Aimi
My full play through with edit: (all endings thanks to the creator) and secret room+secret video here:
A pretty well made story about mental health it’s well written there’s not a ton of grammar/spelling mistakes which usually plague most RPG Maker games I’ve played so that’s a huge plus. The game does a great job of executing the narrative that some things you can’t come back from in a dark serious tone. Definitely enjoyed playing through it and all the best to the creator in his future games!
– Real player with 7.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Psychological Games.
If anyone wants to watch my playthrough of the game, here is the links to it! I’ve got it split into 3 :D
https://youtu.be/4qX1yfhOGAA (Part 1)
https://youtu.be/djD9_w8s4JM (Part 2, ending 2/4)
https://youtu.be/ja4MnQnZpM4 (Part 3, all remaining endings and the secret!)
I absolutely adored this game, even after re-playing it numerous times (Cause I didn’t make enough save files originally lol) And I wanted all of the endings. It was such a masterpiece, especially for a free game. To be honest, I would have paid to play this game.
– Real player with 5.3 hrs in game
Actual Sunlight
I look at Evan Winter, the “protagonist” of Actual Sunlight, and that Evan Winter is distinctively me.
Well, not exactly me. I’m not in my late 20s/early 30s yet. I don’t have a dayjob that I neither love nor care for. I’m a college kid from China studing economics in the States. Oh and I do cook pretty well, and my obsession with following Ikea’s assembly instructions to a T proved to be a bit overwhelming to the few friends I have.
Everything else, however, is pretty close. I’m in an alien country, spending money I don’t have learning stuff I neither love nor am good at, getting by with passing grades, lying to my parents that everything’s fine so they wouldn’t completely lose faith in me and their decision of funding my study, and of course, escaping into videogames. I live with four roommates under the same roof who each live their own lives and barely social at all with each other. I’ve no idea if I would ever find a job, or even complete this degree. I’ve gained 40 pounds since I came here, and Evan’s reflection in the bathroom mirror is not far from my own. Hell, I even have a similar “relationship” like Evan and Tori’s with my ex, my first date, who I broke up with 4 years ago. And for the past four years, I’ve been living with my broken promise, which I never told her, that I would make a man out of myself one day and finally face her with confidence. Along with dozens of other promises I could not keep.
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Pixel Graphics Games.
Buyer be advised: “Actual Sunlight” is basically a visual novel… and I don’t mean the kind with fan-service cheesecake tossed in (unless you’re into flabby white guys). There’s almost no traditional gameplay in it. You play it not for “fun”, but rather for an emotional experience and perhaps for some insight into the psychology of depression.
If you’re still reading, then maybe you’re open-minded enough to get something out of this game. You play as Evan Winter, an overweight white-collar drone who tries to bury his loneliness in video games, daydreams, and misanthropy. Gameplay consists of guiding Evan through a few days in his overly routinized life, interacting with other characters and environmental objects in order to trigger Evan’s dark and sardonic commentary (the game is very text-heavy). As the game progresses through its roughly hour-length, Evan’s depression becomes increasingly severe. There is only one possible ending no matter what choices the player makes along the way. And with a name like “Evan Winter” … brace yourself.
– Real player with 3.8 hrs in game
Clandestinity of Elsie
Things got off to a bit of a bad start with this game, thanks to it taking me ages to work out that SPACE was the way to choose a menu option, rather than - I dunno - left click or Enter, like most NORMAL games? Guess I don’t play games of this nature (read: old-school, “retro” RPG) too often. I’m going to put it down to that, though many of the other (unremappable?) keyboard buttons seemed like odd choices also: A to equip gun, S to shoot, D to reload? I also had difficulty trying to work out where DOORS and trivial things like that were, but after not TOO long I got the hang of things enough to concentrate on the GAME, per se (hint: always be on the look-out for doormats and red arrows)! I’ve also experienced some crashing issues, but it’s early days yet for the game’s release (so they’ll hopefully be fixed), and the save system is fortunately generous enough to render this not TOO huge an issue (once you hit the first save point, you can pretty much save at any time). Anyway, enough about minor technical issues…with no further ado, let’s get on with the review…
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Survival Horror Games.
This is one of the handful of RPG Maker games I like because it focuses on an compelling genre of psychological horror. Since the game follows a similar path of Silent Hill, I was more interested to give this game a try.
There was one major drawback to the game and it involves the combat system. In fairness, the combat system does feel “realistic” in a sense that, it should be harder to see beyond your light until the monsters come close. Also, your gun should take a split second before letting off the next bullet; sadly, realism is thrown out the window due to frustrations of the combat mechanics. Most of the time, it’s difficult to avoid getting hit due to the restrictive movements of the character. The RPG Maker engine only allows you to move up, down, left and right. The character cannot move around freely as in diagonally; although, I have seen other RPG Maker games do that. Running doesn’t help much in the game since the enemies tend to run at you just as fast. In addition, the map layouts are not as open enough to move around with many obstacles in your way, that at times, I find myself bumping into walls or trees. By then, the enemies are already on you. With limited lighting as well, you don’t get many opportunities to take out the enemy at a distance. Again, I think that is how the game is supposed to be. Fortunately, the only remedy in progressing is saving often even if I have to die a lot.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
Anonymous Player
Decided to give this a try because the screenshots were intriguing and the store page had some cute motivational phrases.
Most of your deaths will be from falling off. You know how unresponsive RPG Maker movement is? Imagine that in a precision-movement game. Doesn’t work. The gameplay is your generic dodge the instant death as you memorize the movements of different hazards.
Sorry to say the dev seems really proud of this, and the store page is cute, but the game isn’t any good. The writing once you’re in the game is bleh.
– Real player with 0.1 hrs in game
Bloody Ending
Its a pretty good game, def would like a sequel
– Real player with 15.2 hrs in game
When the beginning is a bit slow, the end is totally worth it.
The end is unexpected and full of twists.
I would advice to finish the game before making a hasty judgment on it.
I totally recommend it.
– Real player with 11.7 hrs in game
Third Exit
This is the beginning…of your nightmare.
An unexpected visit causes a young man, Matthias Holloway, to experience bizarre nightmares, and constant terror as he tries to unravel the mystery behind these events.
Third Exit is a horror/mystery game with a unique story that includes enemy encounters, gruesome deaths, time loops, and flashbacks.
Can you stop the nightmare?
-
Original music composed by ZeroDigitZ
-
Interactive gameplay that requires the user to press buttons displayed on the screen in a timely manner or suffer the consequences.
-
Challenging puzzles and violent traps will stand in your way as you try to unravel the mystery behind these nightmares.
-
Three different endings can be achieved based on the player’s actions during gameplay.
-
There are four hidden portraits(five total)in the game. Find all of them to unlock a secret.
-
The game doesn’t rely on jump scares, and instead uses the environment to create a feeling of uneasiness, and tension during gameplay.
Dead Dreams
This is more of a neutral review.
Interesting game, seems like it has some good ideas and promise, though I personally found it difficult to keep track of all the details of what was going on. Like I got a vague idea of the story… Apparently there are 3 endings but I’m not motivated enough to check them out.
– Real player with 7.6 hrs in game
Listen, if you play this game. Play it for an hour or two, and stop. Just stop. The game starts uniquely frightening–despite the exaggerated loud noises everywhere–I’ll give them that they have excellent disturbing imagery and characters you would see in your nightmares.
Beyond that, I absolutely hate the story, yet I know nothing about it. I played this game fully, read aloud all of the dialogue–despite the frequent misspellings and “it is damn”. But I can’t figure out what happened in this story. And if I wanted to go back and try to figure it out, I can’t. Why? Because one of the three endings I got cleared my saves. All of them. Correction, if I load the one save it has left for me, it’s the credits. You will beg for the credits the entire last hour of the game hoping “oh god, is it over yet?” I just don’t know what this story is. Outside the horror elements, it reminds me of a fantasy a 13 year old would write after playing Silent Hill and watching the Matrix.
– Real player with 6.3 hrs in game
ikenie
Ikenie is frustrating, like I hope you have keyboard insurance kind of frustrating. However, it is also fun… really fun. Though you receive little information on what is going on, or what you are meant to be doing, as a bullet-hell rpg player, this game drew me in with its (usually) fair yet challenging fights alongside fun puzzles to break up the action. Though its not long (my first play took about 2 hours), Ikenie makes up for this by providing multiple endings depending on play, and on top of this, it was originally created (amazingly) in under a month! Alongside its well fitting and well made music by Chris Porter, Ikenie is a crazy good value for only 5 bucks, and I challenge you all to go for that illusive 0 death run!
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
Boring puzzles and enviroments, cheap bosses where you seem to fight the controls more than the boss, and one point where you have to wander around a desert full of red herrings for an hour.
– Real player with 1.5 hrs in game
Story: Heaven & Hell (Complete Edition)
I got this in a bundle, tbh, and decided to play it. As of the date of this review, there is nothing here. Seeing the store page, I now see that it specifically states that there is no current choice to make. This is still early access, and incomplete, but it is interesting. The english tralslation is hilariously laughable, tho! I mean, seriously! “Am I died?” and other such gems make me fondly remember “all your bases are belong to us!” Not much to see here, at all, and the translation into english is subpar, but the mistranslation is at least understandable easily. What IS here, however, other than the translation, is flawless. The movements of the character are good, the script is interesting, as far as it goes, and looks very polished. No controls AT ALL, you don’t control ANYTHING. My only wishes are that there was an auto-continue for the dialogue, and that it was finished.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
This game is pretty shit. It’s more like a visual novel made in RPG Maker. There are to many grammar mistakes and the “story” ends really fast without any notice. The only thing you can do in this game is walk throug an unending maze where the game ends without notice.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
A Plunge into Darkness
Not wild about ending and last boss battles were a long slog but i liked it . Fun game
– Real player with 11.0 hrs in game
As typical for Aldorlea Games, this is an RPGMaker-built game, but with pronounced survival horror elements: Your party spends the entire game trying to escape a haunted mansion, with no stores, a limited supply of items to acquire, and no inns or other cheap ways to restore HP (though skill points recover during battle, and some skills can heal HP).
The gameplay offers quite a bit of fresh air. You have the usual leveling up by getting experience points from battles, but you can also choose a special upgrade from a selection after defeating a boss, such as increasing a certain stat or increasing a skill to a different tier. The skills themselves are delightfully oddball while also useful. For instance, one does extra damage if the enemy is afraid, and another does a whole onslaught of hits to randomly selected foes.
– Real player with 8.8 hrs in game