Harvester
At first glance, this game looks awful. It’s easy to dismiss it as just another zany product of the failed FMV phase of video games, especially with the game proudly and shamelessly wearing its exploitation label like a medal. “The goriest game of all time!” It says, sometimes coupled with screenshots that appear to show more gore-for-the-sake-of-gore. This is just the most obvious basis one can use to write Harvester off, but if you’re willing to venture beyond that, you’ll find many more.
It’s pretty meta, because Harvester throws the player off constantly. This in itself is one of the entire points of the game. The bizarre characters, the seemingly unclear satire on violence in video games, it’s all there for a reason, and it took me several playthroughs to get the full meaning. The first time through it’s just plain-old bizarre and enjoyable, though I recalled being intensely disappointed by the final act, especially the endings. Up to that point I had loved it in a purely “interactive B-movie” sense, but the game decided to throw even that away at its conclusion. Bundled with the atrocious combat system, it seemed like a wasted opportunity.
– Real player with 65.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best FMV Classic Games.
Before I start this review please be aware that this game features cannibalism, suicide, senicide, pedophilia, child abuse, molestation & all sorts of other fucked up subjects so if your sensitive, squeamish or a curious minor please keep your eyes/fingers off this game. (I might SPOIL some parts of the game or more so don’t read if you hate spoilers)
The best way I can describe Harvester in my opinion is the perfect serial killer simulator because of the bizarre atmosphere of the town of Harvest, the unsettling NPCs of this small town like Mr. Pottsham (obsessed with meat) who is a molester & a pervert who likes watching Stephanie 24/7 (I don’t blame him Stephanie has nice cur…… errr let’s continue) or Steve’s “mother” who is an extreme BDSM enthusiast (That bitch has all sorts of other issues which I won’t mention) & don’t forget the stages of a serial killer which you can read here http://www.criminalmindsfanwiki.com/page/Psychological+Phases if you wish.
– Real player with 26.0 hrs in game
Bloody Service
First of all i want to thank CASE for giving me a free key for their game.
Bloody Service is a visual novel inspired by horror movies. But it’s a bit different, because not only different choices mean different endings, but also different inventory management can give unexpected reactions and dialogues, giving the sensation of living the experience deeply. The main character is a guy working for a catering service and now he’s been called for a job in the exclusive Hilltop Tennis Club, where nothing is like it seems, and where there’s the shadow of two twin conjoined brothers, Arthur and Cole. The game is short but it’s all very well condensed and there are a bunch of gory and violent scenes which are pretty shocking.
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best FMV Tennis Games.
Curator page here-- [url] DaRevieweD #71 [/url] -- [i]New review every Sunday[/i]
Bloody Service (BS) is CASE’s first of hopefully many 80s throwback horror projects. The Argentina-based studio has been in the biz for ages but as it turns out, has been holding out on us! BIG TIME!! What lulled me into the bloodlust was firstly its brand; a slasher-FMV-VN title and right then and there, I knew I had to join in on the fun!! Ironically, I’ve never played any games with full on senseless, evading a killer type (guess the closest is Until Dawn) but I watched like hundreds of those, so it’s long overdue :P
– Real player with 2.9 hrs in game
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 FMV Choices Matter 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
Night Trap - 25th Anniversary Edition
Where do I even begin with the remastered edition of one of my all-time favorite games? Playing this took me back to the mid 90s… back to the days of Mortal Kombat and video game magazines. I was somewhat surprised to realize I still know by heart way more of the dialogue than I should. I kinda wished I still had my old notebook from 1994 that had all of the trap times written down, painstakingly collected from hours upon hours of gameplay. They’re widely available on the internet now, but it’s really not the same, now is it?
– Real player with 23.9 hrs in game
Still too buggy. I had previously recommended this game after being able to finally playthrough it after it launched with a game breaking which caused the game to not be completable. It also had many other bugs. The updates have fixed quite a bit but I now have a bug where I can’t get a perfect game and unlock Scene of the Crime. At 6:30 the possible counter increments by two even though no trapable augs appear. There is a red light which indicates when a trapping opportunity is missed. That light never turns on indicating that I missed any augs. I haven’t tried to play to the end but I’m guessing that I’ll be at least two short even if I capture all augs. I know some people have 100% the game but I think that was prior to the 2nd update. In addition there are still audio issues, cams not updating, and crashes.
– Real player with 19.3 hrs in game
Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh
My friend and I have recently gone down the rabbit hole of these fmv games. I’ve learned a lot on the way, and we’ve both lost even more. With this unique experience however, comes the perfect tool set to judge these games.
We started with harvester and there couldn’t have been a better game to get our toes wet. 5 hours later we became the kidders we need to be to take on phantasmagoria 1. Harvester’s story direction (or lack thereof) really made phantasmagoria 2’s story shine through. The acting was mostly good or at least good enough to not take us out of it and the characters were well written. Trevor please email me. Phantasmagoria 2 is nothing like it’s predecessor. It starts you as a white dude named curtis but the real main character, blob, is introduced quickly. A story filled with weird physics and entertaining emails, this game will take you on an mindboggling journey. Walkthrough is highly recommended especially at the end where the game crashes if you don’t do the puzzle right..
– Real player with 48.8 hrs in game
I see a lot of reviews that try to compare Phantasmagoria (1) with Phantasmagoria 2. And then the reviewer draws a conclusion that one is better than the other. My take - they share the title and they are both point-n-click adventures. That’s about where the similarities end. I think this is why so many critics loved the first and disliked the second. They weren’t letting both games stand apart.
Phantasmagoria 2’s horror is more focused on the cerebral… an analysis of insanity. Although there are a few bloody moments, the story focuses on Curtis' psyche and how it affects his relationships. Because of this, there is a distinct focus on interpersonal exchanges between Curtis and his friends/co-workers. You come to know each character fairly well and it’s easy to love some and hate others.
– Real player with 22.6 hrs in game
Phantasmagoria
I think Phantasmagoria surprised me the most out of the FMV games I’ve played recently, partly due to the fact that it was always reviewed as “meh” compared to other classics like “The Beast Within”. It did appear to be pretty mundane at first glance and I didn’t like the idea of puzzles in spades as I’m no good at them. I actually played Phantasmagoria 2 before this one and, though I did have a blast with it, it’s a joke in comparison to this one. The 2nd one just seemed to be a vehicle to show off the technology of the time with a ridiculously goofy story that insulted B movie horrors. This isn’t actually as campy as I expected (with the exception of a couple of ridiculously overacted scenes in the final act, it’s actually quite a serious horror). This is a dark game. Found myself feeling a bit freaked out at various points throughout and the musical score is tremendous.
– Real player with 126.8 hrs in game
So I might be a little bias to this game given that it was one of the very first point and click adventure games from my childhood and I’ve always had very very fond memories of this game.. Now that I’ve gone back and played it a bit, I remember why I loved it as much as I did when I was a kid.
To start off this is a point and click adventure game that features a actors over a green screen in a 3D rendered background. It’s got a strangely charming feeling when I go back to play this game at nearly anytime with the way the actors need to interact with the enviroment around them.
– Real player with 11.1 hrs in game
Realms of the Haunting
Wow! What an amazing game! I’ve never played it before or back in the day so this was a first impression. It’s such a huge 20 chapter adventure of FPS, scares, puzzles, cutscene movies and story, that you get so engaged in it, it really feels like you are controlling a character in a movie.
The graphics are impressive for the time, the mapping especially is so well thought out and designed that I was always amazed whenever I arrived at a new location. It’s not all hallways and darkness, there’s such a variety of fantasy like locations that it never gets dull.
– Real player with 25.7 hrs in game
This game took me about 20 hours, I wouldn’t say it necessarily earns all of that length. You should know before you get into this that this is not really a horror game, it’s an adventure game where the first half has heavier horror elements than the second, which leans more into the surreal cosmic world that it builds up.
Most people’s gripe is with the controls, but honestly it only took me a little bit to adjust to the antiquated first-person movement, although you SHOULD absolutely read the manual before playing to get an idea of how to play.
– Real player with 19.8 hrs in game
The 7th Guest: 25th Anniversary Edition
Take this game for what it is… a snapshot in time from the early days of CD-ROM gaming. 7th Guest came out at a time when graphic realism and full motion video were cutting edge. Go into it acknowledging its place in the annals of video game history, and there is a good time to be had, for a short while at least. There are some clever puzzles scattered about.
Does the game hold up after all these years? In short, no. It’s a relic from a long forgotten and much maligned era. The visuals were certainly impressive for their time, but we’ve been spoiled heartily since then. What’s left at its core is a series of puzzles which are tame by today’s standards. The difficulty ranges from absurdly easy to absurdly difficult. However, the difficulty is mostly caused by a lack of context, particularly with the Skyscraper puzzle. Most of the puzzles have zero replay value once you’ve figured them out. The cut-scenes are poorly acted, which is on par for the early 90s. The point and click controls are a touch wonky, and there is a severe shortage of items you can actually interact with. The “action” is continually interrupted by voice overs, for some reason you must politely wait for Stauf to mock you (or move over and click the skip button) before you can click anything. The story feels arbitrary, which used to be forgivable because “WOW FMV”, but don’t go in expecting to be entertained it.
– Real player with 16.3 hrs in game
Yet another game I wish there was a neutral recommendation for. I’m giving this a thumbs up for the sheer fact that the original game itself was clearly a quality product and for this reason I feel I cannot give it a thumbs down. I can’t help but cynically view this edition, as a cash grab on what was originally a successful game. A way to remove the original from stores and jack the price up after labelling it as “remastered” while cashing in on the loyalty of fans to the title . You know, there’s this saying about ducks…if it walks and talks like one…
– Real player with 8.4 hrs in game
Bad Mojo Redux
This is some Baaaaad Mojo that you got there, mon.
And not only this Mojo is Bad, mon, but it’s a whole Redux. Well, the original came out in 1996. Redux, unlike what I’ve believed at first, is not a modern remaster of a game. Well, it’s a remaster, but it’s from 2004, so it’s old in it’s own way. That one still helped with compitability with modern systems, seeing how early Windows games tend to be a roach to run, FMVs got improved. Albeit personally I had to launch the game two times in order to get FMVs working and even then the sound sometimes would dissapear until I leave a screen.
– Real player with 6.0 hrs in game
“And when I looked into that necklace, that strange locket that was supposed to be my mother’s. A weird feeling, like a twisted spell. Bad Mojo.”
- Roger Samms, pre-cockroach
Bad Mojo Redux: a cinematic platformer, without the platforming.
There’s a timeless, agreed on standard way to play 90s puzzle games. The point n clicks. The graphic adventures. You play for a bit, explore as best you can, get frustrated, look up a walkthrough and then recommend it to other people anyway because you liked the dialogue. It’s the unwritten code, a valiant tradition since the first King’s Quest even as everyone told them to stop.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
Corpse Killer - 25th Anniversary Edition
Very nice shooter, simple stuff, shoot zombies, watch cutscenes, fight bosses, win the game.
Good to see it in it’s full resolution glory, it’s pretty short but fun to have a playthrough.
Has a few bugs, but they didn’t bug me too much.
The bonus content is great, hours of behind the scenes footage, makes you appreciate the effort that went into the makeup, sets and filming.
– Real player with 28.2 hrs in game
Another Digital Pictures 25th anniversary re-release, another nostalgic trip to my childhood. I love FMV games in general, and fully support these releases because I want more in the future! I’ve already put about 8 hours on the game, and have really enjoyed playing through it and unlocking bonus behind the scenes extras.
Although the game is definitely playable, there are bugs, and like releases in the past, the developer isn’t really on top of fixing them. There are still problems with Night Trap and Double Switch that I don’t think will ever be addressed, and I don’t see this being different.
– Real player with 11.8 hrs in game