Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3
This quickly became one of my favorite RPG’s as well as my personal favorite game in the PAA series, and with good reason. There’s quite a lot I’d like to say, so let’s get to it.
The game takes place 2 weeks after the events of Episode 2, but what’s neat is that you don’t need to have played it to understand the story going into Episode 3, as they immediately give you a summary of prior events upon talking to one of the statues in the Detective Agency. That alone makes Episode 3 easy to pick up and play, and the gameplay will keep you around for the long haul.
– Real player with 105.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Retro Games.
This game was an enjoyable throwback to 16bit turn based RPGs, but with a twist. They improved the combat system by adding some complexity without making it overly complicated. Since the core of all these turned based RPGs is mostly how well and fulfilling the combat is, the majority of this review will go over that section in detail to give you a greater understanding of how the game plays. I broke down the review in bold sections so you can read what is most important or what is most interesting to you in order of importance.
– Real player with 16.2 hrs in game
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened - Remastered Edition
All of the sudden, it’s actually the quest. Compared to many other games - sorry, Red Comrades , but you too, - you really can make through the game, only using a good amount of thinking. Plus, it’s a long game, it would require 4-5 hours per run. That already makes me to appreciate this game a lot.
In this game, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson investigate the activity of some dark cult, which involved ruthless treatment with people, drug sale, slavery and turning hostages into mindless zealots, a mood provided by Lovecraftian stuff. While in original stories Arthur Conan Doyle didn’t rely on misticism, if only it’s not how frightened people see something explainable by reality, of course… those setting ties as a kind of apocryphical story indeed.
– Real player with 15.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Mystery Games.
So once again another Sherlock Holmes themed point and click adventure. This one riffs on H. P Lovecrafts - Call of Cthulhu. Holmes and Dr John Watson are drawn into a strange affair involving the kidnapping of foreign nationals from the streets of London. Slowly but surely they realise that a dark and sinister plot involving dark rites and the darkest magic are afoot.
If you have played any of these Frogwares games before, then you know what you are in for. Classic point and click gameplay, punctuated by puzzles that will veer of simplistic versions of Hanoi Towers to quite brain shredding longitude & latitude number crushing. The graphics are poor and would have been so back in 2008 when this game was released. Voice acting is again a little patchy. But the main draw for these games is how good the story is.
– Real player with 15.6 hrs in game
The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker
FMV games have made quite the comeback in the last few years, and The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker adds to the growing library of great titles in the genre. Of course, it’s not a perfect game (what game is?), but the quality of the writing, acting and production all place this murder mystery amid the cream of the FMV crop here on Steam.
Doctor Dekker has been violently murdered by one of his patients. As his replacement at the psychiatric clinic, you are now tasked with investigating his death while helping his patients navigate their various maladies. Toss in a little Cthulhu mythos, and you have a recipe for madness that’s altogether delightful to behold.
– Real player with 63.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective FMV Games.
I thought you knew what you were doing, Doctor.
Once you find the genres you love, you absolutely can not get enough of them. Looking through pre existing games to see which ones you will most likely like and seeing if more are going to be released. Craving more and more as you become more aware of what makes a good game and a bad game in that specific genre. FMV games are one of those genres I adore but also look into them as it can frequently not work out.
In The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, you come in right after the events of a dramatic event. A psychiatrist by the name of Doctor Dekker was violently murdered in his office by one of his patients. But who? No one knows except the one that did the act. This is where you come in, not as some cop asking them questions but taking Dekker’s spot as a psychiatrist for the same patients he had. The same patients that hides the mysterious killer.
– Real player with 47.9 hrs in game
Call of Cthulhu®
Lovecraft would be proud!
This game is not like most games that claim to be Lovecraftian but are just strange, horror games with no real plot or story-line. This one is quite the opposite. This game creates a rich story-line that gleans themes from many of Lovecraft’s most loved works, and it has the best sanity mechanic in a game I have played! As someone who has read all of his stories (multiple times) this game is as close as they come.
Pros:
Story-line, soundtrack, ambiance, sanity mechanic, replay-ability.
– Real player with 32.0 hrs in game
It’s aite.
Like just aite. Nothing else, nothing more.
It be like that sometimes.
“Scripted insanity is just middling sanity”
– Real player with 15.8 hrs in game
Saint Kotar
It’s an interesting game, and has many excellent points. But all in all I can only give it a weak recommendation.
Pros:
–Excellent, dark art style.
–Very atmospheric.
–Subtle but fitting music, with a couple of tracks that are so good that I find myself excited for the soundtrack.
–Extremely dark, in a way that few games are willing to go.
–I played through it twice and generally enjoyed the experience both times.
Cons:
–Extremely thin story that often doesn’t make sense. A huge chunk of the game is spent wondering why your sister would have ever had you all come here. Having played through the game twice, I find myself still unable to answer that. Possibly the answer is, “Actually, she didn’t.” But if that’s the correct answer, a HUGE amount of story that fleshes out how the character who did knew to do that and why they’d want to just isn’t in the game (but absolutely should be).
– Real player with 41.6 hrs in game
Full disclosure: I backed this game’s Kickstarter and have reviewed it for the Croatian gaming portal FFA. You can find the Croatian review here . This is an abbreviated version of that review.
Saint Kotar is a traditional p’n’c adventure game trying its best to fit in with the rest of the adventure greats. It plays like most standard examples in the genre - you explore a variety of locations, examine and interact with objects, talk with people quite a bit and try to piece together what exactly is going on.
– Real player with 28.2 hrs in game
Darkness Within 1: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder
Darkness Within is the most tasteful Lovecraftian-horror game I have ever played.
There is no tacked-on ‘insanity’ mechanic.
There are no jump scares.
There are no guns.
But most importantly, there are no references to Lovecraft’s work in poor taste. The only direct references to him are in quotes on loading screens, and a single easter egg. His influence otherwise is purely sentimental, yet quite palpable in the atmosphere of the game’s various domestic, occult, and dreamlike environments.
The developers at Zoetrope Interactive did not shoehorn Lovecraft’s most popular motifs into their game, although it could be argued that the general formula of the narrative is quite Lovecraftian, and the exposition definitely is, but I believe it comes into its own. Anyway, Zoetrope has created a narrative with less-direct horror than any ‘survival horror’ game. This was executed through their implementation and pacing of the horror.
– Real player with 75.2 hrs in game
First, I must say I recommend this game, but with a few caveats. This is not an overly-enthusiastic thumbs-up, but more of a half-hearted one.
Pardon the overhyphenation. It’s just one of those run-of-the-mill kinds of days.
As described in the game’s synopsis, you step into the shoes and role of Howard E. Loreid, a detective who is trying to track down a man by the name of Loath Nolder (who is also a detective,) wanted on suspicious criminal charges.
Getting caught up in the strange mix of investigating the death of 34 year old Clark Field while also not-so-aptly managing his own problem, Loreid finds himself battling mental illness while searching for a killer. Many times, this affliction interrupts or is interspersed into the gameplay of Darkness Within, and it certainly adds to the unsettling nature the game’s overall plot. Moreso, it will affect the ultimate path Loreid takes in his daily activities, ranging from going to his apartment’s restroom for medicine, to having unnerving dizzy spells and blackouts.
– Real player with 40.1 hrs in game
Detective VR: NFT secret Files
Experienced on the Oculus Quest 2
You can view my review & gameplay here: https://youtu.be/vnwnQcIpXf4
This is a difficult game to recommend because it does have some noticeable flaws. The biggest thing is that it’s teleportation only with snap turning. It also doesn’t have much content. Game took me about two hours to complete, but I think it would take most people 1 hour. The game only has 1 big room, then 1 small room.
Game is running on the Unreal Engine. While this game does look better than the vast majority of VR puzzle / escape rooms, it also has some performance issues. On my RTX 3080, I was getting steady 80 frames per second. Yes, it seems as though the game is hard capped at 80 fps.
– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game
EDIT: The 80 fps lock has now been removed, and the game works perfectly also in 90, 120 and 144 Hz.
With an RTX 3090 I can now use res 450% in solid 90 fps, but it works best with no motion smoothing. The game looks and performs mindblowingly awesome.
There’s no finger tracking, but lighting and textures etc. are of the highest quality. Also no full locomotion, but like Room VR you’re here to solve puzzles - there’s teleport though and snap turning.
Unfortunately I should have eaten more veggies as a kid to grow a larger brain, lol, so I’m still working on the prolonged dry cough! puzzles. There’s a hint system, but I’m stubborn - I need no help, lol.
– Real player with 2.6 hrs in game
Hermitage: Strange Case Files
Hermitage: Strange Case Files is not your average visual novel, nor is it your average cosmic horror title. With relaxing-yet-energetic jazzy tunes that’ll have you sipping coffee and pondering the depths of the darkness that resides within the human mind, the game feels oddly comfortable and confusing at the same time. It’s not that I didn’t want Hermitage: Strange Case Files to end — it got to a point where I genuinely didn’t think it would, its unexplained mysteries consuming all that’s left of me (40 hours to complete, y’all). If you’re looking for an interactive visual novel to get absolutely lost in (in every possible sense of that phrase), Hermitage: Strange Case Files has a literal bookstore to delve into.
– Real player with 40.2 hrs in game
Playing status: 100% achievement
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (10 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.
Guide: Click here
Intro
Hermitage: Strange Case Files is a visual novel about mysterious beings. It tries to mix Lovecraftian lores and investigation elements with a heavy emphasis on the story. There are 6 chapters in total, each focusing on a certain case.
– Real player with 35.3 hrs in game
Classified Stories: The Tome of Myrkah
Classified Stories: The Tome of Myrkah
Nothing really grabbed me about this title. It was just average all the way through and quite boring. It’s certainly overpriced but might be worth a go on sale.
In a Nutshell
Classified Stories is a first-person adventure game with light puzzle and shooter elements.
– Real player with 6.0 hrs in game
Pretty good and atmospheric 1st person horror action/adventure. A good bit of searching, a bit of puzzle solving, and a proper amount of shooting, not too much to make this game more action than adventure. A couple of serious scares too. The game isn’t very long, but if you really look around everywhere it won’t be over in less than 1h. I paid 6.50 euro, which, for was a decent price for what the game has to offer.
There are a couple of small problems, which are getting ironed out by the devs. As mentioned by another reviewer, the flashlight isn’t working properly and can be a bit frustrating. Also, there’s a game breaking bug, which I reported, and hopefully the devs will fix in a later version. If you’re playing v1.0.3, make sure you don’t jump over the short part of the rock wall in front of the RV. Or, do it for fun, but save first.
– Real player with 4.5 hrs in game
Cthulhu: Death Escape / 克苏鲁:死亡逃脱
Try the Prototype Version for Free!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1456230/Cthulhu_Death_Escape___Prototype/
You Cannot Escape… The Ancient Old One is Awaken….
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Unique Underwater World- Dive Deep to Discover a Unknown Underwater World that No One‘s Been There Before..
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Danger is in Everywhere - Monsters will randomly cause big troubles and put you in extreme danger. You must hide or fight to survive…
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Items Respawn Randomly - Every time the situation is different, try your best to collect coins as many as possible…
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Interactives - Interact with different ancient equipment to solve puzzles and more…