ESCAPE
Deep in the dark underground, countless weirdness coveted the world on the ground in secret.
Finally…One day, everything got out of control.
You will be in a uncontrollable research institution which called“收藏品”, and witness the site being disintegrated by 【Data Elimination】.
Seek a gleam of light desperately in the erosion of the darkness, leading you to a closer platform to the road less travelled by.
《ESCAPE》is a platform-adventure game of new weird style, which based on the SCP Foundation. You will approach the truth of each weird collection step by step through contact, exploration, collection, and puzzle solving. Restore the unknown experiments and analysis the asylum’s records. Survive from these supernatural objects by the known information, and even use them to help you escape.
Read More: Best Mystery Thriller Games.
SIT DOWN, PLEASE
Game is a 1 out of 10 for the sheer fact it’s broken Video here (once it uploads) w/ time stamps to dialogue outside of the ending you can’t reach and the crashes: https://youtu.be/R_UDuAQKmQE
Disclaimer Unlike the other reviewers so far I actually played the full game (that you can play BEFORE making my review)
The first part of the game has the most redundant mechanic and takes sooooooooo long literally like 5-6 minutes a person to max the juice and you’re literally just managing 2 things. The story is really hard to follow the grammar is a bit off and you’re thrust into the world told A B and C and the story doesn’t really give you enough information about the world to draw you in and feel involved in the plot to be honest. I did enjoy the flashback with the grandpa that was probably the highlight of the game and story. (the story is probably the best part of the game by far). THE WORST PART IS you get all the way to the end and the heart crashes your game. I literally tried so many different ways to beat it the mechanic for even playing the ending is terribly hard because your chain move and your single light up move are on the same key and with the BACK TO BACK TO BACK COMBOS it’s almost impossible to get them without erasing your moves plus the heart heals when you make a mistake, so imagine my surprise when the game crashes after I FINALLY brought him to probably his last phase. Hopefully the crash situation will get fixed for future players. The game would have been a 6 out of 10 if it worked the story was interesting even though it’s not told particularly well told and it tries to do some neat things but the first part of the game drags because of redundancy.
– Real player with 8.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Sci-fi Games.
I wasn’t expecting a game like this at first, but it drew me in pretty much immediately. The story is really intriguing and well done, so are the characters and the ending was a nice twist. But the spearhead of this game is the atmosphere, the mood that transmits is really powerful, giving me different emotions, from distress to sadness. In a word: dark.
The only flaw, if you’re looking for a game with fast-paced gameplay, fun and dynamic, this game is not for you. In fact, it’s a bit repetitive, but once you understand that the gameplay is functional to the narrative, a simple device to tell a story, it’s something you can live with easily. In addition, there is also a fast game mode that shortens the timing and does not make you lose anything in terms of plot, a mode that I sincerely recommend to anyone who wants to approach the story giving up a little immersiveness. Basically, a game that you do not see every day and that I fully recommend.
– Real player with 3.8 hrs in game
The Wolf’s Den
The voice acting is a little rough in places, but overall it’s a fun way to eat up a few hours of your time. The Unity engine is reminiscent of a lot of mobile horror games I used to play 5 or 6 years ago, and that was pretty nostalgic for me. Either way, it seems like the dev is relatively new to game development and if that’s the case they’ve got a great start.
– Real player with 1.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Atmospheric Games.
I really loved finding the cute octopus at the end. It’s so charming cute!!!!! 3 And the notes in every stage were very well written, I almost felt like I was reading a novel. The werewolf was indeed too spooky… (be careful for your heart attack lol). I was surprised how long the tunnel is!
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Insaniam
Story
You play as investigative journalist “Mr. Johnson” after receiving several tips of a government cover up at a recently abandoned psychiatric hospital. All reports suggest illegal experiments taking place on the patients of the facility- and supposedly a government cover up. Detective Johnson decided to go through with this one off-books and after just a few days of preparation he sets out to explore the abandoned facility in the middle of the night, to recover patient records.
2AM: You arrive at the scene, it is a gloomy and silent night. Rain is pouring, wind flows through the air as an unsetteling feeling kicks in. Something isn’t right here, but there is only one way to figure out what it is…
Gameplay
Insaniam is a first person survival horror game, your objective is to retrieve at least five patient records for the abandoned facility.
You’ll be forced to scavenge for batteries to keep your camcorder charged, utilize the night vision mode to explore the dark, use sanity pills or stay in the light to keep sane, avoid hallucinations, while something is lurking in the darkness and so much more.
Gameplay is based around a speed run mechanic where you’ll play for shortest time to escape or longest time survived. Randomized game mechanics keep this experience fresh and increases re-playablity.
The game is not story focused but there is underlying lore that is optional to explore through text, visuals or audio.
Where is He
Where is He Is a Simple Psychological Indie Horror Game, Where the player Unravel the mystery Of WHO IS HE, WHERE IS HE? and why you are here.
As the Eldest Son of the Smith’s Family, you find yourself in a mysterious Mansion Looking for clues to help you solve the murder of your younger Sibling.
Features include:
-Sneak, explore, survive, and hide in this terrifying first-person mystery horror simulator.
-Use stealth to evade enemies, and hide from the lurking Shadows.
-Gather resources and locate Key items that will help you survive and further your investigation.
Higurashi When They Cry Hou - Ch.1 Onikakushi
First, a brief note to the uninitiated:
This is not a pleasant story, whatever the screenshots may have led you to believe. Beneath the veneer of a cheesy, run-of-the-mill school-comedy lies a cruel world of madness, terror, and violence. Major characters die routinely; sometimes on-screen, sometimes off, but never in a peaceful manner. Nonetheless, it is a highly compelling experience, and very rewarding if you can endure to the end of the series. If this intrigues you, feel free to read on, but those looking for nothing more than a stereotypical anime-harem-style rom-com would do well to look elsewhere. Higurashi may resemble that on a superficial level, but this is a series that delights in letting the reader think they know what is going on, even as it brings the façade crumbling down around them.
– Real player with 33.3 hrs in game
TLDR: The thumb is pointing up. That means good.
Important Information to Know
This game covers the first arc (Abducted by Demons arc, about 2 manga volumes long) of the story, while it says Ch.1 this game covers the first 4-5 episodes of the show and has something like 12 chapters in the game. This game is a visual novel with about 15 hours of reading. A visual novel is basically a book with relevant background music, sound effects, background art, and character art to enhance the reading experience.
– Real player with 23.1 hrs in game
Stories of Liane
Interesting game and looking forward to the next chapters. One thing that surprised me is that though the date is 300 years in our future, when I stepped into the office I saw stacks of reams of paper, a photocopier that would fit in any of our offices today, desk telephones and fans, etc. I honestly would expect the office equipment to be maybe vaguely recognisable and I would not expect to find a copier and reams of paper. Surely in 300 years there will truly be paperless offices. When I look into the future I expect to see the future. Hell, the original Star Trek did much better than this.
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
Please read (I don’t want this to come off sassy):
So I have a medium to beefy PC, with a higher end GPU. I also do 3d Modelling, animation, game development, and play a lot of games with the highest graphics settings (currently breezing through The Medium and Tomb Raider SOTTR on the highest settings).
After having installed this game without even beginning to play it, I for the first time, saw artifacting from my GPU with it blowing over the 8GB, meaning that the way this game was made is demanding more than what’s necessary.
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
The Cursed Forest
I originally played this game when it was released and posted my thoughts in a review at Just Adventure. It is still accessible even though the site is dormant. At the time, I gave The Cursed Forest high marks.
I just finished replaying the game and my intention was to run through and pick up the achievements I had missed. Instead, I became totally absorbed and played a ‘new game’ all the way through.
The game begins with you receiving a phone call in the middle of the night and rushing off in your car. You are in a hurry and end up crashing in a mysterious forest. Your task is to find your way out. The Cursed Forest has been created in great detail with cabins, swamps, cliffs, lakes, campfires, caves, etc. There is a lot to explore and you quickly find that no people remain in the forest (only their possessions and homes are evident). The story of what happened to them is discovered in dozens of notes that you find along your journey.
– Real player with 15.5 hrs in game
This game has a lot of problems; it is mainly an exploration game, but areas are big and secrets are sparse. Achievements are fine, I didn’t use a walkthrough and found all of them but two on my first playthrough (and the other two I didn’t find accidentally, I almost did). However, if you like exploring, like me, there isn’t enough in this game to keep you invested with exploration, and you’ll end up getting bored. In addition, there is a bug that makes some notes not appear where they should (I’m not even sure why, seems to be a random thing), and you can lose a lot of time searching for them, not realizing it was a bug (if you miss one note on Section 1 and one on Section 4, try restarting the section; also, the last section says there are 9 Sarah letters, but there are only 7, according to developers).
– Real player with 14.2 hrs in game
Westmark Manor
Just completed the game and I loved it! There are some issues with bugs, which caused me to have to restart the game a few times. I suspect that the issues will be dealt with because the developers seem to be paying attention.
What I enjoyed about the game:
1. There’s an immensely creepy house to explore, with lots of nooks and crannies! There are plenty of fun surprises behind locked/ barricaded/ boarded shut doors. Keys, axes, and puzzles help to get you into them.
2. The sound effects, music, and somewhat flat tone of the main character suits the genre and adds well to the atmosphere. The giant-headed-guardian-of-stuff has the most entertaining voice. I’ll be thinking “Damn. Daft. House” randomly for days, I just know it.
– Real player with 78.8 hrs in game
A fun, horror-adventure title.
While still rough around the edges, and greatly needing more optimization, Westmark Manor still manages to be a lot of fun once you get a handle of its core gameplay. While the mansion’s layout is largely fixed, many items are randomized, prompting exploration of the dark abode as you look for clues to solve the puzzles, which manage to be strange and as bizarre as their Lovecraftian inspirations, yet still manage to remain in the realm of sensible compared to other adventure titles and their extreme sense of logic.
– Real player with 21.2 hrs in game
Birth ME Code
EDIT: Review updated to reflect the Feb 7th 2021 ending rewrite (version 1.2.1).
–—
Birth ME Code (BMEC) is solid second entry in the ABiMe series and sequel to Head AS Code.
Overall, an enjoyable experience, although not without its criminals cons. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who enjoys darker, grittier plot-heavy mysteries and visual novels.
Disclaimer: From a gameplay perspective, BMEC does NOT offer fully integrated escape room puzzles like Zero Escape nor Classroom Trials / Endless Debates like Danganronpa, so if you go in expecting either of these from this indie game, prepare to be disappointed in that regard.
– Real player with 56.7 hrs in game
I rarely write reviews, but I felt compelled to write about this… experience, I think I’ll call it. I’m a huge fan of Zero Escape and having played this developer’s first game (Head AS Code), I was counting down the minutes until its release so I could have a solid excuse to ignore the giant pile of work sitting on my desk.
So was it worth it? Yes, absolutely, 100%, without a doubt, every penny.
Birth ME Code is an ontological mystery game wherein a bunch of people are dumped in a place and told they’ve gotta play a death game for the chance to MAYBE get out alive. So yes, same premise as Zero Escape. However, this genre is less about premise and more about world building, twists, and flowcharts. Flowcharts are essential because they allow the player to live the story from all perspectives. How many times do you play a game or watch a movie and think, “I wonder what would happen if that guy died instead of this lady?” I know, frequently. It was a rhetorical question.
– Real player with 39.1 hrs in game