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
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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
Shy Eye Labyrinth: The Incredible Mystery
As a new unlucky soul trapped in the labyrinth of The Shy Eye, you are trying to find your way out.
You have to collect runes to unlock new parts of the labyrinth by solving various puzzles and if you are lucky, you might eventually discover a way out of this prison.
Interact with the world, find all the hidden secrets and get to the top of the labyrinth.
While exploring, you will encounter the souls of adventurers who entered the labyrinth before you, but weren’t successful in escaping its dangers. They might offer you interesting tips and insights.
Completing levels grants you the option to try your best in time challenges, which will prove if you are worthy of ascension.
Are you capable of solving the incredible mystery of The Shy Eye and escape the labyrinth?
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Forgotten Sound 2: Destiny
bad, not interesting, lame gameplay and puzzles. Weak interface.
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
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Asterism
Asterism is a visual novel about a young Aligner, a high school student who, along with his friends, has the supernatural ability to detect specters and banish them using weapons made of constellations. And by ‘constellation’, I mean a physical manifestation of the mythological concept. Constellations appear in both a weapon and human form, the former the means to banish scepters and the latter being characters within the story. Once you accept the premise; it makes sense, I guess?
The plot can be summed up rather succinctly; it is about the protagonist Aligner and his friends rescuing constellations of the Zodiac from being consumed by specters.
– Real player with 9.3 hrs in game
Umineko When They Cry - Question Arcs
Ryukishi07, you sadistic bastard, I love you.
Before getting this one, I would recommend you to at least try to read the Higurashi When They Cry series. They’re amazing visual novels that have some connection to Umineko’s plot. Don’t worry, they’re not required, but they’re also great stories that, if you finish them, you’ll have a whole different view on some of Umineko’s important characters.
Umineko is a story about sin, punishment, guilt, trauma and especially love. Written by Ryukishi07, who had experience as a social worker, it’s a mystery in it’s core, but not entirely. The content ranges from bittersweet love stories to chuuni fantastic logic and reasoning battles, where arguments take form as weapons. How can you have so many different kinds of dilemmas in one story? Well, just look at the hour counts which people who read this series have on Steam. It’s easily an 100+ experience.
– Real player with 112.4 hrs in game
This is a review of the whole of Umineko, not just the Question Arcs. Just so you know.
Mystery stories are, at their core, just one big puzzle. An author writes a story, gives you hints, and typically tells you all you need to know before the story’s conclusion so that you have a fair chance at figuring it out if you’re perceptive enough. Good mystery authors make it possible to figure out the killer long before they are revealed in the story. But it has gotten to the point that many people either don’t try and figure it out, or if they do, their guesses are far more lukewarm, because they know the story will succinctly reveal everything at the end of the story and wrap everything up in a nice little bow. Umineko, on the other hand, does not do this. Umineko lays out clues for you and tells you to figure it out yourself, not directly revealing the answer to a majority of its individual mysteries, and, while giving you more hints to its biggest mysteries, never outright stating the answer. What makes the story even more difficult to solve is the constant questioning of whether what you’re seeing is true or false, and whether or not the murders are truly being done by magic, not helped by the constant seemingly impossible closed room murders. Can you figure out the truth? That’s up to your observational skills.
– Real player with 108.7 hrs in game
Hardland
This is legitimately one of the best games I have ever played. The world building is truly world class, and the game is in many ways a technical masterpiece, fast travel is literally 1 frame, and the lighting… I am not kidding, rivals Red Dead Redemption 2, and this was all done with a custom engine. A team of 2, 1 Artist, and 1 Programmer.
To fully appreciate it though, you must understand that even though it kind of looks like zelda, the game is more like monkey island or another adventure game- you are solving world scale puzzles through interactions with the NPC’s and exploration, and the combat is intended as light gating for certain areas, not as a main focus of the game. It does not hold your hand at all and for this reason it can be hard to tell what you are supposed to do next. There is no journal, nor quest tracker, and the world is big and everyone seems to speak in riddles, but i promise you if you keep picking at it everything starts to come together. The first few hours are for exploring and meeting people. The dot connection will come, but you have to pay attention to the world and what people are saying.
– Real player with 42.4 hrs in game
This game for me was a hidden gem, its a flawed gem but quite a unique one as well. I should probably say that this also isn’t a game for everyone as there are some design decisions that may scare off the less adventurous.
The greatest strength of this game is by far its world building and writing. This may sound strange but you spend almost all of your time talking to NPCs, hearing what they have to say and thinking about what it means. The dialogue is almost always a prompt to continue but sometimes you have to make a dialogue choice. This sounds boring but the dialogue is really part of a puzzle for you to discover then figure out and that is what makes the dialogue so engaging. The game warns you in the title screen to pay attention to what is being said to you and they were not kidding. Some small comment a random NPC makes or some item description can lead you to an important item, character, piece of information or situation. You slowly discover this strange world and who all the players are through paying attention to your surroundings, it feels like you are a detective connecting all the dots. The writing is also quite funny, some dialogue exchanges had me bursting out laughing.
– Real player with 39.3 hrs in game
The Goddess of Time and the Ice Princess episode 1
The story follows Catherine, a single girl that lost her parents when she was very young and had to take care of the family’s book store. Even though she had a calm life, her world changes forever when she starts to develop confusing feelings for her mysterious classmate Sabrina.
For better or worse, Sabrina holds the key information about the disappearance of Catherine’s parents, and their relationship with the Ice Princess.
Wanting to know more about her parents, Catherine sets off on a journey to meet the Ice Princess accompanied by Lily, Victoria and Sabrina.
Cions of Vega
Another lovely walking simulator from Tonguc Bodur. In a departure from previous games, you have a companion on your journey to find your missing daughter. Your brother follows you, providing commentary (with a strong American accent that borders on a southern twang!) and a few inventory items. His dialog, coupled with notes found along the way, begin to alert you that all is not right in the world you are walking through.
The game is split into 7 sections, delimited by gates that each require a key. Keys are located by searching abandoned houses, a church, and some tunnels/caves for clues and solving some basic puzzles. There is one brief platforming sequence that is easy to navigate. Otherwise, you can run, walk, crouch and jump. For speedy gamers, there is a convenient ‘auto-run’ toggle.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
Finished it, finally. I say finally because I am a novice gamer and what might seem old hat to most players will give me fits! The puzzles are basic–this game is mostly about the story and the journey. I love Unreal Engine 4 games because the scenery is so neat and this game doesn’t disappoint. The cons for me were inside the houses it is very dark and made it hard to see, and I thought the brother was SUPER creepy, following like red light/green light, but I understand he is a necessary part of the game. The best part was at the end when you earn the right to make a choice (of 3 choices). I’m not going to spoil it but I’ll just say the choice I made was VERY satisfying lol.
– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game
Diary of Lucie
로그라이크 게임류 중에서도 탄막액션은 확실히 개성있게 잘 뽑힌것 같습니다. 탄막이 아이작, 건전보다 더 어렵게 쏟아지는데, 대신 회피기가 있어서 난이도는 적절한것같아요.
얼리액세스니까 개선했으면 하는점…
1.마비(스테미나 반깎)은 방 클리어 시 풀렸으면 좋겠음. 클리어 후에 10~20초 정도 남아있어서 그 동안 폰봄…
2. 만렙스킬도 중복으로 뜨는것같은데 누르면 변화가 없는 것으로 보입니다. 그냥 안떴으면 좋겠어요.
3. 영구 획득 어빌리티 같은거 있으면 좋겠어요. 지금은 크레딧으로 어빌리티사면 단발성인것같네요?
– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game
This game really reminded me of the old games on the gameboy advance.
The tutorial itself is kinda clunky and I found myself scratching my head figuring out what to do next so Im am going to placed the steps here in case anyone gets stuck.
[olist]
- Enter the Left Room and push the bottom crate (it is a chair btw) forward (to the left) to open the chest with a key* Enter the Right Room and once your ignore the 4 chairs surrounding the table and go far right and open the chest with the pendent.
– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game
Lucid Cycle
As of finishing this game, I have played all of Tonguc Bodur’s games. I love these games and this one just may be my favorite. There is just the right amount of relaxation, using your noodle, and strategy in this one. I can’t wait for the next game. Would love to be a beta tester for future games.
– Real player with 17.4 hrs in game
I’ve been a fan of Tonguç Bodur now for quite a while. I find his slow-paced games relaxing and visually stimulating. His creations are often of an introspective nature, exploring life and the inner self. He is the meditating person’s game developer.
“Lucid Cycle” is described as a series of short dream-like experiences. Exploration with minor puzzle elements. It takes around two hours to play through the game, which saves after every dream scene. Apart from a cat, you share your small apartment with an AI that comments on your dream sessions every morning after you wake up.
– Real player with 5.4 hrs in game