Broken Lines
It is an “ok” game if you have no better alternatives. The reason I gave a thumb down is because of so many super positive reviews with which I disagree and think they distort the picture here.
TACTICS / GAMEPLAY - 3/5
The challenge curve is rather flat, mostly without any complex or demanding situations. Maps are all very similar in terms of combat challenges (very similar setups of obstacles, terrain, challenges etc).
One of the top reviewers here complained about pulling extra pods in Xcom due to bad mechanics - IT IS THE SAME HERE! Once you spot 1 enemy then the time does not stop when you discover more enemies. So you end up pulling more and more enemies and your soldiers once told to go somewhere, will never abort the order even if going straight into the enemy guns.
– Real player with 37.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Singleplayer Games.
I would recommend Broken Lines for those seeking a simpler, yet more raw/ intense tactics gaming experience than XCom. If you’re just a fan of third person tactic games and want to try something with a neat tactical twist, Broken Lines is a great purchase.
Differences from your average squad based tactics game:
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Biggest difference is the 8 second command increments. You provide your soldiers a series of orders to execute in sequence, then let time flow and see how they worked out.
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Set characters means being able to bake in things like how your soldiers work together or interact based on your back story.
– Real player with 20.7 hrs in game
Guilty Parade
I continued to become more and more invested. It surprised me how in-depth some of the characters were written and as I played, I witnessed some really nice character development along with it. I can tell a lot of love was put into this game and if you’re looking for a compelling character-driven story, this would be it. Visual Novels are not normally to this level of detail and intrigue and I believe this game could really rise in popularity. It’s a new game that is still ongoing, so there’s more to anticipate as you play it through. Very fun game to play with friends; there’s a lot of different route choices. I highly recommend it!
– Real player with 37.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Choices Matter Games.
Guilty Parade easily became one of my favorite visual novel games I’ve ever played so far. I immediately 100% the game (as of episode 2) in terms of achievements since I couldn’t stop playing it (to the point that I played the current episodes twice now lol). I’m so glad that I accidentally stumbled on this game’s demo on gamejolt or itch.io and quickly followed the developers for future updates.
Quick review:
As of the release of episode 2 (+ episode 1, the demo), Guilty Parade has a lot of potential to become an outstanding and memorable mystery visual novel game. Episode 2 greatly exceeded my expectations, and I’m excited to play the next episodes. The characters are all unique and lovable in their own ways and I love seeing their interactions with one another and/or with Nemo or Lien. I’d watch them discuss something meaningless and I would still enjoy it. (I love all of the characters, but my personal favorite is definitely Yakov, top tier best boy. His chaotic personality and inability to trust others just makes me want to befriend him and gain his trust even more lol. {Spoiler near the end of episode 2}
! And when he started to trust Nemo a bit more if you choose to tell him the truth about Nemo’s reason on investigating the murder case, he looked genuine and sincere T-T or maybe it’s just me feeling soft for him). The world of Guilty Parade has so many secrets and mysteries in which you and Nemo need to discover and find out yourself. But, what I’m more curious about is Nemo’s identity and which side he’ll choose after finding out about his past.
– Real player with 29.4 hrs in game
The Way Of Love: Sub Zero
This game had been sitting on my wishlist for quite a while and I’m so glad I decided to give it a go. I must admit, it’s technically flawed, sometimes a lot. Also, there were times when I didn’t really understand what was going on. But in the end everything somehow glued together (pretty much) and the game turned out to be quite alright. I think the things I liked the most were the detailed scenes, which looked very nice, and the voice acting - the actors really made an effort.
So yeah, if you’re into the genre and your expectations aren’t too high, this should be a nice game.
– Real player with 7.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Violent Games.
The Way Of Love: Sub Zero has nothing to do with love. Nor does it have anything to do with cold temperatures.
If you decide to pick up this game, please remember to save often; the game will not hesitate to soft lock.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
Under the Counter
Under the Counter is a narrative simulation in which you run a bar on a local market. Your task is to solve the mystery of its missing people while serving food and moonshine to both city residents and demonic forces from a parallel world.
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Serve your famous stew and drinks to customers. Be careful to do it right so the payment is adequate.
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Help the locals, the resistance movement, and even the invading soldiers (at least the ones who are friendly!) by using your exquisite networking skills and natural charm.
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Test your senses and serve simultaneously. You know, like a good bartender who pours the pint while chatting up his guests.
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Immerse yourself in a wartime story with a supernatural twist. Surely Eastern European urban folklore is not something that you can experience in video games very often?
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Enjoy the alluring hand-drawn graphics and animations that reflect the strange atmosphere of the unfolding story.
You play as Vincent, an ex-sailor who started his stall with food and drink. People still need to eat during the war, and you can cook the best stew basically out of anything. To make things fancier, your second specialty is home-made booze. [And in times like these, people drink a lot.] It is unique not only because of its sheer alcoholic content but also in the way it is served. Most people will drink just as a straight shot, but AT YOUR PLACE they can mix it with cherry juice! Simple, but genius.
The biggest problem that interferes with your business is the Great War that has started a few months ago. So, your city is now occupied, the enemies are imposing their new order, and they don’t treat your people in a good way. But by some strange twist of fate, they do seem to like you and your services. It makes you the perfect double agent and you immediately start plotting with your former friends from the military.
The war is in its prime and the enemy is omnipresent. But that’s not all. The market keeps getting weirder. First, you hear about the disappearances. On top of that, there are rumours about an odd military unit that has just arrived in the city. Since the day you heard about it, you’ve kept having eerie recurring dreams about a monstrous entity slithering in the darkness and gazing at you with its many eyes. And your customers seem to become increasingly stranger each day, not to mention that mysterious woman who carries a faint, yet so easily recognisable scent of the sea…
Bring Death
Revenge your loved ones - No matter what it takes, and no matter how much suffering you have to inflict!
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Travel the lands, to gather units and resources
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Build an army strong enough to defeat your enemies
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Tactical turn-based strategy
CHARIOT WARS
Watch intro which lasts 5+ minutes and cuts off before its' conclusion.
Start my first race, the AI pull ahead.
The AI swap positions with each other off screen.
Catch up with said AI, and they are in a perfect line, no swapping of positions.
But, still shows AI swapping positions on the side bar?
Insert confusion.
Pass some chariots - shows me in last position.
Pass all chariots, cross the start/finish line first, tells me I lost.
Insert more confusion.
Restart race…
The AI start climbing up the scenery and doing doughnuts.
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
After getting this game as a gift, I now want to pay my friend for getting it. I also want to pay him for getting himself a copy because I now have a seriously dangerous urge to get into a car crash. This games CPU has an IQ worse than its fps as they will slam the walls cheeks harder than Jordi El Nino. The worse thing about this though is the 5 minute intro. The only reason we all played this is because of the lore. 11/10
PS if you’re into 500cc mario kart, this is for you.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
Trouble Hunter Chronicles: The Stolen Creed
Iskonsko Studio has put a lot of hard work into this indie gem and it really shows!
From the starting scene I was instantly hooked and wanted to keep playing to find out how the story unfolded. There’s a lot of puzzles to solve and most of the characters in the game are voiced which I think adds a lot to the immersion.
Don’t be fooled by the demo. The full version is so much better, smooth and fun to play than that early build of the game.
I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys Point & Click- adventures
– Real player with 15.9 hrs in game
It’s a long path to the truth; good luck getting there.
Though my recommendation is somewhat low, those particularly fond of Point & Click will find more to digest here, if not a sufficient challenge. Trouble Hunter Chronicles: The Stolen Creed is a pretty packed adventure with a lot of dialogue and puzzle-based trials. If one can get past some rather apparent technical visual and auditory mishaps, it’s a perfectly satisfactory mystery title geared towards retro veterans. But I really must stress: good luck.
– Real player with 8.2 hrs in game
Across
A STORY TO BE TOLD AND A WORLD TO BE DISCOVERED
After waking up not knowing what happened a lioness cub tries to find her owners with the tracks that they left behind not knowing that it will lead her to a journey that will challenge her and know what happened to her owners. Discover the land of Flihela that is filled with windy plains, crimson red forest and snowy ravines all through the eyes of a lioness cub, and a little girl who just lost her precious furry friend blaming herself for what happened. You as the player will take on this journey with the lioness cub also followed by a mysterious bird, to know what happened to the family and where are they.
SAVE THAT IS FROZEN FROM TIME
Bring back the creatures of Flihela from these mysterious shrines.
FRAGMENTS OF TIME
Pick up the fragments of time that will show you the past.
Crown Land
What if medieval Europe and precolonial America were swapped? Crown Land is an epic fantasy visual novel set on an alternate Earth. Meet kings in Texas, lords in California, knights in New York, Cherokees in France, and many more! Crown Land features a cast of over THIRTY fully drawn characters, medieval twists on locations from all over North America (Texas, California, New York, Canada, and more), and a dark, gripping plotline. Wishlist Crown Land now!
Hunt down the horrendous Horned Face and avenge the death of his betrothed. That was the mission, and obsession, that Ethan Primrose had walked away from. Now, he lives his life peacefully and rules the State of California as the heir of both House Primrose and the Western region of the Fifty States. There he lives with his guilt-ridden squire, Olivia, and his wide-eyed sister, Novah. But everything changes when an old friend, one also with an insatiable obsession for finding the Horned Face, vanishes under mysterious circumstances.
To the north of the Fifty States, Premier Nyanna of the Province of Ontario has tried her best to keep the Republic out of a war with its southern neighbor. But when she learns about her brother’s unnatural circumstances, she commits herself to find the truth about her brother. Just as determined as she are her remaining brothers Sawyer and Hayes Maple— the first an arch-priest pushing for controversial reformations, the second the new and unprepared heir of House Maple.
Although separated by thousands of miles and vast landscapes, the actions of each character are concretely and profoundly felt by each and everyone else. With the entire Continent tenaciously teetering on the edge of a full-scale war, each character must understand that their actions and desires impact not just themselves, but the fate of the entire Continent.
Crown Land features a massive cast of over THIRTY drawn, original characters. The following is merely a small sample of them all.
Flowers -Le volume sur ete-
Wow, wow, wow. What a game. Let me just say that this is usually not my kind of thing, but by the end of it, I really quite enjoyed it. This is the second game of the series but if you didn’t play the first game like me, you really wouldn’t be lost at all so there is nothing to worry about there.
I don’t think the main story is particularly interesting. In some ways, the main story is actually really cliche. But I think what really carries the story through is the dialog and character development these characters go through on top of just being interesting and likeable characters in themselves. I particularly love Erika, the MC of this game and Suoh who I think is the MC of the last game. Chidori never rubbed off on me that well but I feel like that was the point of her character and her development by the end of it made me care for her all the same.
– Real player with 39.4 hrs in game
Score: 10/10
Spoiler warning: If you don’t want any spoilers for this game, jump to the last paragraph
(I will refer to Flowers -Le volume sur printemps- as Spring, this game as Summer, Flowers -Le volume sur Automne- as Autumn, and Flowers -Le volume sur hiver- as Winter.)
Scores for the series
Whole Flowers Series: 9/10
– Real player with 32.0 hrs in game