Thing-in-Itself
I was absolutely, completely certain that I had already written a review about this game..
Every review talks about Kant, but I don’t even know who he is, so let’s get to the other aspects.. ahah
The game itself sells at 2,50€, at least in the Euro zone, and actually it’s quite a high price for such a short game. It can be long and a little bit frustrating if you want to achieve every ending and explore every dialogue, but nothing more than two hours overall.. from my achievements' page you can see that it took my around 80-90 minutes to get all the 10 achievements, which aren’t that easy to get actually.. and as before, I was 100% sure that I followed a Steam guide to get the last two achievements but there are no guides as of today O.o Anyways you can figure everything out and look for some threads in the forum or on the Internet :)
– Real player with 6.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Emotional Psychological Games.
Party for Introverts developed this visual journey (they say before it starts that this is not a game experience but an ‘informative short story’) based upon the German Philosopher Immanuel Kant’s concept known as ‘Thing-in-Itself’.
What is the ‘Thing-in-Itself’? Kant theorised that material objects don’t exist in the way we see them, instead we use our own viewpoint to shape our perspective of the object.
The ‘journey’ starts off sharing this idea during a bedtime chat between Molly & Ted where Molly uses the theory to explain why they disliked the music at a party yet everyone else enjoyed it. What follows afterwards is shown from Ted’s perspectives.
– Real player with 6.2 hrs in game
Dobo’s Heroes
Great platform game. It took me a while to get used to the controls, but then I got the hang of it. I recommend.
– Real player with 1.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Emotional Psychological Games.
I really liked this game, it has a very interesting challenge level and an incredible art direction.
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Chuusotsu! 1st Graduation: Time After Time
Review with accompanying gameplay videos on Sinical Network
I recently received this game for free as a curator connect offer for my group Visual novel, JRPG, Anime. This kinetic visual novel from Studio Beast and Fruitbat Factory features a trio of unemployed teenage girls Arue Marisugawa, Koiro Hachisuka and Arara Fujisaki with Arue as the protagonist in this episode.
Arue, Koiro and Arara were ineligible to wear any authorization seal which renders them unable to hold any permanent stable employment and hence became Chuusotsu. Arue plans to take a re-evaluation exam and become a government official after missing a crucial exam during middle school from being hospitalized. To be able to survive in a foreign city on a stipend without having to work, Arue has to participate in an experimental study where she has to stay in Tabula Rasa apartments with Koiro and Arara, achieve sufficient synchronicity among themselves and give an answer to the philosophy of life.
– Real player with 11.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Emotional Anime Games.
Chuusotsu is a cute sci-fi slice of life medium length (by medium I mean between 8-18hs, anything above is already into the longer side) kinetic visual novel with a lot of layers behind the seemingly simplistic front.
You follow the misadventures of Marisugawa Arue as she tries to reform her life as a shut-in, reach her dreams and obviously make some friends along the way. However, things quickly take a turn into the weird and strange but thankfully with a satisfactory conclusion and lead up to the mini sequel.
– Real player with 11.4 hrs in game
Nebula Within
A life philosophy ruminating, fast-paced, geometric twin stick shooter made by the human, Nick Oueijan. Allow me to maybe put it a bit differently, one man’s escape from the black hole life tends to create for a lot of us at some point and a vessel that helped him break free from his own personal one.
Despite only using geometry shapes, the game’s visuals are very well done. Sharp, colourful geometry on a black background with tiny white, swirling stars makes for some good contrast and individual shapes stand out nicely. Game menus and selection are awesomely done, allowing you to pilot your ship and shoot to select individual options which are represented by different drawings. Even looking through your collected mantras is done by turning the pages with your ship.
– Real player with 15.0 hrs in game
Introduction
Fair warning at the start, the developer has been very kind to reach out to me as a Curator to leave a review for this game and despite me being extremely thankful that they did, this review is and will stay my personal honest opinion of the game. P.S. Considering the game this review might be a bit more of a ‘deepdive’ than normal.
Nebula Within is an Asteroids style game with a focus on zenning out and just enjoying the game and yourself with an overarching theme of motivation and relaxation.
– Real player with 7.4 hrs in game
What We Pretend To Be
Cheap, relaxing and really nice soundtrack.
This is the kind of game you buy if you have some money to spare, and you’re in need of a casual relaxation game. There is no point to the game, and it’s really really short, but honestly, I think it was worth the small fee. I love the graphic style, and the lighting is god-tier, but the texturing is kinda off-putting in some areas, with glitching clouds and the ground clipping with the grass. There’s not much to the story, but that’s not really the appeal of the game, so I wouldn’t leave much criticism there.
– Real player with 3.3 hrs in game
Very short game play, not much story. Mindless wheat farming, once the builder dies you can’t make any more improvements to your town.
– Real player with 1.8 hrs in game
Press Any Button
“Columns…a reference to a very old match 3 puzzle game that this game emulates in no way, shape, or form…”
This is much less a game, than it is, a way to unwind and chill, maybe needle out some emotions.
Well, I say that, but, it is only mostly so, because A-Eye, the main interactive persona, the one ‘controlling everything’, does make it harder at some point, and the chill factor drops until one can pass it, and get the apology waffle.
This is mostly a medium of popular references. Olympics, sports, video games, hobbies, academics&trivia, and even a nod or two towards the likes of authors that wrote about humanity’s downward spiral, though no names are directly mentioned, I definitely got some vibes of George Orwell, to name one.
– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game
This is a very simple, 2d game, that in terms of gameplay isn’t extremely exciting but it’s 100% worth just for the story itself. I randomly found this game yesterday and decided to install it, not really expecting much from it. But, the more you “press any button”, the more you get immersed in this story and relate to this cute little character called A-Eye, who, if you are anything like me, you will just want to hug and tell everything is going to be ok, by the time the game is over.
Don’t want to spoil the game too much, but if you have an hour to spare (probably less than that), you should give this game a go. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions.
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between
What do you see up there, when you consider the infinity around us? And as you wander on your own journey, who are the strange, unworldly others who probe those questions as they pass like ghosts through your travels? Were they ever really real?
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is about the thoughts that exist between destinations, the parts of journeys that dominate our time but not our attention, when our minds wander to parts of ourselves and our world normally left unexamined. On a late night highway drive, a quiet train car in the early hours, a walk through a moonlight park, or the endless wait in a deserted airport, we listen to weird music amid the ambient announcements of delays, and question our place in the universe.
Inspired by long travel and the stream of consciousness it fosters, Glitchhikers asks you to look inward. Find the answers to your questions, and question the answers you receive. Ruminate on life, the universe, our place and purpose in it. Voyage through a freeform narrative experience, converse with the endless inevitability, and explore the cosmic, hopeful world you find yourself in.
A follow up to the critically praised short game released in 2014, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is an expanded experience, reborn and reimagined.
No pressure, no failure, no optimal path, no journey exactly the same. Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is an introspective freeform game where the player picks a journey, slips into that liminal space and has a unique experience travelling into their own thoughts, guided by the characters they meet along the way.
A late night drive, a deserted airport lounge, a moonlit walk through an empty park, a quiet carriage on an overnight train, a 24-hour convenience store. Never the ultimate destination, spending time in the inbetween creates a setting for contemplation and reflection, a mood that exists in these liminal spaces.
The hikers you meet on each journey will travel with you for a time, offering thought-provoking conversations, and questioning your place in the universe. Who will you meet? What will you talk about? Were they real or just a figment of your imagination?
An extensive original soundtrack full of chill grooves, upbeat wonder, dreamy synths controlled by your movement through space, and that one busker who makes you feel right at home: each journey has its own feel.
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between both expands and dives deeper into the ideas behind the original Glitchhikers (released as a short conceptual game in 2014), to fully realise the concepts and present a polished and fleshed out experience to a new generation of players.
Silverstring Media are a vital and vibrant voice within narrative indie games, creating a string of short experimental titles and working as narrative guns for hire on indie darlings including Celeste, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Manifold Garden and Wandersong.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1449230/
MetaWare High School (Demo)
I found this game through a video of Alpha Beta Gamer and decided to watch it out of pure boredom. I stopped at about 15 minutes in because I was enjoying the dialogue and jokes so much I decided to experience the game myself without any spoilers.
All the characters have great designs and are very likable,
! even some of Nari’s lines made me smile and relieved me of some of the tension built up from the unknown.
The game has 10 different endings, and the true ending for getting the other endings. They’re not too hard to get and if you get stuck there’s a great guide which tells what you need to select.
! The dancing ending is the best one though.
– Real player with 10.8 hrs in game
‘We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world’' - Gautama Buddha
What a deep quote huh? Definitely not the kind of words you’d expect to use for an opening to a review for a ‘demo’ but then again MetaWare High School (Demo) is not your typical demo. It begins innocently as a multi-character VN each with their own unique personalities to provide the Reader with some depth and variety during the first of many playthroughs. It then gradually morphs into a mesh of dark humour, philosophical ramblings & sardonic irony truly hooking the Reader into this multiple choice branching of five High School females who curiously try to interact with the Reader after discovering his/her presence.
– Real player with 7.1 hrs in game
The Journey - Episode 1: Whatever This Is
Secret word: Introspective
Pretty sick!
So, I wanna say I felt like the disclaimer introduction was a bit too long. However, I’m not sure if it prepared me better for the overall experience because the game frankly doesn’t get more complex or engaged than you want it to be. It’s an exercise in… whatever.
It doesn’t shock you by knowing your first name (based on your steam profile). It doesn’t intrude in your beliefs, current interests, or past experiences with similar exercises.
If you’re looking for “gameplay,” this isn’t for you… but it COULD be for you on another day, at another time, or in-between other games.
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
Code word: Introspective
So, this is highly recommendable. In fact this is the best computer game I have ever played. While I do like all of the games of the company, I love this one. I did not only buy it, but also send it to a friend as a present. Actually considering sending it to a few other friends/family members as well. This is awesome!
Why I think this is amazing:
-
The game makes me think and analyse. Two things I love to do.
-
It made me see the world in a slightly new perspective.
-
Playing this made me feel very good. (Even if that is not the purpose of the game.)
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
Deep Abyss
Deep Abyss is composed of independent chapters, connected as one structure.
-
It has a unique Control that seems unfamiliar yet simple to get used to.
-
Explore the deep sea and space yourself as a diver. Swim through strange yet beautiful backgrounds and music. It will give you a new gaming experience that you have not felt in other games.
-
The story progresses in the form of poetry rather than a linear composition. It is a game resembling a small painting where you can achieve poetic and artistic sensibility.