The Void
Oh boy, where to start. That’s a big one. That’s a huge one.
The Void is a game about… Well, this is what I meant when I was wondering where to start. The Void could be considered to be a game about many things. The feeling I got after a few hours in was “wow, this goes deep”, and that feeling only got stronger and stronger the more I played. I experienced something similar while playing Pathologic, another amazing game from Ice-Pick Lodge : a very unique universe, brutally unforgiving in terms of both gameplay and story, which immediately sucked me in, in a much deeper, more “personal” way than anything I had ever played before, and I mean that.
– Real player with 103.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Surreal Games.
This is one of those Slavic games that wants to be a big “Tim Burton on acid” surrealist trip. Nothing is really explained directly, just implied, but the notes of implication are too heavy-handed for you not to realize when something is supposed to mean something.
The story revolves around your character either dying or at least being on the verge of dying, and passing through “limbo”, although maybe you’re just inside your own mind during your dying moments. The Void itself is shaped like a heart, and each “cycle” of the Void involves an additional heartbeat of the Void itself, so, again, the metaphor isn’t exactly explicit, but it’s far from subtle.
– Real player with 78.1 hrs in game
The Last Chimera
First things first, heed the content warning.
Not sure why the captives had to be chained up, the plot implies everyone is a willing participant.
Beatable in four hours. Interesting monster designs. A fair bit of thought has been put into this game.
Combat suffers from being JRPG random encounters + level grind. Would have been fun if you had to think a bit more about which splits you bring with you and what they’re geared with for each fight (in fairness, you probably do on Hard but it’s a bit hard to tell what’s going on).
– Real player with 4.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark 2D Games.
Ego In A Coma (自我、状態、昏睡。)
Ego in a coma is the game with the most absurd but incredibly good imagination. Sadly, the game is short, but I think it is the perfect part of this little story that he wants to tell us. And if, even though the scenes of the video game are completely crazy and quite bizarre things, you show them because little by little it tells you the story. It has two ends and in both, it leaves you a little reflection on love for oneself and the whole that surrounds it: society, life, tastes, obligations, etc.
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Free to Play Games.
My only complain is the clunky controls. This was a good game, a solid small experience and free to play, what else would you like.
The strongest points in this game are the soundtrack and the visuals, very good choices and they together create a weird but captivating environment. The sh*t meme culture put in the game is cool (even when I’m not into meme games) and I really liked how many languages are mixed in the game (Spanish, English, Japanese and Korean as I could recognize).
I’d really loved if this idea would get a remake because as small as the plot was I could feel a good idea for a game I haven’t seen before, the gameplay as I said is clunky, very clunky but still there was no mechanic nor weapon I didn’t use.
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
TAMASHII
Well worth the money, the game was creepy, weird, and a lot of fun. At it’s core the game is a puzzle platformer. You have three abilities in the game, you can double jump, place up to three statues, and you can speed up the rate at which the statues decay.
Placing your statues is the main mechanic of the game, you can drop up to three of them at a time. They each have their own timer, and when their time expires, they destroy themselves. You use them to hold down switches, the switches will activate or deactivate block walls or platforms. You can accelerate the timers to destroy your own statues quicker and you will use these mechanics to solve the puzzle rooms throughout the game.
– Real player with 7.3 hrs in game
This is a great experience, the graphics are well-done, and you have all the trappings of a basic platformer/puzzler here.
you’re given a brief tutorial, and then the game thrusts you into the world, doesn’t really explain much after that ( although there are numerous pentagrams that offer context sensitive tips )
the main gameplay is you activating switches with either your character, or clones you can make ( up to 3 ) and they have a timer - which makes them explode as it runs out . You can also forcibly speed them up as well.
– Real player with 5.8 hrs in game
Grotesque Beauty - A Horror Visual Novel
It’s been a while I played any horror novels. It felt nice for a change. I used to be a great horror fan, watched all possible horror films I could only find. It is a bit nostalgic to dive into some scary, gruesome story once in a while. Thanks.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2611383508
The novel is created in dark colors, visuals look simple but quite atmospheric. The story is short but it contains 30 endings. It’s amazing how many ways exist for you to die at just one night, at one house xD I applaud to the writer’s imagination. I mean the endings are quite diverse, you may survive if you choose right, plus there are some ‘open’ endings I personally enjoy a lot. It’s up to your interpretation to decide what kind of ending it is.
– Real player with 9.1 hrs in game
The game starts with a gloomy fog covering the screen, then the silence is disturbed by the vibration of an incoming phone call. It’s your friend Anita, ringing you to make sure that you’re still coming over to her house tonight. She says that she thought you might have changed your mind, but you assure her that you’re still coming over and that you aren’t far from her house.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
Lucius III
DISCLAIMER:
My 74 hours of playtime are pre-launch testing.
This game comes back to L1’s roots in two ways:
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A focused, more cohesive narrative
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Less sandbox and more linearity (which helps keep the game on track)
STORY:
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The game feels like an interactive movie with it’s extended cutscenes and detailed dialogues between characters.
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While on the long side, the cutscenes don’t outstay their welcome and are easily skipped via Esc button.
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Some elements of the story (chapter 3) will leave you gawking. It’s undeniable that this small team has crazy ammounts of courage and would’ve had their game positively gutted by a big-name publisher.
– Real player with 85.5 hrs in game
The Devil’s Son or the Angel’s Advocate?
Before I played the game I was highly aware that the game was bugged but I dedicatedly finished the previous games and was curious on what would happen next. So risking my sanity and fear of bugs I started the game and was able to complete it while getting all achievements in the end.
In this game you follow the boy-devil in his brutal expeditions in completing the final assignment put to him by his notorious father. But would this final adventure make him the real devil or would it cleanse his soul? That is up to you to decide.
– Real player with 18.8 hrs in game
Agony
Kickstarter supporter here. No spoilers in the review!
Phew, it’s a long wait between the moment you decide to support a crowd founded project, and the date when it’s finally out. Agony was founded 2016 November 14th, so it took 1 year and 6 months for it to release 2018 May 29th.
I’ve completed the game for the first time yesterday, it took me ~9 hours to go through the campaign.
Strengths:
Art / Environments
The design of the various landscapes in hell is both detailed and unique. It’s a simple concept to have an underworld, with some skulls and lava, but Agony went deeper then that with many layers of environmental styles. Just a bit of surreal touch the likes H.R. Giger dreamed up on a colorful spectrum and dreamy atmosphere. They went the extra mile to distinguish the major areas with their own unique flavor. Perhaps, there are good news for those waiting on ‘hell freezing over’ after all…
– Real player with 9.3 hrs in game
Short Version
I am actually quite mixed on this game.
Whilst the setting, mood, etc. are very unique and well done, there are a lot of bugs and glitches left in the game.
So I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and recommend this game, hoping they’ll fix these.
Long Version
The setting is just done perfectly. You always feel the discomfort of being in a place, that you really don’t want to be.
Whilst the story is … tbh I really don’t know. You’re told that everyone is somehow drawn to the Red Godess and at least for me they managed to pull that off. Although you read in a lot of memos, that she’s literally the worst hell has got, I really wanted to get to her. But other than that, there’s a bit more of motivation later, but that really is it.
– Real player with 7.7 hrs in game
Lucius II
After being in the Psych Ward for six months, the doctors decide shock treatment is the best for young Lucius and that’s where things go wrong. Sadly, you don’t get to see what happens next but judging by the blood on the walls and the dead body sitting next to you with the deliberator in his chest one can only imagine…
Unlike the first game where each person has a specific way they need to be sent to Hell, the sequel gives you the chance to explore the possibilities with a wide variety of deaths ranging from poisons, explosions, mind control murders, and flying oxygen tanks that are almost impossible to aim. My favorite kills so far have to be combining water on the floor with the deliberator, and using the nail gain which is pretty much a one-shot kill for each nail you have at your disposal. The hardest kill method is the oxygen tanks I’ve mentioned, because there’s no easy way to aim the sucks on the cart they use and the item keeps moving after you’ve stopped moving the cart. I could kill with a Dixie cup and some string easier than the tanks.
– Real player with 26.9 hrs in game
Things i liked:
-a few of the cutscenes
-the creativeness with kills
Things i Didn’t like:
-The audio mixing
-The voice acting
-The story
-The pacing
-The graphics
I would give this game 3/10. I bought this game when I was younger. I remember watching people like pewdiepie and other channels play through the first game. The first game had its issues but you were engaged with the story and the gory kills. The main issue was it’s linear nature. You didn’t have any freedom with your kills (this is important later on so remember this). In 2015 Lucius 2 came out. Youtubers played it, however not as many did compared to the first game. This was a sign. I watched pewdiepie play through it and it looked like fun. I bought this game for $2.99 in 2016. At the time I didn’t have a strong enough computer to run it. When I booted it up it would just be stuck on the tutorial with a terrible frame rate. There was also an error that would just crash the game and would let me close or uninstall the game. That is the reason why it says i spent 18 hours in this game that only takes two hours to beat. The year is 2020, I got a new PC and saw this game in my library and i figured it was time I finished what i started in 2016. I booted up the game and slowly began to realize the problems with this game. I was struggling to push myself to finish this game. I wasn’t able to finish it until 2021. I deleted it and considered giving up at least 7 times. You might be confused by that last statement. Is this game hard? hell no. It is just so hard to sit through. I kept wondering when it would be over and it never was (Of course there is an ending, that was just hyperbole). The story didn’t feel as intriguing as the first one. Unlike the first game your training wheels are off and you have complete freedom in what you can do. This is a major flaw of this game, with this freedom you begin to notice flaws. A mechanic this game features is lifelines. As you are being captured/caught you can use a lifeline to become free and you are given a chance to run. I don’t understand how many lifelines you have but this removes almost all the challenge in this game. I went back to watch pewdiepie’s series and i slowly noticed him not enjoying it as much and pointing out some of the games flaws. What happened to the game I saw when i was younger. I guess I was just stupid and overlooked things. I understand that they did the best that they could and I understand that the game company is rather small. However that doesn’t change anything, a bad game is a bad game. This is the low point in the Lucius series. Lucius was an interesting game that grabbed a lot of people’s attention with it’s unique premise and gory kills. Lucius 3 had laughably bad graphics and a weird convoluted story. This game is the worst thing any game could be, forgettable. I remember only two things. The first thing is the opening cinematic. The second is Cr1tikal. Yes, Cr1tikal the youtuber. He voices a character in the second to last level. Cr1tikal also voices a character in Lucius 3. Besides those two things, i can’t remember a thing. Duke Nukem forever is terrible but people remember it. Same goes for Mass effect Andromeda and anthem both were laughable bad and people still talk about the issues in those games to this day. If you want a game about killing and being stealthy pick up Hitman 2016, stay away from this game.
– Real player with 18.6 hrs in game
Ouroboros: Prelude
In short? Three words: Scary. As. Hell…
In long? A nice indie horror game that for an “Early Access” game looks pretty complete. The dungeon randomization really does make it that no attempt at this game is the same. You don’t know where you are or when the next scare or monster is going to come at you so there really is no way to “acclimate” to the environment.The darkness makes you so that you actually have to be careful about where you are going (fell into a foggy pit… twice) but also makes it easier to sneak around (monster sight confirmed). It is nice to see a dungeon horror game actually treat darkness like DARKNESS and to put thought into light dynamics and stuff. If you are looking for a challenge then this game is for you.
– Real player with 51.1 hrs in game
I awoke in a dim dungeon cell behind a locked door. A stack of crates on the wall hid a hole as large as a man, so I threw them aside and escaped! I found myself in a dark, stone corridor. I braved the shadows and heard a liquid dripping below. I descended some stairs, opened a door, and found water quickly filling a cistern… and the room. I was already waist-deep as I made my way back to the door, which had shut behind me! I pushed it back open and ascended the stairs, then I heard an unholy growl. The fear made my vision blur, but I saw the source of my terror: a ghoul crawling toward me on the floor. I froze in horror as it reached out for me… and vanished. Terror took me. I began to see glyphs and other strange symbols floating in the air as the halls twisted behind them, mocking me! WHERE AM I?
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
Red Haze
If you are looking for the typical “twist on Red Riding Hood”, you are in for one hell of a surprise. There is nothing typical about this game. Even if you have played previous games by Yai Gameworks (like Close Your Eyes or Take the Dream IX) you know to expect the unexpected. But nothing can truly prepare you for Red Haze.
It’s a unique gaming experience which feels never-ending. Red Haze begs to played over and over, with a dizzying amount of endings and areas to explore: every playthrough reveals new secrets, scares and raises more questions along the way. Once you dive in, it’s impossible to stop. There are items with varied uses, and situations have multiple outcomes. Nothing is as it seems. As you play, each new game will feel a little different, depending on which path you decide to take. The choice is ultimately your own, as the game puts you in full control of poor Rockette’s fate. At least you think you are in control, and then BAM the game gives you a blood-curdling reminder otherwise. If you are familiar with the dev’s previous games, you are already accustomed to a moderate level of difficulty when it comes to puzzles and such. Red Haze isn’t any different in that regard. It’s a game that demands focus and plenty of patience. Don’t worry, though, not even death is the end in this game.
– Real player with 49.5 hrs in game
Red Haze is a great example of hard work, little money, and a great experience. This proves that not every game has to spend a great large amount of money for a quality game, I fell in love with this game, I love Rockette she is a very enjoyable character, and the rest of the cast are very Likable as well, my favourite part of the whole game as far as right now is Rockette with starry’s dress in the Game Host’s show ending (ending H which is 1/4 part of it) scene where
! she seems very dominate and is on top of a naked starry, very cool (honestly Rockette seems cutier in Starry’s dress)
– Real player with 42.6 hrs in game