Prodigal
–- Review Update after 500+ hours below —
—Previous Edits have been made more succinct —
PreReview:
It has some minor influence in Zelda. I’d say there is a greater amalgam of original ideas at play that you don’t get to see when presuming its just a Zelda clone.
Great writing, evident character diversity, and heart-tugging dialogue that was never quite there with classic Zelda games. Can’t compare them at the moment, except for being a classic style adventure game.
Oh, and the OST absolutely smacks.
– Real player with 610.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Casual Exploration Games.
Easy recommendation.
While looking like a simple Gameboy game, Prodigal displays a very competent understanding of level design, narrative structure, and character development. Many games on the market emulate older, retro-style games with varying degrees of success. Prodigal not only nails it completely, but also builds upon it with modern techniques and inventive ideas.
The dungeons you explore in the first half of the game are paced well, following a classic formula established by the Legend of Zelda series where you gain new items. The second half of the game takes all your abilities into consideration and bases the dungeons around using all your abilities along with any dungeon gimmicks. In addition, there are optional dungeons with unique bosses you can find based on your town progression.
– Real player with 46.4 hrs in game
Bakery
Bakery is a cute management simulation with a cute if not a little unrefined art style that I really want to love, but there’s several things that get in the way of me being able to recommend this game to other people. I don’t want to seem like I’m trying to pick this game apart but I want to give my honest feedback on what I think could be improved, should the developer decide to continue developing on this game.
In the state it’s currently in I cannot recommend this game to English Speaking players. The English translation is very difficult, if impossible, to understand at times. That being said, from what I can piece together, the story is very engaging and I find myself wish I spoke the original language this game was written in so that I could actually understand it better. The translation also leads to some confusion as to what exactly recipes are supposed to be and even some confusion on what the employees are (I believe the Accountant could possibly be considered a Cashier in English for example)
– Real player with 297.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Casual Simulation Games.
I played this game when it just came out, which is 17 yrs ago. It was the first game i own ever. I had so much memories about this game that I cant even put in words how I feel when I found out it’s on steam. Nothing has changed about this game which some people may not like since simulation games have evolved so much, but for players like me it is just perfect how imperfect it is 3 It’s a vintage worth colleting if you are like me.
– Real player with 23.6 hrs in game
Insomnious
The Story
You just brought a brand new AI assistant designed specifically to help with insomnia, now it’s time to try to sleep. . . But something isn’t quite right about tonight. Maybe getting to sleep is the least of your problems now.
SleepCo’s brand new Sleeping Assitance Machine is making headlines as it sells out globally only weeks after being released. Alongside their specially crafted medicine to help with insomnia, SleepCo seems to be ready to put the whole world to bed. After setting up your SAM beside your bed, taking your medicine and getting into your pyjamas, SAM wakes up to help guide you into sleep. But tonight something is different. You don’t feel as tired as you usually do after taking your medicine. You hear noises all around you. SAM says to ignore it, but should you? Maybe a good night’s rest will sort all of this and you won’t have to worry about it in the morning. If you make it to the morning that is.
Manifestations of your worst nightmares, creatures of pure horror trap you in your small bedroom, there is no escape, even closing your eyes you see the hands of the beast coming for you. What will you do? Will you ever get to sleep? Maybe it’s just all in your head and you should just ignore it like SAM keeps telling you to.
The Gameplay
Insomnious is a survival horror game inspired by Five Nights at Freddy’s, however with the added feature of being able to move around the room and get close and personal with the monsters to push them away.
You are trapped in your room for the night, run around the room and hold back the night terrors while trying to get enough rest to fall asleep. These night terrors could come from everywhere, the window, the closest, the painting and even your bedroom door. But just confronting your fears by getting close enough to push them back will keep you safe for the night.
Each night the monsters get more and more aggressive, on top of this the amount of time you have to sleep for increases each night. You have to manage defending yourself against the monsters of the night and getting sleep by making yourself vulnerable and resting in your bed.
The main story mode will take you through 3 nights of progressively more and more difficult scenarios as you listen to your SAM try to get you to sleep.
The challenge mode introduces a collection of 3 unique challenges to try to beat, it’s similar to story mode just without any additional lore.
Finally the custom mode allows you to set your own challenges to try to survive. In custom mode you have the ability to change each monster’s difficulty (or even disable each monster), change the amount of time you need to sleep before surviving the night and even change the amount time it takes for the nightmare to kill you.
Read More: Best Casual 3D Games.
Way Walkers: University 2
Death/random permanent disfigurement in a game with no save function is definitely annoying. The extremely young age of the protagonists also gives me pause, especially when it comes to the romances (fortunately romance only occurs between students, no adults involved). Ultimately, though, I have to give this game props for where it improves over its predecessor. Scene descriptions are less awkward, the characters are better developed, I felt like I had plenty of room for roleplaying, and typos and malapropisms were… well, not exactly absent, but much less noticeable than in the first installment.
– Real player with 4.2 hrs in game
I have been misled. There are fans of this series on the Choice of Games subreddit, and how they love Way Walkers so very much.
Characters are great. I love ‘em. Writing is fine, though it could use some culling. I’ve always found the “angel” characters entirely irrelevant and easily displaced by basic narration. The author relies way too much on dialogue for exposition, as if completely misunderstanding the intention behind “Show, don’t tell”. The author’s note feels like a delusional joke. If anything, too little was actually written using too many words.
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
2ECONDS TO STΔRLIVHT: My Heart’s Reflection
this is and amazing way to show what some trans or other members of the LGBTQ+ community go through in there lives, i myself am transgender ans slowly giving up hope. but, to some extent i have gone through similar experiences as Hakuno with some level of bullying and hand being afraid of what others think and what they would say about me. i have been brought nearly to tears and felt sick about the bullying but i am very happy that Hakuno was able go through her transition and be much more happy about herself. it gives me some hope that myself and others can be happy someday, i’d say that everyone should play/read what struggles that Hakuno and others go through in their lives.
– Real player with 3.6 hrs in game
Loved it!! I’m surprised this game is free with how good this story is! I’m a Youtuber and I played this for my channel. It was such a good story with heartfelt themes, realistic trans representations, and an awesome cast of characters. It’s definitely worth playing for yourself as there are so many choices! There are some frustrating parts like a non-intuitive menu for turning down the sound and a cell phone screen size for the game itself. But that’s not something that should deter you from playing this! I recommend this game fully!
– Real player with 3.2 hrs in game
Lux, City of Secrets
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it; it was well written and offers a plethora of choices which really tailor your experience but when I discovered it was ending I was super surprised because it felt like it was just ramping up… but it was over. I realise this is part 1 of 2, but this is still a standalone game. To me, it doesn’t really feel like it.
I don’t generally post reviews but I have to say that I was sadly disappointed with this release. I really liked Evertree and adored Sordwin even more, each book getting better and longer than the last, and when I heard that Sordwin’s sequel would be releasing I was super excited, expecting something even bigger and better than Sordwin. Lux, City of Secrets is, unfortunately, not better and certainly not bigger. In fact, I think it’s even smaller than Evertree Inn.
– Real player with 19.3 hrs in game
Depending of what you choose it can vary because there is a lot of choices and things to be done in a short span of time i expected there to be more time to be done with the game in all honesty but for for five dollars it isnt worth it because it is meant for the player to explore all options as a mage, warrior and thief with exploring different aspects i just find this game poorly done with it meant to be a standalone long title. About around 440,000 words is a lot and i heavily expected the game to last longer in all honesty but its more of a disappointment because there is more work done for the jobs that you decide to do depeding on what you choose from a battle mage to a scholar it is done well but there should’ve been done more work on a story i would not recommended this game honestly much as it sucks to say.
– Real player with 16.6 hrs in game
Motivational Hero Vol. 2
This game is very challenging and full of features.
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game
I really liked the psychedelic theme mixed with a change of colors and that crazy drops effect gave a unique identity to the game, but for me the coolest thing is how the theme of each stage relates to the gameplay, sensational game!
– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game
Way Walkers: University
A quite old game that was added pretty recently to Steam, alongside a brand new DLC. I’ve only discovered the game with the Steam release, and I’ve been able to play now.
It’s a very interesting spin on the “magic school” formula. You don’t have your usual story set nowadays in our world, with a main character that is thought to be a normal human until they discover they’re more than that. I don’t have anything against that, but it’s nice to see something different.
It’s a pretty original story with a lot of cool concept, and part of a much bigger universe (the author also writes “regular” books).
– Real player with 10.9 hrs in game
This is one of the best create your own novel adventure games out there! J. Leigh is an incredible novelist and it is a true pleasure to dive into her world of Way Walkers! With it’s own rich lore and interesting characters, you’ll keep playing over and over again to see what results you can get. I have been playing this game since it first came out and I am excited and enthralled that the halloween dlc came out and am excited to find out what excitement is in store for chapter 3! If you love create your own adventure stories then this is the game for you!
– Real player with 8.5 hrs in game
Oracle Trials
Oracle Trials is a 2D platformer about a warrior in armor that reminds me of a kind of mario game.
Yes, the graphics here are pixelated, but the musical accompaniment and an interesting story make you not pay attention to it.
And as they say, we need to regain our strength by killing bad opponents.
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
If you love platformers as much as I do, then you should definitely play Oracle Trials. I won’t say that this is a revolution in the genre, but it is a very high-quality platformer with a bunch of different features and an interesting perspective. I didn’t expect anything from the game, but I got a lot of pleasure. The game has extremely nice graphics, great music and very responsive character controls.
7/10.
– Real player with 4.4 hrs in game
2ECONDS TO STΔRLIVHT: Forever My Diamond
As graduation looms, true feelings begin to surface. Will Grace find the courage to overcome her shyness and bare her heart to Sera, or will her handsome rival Akira get to her first?
A free VN about being really gay for your best friend. A standalone entry in the NOISZ series, and prequel to NOISZ STΔRLIVHT.
– Real player with 912.7 hrs in game
I DO NOT RECOMMEND AS A ACHIEVEMENT HUNTER DETAILS BELOW
honestly this “game” isnt bad but its short and has limited choices that dont really change much… its about two girls who are in love with each other but they dont know how the other one feels yadda yadda….
as a gamer: this game is… too short and theres not alot that changes in this… i suppose that its because a its a prelude to a visual novel game… that im probably not gonna play
as a achievement hunter: the achievements for some reason didnt work… i played the game like 5 times reset it a bunch and did everything apart from downloading things to force it to give me the achievement but nether one popped its strange to me because one of my achievement hunter friends got it not even a 2 weeks before i started playing… but i cant make my set on other people i have to get the achievement… and if i cant get it… something broke which means someone else has to have had the issue… well i looked it up, and some do have a issue, some dont… no one knows how it breaks but everyone kinda irritated
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game