I Saw Black Clouds
I Saw Silver Linings
It doesn’t show its hand until it will have tested the patience of many, but I think in the pantheon of modern FMV titles it’s sufficiently interesting to recommend (with some caveats).
Consider me an avid indie FMV game dabbler . Over time I’ve realised that the real beauty of such interactive films, much like VR games, isn’t that they continuously break new ground towards some singularity future entertainment form. It’s that indie creator spirit that flows through their design and writing and all the quirks and eccentricities that come with that. I’m British, so I always love the underdog.
– Real player with 9.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dynamic Narration FMV Games.
As a big fan of FMV games, I give this a 6 out of 10. So a mild recommendation mostly for other fans of the genre. There are just too many elements here that could be improved on to rate it any higher, some of which have been mentioned in other reviews.
There are some tracked playthrough stats like tact and honesty that are poorly explained in relation to the game, to the point I don’t think they have any impact other than reflecting choices you’ve made. There’s no situation where you aren’t tactful enough to continue down a certain path or anything like that. But at the same time there are the stats of denial and acceptance that determine your ending. So some of the stats matter and some don’t and that’s never really made clear.
– Real player with 8.1 hrs in game
Bastion
Lie on my back
Clouds are makin' way for me
I’m comin' home, sweet home
~Darren Korb, Setting Sail, Coming Home
In my reviews I often talk about just how many developers treat their games like products. Well, technically, those are the products, of course, but… you can’t create anything really beautiful just by doing your job. If you’ll do your job good enough, you may come up with a really good product, but that’ll be just that. A product. While we all know that video games can be… something more than that. Much more. When Miller brothers started creating their MYST? It wasn’t because they wanted to make a popular game. Heck, they weren’t even gamers. They just had that certain vision and they really wanted to turn it into reality. To share it with the others. To let the others dive into it and experience it together. And it’s not just words. You can clearly feel such things. From Westwood Studious' magical worlds of The Legend of Kyrandia and Lands of Lore to Cyberdreams’s I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, based on Harlan Ellison’s short story. That certain artistic touch? That special something that makes a game more than just a game? As long as you treasure it as much as I do, I want to introduce you to one of my most favorite independent developers. Please, welcome – Supergiant Games.
– Real player with 41.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dynamic Narration Indie Games.
Bastion 2012
When Bastion came out it was at the beginning of the Indie craze. People were first starting to realize that amazingly fun games could come from tiny studios with no budget. Well now in 2017 the term Indie game has all but lost its meaning both financially, and terms of team size. But at the time, a game with such deep combat, definitive flavor, and overall polish was a treat.
Bastion does a good job of grabbing you with the colorful paint-style world that appears beneath your feet as you move forward. Every action you do is narrated by a grandfatherly voice that explains the story and smaller moments. There was a time early in the game when I walked off the edge of the platforms and the narrator said “And that’s the end of the Kid’s story….I’m just kidding.” And I respawn and he says “The kid goes back for another round.” It was a charming break of the 3rd wall.
– Real player with 33.3 hrs in game
Miguelshroom: First day at school
Interesting way of doing a jigsaw puzzle game. Each puzzle is related to the same world, and you can walk through the scenario like a topdown classic RPG (by the way, this could be a nice idea)
– Real player with 3.0 hrs in game
Small indie jigsaw game with a twist: you can walk in the scene and follow the story once you finished assembling each of the 12 puzzles. Puzzle pieces don’t rotate.
Playtime estimate: about 2 hours, maybe 3 to collect all achievements.
Pros: Nice graphics, wholesome relaxing vibe, very cheap. Minimalist interface. Nintendo-like.
Cons: Sometimes pieces appear to get stuck (use the refresh button). Movement is restricted when exploring the puzzle, would be nice to have a button to interact with objects. Only a single short song on repeat (can be muted). I’m having a little save hiccup/reset on launch day.
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Position
I can’t get out of the first area.
There isn’t anything to in said first area.
The landscape is pretty and the music is very meditative.
Definitely can’t recommend it in its current state.
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
Beyond: Two Souls
DISCLAIMER
The review you are about to read is based on my own experience with the game, my judgment, and the rating system! No third party has impacted anything said in this review. This review is also 100% spoiler-free, so you don’t need to worry about that either.
Gameplay and Interaction (16 out of 20)
So, as far as the gameplay is concerned this game is the interactivity festival in a good way. Since Beyond: Two Souls is mainly focused around the actual delivery of the story, it is expected for the number of interactive elements to be higher than what you’d usually see. One thing that might surprise a few people is that everything you interact with has a purpose, and there’s no single object that you interact with being there just to fill the space up. Unlike other similar story-based games, there are no interactive components that are wasting your time for the sake of prolonging the playtime - everything is pretty much associated with the story itself. The only thing on the interactive side which doesn’t make sense is that the game is (in certain sequences) almost unplayable without a controller. Considering that this game was a console release at first, without any plans for a PC release does help me look past some of the decisions that were made for the PC release. The only frustrating thing is that the developers did not even try to alter the originally designed mechanics and make them at least a little bit easier to cope with on the PC. Let’s be honest, the PC is the platform where most of the players do not own a controller, to begin with.
– Real player with 25.1 hrs in game
I burned the house because she said rock music sucks
I am Quantic Dream fan since Fahrenheit, after I played it I fell in love with narrative games and couldn’t wait for more similar games. Heavy Rain came out after some time and again I enjoyed it very much but it had flaws. And then Beyond Two Souls have been released. Wow I loved everything about this game, it’s hard to find to say anything bad about it.
Beyond Two Souls tells a story of Jodie and her entity Aiden. Don’t expect realism here, it’s kinda similar to Life is Strange 2 in some way or Fahrenheit. A girl with supernatural power. Aiden is always with her, he doesn’t leave her, he protects her and even lets her see souls and past events. In her childhood Jodie was taken by the scientists to do tests and experiments and her life has been a real roller coaster. No need to talk about the story much because of spoilers on every step so you need to experience it yourself.
– Real player with 21.9 hrs in game
Gloomy Eyes
Played with Oculus Quest 2 and Virtual Desktop streaming.
This was incredibly pleasant. Totally worth it on sale for a half hour experience. Worth it regardless if you don’t need to be as concerned over finances. But I would like to see more of these at $5. Girlfriend watched it first and then I did. Was a nice activity for the weekend.
You don’t need controllers once it starts up simply looking at the 3 chapters will start them.
You will want a decent guardian area set up as you’ll want to get in close at times or change your viewing perspective. It’s 360 degrees although things aren’t happening everywhere all the time. It’ll be clear where you should be looking. Sometimes it’s lower to the ground or higher up. Similar to Allumette: The Little Match Girl in style. I do wish it was a little brighter even if it’s supposed to be dark.
– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game
Stars received: 7.5/10 _ Note: v.5 [0.0 to 1] = personal impressions
[0.7] Controls & Training & Help
[0.3] Menu & Settings
[0.8] Sound & Music
[0.7] Graphics
[0.6] Game Design
[1] Game Story
[0.7] Game Content
[0.8] Completion time (level/game)?
[0.7] is it Enjoyable & Fun?
[0.2] Could it hold a spot in Favorites? (& if the Game can be repeatedly played again)
[0] BONUS point: Multi-Player related
[1] BONUS point: Review for VR
[N] - if Registration is required with providing PII
Game description key-points: a 30 minutes long story in 3 episodes
– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game
KOSHMAR
KOSHMAR Gameplay PC | Horror Game 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI2oWX3vF6I
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game
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– Real player with 0.2 hrs in game
Little Orpheus
The year is 1962 and NASA are trying to put a man on the moon. In a remote corner of Siberia, a Soviet cosmonaut is heading in the other direction. Comrade Ivan Ivanovich is dropped into an extinct volcano in his exploration capsule, Little Orpheus, to explore the center of the earth. He promptly vanishes.
Three years later he emerges claiming to have saved the world. He has also lost the atomic bomb powering the Little Orpheus. He is taken to a top-secret bunker deep below the Ural mountains to be debriefed by the fearsome General Yurkovoi, a man so frightening even Stalin won’t buy him a drink. The General rolls up his sleeves, fixes Ivan with a steely glare and say “So… where have you been comrade? And where is my bomb?” And Ivan looks him right back in the eye and says “Well General, you might not believe what happened to me, but I’ll do my best. Because it happened like this…”
Join our bold yet hapless hero as he explores lost civilizations, undersea kingdoms, prehistoric jungles and lands beyond imagination. Gasp as he battles the subhuman tribe of the Menkv and escapes the clutches of dreadful monsters! Cheer as he triumphs over impossible odds and brings socialism to the subterranean worlds!
Little Orpheus is a technicolor side-scrolling adventure game inspired by classic movies like Flash Gordon, Sinbad and The Land that Time Forgot. The platforming and light puzzles solving of Little Orpheus are simple enough for casual players but rich enough for seasoned adventure fans.
If you’re a fan of old school family blockbusters, want a rollercoaster story that’ll take you to the Earth’s core and beyond, or are just in some need of ideologically correct entertainment, join the most unlikely hero to hit PC and consoles on an adventure beyond belief. With stunning visuals, brilliant acting and a world-class score, Little Orpheus is a subterranean epic you’ll never forget. Comrades, to the center!
Features
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A stunning, colorful world remastered for PC with hi-res textures, new moves and animations, enhanced graphics and lighting effects, and more.
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A gripping story full of humor and adventure by the award-winning masters at The Chinese Room, creators of Dear Esther and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture.
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Award-winning vocal performances and a world-class music score by BAFTA-winning composer Jessica Curry and Jim Fowler, enhanced for PC in 5.1 surround sound.
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Includes the bonus 9th episode A Rush of Onion to the Head and the Lost Recordings Mode.
A HERO WILL EMERGE!
Project Witchstone
Known for their innovation in video game narratives, Spearhead Games (Stories: The Path of Destinies , Omensight ) intends to push the interactive storytelling further with adventures uniquely tailored to each player’s gameplay and dialogue decisions. In a living and reactive world, you will be offered unprecedented options to role-play your character and influence the environment, capturing the fun and freedom of a pen & paper RPG campaign.
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Unpredictable excitement of Tabletop RPGs
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Dynamic non-linear narrative evolves with your every decision
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Turn-based tactical combat rewards both strategy & creativity
A Reactive Living World
This world is alive; its inhabitants acting with purpose. They own properties, have unique personalities, befriend some, and make enemies of others. They have likes and dislikes, forming appreciation of–or disdain for–factions as well as you.
You & Your Growing Influence
Jump right in using actions familiar to any RPG fan like dialogue, combat, spells, etc., then experiment with even deeper agency through systems like stealth and the influence interface. Manipulate and shape this world as you see fit, pitting others against one another, incriminating whole factions, and aligning powerful allies to your cause. This game offers you the freedom to live the adventure you want. There is no overarching predefined story. Your decisions will craft a world and experience unique to only you.
Unlimited Possibilities
The consequences of your actions are both far-reaching and powerful. Want to frame a soldier for theft, or a blacksmith for murder? Ever thought about joining a faction, becoming their leader, and decimating the opposition? Prefer to create chaos, secretly dismantling the established order from the shadows? Want to just become a treasure hunter instead? Or even attempt to unify everyone and bring peace to the world? All of this is possible.
Unprecedented Design & Technology
Our systemic approach tailors events based on all previous actions, applying a complex web of causality that drives all inner workings of the world. For instance, crimes result in investigations. Investigations result in arrests. Arrests result in retaliation. Retaliation results in new conflict. Conflict results in new crimes. Logic, awareness, purpose, and place all factor into these systems. Secretly murdering a homeowner and taking control of their house will work fine for your cause until the deceased’s relatives or friends come to visit. Your actions have repercussions, and those repercussions have a ripple effect. How you deal with that ripple effect will determine what kind of adventure you experience. You alone decide.
Digital Siege
To put it blunt it had potential but this is obviously a money grab game that they abondened halfway if u had bought it refund it quick
– Real player with 4.2 hrs in game
Introduction
Quite some time has passed since my last review for a title focusing on hacking and other covert activities. It’s a relatively narrow niche, rather than a full-fledged strategic subgenre. In any case, I enjoy such breaks from norm and regard Digital Siege as a slightly more complex tower defense game, to put things into perspective. As in most situations, the best defense can only be offense. Developer Dreambakers had a prolific debut year, as Digital Siege is their sixth consecutive project released in 2018. Just as they describe themselves, I agree on their focus for “experimental games” transcending genre boundries. Intelligence gathering may a pill that’s harder to swallow by some, but it’s a crucial activity nonetheless. As with most “commodities”, what you do with the information afterwards is far more important than stockpiling it, so to speak. Its value never decreases, no matter the parties involved.
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game