Unrest
When I first got Unrest I was expecting it to be just another point and click adventure game based around storytelling, I was wrong. Unrest is not just “another one”, I’ll even go as far as to compare this to the Walking Dead game from Telltale. If you’re looking for a real RPG that focus on narrative instead of combat you should just get this one right away.
Unlike most RPGs Unrest doesn’t let you create a character to your liking, instead it lets you play as multiple ones such as a peasant girl, a priest, a slum inhabitant, an ambassador from a mighty empire and a mercenary captain. You play all these characters in Bimhra, which to my understanding is a city located in a fictional ancient India.
– Real player with 10.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Kickstarter Fantasy Games.
Unrest is an interesting interactive piece of fiction, and it has some really solid ideas regarding the issues it addresses (even if in a fantasy setting) and the way the narrative is told.
The most interesting to me, and a point that should be stressed in video-game storytelling, in my opinion, is not to always give the game a defined plot. Plots aren’t very interesting to me. What is interesting, however, is giving you a setting, with questions and different approaches. Then, you can make choices and see how the world reacts.
– Real player with 8.8 hrs in game
Shining Song Starnova
Oh my, it was a fun long adventure! This visual novel is about the ragtag band of seven cute idols and you play as their producer trying to make them great again. I can’t say I was too excited when I just started. Not my cup of tea absolutely. But I realized once again that when a game is really well done, it doesn’t matter if it’s up your alley or not.
My first impression was very positive. All those settings, nicely organized gallery. In this regard everything was just flawless. Artwork is lovely. Each girl’s sprite is beautiful, CGs are so pretty and there’re also cute chibi images. Even being so far from my actual preferences I still have made 100 screenshots. Plus, the game is partially voiced, has cards and achievements.
– Real player with 88.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Kickstarter Crowdfunded Games.
Shinning Song Starnova First Impressions
(Completed Mika’s Route)
Love in Space is probably my favorite Visual Novel developer. They seem to always be put on a budget via crowdfunding but they always deliver. The Sunrider series is a great blend of sci-fi opera, fanservice and story payoff, I was always a fan of the spinoff academy entry more than the main series, but they are all treasures.
Shining Song Starnova is the latest visual novel created by the team and joining up with Sekai Project they once again release a top-notch visual novel. Multiple routes, great writing (I was a bit fatigued from the use of “oy”), and great characters make this entry a must have and possibly a great starting place for those new to the visual novel genre.
– Real player with 50.2 hrs in game
Memory’s Dogma CODE:01
So, imagine you see a luscious, appetizing cake, copious amounts of fluffy white cream topped with a juicy, plump strawberry beckoning you to taste it. You take a knife, cut yourself a slice, and lo and behold, to your delight, you see a layer of chocolate cream sandwiched between the two layers of sponge cake making up the treat. Mouth watering, you spear a piece on a fork, carry it to your mouth, anticipating the sweetness about to bloom on your tongue, only to discover the chocolate cream is, in fact, dog shit, what you thought was sponge cake is just regular dish-scrubbing sponge, and the strawberry is plastic. The whipped cream is the real deal, but will that make you feel any better? Memory’s Dogma is in fact just that: an attempt to pass a pile of garbage off as something appealing, at least outwardly. The core of it is completely rotten though.
– Real player with 56.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Kickstarter Sci-fi Games.
Short story, most people will be able to complete it within 2-3 hours or less.
The story is actually rather generic anime plot and predictable, but I still enjoyed the content nevertheless. Just come in with low expectations and have the characters, environment, and music immerse you, since those are the selling points rather than the story itself. Art and CG is very good.
However, there’s a particular scene (actually, a character) that didn’t make any sense to me. Felt it was extremely forced drama. But if I rambled on about this character or this scene in particular, it would be spoilers. This character’s motivations are basically illogical and the story doesn’t give them a chance to redeem themselves and the point of this scene. Felt like it was just there to create some delusional pain or attempt to frighten the audience, but it didn’t quite work on me. This scene could’ve been much better but they failed to execute.
– Real player with 16.1 hrs in game
CONSORTIUM
I’ll be Honest, Easilly the best RPG i’ve played, it deserves more recognition, and i really can’t wait to see where they take the world, or more accurately where they let us take it with the next “game”
It’s gameplay is nothing to write home about, but the characters, the background lore, and the Setting are brilliant, probebly one of the only games where the characters feel genuine, and my decisions seem to make an impact, i’ve never been more invested in a game world, comming up with theories on the motives of characters and stuff, ect, which i normally don’t do, but the background lore is very fleshed out.
– Real player with 27.8 hrs in game
It is difficult to crystallise my thoughts on this game into a simple thumbs up or thumbs down because the game has some great aspects but also some out right bad elements.
The game starts off really well, you are basically playing as Captain Archer in Quantum Leap inhabiting some guy’s body. However Brother Cavil doesn’t turn up with a computer made out of LEGO to tell you what is going on so you have to try and ask people to explain things without giving away that you an imposter. The voice acting is excellent, the characters feel natural and the world building is thorough.
– Real player with 18.7 hrs in game
Dreamfall Chapters
The thing about stories and settings, in modern-day fiction, is that there’s very little room for innovation or unique ideas to craft worlds without feeling like it’s something we’ve seen before but executed differently.
I’m the kinda of person who loves stories that are self-contained without being treated as a brand that inevitably needs to be pumped for money, or more sequels, faster than an OD’ing alcoholic solely for the sake of the former, and not so much for doing something new with the subject matter.
– Real player with 79.8 hrs in game
You know that totally dreamy guy who you really want to get together with, but when you do; it turns out that he just doesn’t meet your expectations of him, and no matter how much you want to love him, he just doesn’t let you? Well, I know his name. He’s called ‘Dreamfall Chapters’.
Overview
Chapters concludes the story which began with the wonderful The Longest Journey, and resolves the cliffhanger left at the end of Dreamfall. We pick up where we left off, taking the part of Zoe Castillo, still in a coma; and will switch control during the game between her, Kian Alvane the “reformed” Apostle, and “Saga” - the girl who walks between worlds and appears to be disconnected from the main story until apparently completely unrelated threads finally intertwine as we approach the climax.
– Real player with 57.2 hrs in game
The Banner Saga
Fantastically well done story and presentation, but one of the most AWFUL gameplay designs imagineable.
Story+Dialogue: 9/10
Presentation: 10/10
Gameplay: 5/10
The banner saga tells the epic tale of individuals fighting for survival in a dying world that dead Gods no longer watch over.
The story was great, interesting characters, dramatic plot twists, and serious consequences you wont see coming.
Your choices DO matter. And while watching the overworld slowly crumble under the pressure of enemies, there are many fun choices you’ll make.
– Real player with 34.0 hrs in game
I have mixed opinions about The Banner Saga, but I’m still very happy to have played it. Most of the time, when I find games to be surprisingly brief, it’s generally to their benefit. However, this is one title where I felt like it ended before it could really shine. I’m appreciative that it didn’t drag itself out, but at the same time it’s always a bit jarring when the end credits sneak up on you.
The Banner saga is some weird mesh of grid based strategy rpg (Fire Emblem, Tactics Ogre, FFT/A) and…the Oregon trail. And Vikings (or something resembling Vikings). However, only the first part of that hybrid combination does the game feel polished, gameplay wise. The game’s most notable feature when it comes to the primary battle engagements is the Armor/Strength duality, as well as Willpower and Exertion mechanics. In order to deal a lot of damage to most enemies, especially Dredge, you first have to spend time working down their armor instead of trying to outright lower their health to zero. This is only a small wrinkle to the normal rpg standby, but it is implemented well enough to have two interesting results. One, it creates some very real consequential moments where you’ve got a unit able to do decent armor or strength damage and you can’t be certain whether you should really strip the armor down further or if you should take a chunk out of the enemy health so that they might be finished off sooner. Secondly, it creates much needed class specialization where certain units are much more adept at stripping armor while others are better set finishing weakened foes. The game then allows you to use some basic accessory-equipment to either further specialize (giving an armor-break boosting equipment to someone already well equiped to break armor) or to make certain units more versatile. One thing that I suppose I wasn’t used to is that the class-roles are specified and listed on the heroes pages, but they still don’t seem as iron-clad or strict as those in games such as the Japanese srpgs I listed earlier (where the class given to a unit is much more defining). I couldn’t tell you which units were which class off of the top of my head, only what each given unit was good at performing in battle. I suppose it feels a bit more organic this way.
– Real player with 33.6 hrs in game
This Is the Police
After finishing the main storyline of this game and playing it for ~29 hours, I am incredibly torn on this game. I love it, and yet, there’s some parts of it that really bother me. Ahead may be some spoilers, but I will try to put those in between tags.
Let’s talk core gameplay loop first. There are so many cases you will send officers to and many you will get through through simple math which the game explains to you very early on. This is the basis, but the game offers many distractions. The community will come calling, as will city hall and eventually, bad guys in multiple different shapes. This will eventually get incredibly hectic, which I experienced as fun. There’s a detective (and one other) minigame where you try to piece together the cases frame by frame and I simply loved it to pieces.
– Real player with 31.4 hrs in game
I always have a difficult time writing a negative review about a game that I liked for the most part. So how about I do this: I will first tell you what I really liked about the game, because, if you do like it yourself, you should totally buy it. And then I will explain what I really hated about it.
If you don’t like to read, then watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlLk-t-kCl0
And yeah, I fixed the sound and redid the vid.
So what did I like about the game?
1. 80% of the story. The story is brilliant for the most part. I love novels that put the protagonist up the wall, and when he/she tries to react, they get their backs pushed further up the wall to the point of barely having any control of the situation.
– Real player with 27.6 hrs in game
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Disclaimer: I do NOT reccomend the game at its current pricing. Furthermore, after much thought, I do not reccomened it for what it claims to be. This is no Planescape: Torment and it is not a worthy successor. Nevertheless, there is something worth the time it takes to play, even if it is deeply flawed. Below is my first formal attempt at a review, which I have tried to do indepth and professionally as possible.
At the conclusion, there will be a numerical score with a breakdown for my reasoning behind it.
– Real player with 125.5 hrs in game
This is a long review, consider yourselves warned.
I think that the mixed feelings about the game in the steam community and in general express my own feelings about it as well. While there are some aspects that are wonderful, there is also a sense that something is missing or amiss. So, rather than being a extremely coherent essay-like review, this is more of a catalogue of my views on individual aspects of the game. Also, I wil be overtly comparing this game to Planescape: Torment and not treating it separately, because I cannot go back in time and unmake myself playing PS:T and not basing my expectations of this one based on that one. Also, this review is focused much more on the game’s content, philosophy etc rather than on more formal aspects such as combat or difficulty. So, being clear on that, strap yourselves in and we may begin.
– Real player with 122.3 hrs in game
Caffeine: Victoria’s Legacy
Coffee! ( In all seriousness it’s a pretty good visual novel and a fantastic story) I feel like this visual novel is on par with Crystalline which is one of my favourite visual novels that I have read. It also reminds me of Spice and Wolf. When I heard the opening song of this Visual Novel I knew I was going to be in for a treat. I loved the soundtrack of this visual novel and the art was fantastic. This Visual Novel also has a lot of good emotional moments and there are not a lot of visual novels that I could say made me feel moved in a emotional way before. The only thing about this visual novel is that it is a shame this visual novel wasn’t fully voiced but it doesn’t stop it from being a really good visual novel and story.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxwcQ1dapw8
– Real player with 78.2 hrs in game
To begin with, I would like to thank my Steam friend KnightAvenger for helping me contact the developer, answering all my questions, listening to my suggestions and explaining various things connected with the game and its plot. You are amazing! Also, this is the person who helped with game’s text and editing, so this deserves additional kudos. And, of course, huge thanks to the developer for providing me with a key for this lovely visual novel.
Now, pleasantries aside, let me tell you about Caffeine: Victoria’s Legacy itself – and boy was it energizing due to the sheer amount of coffee facts!
– Real player with 30.2 hrs in game
Handyman
You have decided to make a living out of your outstanding talent to repair everything that falls into your hands. Search for the most lucrative jobs, build your reputation among local residents who are desperately seeking for a reliable specialist. Remember that for a decent price, you are able to fix everything, even the things you can’t fix. Modern world problems
Look only for the most lucrative jobs for yourself, build your reputation among the local residents, win their sympathy and be the best handyman in the entire district. Thanks to your above-average deduction skills and expertise, you will easily identify problems and even faster solutions to fix them.
Don’t worry, everything will be fixed
TV sets, electrical installations, furniture and pipes are no challenge for you. Thanks to your magnificent skillset, you are able to locate and repair absolutely any defect, especially those you can’t. Everything goes down to the amount of cash that will increase your account balance after the work is done.
Make good decisions
Difficult moral choices are somehow part of this profession. Sometimes, instead of going the easy way, it is better to try to do your job as best you can, because customer satisfaction should always your priority.
Key Features:
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Repairing a variety of items
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Using your eagle eye to diagnose defects
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Making tough moral decisions
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Addictive plot