D: The Game
As a fan of the late Kenji Eno (R.I.P) and the now defunct WARP Studios games, I was really happy to see that D (WARP’s first game to be released outside of Japan) is now easily accessible on Steam.
D was originally made for the short lived 3DO in 1995 and was ported to the Sega Staurn, PS1, and MS DOS (which is this version). The gameplay is akin to 1993’s Myst, with the entire game being an fmv. Yet, unlike Myst, everything is fully animated. So if you want to get somewhere, you are going to have to walk there using a pre-set path. It’s kinda slow, but it really helps build the atmosphere.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Cult Classic Female Protagonist Games.
I own this game on Playstation, 3DO, Saturn and now on Steam, and I don’t regret paying for it again, even though it hasn’t aged well, and even though this is a fairly mediocre DOSBox port.
D is an on-rails horror-suspense game from the 90s. You play as Laura Harris, daughter of Dr. Richter Harris, a famous physician who, for some reason, has suddenly decided to murder everyone in his hospital and disappear inside the building. You have two hours (in real time) to figure out why, with no saving, interactive movie-style.
– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game
Princess Maker 2 Refine
I’ve played the original DOS version and this new version - Refine.
What I liked about Refine:
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New Japanese voiceovers.
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The music sounds much better.
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New text makes it easier to understand some of the courses/work easier. I first played this game as a child and had a difficult time understanding the terminology in the DOS version. As a result, a child may have an easier time understanding this.
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The Art is less grainy and more refined; somewhat brighter. The flowers in the vase change by the season – which I thought was a nice touch.
– Real player with 133.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Cult Classic Female Protagonist Games.
Princess Maker 2 Refine can make a lot of princesses but not much of a game.
Story
The story of PM2R is near non-existent, but on purpose. You are a wandering swordsman who saves a kingdom from a demonic siege by defeating the demon lord. Ever thankful for your rescue, the king gives you a home, a butler, and a yearly stipend. The heavens bestow a child of their own upon you. Already age ten, you are tasked with raising her for the next eight years of her life. The story is wildly open-ended from here, as there are dozens upon dozens of endings, but none are particularly impressive; amounting to nothing more than a few short blurbs about the kind of person your adopted daughter became when she left your home. The sheer number of possible endings and permutations of those endings are far more impressive than the quality of them.
– Real player with 123.2 hrs in game
Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive
Tex Murphy is one of those things you either had to grow up with or which you’ll probably never get.
That being said, it remains one of the least worst FMV series in existence. Some would even go as far as to call all of them a masterpiece. Personally, I won’t but there’s definitely historical merit to them and the story is indeed actually quite cool.
The acting is not as cringeworthy as the old C&C in between mission movies and has its moments, but all things considered this age pretty terrible.
– Real player with 126.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Cult Classic FMV Games.
Truely awesome game. Had this back in the day but forgot how good it really was. The story line is great and the puzzles are devious but not un-doable with a little logic. All in all, it took me 38 hours to complete. ( although that includes time spent going off to make a cup of tea while I thought about where to go next) . Some of you may find that the initial scenes, discussions and traveling a little tedious at first but the game does become more exciting as it goes on.
The Tex Murphey games are the leaders in this genre. IMO.
– Real player with 71.4 hrs in game
CHRONO TRIGGER®
This game will be one of my favorite JRPG of all time. I have known that Japanese gamers has voted this game for the best game of Heisei era (1989-2019). I played it and now I know why. I recommended for both JRPG lovers and those who want to start playing JRPGs.
– Real player with 61.9 hrs in game
Honestly, it aged gracefully, from both a gameplay and a story perspective! 10/10.
– Real player with 58.2 hrs in game
The Song of Saya
I got this game both because people are trying to compare it to Doki Doki Literature Club and because I’ve heard of its explosive popularity when it was (re-)released.
Right off the bat, to clear the air, there is absolutely NO COMPARISON between the two games. They are on their own separate tiers, respectfully.
I was excited to play it since it immediately started out with the horror. Though, when it gives us the option to choose to censor the gore and such, I expected to see it ALL, but that is not the case.
! For example, in the case of Fuminori driving his head down into the axe, and Koji dreaming of him in that state, we are not allowed to see it because it is actually censored , weirdly enough. Saya gets violated, and we see it while she’s in her “human” guise and, while I’m glad I didn’t have to see that, I was surprised to see it so censored. Not only that, some of the voice acting was taken out for that part, in what I assume to be another form of censoring so that it wasn’t as disturbing? But, what about the voice acting that’s done when Yoh is being violated when she clearly refuses–both when she has her mind and when she loses it? Lastly, what I was most disappointed with was that the game refused to give us any CGs of the full body of these disgusting “aliens.” Was it to add to the narrative that they were just that terrifying and disgusting? If that was the case, then why even bother with those first CGs of the “aliens” that Fuminori sees in the beginning? With the close up shots of the eye and another with something bulging(?) to the tentacles we see with the more nude shots, I believe they were more than capable of giving us a CG of these monsters. Maybe it is because it was initially released in, I believe, 2003 that it was afraid of giving us more? Whatever it is, the gore isn’t too bad unless you truly hate seeing guts in any form. To me, the guts were just so computerized(?) that I believe most would be able to stomach it.
– Real player with 13.9 hrs in game
“To you, who loved me, I give this planet”
The Song of Saya (Saya no Uta) is a Lovecraftian horror love story where love is disturbing no matter which way you look at it and the monster changes with your perspective. It’s depraved and wicked while taking you on a journey into the deepest parts of madness. Like every good Lovecraftian story it promises to defile and poison you by “the insanity called truth”. It also examines different truths by juxtaposing different perspectives through a prism of a hellish mirror.
– Real player with 13.8 hrs in game