on the environment was amazing to witness: it feels so satisfying to solve something and watch its result bloom around you, an explosion of colour in a landscape almost entirely devoid of all colours that aren’t blinding white or washed out grey. The atmosphere in Homesick is exceptional, too, thanks largely to the soundtrack that impressed the pants off of me. It would be an entirely different game without it, which is easy to realise when you’re solving one of the puzzles that requires almost complete silence, and you realise how much you miss the music.
– Real player with 4.4 hrs in game