Building 847
A short but thoroughly enjoyable indie storytelling experience!
I wasn’t sure I’d get through it in one sitting, but I found the ambiance very compelling and surprisingly tasteful in all its lighting and sound effects, so I couldn’t stop until the end. Overall, the writing does a great job at introducing what ended up being a rather intriguing story, so it was easy to follow along even without any voice acting.
Very promising. Looking forward for future titles from these devs!
– Real player with 1.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Investigation Shooter Games.
The ambience of this game is through the roof!
Sound quality is good, it really sells you the mystery and the thriller inducing chills imo.
Now i will be describing some of the good and some of the problems and i don’t want to spoil things so play the game 1st then read the next part.
! Some pros:
! * I already told this but the ambience this game delivers is really good from the sound quality and overall gloomy and dark atmosphere really gives this game a boost.* I love detective/mystery games and if there’s a slight thriller/horror vibe to it i love it even more (e.g of games i love detective wise (sam and max, monkey island, the sinking city, wolf among us, the long reach, the last door series, disco elisium etc)).
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Who is the Liar?
I loved the art direction chosen for this game. It combines pieces that look like they came out of the board game Clue with beautiful, more realistic 3D scenarios and comics iconographies. The game also has an engaging story and charming characters.
With all of these elements at the developer’s disposal, the game practically begs for more content. Since it is still in early access, it is sure to develop into a great game.
Very promising!
– Real player with 9.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Investigation Mystery Games.
A fun game, very well produced. The visuals are incredible, combining cartoon 2D and stunning 3D. A humorous narrative, it reminds me of the movie Knives Out with its crazy eccentric family. Looking forward to play the next stories in the final version.
– Real player with 8.3 hrs in game
The Poisoned Roots
The Poisoned Roots is a short experience that takes around 30 minutes to an hour to finish. It has no save feature and is intended to be completed within a single play session.
The story is told through the environment as well as the various interactable objects within the game. There is minimal hand-holding and players must pay close attention to details in order to uncover the events that transpired.
Key Features
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An experience that focuses on atmosphere and narrative over traditional gameplay
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A rich, emotional story about the effects of abuse and obsession
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A detailed environment that rewards the player’s curiosity
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An atmospheric Original Soundtrack
Read More: Best Investigation Story Rich Games.
Contradiction - Spot The Liar!
This is a FMV detective & mystery game developed by Baggy Cat, created thanks to a kickstarter campaign. Since I love detective games and tv-shows I decided to give this one a go. This is a lovecrafted masterpiece, great from start to finish. I’m gonna try to explain why.
You play as detective Jenks, investigating a girls suicide in an english village. Mysteries surrounding the suicide quickly leads to a murder investigation. Jenks only have a day to solve the mystery. He quickly finds out about a private school for adults called Atlas that uses some questionable methods, and you learn more and more as you go. Every chapter is an hour in the game, but every chapter took me more then an hour each. It’s a pretty tricky game, but you can use clues if you get stuck.
– Real player with 15.2 hrs in game
TL;DR: It’s a very fun and interesting game,
! with a very, very, VERY bad (and extremely) unsatisfying ending
I’m probably very late to the “reviewing contradiction” party (what a weird party), the game being almost 6 years old now and having been talked about in the ExtraCredits YouTube channel (the reason why I bought it in the first place!), but I’m gonna have a go at it anyways.
Contradiction is an FMV game where you must investigate in one night a supposed suicide in a small village. The investigation is done almost entirely by talking to people (i.e. watching small bits of questioning), though some evidence is found by walking and snooping around (in fact, I’m no lawyer or law-enforcement officer, but I feel like a quite a few of the evidence found wouldn’t be admissible in court!) But the main aspect of the game is asking people about things, which can directly lead you to new evidence, but will always lead to a set of statements from each person. This is where the main mechanic of the game comes in: you can select two statements (they must be from the same person though, hold this for later) that contradict each other and if they do, indeed, you get a new line of questioning where detective Jenks brings up the contradiction to the person in question, usually leading to new evidence. When you reach key milestones in the investigation, the time moves forward, and some new witness can become available (or unavailable), and going certain places can unlock certain events that can give you new evidence to ask around about.
– Real player with 13.7 hrs in game
Zof
Wow… Just finished Zof and it is a very well done puzzler. Had a friend not pointed it out, I would have missed the experience entirely.
Pete Wilkins has done a great job of putting together a series of unrelated puzzles (some easy, some very complicated) that give you a true feeling of satisfaction when you solve one. The reward for completing each puzzle (or puzzle area) is a Steam Achievement plus entry into the next world. There is no story and none is needed.
The game consists of diverse (and often fantastic) landscapes done in a variety of artistic styles. The sound track is primarily environmental sounds and if you take your headphones off, you are apt to miss important aural clues. The mechanisms to move between the early puzzles are brilliant and, often, I laughed in delight as I was transported between worlds.
– Real player with 15.2 hrs in game
Zof is an excellent exposition in abstract puzzle making that uses simple logic but still keep the player wandering around like a headless chicken most of the time. The puzzles present within this game are all straight forward, once you know what to do. The most difficult part of solving each puzzle is understanding the logic within. Thus there’s nothing really all that complex about the puzzles, but you still have to think long and hard about each of the clues given.
– Real player with 14.4 hrs in game
Escape Room VR: Vaudeville
First two rooms are great. Then comes the 3rd room light puzzle. You will hate this puzzle, I guarantee.
[This section removed, as it’s no longer pertinent.]
UPDATE: Changed review based on the dev’s graciously patching the game to allow bypassing this puzzle.
2nd UPDATE: I have now finished the game, and my recommendation status stands. The remainder of the puzzles are challenging, but very feasible. And the ending’s kind of cute. If you enjoy escape room VR games, then I feel confident saying you will like this one as well.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
like the setting and the old posters and classic books, puzzles are great and now you can skip the light puzzle, the only one I got stuck, really enjoyed this game, maybe next you could do a Victorian setting of the spiritual era, puzzles with some Daniel Dunglas Home, spirit cabinets, table tipping lol, on played on Rift s , Ryzen 7 3800X, 6800 XT, windows 10 64.
– Real player with 3.2 hrs in game
Ghost Hunters Corp
This Game is a Gem. It sets itself apart from phasmo in many ways. It’a way more interactive than phasmo.
I love that we can buy/bring as many items as we want. We are not limited in this game.
You can pick up items around the map and throw them about and make the ghosts mad. Or even take some of the cursed map assets back to base for more money. The Ghost can follow you back to the Van, and even break the door off. House doors also get yeeted.
– Real player with 99.5 hrs in game
EN
I’m used to give a chance to early access games, even if it means I could encounter bugs, crashes and lags (I’ve been playing ARK survival since the start in june 2015 !) But Ghost Hunters Corp is not an alpha game, it’s very well made and simply needs a few more contents to be released.
Don’t trust those raging players that yell it’s a copy of Phasmo. I also play Phasmo and it’s absolutly not the same game. Of course, the idea is the same, but the gameplay is slightly different: in GHC, you need to find which entity you seek before exorcism it. And AI’s behavior and reaction are different. The fear it gives you is also not the same. I like jumping on one and the other as if I did different missions, as being another kind of hunter 😊 It’s a real pleasure, except when I go to bed after that!
– Real player with 19.8 hrs in game
GRUNND
GRUNND is a 100% handcrafted, fully voiced adventure game about travelling to a seemingly ordinary place right next to you that slowly introduces itself as surreal and twisted world and has it’s own invisible gods, agendas, and order. You - tired after a dull day at your 9to5 job - fall asleep at the train on the way home. Next thing you do is jump out of that train into unknown station, and now need to plan your way back home. Surely enough, it’s not so easy?
People you meet are slightly weird, and in the air there’s an ethereal, omnipotent power floating just beyond your senses…
A bit of a different take on the point-and-click genre, with platformer-style built locations, fast travel, and multiple choice events introduced early on. This is not a puzzle heavy adventure and all puzzles are made without any nonsense or moon-logic. There is a rich story background for you to unravel; that is not only about you and the world - the people around you have their own thing and they are not here to help you.
The world is inspired by the works of Franz Kafka and David Lynch, and the setting has those taste droplets of Southern Gothic. This is not only the Protagonist’s journey - it’s yours as well.
Please enjoy the Demo, and let us know about your experience!
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.
The Painscreek Killings
Summary
Fantastic adventure game with only minor flaws. Play time for me was around 15 hours or so plus another couple of hours for finding the last few items that I had missed originally.
You are playing a journalist who investigates a series of murders that happened a few years back and were never solved. The majority of the game consists of searching through various locations for letters, notes and other clues that allow you to piece together the events that led to the murders and identify the killer. The game is fairly non-linear, most locations are available right from the start although there are quite a few rooms and a handful of areas that you first have to unlock (literally, i.e. you need to find a key/code).
– Real player with 17.7 hrs in game
Walking simulator that quickly evolves from liesurely exploration of an abandoned gated community into a full-blown murder mystery adventure game.
Every place has its secrets. Every suspect is hiding something. Look through drawers, cupboards, the homes and belongings of the persons you are investigating to lead you closer to truth.
You play as an investigative reporter with one simple objective: Solve a cold case file by determining who killed wealthy socialite philanthropist Vivian Roberts and provide a front page photo. Can you find the murder weapon? Can you learn the whole truth about what happened in the now vacant Painscreek?
– Real player with 15.9 hrs in game