Conway: Disappearance at Dahlia View
It’s a fun and interesting detective game.
Pros:
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good voice actors
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interesting rendering style, I love the subtle outline effect.
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compelling and fresh gameplay. Every scene had something new and interesting.
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probably the best lockpick mechanic in a game
Cons:
- I did find myself arguing out loud with the protagonist when he’d make blatantly wrong and biased observations, but after finishing the game I think that was an intentional character flaw to propel the narrative. It’s just frustrating to feel trapped by bad decisions the character is making without my input.
– Real player with 20.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Drama Thriller Games.
The third entry in White Paper’s portfolio brings back wonderful Ether One memories, not only because it references its setting a great deal, but especially because it shares the same approach to building its central character. Conway is the same type of main character you played in Ether One: he’s stubborn and determined and frail, especially frail, so frail that watching him on screen is almost painful: he can’t climb stairs, he blunders about from hotspot to hotspot, bumping into things and knocking stuff over all around him, he himself gets knocked out a few times during the investigation and you almost expect he won’t be up again, but being frail and moving clumsily mean nothing when you’re that stubborn and determined and he’s just as set on solving the case as Thomas Fletcher was on sorting out his mind in Ether One.
– Real player with 17.5 hrs in game
Untale: King of Revinia
I mean this is a probably one of the best visual novels ever made…like easily. I think the only visual novel that is better is Seeds of Chaos. If you are going to make a visual novel you have to dedicate considerable time to the story, art direction, and ability for the player to make choices that have an effect on the story. For some reason I don’t understand, almost no visual novels can meet that minimum standard. Untale doesn’t just meet those standards it exceeds them. The amount of different choices you have in this game is quite stunning and it’s clear a ton of work was put into making the outcomes of these choices make logical sense. Even the music here is great, I think they could use more music, but it’s probably the most robust visual novel soundtrack except for probably Lady Killer in a Bind’s amazing jazz score.
– Real player with 24.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Drama Mystery Games.
The art of the game is good, the story/plot is interessing and the characters are quite interessing.
Why I do not recommend it ? Because playing a “power less” guy that just do is best to survive is frustrating. And the save mechanism really help to keep the frustration very high.. ( please restart from the beginning and remember you choice… such a pain… ).
I also dont like the “combat” behavior ( being able to skip the minigame once done was a good idea… why keeping the combat ? ).
I’m sad because I really find the ambiance good but keeping trying to find the less bad ending is not where I take pleasure to play.
– Real player with 9.0 hrs in game
Murder Diaries 3 - Santa’s Trail of Blood
Experience the Murder Diaries
In this game you abstractly follow the narration of a young man who slowly but surely becomes insane.
This leads you straight into the middle of an exciting murder case and a murder mystery unfolds while you listen to the testimonies of witness, friends and relatives.
The whole game is somewhat Christmas flavored - however, don’t get yourself comfortable, the game not going to give you a nice and warm feeling but rather confront you with a cold and harsh reality as the thrilling storytelling of the game will leave you with a cold shiver down your spine.
The game is a must have for any true fan of thrillers and anyone how enjoys a murder mystery that goes beyond the normal story telling.
How does the gameplay work?
You will play as a free-floating ghost like creature.
Basically, as the soul of someone who is experiencing the story.
You are very small in comparison to the surroundings and can fly freely through the area.
You start by exploring the area and enjoying the feeling of flying as well as the gentle yet mysterious background music.
Soon after starting to explore, you will find the first memory piece.
You can collect the memory pieces to continue with the story and to advance with the overall narration.
The story talks about a young boy, about his live and about how everything changes. It is setup as a thrilling murder mystery and acts as a contrast to the somewhat calm and enjoyable gameplay.
The first levels are quite straight forward but the further you advance the more surreal and abstracted the levels become.
Once you have finished a chapter by collecting all memory pieces and finishing the overall story of a level you will continue into the next chapter.
Read More: Best Drama Thriller Games.
The Flower Collectors
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Review by Gaming Masterpieces - The greatest games of all time on Steam.
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Is this game a masterpiece? Nope, it is a little detective story about a political (?) murder in Spain after Franco’s death.
A grumpy ex-policeman, bound to a wheelchair after an accident, spends his time rolling around in his little flat (2 rooms, balcony), smoking, watching the neighbours with his binoculars, drawing little pictures, taking pills against his pain… but mostly sleeping and being bored. This flat is his world, and this is where the game takes place. Suddenly a gunshot in the night, and a dead corpse in the middle of the plaza under his flat. A young, terrified girl knocks on the door, breaking into his little world. And so the story begins…
– Real player with 16.8 hrs in game
[url] Please see my curator page for more games that are worth your time [/url]
Approximate amount of time to 100%: 4h+
Estimated achievement difficulty: 3/10
Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1, but you might end up with at least one more
Has it been in a bundle: No
Is there a good guide available: Not yet. I tried to write one, but it isn’t easy for this game. I hope somebody else will be able to make a good guide.
– Real player with 10.0 hrs in game
The Mysteries of Ranko Togawa: Murder on the Marine Express
An excellent murder mystery visual novel for both young reader and adults alike. Recommended for parents or teachers to give it to their children/students. Educational with a lot of famous historical female figure mentioned. The plot isn’t too disturbing, serious - bringing the mention of murder, revenge, sexual abuse - yet also light and fun with it’s comedy and characters chemistry. The pixel art and the music are sure to delight the reader, and the text are easy to read. Characters are easy to love. The only thing I find lacking, which could be my personal bias, is the lack of rollback features which I find in a lot of visual novel (though this doesn’t mean it’s necessary; I just prefer to be able to see the previous dialog in case I miss click or something) and how small the game box is. Overall as I said in the beginning, an excellent game.
– Real player with 17.5 hrs in game
A nice and intriguing short story with a memorable, quirky cast, Murder on the Marine Express is a good starting point for a very promising series of mystery novels.
While its main murder plot is indeed interesing, this game really shines at interactions between characters. They’re full of personality and their exchanges make both excellent comic relief and food for thought.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
The Patagonians
The events of this terrible night began ten years ago.
However, today they will overtake you and make you remember the promise made once.
Rushing to find your missing daughter, you will become participants in terrible events.
But this time it won’t be possible to retreat.
Waiting for you:
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Original 2D graphics.
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Atmospheric environment.
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3 zones and more than 20 locations.
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11 types of deadly enemies.
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Simple controls.
Explore locations, look for clues, solve puzzles, fight dangerous enemies or flee, destroy obstacles.
Do whatever is necessary to reach your goal.
The Rewinder
I really wanted to like this game, and I finished it, but in the end I can’t recommend it. The settings are very pretty, and the writing is detailed and well fleshed out. The overall story started out interesting but by the end I can honestly say I have no idea what happened or how it all fits together.
The main negative for me though is that the gameplay is mostly not interesting. It is disjointed and the puzzles come in several varieties that feel like they belong to different games. The most fun parts of the game are when you travel into other people’s memories and alter them to change history. Unfortunately that’s just a small part of the overall game. The rest are mostly tedious classic puzzles like magic squares, count on an abacus, etc. There are one or two fetch quests that are amusing, but they don’t fit into the rest of the story very well. There are some “action” sequences that are just annoying.
– Real player with 15.4 hrs in game
The Rewinder is a short, low-stress puzzle game. Almost all of the puzzles are very intuitive and the pacing of the story is incredible. I finished my first playthrough in about 5 hrs and spent the rest of my playtime collecting all of the flowers and finding the secrets in the game, which should be a lot quicker for people playing in English once guides are available (There are guides available in Chinese).
There are a couple of bugs and translation issues that are normal for any video game at release, and is probably already being addressed as I write this. But aside from that, I feel that the introduction of the story really led me to expect a lot more out of this game. The way the story is framed at the beginning left me feeling like the second level was going to be drastically different than the first, or at least, the second level wasn’t going to be in the same village as the first. Once I got used to it, I think the game benefited from staying in the same two villages for most of the plot and returning back to the same places after you have altered the timeline.
– Real player with 12.5 hrs in game
Mercury Abbey
【1】Retro pixel style with impressive lighting and shading
The game uses pixel sprites, with characters drawn in a classic American comicbook style. Fossil halls, greenhouses, hedge mazes, botanical gardens, underground cave systems…scenes appear one after another, presenting a visual feast. Unique lighting and shading technology creates an engaging atmosphere and a wonderfully immersive experience.
【2】 Classic cultural elements meet a unique worldview
The game embraces the spirit of early suspense novels, interspersing classic cultural elements throughout the story. Adopting an overhead world view, the world is composed of anthropomorphic animal (furry) characters; the social structures, folklore, and ethnic relations of this world are all waiting to be discovered by players!
【3】Engaging story
Strange things seem to happening one after another at the mysterious mountain sanitarium, and the curse of the alchemist family is spreading. Legends, midnight societies and ghostly patrons are just a few of the curiosities to be investigated, but maybe the mystery runs deeper than once thought. Gather clues and delve into the mystery to discover exactly where this story will go…
【4】 Lots of items and achievements to collect
Discover a large number of collectable elements along the way, including character information, folklore, objects, copied notes, photos, and even intercepted gossip. The game also features a variety of achievements, with certain choices and actions unlocking them. Fortune favors the bold.
Nancy Drew®: Ghost of Thornton Hall
I am a huge fan of Nancy Drew Games, having played them for almost 16 years. I’ve played almost all of them. (haven’t played 7 Ships, Trail/Twister, Deadly Device)
Right from the original Secrets Can Kill with its original 2 CDs (yup 2 of them were needed to hold a whopping 16 mb of RAM :D ) up to Thornton Hall. I am a huge fan of the earlier ND games so I wasn’t sure if I’d like the newest ones
I must say that HI has outdone itself with this game.
This was one of the best ND games I’ve played in quite awhile. I wasn’t sure if HI was able to pull it off after Waverly Academy (seriously had my doubts about that one too but HI proved me wrong there as well!) but they did it again!
– Real player with 36.9 hrs in game
This review will contain spoilers.
I’ve been a fan of the nancy Drew series since Message In A Haunted Mansion. I’ve played most of the games (had to stop just before Silent Spy, It’s tradition for me to play them in chronological order and I don’t have that one yet) and, save one, loved them all in their own ways. But GHost of Thornton Hall takes the cake. It is definitely my all-time favorite in the entire series. The atmosphere is spooky, the viuals are wonderful, the voice axcting is very good, and the story is compelling. I’ve played it through many times, and will do so again in the future. I have only one complaint, and this is where the spoilers come in: carbon monoxide poisoning doesn’t work that way. And even if it did, Nancy was seeing supernatural things well before it would have taken effect. My theory is that Nancy truly did find something supernatural this time. Charlotte’s ghost was real, and Nancy is grasping at whatever straws she can to maintain her skepticism.
– Real player with 18.3 hrs in game
Nancy Drew®: The Shattered Medallion
I don’t really get why the reviews on this weren’t great. There was lots of puzzles and gorgeous art. I thought the reality show setting was a plausible explanation for needing to do a puzzle for every mundane task (other Her games are…a little less plausible). There was some re-use of puzzles and mini-games from previous Nancy Drew games, but that’s not the worst thing in the world. After all, there’s only so many good puzzles, and it’s much better than having barely any puzzles at all (looking at you, Midnight in Salem). Only three things bugged me. First, some of the activities were a bit repetitive (the submarine, the dial at the end). Second, a whole lot of the dialog was inscrutable. I know that it’s part of Sonny’s and Patrick’s characters to be goofballs, but it was a little too disorienting. Third, I wish there had been a Maori character, and more background on Maori culture.
– Real player with 13.2 hrs in game
I personally enjoyed this game for all of the puzzles. They come one after another, so be prepared to do a lot of puzzle-solving and exploration. Even though I played on the Master level, the puzzles aren’t too crazy. I did notice that most of the puzzles don’t necessarily fit in the theme of a reality show (which is the game’s main plot line), but they fit in the traditional “educational” angle of the Nancy Drew games.
There are some kooky conversations with the characters and a lot of references to past games. If you’re new to Nancy Drew, all of the references may sound strange. If you don’t take the story or characters too seriously, and just in it for the puzzles, I would recommend this game (especially over Midnight in Salem).
– Real player with 9.6 hrs in game