The Monster Inside
This review was written in English and Russian in purpose to save your money and time.
_“I don’t believe in coincidences."
“Neither do I. That’s a coincidence, isn’t it?”
― Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair_
The Monster Inside is a short visual novel made in noir style.
In the game you play as a detective Jack (I’m not surprised he’s named like this), so you’re going to investigate crime scenes (three) searching for clues (two in each scene). But keep it in mind The Monster Inside is more a narrative than а game.
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Indie Games.
Another supernaturally-themed detective thriller. Given that my last review was for Adam Wolfe, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking I’m on some sort of binge here…but it’s all just coincidence yer honour, I swear. And while this is definitely the inferior of the two, it’s also the more inexpensive of the two (i.e. free!), so I’m gonna go easy on it. But only this one time. Capeesh?
There’s three main things people tend to expect from “visual novels”. The first is a nice visual style, and this game most certainly has that (with nice sound design and dandy music, to boot). The second is a good story, and while there’s the hint of something potentially noteworthy here, it’s all too brief and half-baked to carry much weight (the narrative feels like it wraps up just as it starts to get going).
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
The True Tales of Bloodstreet 13 - Chapter 1
Partially based on truth, partially based on myth, Bloodstreet 13 takes place in the Amsterdam of old. The game plays like a first-person point and clicker, with a dialog / action system reminiscent of modern-day RPGS. Mixing a 3D world with 2D characters leads to a distinct visual style.
The story of the game is non-linear, players are free to jump into a characters storyline and play around, actions in one characters story will have consequences in that of another. Players are left to figure out which actions lead to which consequences and will need to discover which combination progresses the story and unlocks new characters. An interesting system, which leads to you going back in time to revisit previous characters, changing their actions to open up new paths in your playthrough.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Indie Games.
I like this game because it provided a mental challenge that is multifaceted. I hope Chapter 2 will be made soon and can’t wait to play it. I also like the atmosphere created by music and lighting. The fact that it is almost a “locked room” mystery is a nod to great detective stories in the past. There are a lot of games out there with fancy graphics and gory details, but this game scared me simply because it has a simple setting and the background is sparse. In the end, it leaves you wanting more. I would recommend this to people who have a bit of time on their hand and also good at thinking outside the square. However, it is not a very long game as it is “Chapter 1” in the series.
– Real player with 3.3 hrs in game
IVAN POE
[COSMIC SOUP – HOLD MUSIC – RECORDED MESSAGE STARTS]
Down the Colons!
Stamp the Pits!
Farm the Hemispheres!
Sound the Tannoy!
Collect the Solids!
Of the Shelf!
[RECORDING CLICKS OFF]
Ivan Poe is a third person find-your-way puzzle adventure following this cuboid character as they keep truckin' on through the Cosmic Soup.
Ivan Poe needs your help to explore this mysterious world. Locked inside a celestial loop, you need to take control of rollin’ Poe, pick your way across cosmic planes covered with bubbling, colourful patterns, and traverse the different realms therein.
Trapped within a spinning room, Max Gold will tell you what to do: watch out for Dummy Ivans, gobble the pills, and then pick a hole, and hole? Falling through the Cosmic Colon you spill out into one of numerous rooms found at the other end of these tubes. Here you’ll meet curious characters, who’ll guide you on your way and reveal just a little bit more about the Gold Ones.
Fulfil your quota in the Squelch Pit Factory, find-your-way across the gantries and conveyors, watch out for the chitlers, rams’n’hoppers, and don’t fall down the tubs’n’funnels! Harvest the hemispheres, avoid the maggots, play the tannoy, master the Elephant Solids, and don’t forget to make some art with your good frieeend Rat Scout.
Switcheroo, you’re falling into another world. Who’s in control here? Ivan Poe?
Read More: Best Mystery Indie Games.
Metaphobia
I started this game at the end of a very tiring day to unwind with some simple puzzles. Instead, I found myself stuck on what turned out to be a relatively easy one early on. I was exhausted, so I fell asleep in the middle of solving it. It happened again because I kept playing at the end of a long day, so I would say my actual playtime is probably 2 hours shorter than recorded, mainly due to the unintentional naps.
I want to clarify that I did not fall asleep because I was bored—the combination of my mental and physical exhaustion from a long day plus being stuck on a puzzle just did me in. I enjoyed the puzzles very much, even when I had to resort to trial and error sometimes!
– Real player with 9.3 hrs in game
Pros:
-Music
-Voice (not the acting per se, which is slightly above mediocre, but the variety of differently voiced characters)
-Narrative text (the writing is actually rather good and the amount of work put into writing is admirable)
-Riddles. Riddles are good, wish there were more of those.
Cons
-Poor storytelling. Even though the plot evolves more or less naturally, there are large inconsistencies which spoil the experience. The general storyline itself is primitive-esque and revolves around an overused and outmoded theme. And the ending is outright frustrating on many levels, from the rather poor narrative decision of fitting a good half of the global storyline into one long dialogue to the feeling of dissatisfacton with the outcome.
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
MINDNIGHT
I’ve put enough time into this game to understand a lot its strengths and weaknesses. This is a social deduction game that was balanced to favor one side in many modes, enabling the game to lean on that mechanic. It enables a unique type of gameplay that I find very engaging. The devs threw a ton of thought and patience in the core mechanics, and they’re incredibly active in the game’s discord server. They regularly receive feedback and interact with the community.
Unfortunately, the game is unfixable.
– Real player with 108.0 hrs in game
A simple hidden role game, and free to play, at that. The gameplay itself is very good - not perfect, but it’s still in development - but the community is VERY bad, and I consider this to be partly the fault of the developers. Not ENTIRELY their fault, but….
For example, the report system. You can report people for harrassment or abuse or spam. That’s good. So what’s the problem? You can also report people for cheating, or for gamethrowing. If a person is reported often enough - for any offense - they are automatically banned by a bot and must appeal to the mods. This encourages bullies to sling reports at people for perceived offenses that didn’t occur, giving them even more power and generally fueling a negative atmosphere.
– Real player with 40.1 hrs in game
MONITOR: The Game
EDIT: I have made a 100% guide for both the main game and the ALIX DLC (link can be found in main guide) http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1142352125 Now the review.
Amazing game with a great story, It kinda feels like an Escape the Room type game with all of the secrets in the room that aren’t apparent at all. The game has 10 endings 1 of those is the “best” ending, needing to find all the secrets and uncover the deeper story. Overall the vibe from the amazing music and the story make this a great game 10/10. EDIT: ALIX DLC Review; An amazing development in the story, great soundtrack and great writing to set tone of the add-on. More hands on choices with this one, and interesting dialogue Other DLC’s are readable and give more insight to the story as well as what happens after ALIX’s Best ending as well; worth a read if you enjoy the Game and DLC as much as i did
– Real player with 52.4 hrs in game
TBH, even for being free, this.. isn’t great. The game’s hideous despite being in the unreal engine and making your graphics card run hot. Plot is. Strange? Voice work is the best part, but the game really could use some way to speed things along, and even the day select doesn’t make things less tedious. for some endings? I just. Let the game run while I read a book. Because I had nothing else to do after having listened to most of the convos already.
The Alix DLC is slightly more interesting than the game itself, but it’s also incredibly hideous. + Alix’s voice is grating even if Nathan’s voice is nice. If I’d recommend playing any of it, I’d recommend playing that? but. Yeah, skip this unless you just want free achievements, and play Unheard instead. Unheard has fast forward, pause, and rewind. + Unheard is just more interesting, AND far prettier.
– Real player with 7.4 hrs in game
Scorch
PROS:
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Impressive voice-acting especially for a free-to-play game
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An okay storyline. Enough to keep you interested for the game’s duration.
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Not bad graphics. They aren’t flashy by any means, but I’ll welcome this over other games where objects look raw and out of place.
CONS:
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Super short playtime and not enough incentive to replay it.
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Getting the ending right is hard for almost everybody. Knowing the culprit was easy enough but the questions asked at the end made it hard to actually pinpoint why you chose that specific person as the suspect.
– Real player with 4.3 hrs in game
Can anyone really escape their past?…maybe if Liberty Caps were in the equation!!
Scorch is a minimalist short free to play that has some beautifully rendered scenic touches from falling Autumn leaves that, as the day progresses into evening, transform into firefly like white lights floating around which compliments the Autumn forest setting of oranges, browns and subtle reds.
There is a choice box at the startup of the game that allows you to choose the graphics quality & the screen resolution which, naturally, impacts the graphical appearance of the game.
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
The Informant Chronicles- Chronicle 1: Riverside Danger Part 1
⠄⠄⠄⠄⣠⣴⣿⣿⣿⣷⣦⡠⣴⣶⣶⣶⣦⡀⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄it’s good
⠄⠄⠄⣴⣿⣿⣫⣭⣭⣭⣭⣥⢹⣟⣛⣛⣛⣃⣀⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄Play it
⠄⣠⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⢯⡓⢻⠿⠿⠷⡜⣯⠭⢽⠿⠯⠽⣀⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄Christmas
⣼⣿⣾⣿⣿⣿⣥⣝⠂⠐⠈⢸⠿⢆⠱⠯⠄⠈⠸⣛⡒⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄started!
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣶⣭⡭⢟⣲⣶⡿⠿⠿⠿⠿⠋⠄⠄⣴⠶⠶⠶⠶⠶⢶⡀
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢟⣛⠿⢿⣷⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⡄⠄⢰⠇⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠈⣧
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⡹⣭⣛⠳⠶⠬⠭⢭⣝⣛⣛⣛⣫⣭⡥⠄⠸⡄⣶⣶⣾⣿⣿⢇⡟
⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⣭⣛⣛⡛⠳⠶⠶⠶⣶⣶⣶⠶⠄⠄⠄⠙⠮⣽⣛⣫⡵⠊⠁
⣍⡲⠮⣍⣙⣛⣛⡻⠿⠿⠿⠿⠿⠿⠿⠖⠂⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⣸⠄⠄⠄⠄
⣿⣿⣿⣶⣦⣬⣭⣭⣭⣝⣭⣭⣭⣴⣷⣦⡀⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠠⠤⠿⠦⠤⠄
– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game
It’s a really good game! It’s fun to wander around and get to know what has happened in the forest on that day. Though, whenever I talk to Ivring, it never lets me progress into the conversation. It’s always just “Talk to me when I’m in a chipper mood.” But, this was released 2 days ago, so it might be in development, or might be a bug! I slept at this moment to see if that would work, but the next day I couldn’t do anything with anyone. When I went back to my office, it just says I should keep talking to everyone, so I went back to my save, and got the same results. It’s a very good game, though! I love the mechanics!
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Typical Cliche
Overall: Despite being a ‘Typical Cliche.’ I actually really liked this game. The translation was a bit off, however I spent way too long on this game and found a few glitches to make some parts of it easier. It’s free, so why not?
Recommended for RPG maker fans, and anyone who’s bored and wants something interesting to play.
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
if you want to endure pain
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
6 PEOPLE
It’s like a mini short ghost story, which the ending of it is surprising/makes the player think what actually happened to those passengers.
There are no voice actors but the sound effects are good enough to simulate a train environment. The contents in the conversations and actions in the mini novel are not redundant/extra, everything in it are straight to the point and gives each character their characteristic.
I look forward to your new product in the future. ^_^ I would like to see more of the old man appearing in future stories as a wiseman.
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
Un-engaging, Uninspired, Uninteresting.
Flick through the screenshots and you will have seen half the game. No, seriously. This is a “blink and you’ll miss it” experience if ever there was one. That isn’t the central issue though - I’ve no problem with short and snappy little horror games if they have a point to them, and if they can engage you despite the brisk playtime. The issue is that 6 PEOPLE does neither. After I finished the experience and the
! menu changed with the addition of the phone I thought maybe this was one of those games that would change after you restarted it - I went through and wasted another five to ten minutes of my life only to experience the exact same thing. I’m not even entirely sure what the plot was supposed to mean. There are no choices and not even the illusion of choices, the only response you make is ‘…….’. The only positives I could extract were that it was a free experience… and that it thankfully only wasted a few minutes of my time. A distinct lack of any form of substance or player involvement makes my recommendation for 6 PEOPLE a strong and emphatic AVOID.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game