Dry Drowning
The story of Mordred Foley is the story of each and every of us
“My name is Mordred Foley, and what I’m about to tell is one of those stories that will keep you awake…"
Despite the fact I’ve been a fan of videogames since young age, it’s become increasingly rare for me to be impressed by single player titles up to a point my Steam library barely counts a half dozen titles. Such a result is the ultimate consequence of a personal war I wage against a saturated market that has in my opinion long since lost track of its original purpose: spark vivid emotions. Mass production and obsessive focus on aesthetic improvements have over time stripped contemporary games of meaningful plots, though outstanding exceptions still exist. I could spend a whole eternity elaborating on this point, but the best way to properly convey what I mean is to reference a 2005 interview featuring the frontman of Italian rock band Klimt1918. Here is what he has to say about his band’s approach to the pursuit of originality:
– Real player with 144.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Sci-fi Games.
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Review by Gaming Masterpieces - The greatest games of all time on Steam.
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Is this game a masterpiece? It’s an Italian made visual novel, thankfully without anime characters, that follows the story of a chain-smoking detective and his girl on the trail of a serial killer. The detective can see if someone is lying him into the face, so he is quite successful at interrogations. Unfortunately, his hunt for the serial killer was not always successful so far, there even was a serious failure a few years ago. All the more he would now risk anything just to finally solve the case.
– Real player with 15.5 hrs in game
The Station: Escape Room
I don’t even know where to start, so let’s go with more technical stuff. Controls are bearable, definitely not enjoyable, but bearable. Glitches here and there, as a lot of people noted, the fastest way to escape is to fall through something, because falling into starry sky is more fun than this. You also can’t save your progress so you have to replay it all over again, but don’t worry, most of the time you spend will be on running the infinite corridors and not solving puzzles.
The worst part is that your partner won’t see things the way you do. And if you get to the last puzzle you won’t be able to finish it properly because of that since even if you do complete it, your partner doesn’t and vice versa. Oh well, the ending consists of “The End.” so either of you won’t be missing much.
– Real player with 2.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Sci-fi Games.
Puzzles weren’t awful but the game is terrible. Multiplayer doesn’t work, and some of the functionality is too difficult for use. Don’t buy this game. Sorry.
– Real player with 2.2 hrs in game
The VII Enigma
DYSTOPIAN CONSPIRACY, TIME-TRAVEL & REBELLION
The VII Enigma is a sci-fi mystery visual novel set in the shadows of futuristic dystopian conspiracy. Head down the rabbit hole and uncover the mysteries of a man set against the world, as the player must navigate the path to the true ending and overcome the tyranny of time itself.
SYNOPSIS:
In the year 2060, Dr Elijah Shaw awakens in a state of confusion, the only clue to his past a mysterious orb clutched in his hand. After being hauled in for interrogation by an agent of the totalitarian ruling faction known as ‘The Bureau’; Elijah is rescued by a small band of rebel fighters. Join Elijah and the rebels as they seek to untangle the web of deceit behind ‘The Bureau’s control and to discover the secrets of Elijah’s past.
Can you overcome the tyranny of time itself? Will you crack ‘The VII Enigma’?
FEATURES:
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Sci-fi and time-travel elements integrated with action, psychological themes, plot twists and impacting character moments.
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Dynamic kinetic action sequences.
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A broad cast of complex characters set in an intricate world.
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Bad endings, normal endings, and one ‘true’ ending; all reached based upon your choices.
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Over 30+ songs on the soundtrack, written and recorded by composer ‘Caleb Coles’.
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Over 250+ background images sporting a diverse amount of scenes and locations; alongside detailed character designs by head artist Garbiel Weisz.
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Utilizes the third-person limited perspective along with side-imaging, the combination a first for the visual novel medium, to give a larger world feel.
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15-25 hours worth of gameplay with full 1080 HD for all assets and visuals.
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A unique in-game encyclopaedia called ‘The Enigma Files’, to help you piece together the clues.
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A truly stunning ending, where all the threads of mystery come together.
WISHLIST NOW!
Read More: Best Mystery Sci-fi 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
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
Sheng Tian (升天) - Episode 1
Really creative game for learning. Kinda feels a bit like Myst, very laid back and relaxing but also a productive way to spend some time learnign some new characters. I’ve been learning Chinese for a few months now and this game reflects that skill level, it is for beginners for sure. I do wish the puzzles were a bit more complicated and challenging but that might make it more stressful so it’s an interesting trade off. Overall the game and level design feels creative and unique. Worth the price for sure!
– Real player with 25.0 hrs in game
Pretty short, even for a first episode, and the game play was a little slow even for an educational game. Not bad, but hoping for more in the next releases. Perhaps incorporating mouse control. If you’re learning Chinese this can help break up the boring other stuff you’ll have to learn. Will update after/if episode 2 happens. Thanks for the learning game.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
Machinika Museum
A sci-fi adventure that scratches the Myst itch, if only for a short time.
Inspired by the classic game Myst, Littlefield Studio’s attention to detail keeps this short game grounded yet engaging. The puzzles are enjoyable, and the well-crafted narrative builds towards a solid mystery that never feels rushed or out of place. Although Machinika Museum offers a brief experience, it is a satisfying and reasonably-priced one.
Game Universe
The game is set in the future, and the player takes on the role of a researcher in a museum. The narrative takes place during one shift of work and unfolds over seven chapters. The researcher has received a shipment of alien technology to investigate from the field, and each chapter basically consists of solving puzzles to open a container with a machine in it, and then solving puzzles to examine and get the piece of machinery working. Hopefully by the end the player is able to put all of the pieces of the machine together and solve the mystery.
– Real player with 5.4 hrs in game
I Really enjoyed this game. The puzzles are ‘basically’ given to you one at a time so you won’t be looking all over the place for this or that and that VERY ANNOYING backtracking is eliminated completely,
Thank You Developers!
The graphics are fine and render without a hitch. I found one little bug but it is SO small it isn’t even worth mentioning….I just left the game and started again and it always Remembers where you left off so you don’t have to Remember to save, etc.
The inventory and movement was a ‘little’ quirky but you will SOON be able to navigate through the game easily.
– Real player with 4.2 hrs in game
Enadakina
You play a detective on a case, but the case becomes more than you expected.
Security Guy vs AI: The Dawn of AI
“Security Guy vs AI” is a really nice top-down shooting game!
The game is far from be great, but it is good enough for a free game, it is short but with nice graphics. The enemy AI is not very challenging, but I struggle more with the aiming in game, especially with some of the weapons.
But is playable and enjoyable! And best of all, is free… Fully recommend it.
– Real player with 2.2 hrs in game
This one is hard. I say yes with some slight reservations. The game is not very optimized. It lags quite a bit, even when you turn the settings down. That being said, it looks good. There is hardly no story, but it is still good what is there. It is very deadly combat, but if you know how to properly shoot (The target is a bit to the right of your actual aim.) it isn’t too hard. It is very short but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Overall I enjoyed it very much. Hopefully once I get a better computer it won’t lag so bad. I haven’t replayed it yet so I will update this review after that to reflect its replay value.
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
Skyland: Heart of the Mountain
This game was totally useless. It was confusing and full of shyte half the time. I’m not even sure the writers understood the story half the time. It is a beyond convoluted futuristic end of the world type plot with characters dressed up like Lara Croft one minute and a Viking princess the other. There is all kinds of technical mumbo jumbo and very little explanation for anything. Sometimes it felt like Artifex was trying to be scientifically accurate instead of entertaining. We don’t give a damn if the technology is correct! Just give us a game that isn’t some 40 year old trekkie’s wet dream.
– Real player with 16.9 hrs in game
Game Information
“Skyland: Heart of the Mountain” Collector’s Edition is a Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game. The game was developed by Cordelia Games and published by Artifex Mundi.
Since this is a collector’s edition game, it comes with extra features that are not available in its counterpart; the standard edition.
The Game Review
Game Visuals
I want to mention that the visual for the game is nicely done. The visuals can be adjusted in the game’s option menu. Please do note that this is an old game, it might not play well on wide screen monitors in full screen mode; due to the game’s format.
– Real player with 6.0 hrs in game
Space Hole 2020
Thank god I am not epileptic
– Real player with 6.1 hrs in game
I’m trying to determine the best way to describe Space Hole 2020. Not necessarily a game, exactly. At least not in the way the equally amazing Space Hole 2016 and Space Hole 2018 were (in one opinion.) More the culmination of the reversal of everything the YEAR 2020 has turned out to be. It’s as if all the misery, pain and loss of Year 2020 was thrown into the air, but instead of falling, everything that made Year 2020 so awful converted into the various objects of their opposing beauty and wonder, music, color and art for gamers to explore and enjoy as Space Hole 2020. What you’ll quickly discover is that Space Hole 2020 is almost equally game and art installation (though not in a pretentious, scary or off-putting way,) And the music is a world of its own, and you likely find yourself as much experiencing the music as listening to it. Simply beyond description (which, I suppose, is a reasonably good description for the game in general, if “indescribable” can technically be used as a description.)
– Real player with 4.3 hrs in game