Red Embrace: Mezzanine
Red Embrace: Mezzanine is a short (~1 hour or even less) free visual novel with point-&click elements, 2 endings rewarded with 2 achs. Unfortunately, for now the game has limited features, so those achs won’t appear on steam profile((
I’m sure even if someone didn’t play Red Embrace or Red Embrace: Hollywood the game will be interesting enough. I have almost nothing to complain about: visuals are great, music is perfect to set that gloomy mood, the writing is so potent dragging you deep into that dark atmosphere. That’s really amazing how that short story, maybe not even the whole story but some kind of prologue for the future game, can awake such powerful emotions. Really impressive!
– Real player with 3.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Gothic Dark Games.
As usual, fine. As usual, there is a light sadness after passing the game. And not only because the story itself is sad, because it concerns loneliness, loss and hopelessness, but because it shows us what we dream about at some point. We all probably dreamed that on some day someone (and preferably some handsome guy) would offer us to change our lives. But this did not happen.
It’s very nice that the story echoes Red Embrace: Hollywood. I am very glad that I somehow found Argent Games.
Как обычно, прекрасно. Как обычно, после прохождения игры возникает легкая грусть. И не только потому, что сама история печальна, ведь она касается одиночества, потери и безнадежности, но и потому, что она показывает нам, о чем мы мечтаем в какой-то момент. Мы все, наверное, мечтали, что когда-нибудь кто-нибудь (и желательно какой-нибудь красавчик) предложит нам изменить нашу жизнь. Но этого не произошло.
– Real player with 2.9 hrs in game
Beyond the Sky
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I fell in love with Beyond the Sky literally in the first few minutes of the game. With all that I was somewhat wary of the appearance of the main character in the screenshots, the original graphics, but when the game started, it all became clear and correct at once. Wonderful and skillful presentation of the material, a very correct approach to the presentation of the “dark” fairy tale / The last time the fairy tale so fascinated me in “King’s Quest” Chapter 1, it is very noticeable that the developers are guided by the old-school style of plotting the fairy tale, by playing around in the new fashionable trends.
– Real player with 9.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Gothic Adventure Games.
BRAVO! Wow, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. I just finished it and started to tear up at the end. The story, art, music and puzzles work marvelously together. I am so impressed by how well thought out the entire game was. The puzzles were logical and challenging. I loved that I had to write things down with a pen and paper and really use my brain! Thank you for this breath of fresh air, please make more games like this!!!
– Real player with 5.8 hrs in game
The Season of the Warlock
Lord Alistair Ainsworth is at the University of Edgestow giving a lecture on the enigmatic figure of Waldemar the Warlock, who is said to have reigned with an iron fist and through the use of dark magics in the distant region of Groldavia. But his investigations are little more than absurd in the eyes of the scholars, for there is no proof of the existence of the warlock at all. Lord Alistair, frustrated, decides he should look for it in Groldavia.
There, he will find an imposing portrait of the warlock, which appears to be the depositary of Waldemar´s errant soul ‒ a soul that is still yearning to carry out its grisly vengeance and presents Lord Alistair with an offer he will not be able to resist…
Or will he?
Are you looking for a place to hide dark secrets? Are you a fugitive who wants to remain comfortably anonymous? Are you tired of your mundane worries and need a sinister place where superstition is held with intensity? Groldavia is your promised land!
Far from any hint of civilization and lost among the deepest mountains of Eastern Europe, the Barony of Groldavia offers its visitors the most authentic obscurantism, based on a rancid tradition of illiteracy, fear and sheer ignorance.
Discover Groldavia! Savour the true flavour of the fateful Europe!
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Two storylines to choose from: same overarching plot, one choice that changes everything you play.
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Grand adventure design: experience a complex series of intertwined organic puzzles at the heart of the game.
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Captures ‒ with a twist of humour ‒ the charm of the horror films from the 60s and 70s based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft; and the charisma of actors such as Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Barbara Steele.
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Two playable characters, two world visions: step in the shoes of both Lord Alistair Ainsworth and his butler, Nigel.
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Both point & click and direct control options: you are at the helm.
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Atmosphere reigns supreme: rich artistic imagery, lively and colourful 2D backgrounds, and wholly blended 3D characters.
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Original soundtrack with live instruments, full voiceovers in English.
Read More: Best Gothic Adventure Games.
Belladonna
I love Point&Click games with dark themes and beautiful artwork, Belladonna has that but failed in many other aspects. The story about a corpse girl rising from dead, she doesn’t know who she is and how she ended up in a laboratory. With the aid of the scattered journal pages which belong to doctor Wolfram von Trauerschloss and his wife Belladonna, she’ll start to piece the story and events together. The ending is weak and sudden in my opinion.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1551909424
– Real player with 8.3 hrs in game
Pros and Cons list at the bottom of the review.
Belladonna is a decent point-and-click adventure, and it’s low price tag makes it easier to recommend.
The story is not exactly inspired, somewhat of a generic “Frankenstein’s Monster” story, but it is passable. About halfway through the game you will likely have guessed the rest of the plot.
The game itself is only about 75-90 minutes long, depending on how fast you read and how much backtracking you have to do to grab items you didn’t see the first time. Luckily, the game levels are not very large, so backtracking isn’t much of a pain. The puzzles themselves are not too bad, I had an easier time with this game than some other point-and-click’s where what you have to do next is very obscure.
– Real player with 5.9 hrs in game
Goetia
One of the most complex, innovative puzzle adventures of the last decade. In a genre which has largely given way to hackneyed point and click, hidden object and inventory combination puzzles, Goetia takes a step sideways and harks back to an era that did not play dumb to its audience. While frustrating at times due to some issues in puzzle design, Goetia should be on every puzzle adventure enthusiast’s wishlist.
The graphics and gameplay are simple but atmospheric and engaging. The audio is rudimentary, but is underpinned by a haunting soundtrack that adds depth to the mystery of Blackwood Manor. Particularly innovative is the use of object possession by the protagonist (Abigail, a spirit). The player must switch between playing as incorporeal Abigail, to functioning in the world as a physical object - each option changing the possibilities and physics of the game.
– Real player with 38.7 hrs in game
Valiant effort bogged down by catastrophic bottleneck puzzles
Any adventure I start I ask myself: how long will it take before a guide is required? Most important question in this genre that refuses to die. Few achieved the feat of being beatable while maintaining challenge and enjoyment, through carefully designed puzzle systems (and hints if you must, for nubs).
13 hours is the answer here - out of which 8 were enjoyable, 5 were retracing my steps, and the rest is regret. Yeah I thought I wasn’t going to be one of those that will get stuck like in other reviews. That’s on me. In my 30 years of adventuring I learned one thing: 120 of guesswork combinations is 120 too much. God I F’ing have every hour spent carefully reading your well worded but with extremely poor font choice written journals, believing it will lead somewhere…
– Real player with 20.1 hrs in game
Haunting At Cliffhouse
I don’t recommend
– Real player with 8.2 hrs in game
Delightful Old School Point and click Adventure!! They don’t make them like this anymore!!
– Real player with 6.8 hrs in game
Black Mirror I
After being away 12 years from the Black Mirror manor, Samuel Gordon returns to the castle to mourn the sudden and mysterious death of his grandfather, William Gordon. Samuel is not very much convinced that William’s death was an accident and stubbornly takes the matter on his hands to unveil the truth.
Soon enough he is behind a trail of clues that lead him to something sinister and menacing, a curse that may have affected his far ancestors and that is still threatening the Gordon lineage.
The Black Mirror I is a solid and intriguing point and click adventure. I have to admit that the first time I tried it I was not very convinced, mostly because of the outdated visuals, but after giving it a second shot, and after it started to build up, I was hooked for good. The game comes with its flaws, though…
– Real player with 25.1 hrs in game
The greatest adventure game I have played, in my opinion. Absolutely recommended.
I played the first 2 chapters some years ago, but couldn’t finish it and refused to use a spoiler. Recently I came back to it and tried again.
First, this is a very very long game. It is one of the longest adventure games produced.
The game exudes massive amounts of Gothic atmosphere. It is like a Poe work in style and substance (the House of Usher comes to mind). The graphics are excellent, even though they are from a long time ago. They really work well. The music is a huge contributor and some of it will be spinning around in your head for days.
– Real player with 22.7 hrs in game
Dracula: Love Kills
Very good game.
[As usual, note that my times are always long since I frequently leave games running when other things come up.]
The HO scenes are always appropriate to the location with a good mix of easier and harder to find objects.
Count Dracula and Igor are entertaining, but never so far over the top as to be annoying.
The main story is the usual series of finding things to get you to the next room (or part of the game) etc., but it’s nicely put together and kept me interested.
The puzzles were plentiful and frequently challenging. There was a good assortment of different types of puzzles.
– Real player with 30.4 hrs in game
For those who played Dracula: Origin - this game is quite different, more of the cookie-cutter HO/puzzle/adventure kind, albeit with special abilities and two different endings based on your decisions, which makes it distinctive in this genre. It also has 2D painted art instead of the previous episode’s 3D.
Pros:
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Beautiful graphics, especially some HO scenes and the character art
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The UI is very modern
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Atmospheric and catchy music
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The puzzles of the first half of the game are quite easy
– Real player with 22.4 hrs in game
NORCO
NORCO is a sci-fi Southern Gothic Adventure that immerses the player in the sinking suburbs and verdant industrial swamps of Louisiana’s petrochemical hinterlands. Your brother Blake has gone missing in the aftermath of your mother’s death. In the hopes of finding him, you must follow a fugitive security cyborg through the refineries, strip malls, and drainage ditches of suburban New Orleans.
Immerse yourself in an uncanny and surreal South Louisiana
NORCO features detail-rich and atmospheric pixel art born from the natural and industrial landscapes of South Louisiana, accompanied by the eclectic soundscapes of composer Gewgawly I.
Meet strange, unforgettable, and dangerous characters
Navigate your way through a world of uncertainty and moral ambiguity as you venture deeper into the swamp to unravel the threads left by your brother. Fight, sneak, or fast-talk your way past any hometown bullies, security contractors, or death cults that stand in your way.
Explore vast scenic landscapes of pulsing nightlife and eerie solitude
Skulk through the crowds of downtown New Orleans, recruit a wild-eyed river dog, break into a refinery, boat through cypress swamps, and explore the desolate batture woods of the Mississippi River.
Discover a world haunted by both past and future
From Southern Gothic literature to adventure game classics to experimental indies, NORCO fuses its wide sources of inspiration into something new and unseen.
NVC: That’s when your dreams began?
Catherine: Yes. Towers falling from the sky. I’d stay awake just to avoid them.
NVC: You say here that they lasted for years.
Catherine: I worry that I somehow passed them onto Kay. She’d have nightmares of cell tower lights. She said they grew closer every night.
NVC: Have you told anyone about these dreams?
Catherine: No.
NVC: And tell me about the robot.
Catherine: Million?
NVC: That’s right.
Catherine: She came to me in the parking lot when Kay was twelve or so. She knew Blue from his days at the refinery. I stared for a long time into her constellation of eyes. They swirled in a kind of desperation. I took her home, knowing it was a mistake.
Shadowgate: MacVenture Series
I jumped into this without knowing anything about it. Yeah I played the Mac games on an emulator and have seen them here and there and finished some on Nintendo, i’m kind of familiar with the games, I was just expecting this Steam release to be a handful of roms and some kind of emulator.
Surprisingly it isn’t though.. it’s a set of games built from the ground up to resemble the old versions, and it does a remarkable job at it. You’ve got the old Mac note windows (albeit with new fonts) and all the methods of interaction are the same, including the item management where you can just lose stuff if you don’t organize it well. That’s refreshing. Everything works the way you’d expect it to and it even comes with a mono and color version for picky types.
– Real player with 26.2 hrs in game
Shadowgate is just plain bullshit and I’ll tell you why. I rank this title as the least forgiving out of the whole bunch and for a couple reasons. It’s picky as hell inventory and those damn torches. Shadowgate is basically MacVenture’s take on a point and click fantasy title. Your goal is to defeat a rogue wizard who’s abusing his powers for evil, to put it simply.
I didn’t find this title as fun as I remotely did with the others. The torches are the timer in this game and there’s barely a hint as to when you’ll know when one of them will go out. If you’re caught up solving a few puzzles at a time, it’s easy to miss the message that one of your torches is flickering. You’ll see the screen begin to pixelate, yes, but for all you know it could be a reaction from solving a puzzle or what have you.
– Real player with 5.3 hrs in game