Clarevoyance
I do like the nostalgia of being back in Southwestern Nova Scotia. It’s kind of neat with the folklore twist and the questing. I appreciate the history that’s shared. I have told my kids about various bits of history from back home like Samuel de Champlain and the Expulsion. I showed them the Clare Lore that backs up the thing I knew. There’s so much more I didn’t know or forgot from 6th grade social studies class
One thing I wish were better, some scenes are pretty laggy. I’m kind of surprised given the simple layout of the game.
– Real player with 8.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Instrumental Music Singleplayer Games.
This game was a trip. Clarevoyance is a visual novel with light resource management elements set in the Acadian municipality of Clare in Nova Scotia. The images in the game are all taken in the region and all dialogue is voiced by locals in Acadian French with English subtitles. I am from New Brunswick originally so it sounds pretty nostalgic.
You play as someone visiting relatives in Clare over the summer. As you travel around doing different activities and “spinning yarns” with the locals, you start to realize that things are not quite as they seem. The story incorporates local legends in a way that was pretty clever and fun. The resource management portion involves earning money, buying food and managing your “well being”, a sort of HP gauge that decreases when you use your powers to interact with the local mythology and increases when you do certain fun activities. There is also a time system where activities use up certain amounts of time in a day, and some things can only be done at specific times of day. There isn’t a time limit though so you can take as long as you want to proceed through the story.
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
Painting Werther
The Sorrows of Young Werther, was written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1774.
Loved by artists and emperors, it shows the inner struggle of a deeply romantic man.
Or at least that’s what I used to think…
Come with us on this interactive visual novel to see another version of this legendary story.
Was young Werther really a romantic? Or was he just a man with a death wish?
How deeply did he really love his friend Wilhelm? Maybe his letters hide some clues…
Did he even loved Charlotte? Or did he just love the idea of an unrequited love?
For all these questions and more, Mad Cream Games presents you and overloading artistic experience, full of brush strokes and ink spots, where Chopin played the sax and Mozart the guitar, where love turns into hate, and pity into madness:
With this game we want to celebrate the mastery and abilities from the painters and musicians that came before us, presenting their work in a new original and respectful way.
Read More: Best Instrumental Music Romance Games.
Nocked! True Tales of Robin Hood
The game Nocked! has you taking on the role of Robin Hood set in a world where myth and magic still has a foothold. You start out as a runaway who takes to Sherwood forest to claim their future.
The game itself contains elements of interactive fiction (think choose your own adventure) as well as resource management. In fact, this was the stand out portion for me.
The first thing you will notice is that you can choose the gender of your Robin, and even some limited background choices which will have some game affects. Additionally, the character of Maid Marian even has some variation which can affect play.
– Real player with 324.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Instrumental Music Fantasy Games.
A really nice CYOA game. It actually reminded me of Mass Effect 2, in that you have a base and companions, and your choices have long-term impact (otherwise it’s entirely dissimilar to ME2; see any screenshot).
There are healthy doses of whimsy in the setting and humour in the writing, and it mixes classic Robin Hood story beats in with more fantastical stuff. It’s comfy and tense, and perfectly paced. The music is also wonderful.
My only gripes are minor (despite this being the biggest paragraph): some of the art is quite bad (the character silhouettes work well, but some of the other stuff looks like programmer art) and the overall graphic design could use work. This is all just window dressing though and doesn’t really matter*. A bigger annoyance is that the checkpoints are a bit far apart for more my liking–I appreciate it discouraging save scumming, but there were a couple of times when I misunderstood an option so badly that I felt unfairly shafted by choosing it, in which case I rolled back and lost lots of progress. The last thing that left a bad taste was the ending: it felt like I had no way of knowing the implications of some of the choices.
– Real player with 32.6 hrs in game
The Space in Between
Full Play through with the two recommended plays if you’d rather listen than read here (once it uploads): https://youtu.be/h3W_O_Y5kJo
I really enjoyed the humor in this game some of it was really great. The music was really nice and relaxing and some of the picture frames were calming and romantical. I’m glad that there was a few differences in the second play through but I wish there was more there’s not a dynamic change in the story from choosing one thing from choosing another the main story stays the same even though you may get some more humorous responses depending on what you pick. Definitely worth at least one play through if you enjoy romantic visual novels and they do a good job at covering feelings/outlook that someone with mental health would experience.
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
I honestly loved playing this game, I randomly decided to play it on my twitch stream because it was a new visual novel and it looked pretty (visual wise and interesting plot wise). It really touches on the realism of just self identity in the ethnicity and culture aspect (for June) and the hardships and challenges dealing with mental health (for Miles). It was honestly very cute and wholesome, I thought we’d be able to make our own constellations by scratch but I honestly didn’t mind the premade ones because it was very creative. We get to somewhat see the perspectives and imagination of the two characters as themselves and as a couple which was very cute. I don’t wanna spoil to much but the author put in a lot of thought for their back stories and the characters, I totally rate the game ♡♡♡
– Real player with 1.6 hrs in game
A Musical Story
A Musical Story is a rhythm game set against a 70s backdrop. Explore the memories of Gabriel, a young man trying to come to terms with his situation through the connections to his musical memory. Each correctly played melody opens a new chapter into Gabriel’s past, bringing him closer to the truth.
Key Features
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Rekindle Gabriel’s memories with rhythmic button presses in time with the music
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Storytelling without words – discover Gabriel’s journey through music and visuals alone
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Gabriel’s story comes to life through a beautifully crafted art style
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A unique original soundtrack featuring 26 songs
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Play every song perfectly to unlock a hidden chapter
A Musical Story is the debut game from independent French developer, Glee-Cheese Studio. They are: Charles Bardin (Game Design + Music), Maxime Constantinian (Programmer), Valentin Ducloux (Music + Integration), Alexandre Rey (Artistic Direction).