P0

P0

P0 is a fun, very challenging puzzle game. I got stuck not that far into the game and keep saying just one more try over and over. If you like challenges and puzzle games you will like P0. It was odd at first but after 5 minutes I got the hang of how to play.

I recommend using a controller you will find it easier than using the keyboard. Also when you open the game it is in a small window so you need a program called Borderless Gaming to play this in full screen.

7 out of 10

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Real player with 1.2 hrs in game


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Rather annoying game concept, already at the 1st level. The movement system is rather janky, diagonal movement-inputs (such as W+A or Up+Left arrow key at the same time) get quite often registered as only a horizontal or vertical input, which causes you to basically instantly fail in some levels, forcing you to fully repeat them again.

Real player with 0.6 hrs in game

P0 on Steam

SIT DOWN, PLEASE

SIT DOWN, PLEASE

Game is a 1 out of 10 for the sheer fact it’s broken Video here (once it uploads) w/ time stamps to dialogue outside of the ending you can’t reach and the crashes: https://youtu.be/R_UDuAQKmQE

Disclaimer Unlike the other reviewers so far I actually played the full game (that you can play BEFORE making my review)

The first part of the game has the most redundant mechanic and takes sooooooooo long literally like 5-6 minutes a person to max the juice and you’re literally just managing 2 things. The story is really hard to follow the grammar is a bit off and you’re thrust into the world told A B and C and the story doesn’t really give you enough information about the world to draw you in and feel involved in the plot to be honest. I did enjoy the flashback with the grandpa that was probably the highlight of the game and story. (the story is probably the best part of the game by far). THE WORST PART IS you get all the way to the end and the heart crashes your game. I literally tried so many different ways to beat it the mechanic for even playing the ending is terribly hard because your chain move and your single light up move are on the same key and with the BACK TO BACK TO BACK COMBOS it’s almost impossible to get them without erasing your moves plus the heart heals when you make a mistake, so imagine my surprise when the game crashes after I FINALLY brought him to probably his last phase. Hopefully the crash situation will get fixed for future players. The game would have been a 6 out of 10 if it worked the story was interesting even though it’s not told particularly well told and it tries to do some neat things but the first part of the game drags because of redundancy.

Real player with 8.5 hrs in game


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I wasn’t expecting a game like this at first, but it drew me in pretty much immediately. The story is really intriguing and well done, so are the characters and the ending was a nice twist. But the spearhead of this game is the atmosphere, the mood that transmits is really powerful, giving me different emotions, from distress to sadness. In a word: dark.

The only flaw, if you’re looking for a game with fast-paced gameplay, fun and dynamic, this game is not for you. In fact, it’s a bit repetitive, but once you understand that the gameplay is functional to the narrative, a simple device to tell a story, it’s something you can live with easily. In addition, there is also a fast game mode that shortens the timing and does not make you lose anything in terms of plot, a mode that I sincerely recommend to anyone who wants to approach the story giving up a little immersiveness. Basically, a game that you do not see every day and that I fully recommend.

Real player with 3.8 hrs in game

SIT DOWN, PLEASE on Steam

Birth ME Code

Birth ME Code

EDIT: Review updated to reflect the Feb 7th 2021 ending rewrite (version 1.2.1).

–—

Birth ME Code (BMEC) is solid second entry in the ABiMe series and sequel to Head AS Code.

Overall, an enjoyable experience, although not without its criminals cons. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who enjoys darker, grittier plot-heavy mysteries and visual novels.

Disclaimer: From a gameplay perspective, BMEC does NOT offer fully integrated escape room puzzles like Zero Escape nor Classroom Trials / Endless Debates like Danganronpa, so if you go in expecting either of these from this indie game, prepare to be disappointed in that regard.

Real player with 56.7 hrs in game


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I rarely write reviews, but I felt compelled to write about this… experience, I think I’ll call it. I’m a huge fan of Zero Escape and having played this developer’s first game (Head AS Code), I was counting down the minutes until its release so I could have a solid excuse to ignore the giant pile of work sitting on my desk.

So was it worth it? Yes, absolutely, 100%, without a doubt, every penny.

Birth ME Code is an ontological mystery game wherein a bunch of people are dumped in a place and told they’ve gotta play a death game for the chance to MAYBE get out alive. So yes, same premise as Zero Escape. However, this genre is less about premise and more about world building, twists, and flowcharts. Flowcharts are essential because they allow the player to live the story from all perspectives. How many times do you play a game or watch a movie and think, “I wonder what would happen if that guy died instead of this lady?” I know, frequently. It was a rhetorical question.

Real player with 39.1 hrs in game

Birth ME Code on Steam

Concealment

Concealment

It’s good. :) Watch out for the monster.

Real player with 1.2 hrs in game

Short, atmospheric horror experience. Get some creeps for your buck!

Real player with 1.0 hrs in game

Concealment on Steam

LIBERATED

LIBERATED

This review contains major spoilers. Be warned and proceed at your discretion.

LIBERATED is one of the games that you’re not meant to have fun with. It tells a dark story about dystopian future, where the government controls every aspect of human lives. Don’t purchase or gain enough via wire? Don’t post enough photos on social media? You’re under suspicion. Maybe you post an online comment doubting the current government? You’re asking to be arrested, discredited, pretty much erased.

There’s a group of people in that world. They call themselves The Liberated. Throughout the game they hunt for the proof that the government is corrupt, and ultimately, that it was behind the big terrorist attack on the school, which they needed to justify building this strict regime, where privacy is a crime.

Real player with 6.5 hrs in game

A digital interactive comic book set in a noir cyberpunk world of complete government control, eerily reminiscent and very close to the course our own blue ball of yarn is spinning into at the moment.

What excites about Liberated is the way it’s presented. Through a slick, black and white comic book, complete with textured panels, sounds of flipped pages and reflections. You even have the ability to tilt the view around the panels a bit. It’s a complete experience of reading a comic book. I can almost smell the paper. The art is wonderful (brings to mind Frank Miller’s Sin City, even a hint of Torpedo and some other noir comics) and the way the panels are framed really glues your eyes to a single panel, letting you linger on it as long as you want.

Real player with 6.5 hrs in game

LIBERATED on Steam

Wraiths of SENTINEL

Wraiths of SENTINEL

A very solid CoG - better than most. I really only have two criticisms for the story:

1. The romance wasn’t handled that well in my opinion. It’s very abrupt, especially with the Sorcerer, and with the limited character exploration of the romance optinos it feels empty.

2. I didn’t like the inclusion of the non-Wraith entities. Magicians, demons, etc. To me it makes the whole thing feel smaller. I get that the author is building a shared universe with MetaHuman Inc. (which is a good game), but… meh

Real player with 8.0 hrs in game

I liked MC’s base wraith superpower, I think it was unique and cool. I don’t think it counts as spoilers since you’re introduced to this power at the very beginning of the game: you can walk through walls and other solid stuff (including people) like a ghost, and you are invisible to the human eyes which makes you the perfect spy. It’s cool to see that MC wonders about the extents of this superpower, like can you somehow pass through earth and so on.

There are a number of major choices (at least it looks like it) and different endings (I’ve explored 2 endings, at least). I felt like most of the choices I’ve made had some effect at later stages of the game which is good.

Real player with 5.5 hrs in game

Wraiths of SENTINEL on Steam

Among the Innocent: A Stricken Tale

Among the Innocent: A Stricken Tale

Surprisingly good. The game feels a bit like what you’d get if “Scratches” and “Dear Esther” had a love child. The game marries the best features of both to create a rare style of exploration-based adventure game that you don’t see very often. (I wish we saw games like this constantly).

The first half of the game is very, very strong. Fantastic atmosphere, a real sense of exploration and wonder, an excellent union of beauty with a sense of the decrepit, and an impied mystery left entirely to your own imagination – you’ll most likely start to ask yourself, “What the hell happened here?” Answering that question is arguably the main plot, but is left entirely to the player. In terms of finishing the game, you can completely ignore that aspect of the game and focus only on the puzzles instead. This gives a true touch of realism to the game, as you’re FAR from hit over the head with the story. It’s fantastically there, but the option exists to go about your business nearly oblivious to it.

Real player with 87.3 hrs in game

Response to developers below:

Very disappointing game. There isn’t actually much to do and not many places to explore and the tasks are tedious and annoying with no real point to any of it.

The ending made zero sense. So all in all a waste of time sadly.. I liked the feel of it and had real hope for this as a game but as I was putting nails into a bit of wood for no good reason, I realised I was not really having fun.

I hoped the ending would bring it all together, but it was just a boring slog round a mine then a pointless cut scene. Not worth the money.

Real player with 10.3 hrs in game

Among the Innocent: A Stricken Tale on Steam

Polybius Invaders

Polybius Invaders

If you love retro gaming or grew up with games like Space Invaders, Galaxa, Centipede, Tempest and the many many others, then you will LOVE this game! If you’re a casual gamer, you will LOVE this game! The gameplay is engaging, even when it gets a bit repetitive. I am not a huge gamer at all, and I find myself going back to this game often. The music is calming yet exciting, and, while not chip tune or 8-bit, fits the game’s retro atmosphere well with its synthwave/retrowave sound. The graphics are a fantastic modern send-up to the classic pixelated game graphics of the 70s and 80s arcade games. General Goo, while definitely a villain, actually makes some valid points about our modern society. The gameplay is frenetic, but not too much or overwhelming, even for me, who is on the autism spectrum. Definitely play this gem of a game! This is one game that I want to actually beat, and keep playing. If classic arcades were still around like they used to be, this would be well worth your quarters!

Real player with 53.0 hrs in game

I had a lot of fun with this. I streamed it for two hours-before I needed a break. the music is great, the graphics and visual effects are really nice and the controls are easy to get used to, Really enjoyed this. Thank you.

Real player with 2.4 hrs in game

Polybius Invaders on Steam

Head AS Code

Head AS Code

I like it. This is an indie game styled after the Zero Escape franchise, so there are a lot of references and spirit you can feel throughout the game. Just so you know, Head AS Code is a remake of the original title and is somehow superior in every sense. The presentation is pretty simple and there’s a lot to think about in this plot-driven story. I wish I could say much about the characters and the plot, but a lot of this game relies on reveals, so the magic would happen best if you saw them yourself. Coming up with theories is great, and I like to think this game gave me many opportunities to guess at what’s going to happen next. One of my only real non-spoilery complaints about this game… I’d say it would be the serious lacking of puzzle difficulty. As in, there’s only one real head-scratcher and that’s it. All the “puzzles” are just clicking the next option and that’s it. I get why creator decided to remove the difficulty from the game and I understand that many puzzles in the original version alienated the player from ever solving them without outside help. Still, this beats out doing obscure mathematics anytime.

Real player with 26.3 hrs in game

A refreshing swim during an absolute drought of mysterious multiple-route sci-fi visual novels, exploring esoteric concepts both originating from science and philosophy, and delving into matters of the mind and body.

Many game reviews I’ve read act redundant by repeating the plot summary and anything else you would find on public platforms, so I’ll try to refrain from doing so.

Written alone by one person, this visual novel features a strong and distinct cast whom you will interact with often, soaked in their own mysteries, to varying degrees of intimacy and personality across several routes. This is one of few VNs where, when given the option to talk with certain characters, I had wanted to talk to everybody right off the bat. What fuels the nuanced characters, their desires and motives? Hidden behind layers of facade and veil, YOU will quest to learn the reason for each member’s existence.

Real player with 25.3 hrs in game

Head AS Code on Steam

Millennium Atoll

Millennium Atoll

The idea is very nice and one can tell the effort it has been put on it, cool atmosphere.

But frankly, this game has no more than 40 minutes gameplay, it cannot be sold for the price it has. It is quite sad. It would be better to bundle it with other games. Or maybe I missed something?

Real player with 1.3 hrs in game

I loved the characters and they stories, the main plot is super interesting.

Real player with 0.6 hrs in game

Millennium Atoll on Steam