Saṃsāra
Overview
SAMSARA® is a next-gen action-adventure RPG that fuses elements of Buddhism with souls-like gameplay — challenging players to meditate on their philosophy, life and death to help them find meaning through discourse, conflict and exploration.
Description:
Saṃsāra is a souls-like that challenges players to meditate on overcoming loss, failure and death through a core mechanic of reincarnation as 9 different avatars. The game is a 3D, third-person, action role-playing game (RPG) in the vein of the ‘Soulsborne’ (FromSoftware, 2009-2019) genre/series, taking cues from the older, shorter but still epic action-adventure game, Shadow of the Colossus (Team Ico, 2006-2018).
In Buddhism, Saṃsāra is the cycle of death and rebirth to which all life is bound. The players goal is to find a way to escape this cyclic existence, to escape Samsara. They will achieve this through discourse, conflict and exploration within the beautiful, deadly and dynamic Desire Realm (Kāmadhātu).
Gameplay Pillars
Core gameplay pillars include:
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Conflict - physical, ranged and magical combat encounters with NPC’s who become enemies depending on which avatar form the player assumes.
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Discourse - impactful, choice-based narratives delivered by cryptic, resolute and wandering NPC’s who are partially based on historical characters and represent Buddhist, Stoic and Daoist worldviews.
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Exploration - uncovering ancient secrets and witnessing spectacular vistas, the player will traverse the Desire Realm: from the isolated circular edge of the Cakravāḍa mountains that encompass the world; across the Four Great Continents of scorching sand, glistening ice, dense tropics and serene lakes, to their penultimate destination; ascending the sacred five-peaked heights of Mt. Meru to reach the Gods domain, or descending beneath to the fiery, dark, gold-laden root of the world where demons reign.
Read More: Best Mythology Philosophical Games.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
“Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?”
~The unknown individual
To be honest, I didn’t really plan to write this review. I mean… what is there to say? It’s the second game in Supermassive’s horror anthology (a series of short spooky stories told in “choose your own adventure” way with some QTE elements) and I already wrote detailed review of Man of Medan (which was the first one), so, like I said, what else is there to say? Surprisingly, it turned out that, even though the core mechanics here is almost identical to what we’ve seen in Man of Medan, the actual storytelling, the structure of the game is pretty different and it does make it to feel… well… different. So… here goes.
– Real player with 52.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mythology Psychological Horror Games.
“Little Hope” is one of the few cinematic, story driven games that are better played with a friend than alone and this is why I bought it. Unfortunately Supermassive Games let us down once more. We tried it a dozen of times, but just like their previous title the online coop is full of glitches, infinite loading screens and corrupted save files that didn’t let us finish the game. One year later they don’t even bother solving the problems and patching the game. Two years later they haven’t patched “Man of Medan” either. The single player is decent but nothing special. Cool story and atmosphere but definitely a step backward compared to “Man of Medan” as of the gameplay, decisions making and sceneries design. You can try couch coop though.
– Real player with 12.3 hrs in game
Trials of Argolis
I’ve done a lot of testing for this game and nearly every time was a joy (bridge boy frustrates me sometimes!! ;-;). Very fluid and smooth first-person combat with challenging bosses and fast paced action. The handpainted artwork lends a really neat aesthetic and overall it looks gorgeous. A great dynamic in play styles despite the rather simple controls and each boss has a particular gimmick to it. Lots of content and deffo worth a buy! ;_; eek
– Real player with 12.6 hrs in game
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Good concept but mechanics and actual gameplay is not polished and ass
– Real player with 3.3 hrs in game
Faraday Protocol
Hey Devs, great game. I found some of the levels challenging and a good use of logic. I did my first run in 14 hrs. and even enjoyed a second run to collect my missing collectible achievement. The jumping portions in some of the puzzles were quite easy once I figured out the timing sequence. A well thought out game and highly recommended. I’d like to see a sequel.
– Real player with 34.1 hrs in game
Awesome game. Addictive. Absolutely beautiful to look at. The puzzles are challenging and interesting. Its also pretty simple and straightforward but with a cool backstory. Would be fun to have a 2 player option, making the puzzles even more mind-bending. I really hope they make a sequel!
– Real player with 22.1 hrs in game
Half Blood RPG
I need to know something about this game… when you enter the Desert Temple and go through the spike traps and make it into the next area with the moving boulders. I got reset to the beginning of the dungeon with no ways to reactivate the boulders to move i cant get passed one of the boulders to go where i left off. I’m concerned there is a bug im dealing with or is there something I’m missing?
– Real player with 27.4 hrs in game
Freyr’s Love
Although the game is not finished, it makes me think that it may be a great experience with a story.
– Real player with 1.6 hrs in game
DISS TO MARİO. When i was kid. I played mario but now i am getting old that’s why its not for my generation. I was looking for new style 2d game but game soul must be like a mario for my son. In these day a lot of game in the market but they aren’t safe for the kids. I trully say this you can buy this game for your child. Also i liked sounds in the game.
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Heart & Soul
The first rule of Ancient Greece is to not tick off any of the gods or goddesses, though that’s already been broken. Heralded for her supernatural beauty, the attention Psyche garners worldwide causes Aphrodite to become jealous and curse her to a terrible fate: a marriage to the most monstrous being alive.
Much to Psyche’s surprise, her husband seems human, even gentle. What once seemed an inconceivably terrible fate now seems like a dream come true, though trouble isn’t far and Aphrodite hasn’t forgiven or forgotten.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes
Better than most modern movies!
At first, the story seems cliche but will intrigue you the more you learn.
Choices shape your journey and allow for multiple play-throughs in return.
Exciting, scary and silly, all in one.
It’ll take you at least 5 hours before you’re done.
Off to find more secrets, I go.
There is much more of the plot, I need to know.
But there is one final note, for me to leave.
A grade of 7/10, this piece of art will receive.
And a word of advice, as you choose who will live or die.
– Real player with 49.0 hrs in game
Good:
Very fun with friends. Your choices can affect each other’s characters and you can mess around a lot.
Voice acting was well done.
The graphics look pretty.
There is a lot of action.
Bad:
The game isn’t scary.
Quick time events don’t do anything most of the time, and failing them doesn’t affect the outcome of the scene. When this is noticed you are unimmersed.
Some dialogue choices aren’t well enough presented so you pick what initially sounds good, but then the character says something completely different than you intended.
– Real player with 25.6 hrs in game
Godlike
Pointless wouldn’t play if it was free
– Real player with 0.8 hrs in game
The game makes little sense , most of the time i die after a couple of clicks on random events
i once raided another settelment , got ripped in two
it took me a few minutes of gameplay to even understand that i can click on different houses in the settelment to make changes and hire men
its just not fun for me , it doesn’t cost much so if you want , give it a shoot , i did (still not for me)
– Real player with 0.4 hrs in game
Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind
It’s an excellent game. Surprisingly engrossing graphics, quite a lot of fun to manage your clan, etc. The negatives are… Difficult to cover without some spoilers though. So I’m giving it a thumbs up because as a stand alone it’s a masterpiece. As a successor to KoDP it has definitely gone a bit off the rails. Spoilers to follow so stop reading now.
Yes it’s an amazing game. A couple things to be aware of though, which made KoDP a standout for it’s time but which Six Ages has given up on: unlike KoDP where you were expected to follow the path your ancestors set or you were punished severely, in this one you’re supposed to be “good” using today’s moral compass instead. Seriously. You can’t kill off other tribes, they’re super easy to ally with, it’s almost impossible to lose heros (compared to the original,) you’re supposed to jump on board with everything that’d be attractive to modern sensibilities (slavery is bad, yeah help enemies consistently, etc.) That’s a pretty big departure from the original where if you spit on your clans history you’d consistently be wrecked for it, so yeah. Important to know: Your ancestors were all idiots and the gods actually support going full hippy rather than doing whatever backwards crap those apes cared about. I tried KoDP like that the first time and was shocked how punishing the game was towards applying modern morality to the game. I was dissappointed that all I had to do to be this game on its hardest difficulty was to just disregard literally everything I’d learned about the lore and the world from the original. As long as you’ve never played the original, this is a nonissue; it’s only if you’ve gotten to experience the alternative, where you’re having to make judgements based on how their culture would likely interpret and react to events, that you realize how much actual depth that removes from gameplay.
– Real player with 152.9 hrs in game
A number of your clan’s children have gone missing while foraging. Your people are anxious for their return. What do you do?
** consult the clan’s spirits
consult a god
immediately send out a search party **
King of Dragon Pass 1.9
Six Ages is a great game. It is basically a streamlined version of King of Dragon Pass with various new systems and all new stories and events. You have to manage your clan, make sure people are fed and happy, please the gods, explore lands close and distant, negotiate with other clans, practice magic, fight, etc. etc. I have heard people compare it to the Banner Saga, which I have not played yet, but I think the gameplay is fairly different. In Six Ages, you do all of the actions above by picking options in the various screens and events, not by e.g. positioning armies or walking around places. There are many, many events, which are beautifully painted scenes with text, where you have to make interesting choices that will effect the management of your clan and the world. There is really no other game quite like it; the genre is unique.
– Real player with 132.1 hrs in game