SOLAS 128
This is a contender for my favourite puzzle game of all time.
I have played literally hundreds of puzzle games, to the point where I am basically burned out on puzzles… so when I saw Solas 128 I thought “uh-huh… lasers, mirrors, yada yada” but boy oh boy was that initial assessment wrong!
This game takes what seem like familiar puzzle elements, adds some brilliant twists and builds a huge sequence of constantly surprising puzzles from them. Time and again it hits you with those “wait but that’s impossible” problems, before delighting you with your own genius a few minutes later. On top of that, the puzzles are all integrated into a single overworld, so that they connect and interact with each other, adding another mind-blowing layer to the experience. It’s a vast intricate clockwork construction of utter perfection.
– Real player with 251.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Controller Logic Games.
This is an absolute belter of a game. If you’re into puzzle games, you should definitely pick this up.
The “bounce lasers off mirrors” idea may sound derivative, but Solas manages to make it interesting again. The light beams have symbols travelling along them to the beat, and these can interact - if they collide the colours combine and the combined beam changes direction. So sometimes you need to get the symbols to line up, sometimes they need to be out of step so the beams can pass through each other. Combined beams can be separated with splitters - there’s lots going on here, and the game introduces them at just the right rate to keep things interesting.
– Real player with 32.1 hrs in game
Two Brain Sides
Difficult platform game, but finally I completed all the levels!
– Real player with 10.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Controller Difficult Games.
Oh man. I am SO glad I found this game. I was thinking, “Man. I’d really love a rhythm music game that was challenging.” Not that others are not, but I work as a musician so most of them are fun challenges for me but not necessarily challenging challenges.
THIS WAS EVERYTHING I WANTED! I’m a pianist so I love to two side difficulty. I love that it was use a mouse and keyboard instead of just keys “a/d” and arrows for two different movements difficulty. I thoroughly enjoyed the music. I loved that it wasn’t just move on beat, I actually had to do quite a bit of subdividing which is a great difficulty, but it wasn’t so hard that someone with little or no musical experience wouldn’t be able to find the rhythms. Well balanced.
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
Disorder
When his younger brother dies, the protagonist loses his marbles. Navigate zany, topsy-turvy worlds to help him find them again!
Actually: Disorder is a grim platformer based on slow, precise jumps and the ability to switch between two slightly different versions of the world. Expect to jump from a platform that exists towards empty air, switch worlds, and land on a new one.
Pros:
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Great level design.
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Challenging and interesting puzzles.
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Solid exploration of the world switching mechanic.
– Real player with 21.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Controller Action Games.
I wouldn’t recommend this game to anyone. While it has functionable gameplay, it has a major technical issue, a poor options menu, is short, and has a terribly uninteresting and vague story.
One of the biggest issues this game has is that it doesn’t save your progress. When I returned to the game, after saving and quiting, I found that the game hadn’t saved my progress which is why it took me 14 hours to beat the game when it should have taken five at most.
The game’s replayability is low. It has several levels, a few levels that are unlocked when you beat the game, and some gameplay modifiers that you can find in the campaign. I’d like to address quickly the supposedly creepy atmosphere this game has. It isn’t creepy.
– Real player with 14.1 hrs in game
Raziel
“They say Hell lies in other people, but I don’t think it’s worse than living with your own past. Those people barely grasp what Hell can really be."
Synopsis
You are Avoir Cafard, a miserable, dull man that lives in a dirty and deplorable apartment, in a forsaken town with sad people and monotonous situations.
Avoir works in a local church as a spiritual counselor for people who have problems with life, either because of friendships, love, work, or family.
During five days, he will attend five different people with different situations that are disturbing them.
Taking them for a walk.
Talking to them for a while.
Making them see that things are not so bad as they imagine.
Maybe that will help them, somehow.
While at it, Avoir is also trying to solve his own problems. Problems about his own past.
He wishes to forget it at all costs.
Sadly, memories from an eternity seem impossible to forget.
About
Raziel (Rah-ziih-ell) is an adventure_-esque_, atmospheric and utterly poetic game where you wander about solving small tasks and talking to people. It aims to be a character study of five distinct people and their stream of consciousness, while also being a tale about introspection, alienation, nostalgia, loneliness, and the human condition.
The game is set within five days of Avoir’s life. In each of them, you meet a different person which you must help to ease their struggles about life while discovering new things about Avoir himself.
While not taking care of them, you are free to wander about in the city talking to its inhabitants and maybe even helping them along the way.
It revolves in five chapters with a prologue, two interludes, and an epilogue.
It was made using RPG Maker 2000, using everything the engine has to offer.
Features
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3+ hours of gameplay;
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Original Soundtrack;
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Charismatic characters;
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Pixel Art cutscenes;
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No random battles (actually, no battles at all);
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Various minigames, such as fishing and blackjack;
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Free city-roaming;
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NPCs that don’t have just one meaningless line of dialogue;
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Customizable settings such as Text box transparency and style, text speed, fonts, and more;
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Various button layouts for different controllers;
SHUT IN
Really captures the feeling of depression without being too… for lack of a better word, depressing? The game is still funny and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Somehow it’s very entertaining to be told how you’re an idiot and you’ve died horribly.
But then there’s also a really creepy atmosphere, very nice sound design, a solid sense of dread, and some very satisfying puzzles.
Really enjoyable, and I feel very smug for finding the secret ending!
Still not got that rocket launcher though…
– Real player with 11.7 hrs in game
I had so much fun with this game. Which is a weird thing to say considering it spent a lot of time all-too-accurately evoking the scathing self-deprecation and casual self-sabotage that comes with depression. Did it make me think about the times real-life-me had not wanted to get out of bed, and said mean things to the reflection in the mirror? Yes. Did it let me wave a spatula off a staircase and caress a questionable pile of black goo? Also yes.
Sometimes — especially in 2020 — there’s not much to do about the pitfalls of depression except to laugh and keep going. This game knows that, and in a rather tongue-in-cheek way, nudges us to remember. It’s a fun, satisfying little puzzle that rewards trial and error, persistence, and (if you’re going for the secret ending) the occasional madcap experiment. But most importantly, it tells us: Don’t worry. Try again tomorrow.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
Finsterwald
**Wandering through the deep forest, the tired wayfarer decides to arrange a night camp in a small glade hidden among the tall pines. After cutting young fragrant pine branches and resting for a while near the lightning fire, he suddenly feels a vague anxiety caused by the weirdness of the surrounding forest - not a single sound, not a single gust of wind…
The deeper the advancing darkness becomes, the deeper and more inevitable is the feeling of the growing danger of blurry forest shadows and glittering red eyes, flashing among the trees.
Only the bright campfire stands between the wayfarer and the strange outlines of the forthcoming tall figure…**
“Finsterwald” is a survival horror with elements of adventure VR game (and EVENTUALLY a 3D game - depending on Kickatarter campaign results), based on Dark Ages period German fabulas about Ancient Guardian of the Forests – Waldschrat. Vigilantly observing the behavior of all visitors, he watches over the peace and safety of trees, birds, animals and other fosterlings on the entrusted territory.
As today old narratives are almost forgotten, the careless wayfarers often do not possess the rules of behavior and don’t have knowledge about ways to tame the ancient power, still hidden in the heart of the forest…
State-of-the-art 3D immersive audio technology and modern visual design deliver the most immersive gaming experience ever. Dive into the thrilling atmosphere of old Germanic fabulas and try to cope, having only burning branches of the fire and a desperate desire to survive. Goodwilled Protector of Nature or an Evil Spirit? - It’s your turn to decide!
The Last Sky
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Good things:
It is a great story driven game with some logic puzzles and platforming in it. I can’t really tell you much about the game because I don’t want to spoil anything so all I can tell is that the story is great and the game has 2 endings. Which one of these 2 ending you think is the right one? It is up to you and your morality. This game is a great journey into a human mind and PTSD. War is hell for everyone – always remember that.
– Real player with 4.6 hrs in game
I just finished The Last Sky and I am not sure what to think. It starts out as a traditional 3D exploratory adventure played from a 3rd person view. You control Jake - an old man who is looking through his things and remembering aspects of his life. The game then takes a turn and becomes a exercise in platform jumping and flying from point to point.
I understand there are multiple endings but the game has an automatic save system so once you complete it, the only way to experience anything different is to start from the beginning. There was a final decision point at the end of the game and various dialog trees along the way. My assumption is that had I made different choices, I would have gotten a different ending.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
EPONYMOUS
DISCLAIMER: This is a first impressions review, and NOT a full review
EPONYMOUS is a game developed and published by Minor Key Games
The game offers some nice graphics, although some ugly glitches here and there, it is pleasant all the same
The game does suffer with some repetitiveness at certain areas of the game but a fun game nonetheless
EPONYMOUS overall, however, is a fun game to play, yet sometimes repetitive and it does get boring and tedious if being played for a long time, but is a great little horror game to play in short bursts!
– Real player with 3.0 hrs in game
Not really sure what or even if there was a story or message, but as a visual experience I enjoyed this. Plenty of options for sound controls fov to make it a comfortable experience and really let you get lost in the game for a bit. Levels aren’t too confusing, but the dialog is. Maybe it’s because I haven’t put in the time to read the footnoted content in the credits before playing to understand the placement of quotes and such, or maybe it’s just simply meant to be confusing as part of the experience. Also Found a potato so that was the most rewarding thing I got from this game lol. I appreciated the potato. I played through it a second time to look at the things I missed which was nothing major, just a few quotes as far as I can tell. Anyways, it’s cheap, takes a few minutes give it a try if the screenshots look appealing to you.
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Psychonauts 2
I’ll start this off saying I have basically no nostalgia for this series. I got into it literally days before this game released and my god was I missing out. The first game was wonderful and incredibly charming, but this one? Absolutely phenomenal. I don’t play games a lot, as I have trouble focusing on them and get bored easily, but in this game I was completely engrossed the entire way through. The story, the characters, hell, even the environments and overall feel of this game are all top tier. Definitely one of my all time favorites now, and I’m currently slowly working my way to 100%. Double Fine has absolutely outdone themselves with this title.
– Real player with 56.3 hrs in game
This game is the sequel I waited over a decade for. The first game was one of my favorite platformers when I found it, and when I had heard there was a sequel coming, I was READY. Now, when I had heard this game was coming, all I wanted was a follow-up to the cliffhanger from 1 (and Rhombus, after that came out). It could’ve played the same, and I would’ve been fine. HOWEVER, not only did the story surpass my expectations of what they could build off of from the world the first game created, the gameplay received so many major improvements. Each power was improved, and could be leveled up after unlocking. New features left and right, each of them incredibly useful and creative. Mental cobwebs were replaced with collectibles that were much more fun. And the devs are always listening to feedback, and that meant so much to see. Given the game’s themes and the target demographic, it deserves that accessibility and attention to details and playerbase. This game blew me away, and while it will never replace the original, it certainly lived up to it.
– Real player with 37.9 hrs in game
Fragmented Memories
Story
James Charouz, a mine worker decided to return to his hometown, Mayoni Village. He found out that his wife is missing and tried to find her. Strangely, nobody knows about his wife. James suspected that the villagers sacrificed his wife in an occult ritual. He was assisted by a senior detective named Pieter Van Amersfoort in order to find her.
During his search for his wife, James also finds himself trapped in an unknown world. James began to find mysterious things that made him question everything: his memories, his friends, even his sanity.
Gameplay
Explore
Explore the “Unknown world” and find your way to the exit, Solve the Puzzles inside the unknown world.
Investigate
On the “Real World”, Investigate and try to find a clue about your wife, Ask the villagers, explore the village and uncover the truth behind it.
Other Features
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8 Tracks of Original Music from YSY FIRTSOUND, Explore the unknown world and investigate the village with our beautifully composed original music.
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1080p Full HD Graphics, Enjoy High Resolution 1080p Resolution Graphics, Sharp CG Images, Sharp Text and Beautiful Pixel Art.
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Hand-painted Digital Art CG from Veteran Indonesian Comic Artist Gear.Azre
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Interactive Icons that tell the player which object can be interacted with and which one is not.