Gemini Rue
Gemini Rue is a sci-fi detective-noir style point & click adventure game. It’s retro in appearance, using pixel art graphics reminiscent of early to mid-90’s Sierra and Lucas Arts games. Its story, however, is more modern and gritty.
The game opens with a small cinematic of a character called Delta-Six, who is having his memory wiped, then switches to the first playable character, Azriel Odin, standing around waiting in the rain on an empty street. His short scene before playing informs you that you are looking for your brother, but not much else. It’s a little unclear what your role is or who you are in the greater story at this point, but that’s slowly revealed over time. Throughout the game, you’ll end up switching between playing as Delta-Six and Azriel Odin, discovering each of their narratives and how the seemingly unrelated stories intertwine. There are several elements to the overall story that seem like they’re meant to misdirect you as to your relationships with certain people and what your past actually is. This helps to keep you guessing in the game and eager to discover more about the characters. Unfortunately, this also leads to pacing issues that make parts of the game seem unnecessarily slow. The overall writing is decent and fits well for the tone of the game.
– Real player with 21.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Noir Adventure Games.
Need a quick help deciding whether to buy this game or not? Here, it’s an old school point and click adventure game with a sci-fi/cyberpunk/noir vibe to it, think about Beneath a Steel Sky. It also seems to be emulating all the flaws that classic adventure games used to suffer from. If that alone is enough to sell you, grab it, otherwise, skip it.
The game is using the classic adventure game control scheme in which you can do several things with each object in the game world. If you ever played something like Monkey Island, you know what I’m talking about. It’s the outdated control scheme that makes you wonder if you want to open a door, look at it, smell it, lick it or write a poem about it. Some people like this detailed style of interaction but personally I think it’s gone from most modern games for a good reason. It just makes you click more until you find the right way to interact with each and every object. Thankfully Gemini Rue has only four ways to interact with everything, but apart from maybe two objects in the entire game, there’s only one interaction that gets you anywhere for each object. Looking at stuff is useful, arguably, because it gives you flavour text and sometimes hints, but do you really need the option to shoot every fire hydrant and talk to every mailbox if you never have to in order to progress? It leads to absurd situations when you get stuck and try all the options on everything to find something you think you might have missed and you suddenly find yourself trying to kick graffiti or talking to a random piece of rubbish on a sidewalk.
– Real player with 12.9 hrs in game
The Secret of Retropolis
Disclaimer: I was given a copy for free as I was involved in the beta testing for the Steam version.
The game was successfully enjoyed with an Oculus Quest 2 headset and Airlink.
The Secret of Retropolis is a classic point & click adventure game in VR that puts you in the pants of a robot detective that is hired by a famous movie star to retrieve a stolen necklace. The story will evolve in unpredicted ways in the classic style of a film noir.
Let’s get the elephant out of the room, it’s a short experience and it will not require more than 1h30 for a first playthrough.
– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Noir Steampunk Games.
Don’t call it outdated – it’s retro! Point and click adventures are back in the charming, tongue-in-cheek film noir “The Secret of Retropolis.”
The Good:
1. Art/Style – Put simply, Retropolis is a bundle of cel-shaded panache that feels like someone took all the best parts of the artistic styles of Metropolis, Futurama, and the classic LucasArts SCUMM engine point and clicks, brought to life in VR. The “film within a film” cutscenes are a particular standout in terms of presentation.
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game
ALLBLACK Phase 1
ALLBLACK Phase 1 is a free to play Kinetic Visual Novel split into 3 chapters that grabs your attention from the start with its intense action involving an amnesiac who is rescued at sea by a fishing vessel and, upon docking, is thrust into a world of mystery & intrigue. The plot is driven by a gradual unravelling of self-discovery experienced during life-threatening scenarios that the amnesiac encounters the moment he leaves the fishing vessel.
There are moments when reading this VN that you’re immediately reminded of the Jason Bourne novel The Bourne Identity and, even though this VN is based off a novel, it’s conversion maintains the same engrossing desire to want to share the journey of discovering the unknown about the amnesiac.
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Noir Anime Games.
This may be the strangest things I have completed on Steam. The game/story started out very strong but quickly my enjoyment descended into hell. The art and sound are amazing. The story is interesting. This games downfall is the writing. The story drags because of the asinine level of unnecessary detail make sections that should be exciting into extremely long narrative that go on and on and on. At first I found this amusing but by chapter 2’s end my enjoyment drifted to frustration.
– Real player with 5.1 hrs in game
Athanasy
GENRES: VN, Adventure, Sci-fi, Horror, Biohorror, Biopunk.
PLAYTIME: 2-10 hours
SUMMARY:
DESCRIPTION:
Deep under the surface of the dead Earth, the last haven of humanity — the City — is teeming with life. A combined effort of engineering genius and all mankind’s endeavors, a giant structure made of steel, concrete, and biopolymers, keeps the remnants of civilization one step away from complete extinction.
Josiah Kaviani, a young mathematician and statistician, starts his journey in an underground maze of cramped streets. He is talented and intelligent, but he has one terrible drawback — his unbearable loneliness.
But soon Josiah will have a fateful encounter that will turn his whole life, and his worldview, upside-down. A meeting with someone — or, perhaps, something — that is hidden in such depths that even the cyclopean City cannot reach them. Something so hidden that the very knowledge of it can be deadly. Something truly monstrous.
FEATURES:
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A well-written world with deep lore and terminology.
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Complex, adult characters, each with their own motives, aspirations, and skeletons in the closet.
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A variety of complex and difficult choices that might lead the story to an unexpected end at any time.
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A dark and frightening science fiction story based on real study.
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A variety of different routes and endings — realistic situations that end poorly or worse.
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An atmospheric soundtrack specially written for the game — each track is inextricably linked with the narrative.
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A lot of high-quality art.
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Special art gallery where the player can check their progress.
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Some of the author’s ideas were censored as to be found too dark and cruel…
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…but most of them remained.
Choices That Matter: And The Sun Went Out
Incredible, a definite must play if you enjoy CYOA books and games. While not literally every choice you make is going to change the course of the narrative, they hel immerse the player into the main character’s role, this paired with the intresting story and characters, and the intriguing mysteries make for an amazing experience if you like this kind of game
– Real player with 16.1 hrs in game
I’m just starting arc 5 i think and wow has it been a cool ride so far. i googled it and apparently on any given play through you only read 150,000 of a total 600,000 words which leads me to believe that these choices that seem like they really change whats going on, really do. Which also inspires anxiety but hey that’s all in the fun of making serious choices. so far solid 8/10 8.5 because canada eh
– Real player with 6.6 hrs in game
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
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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
NetSpace Saga Ep.1
When the crew of the Black Coffee Class C Transport ship finds themselves with no cash and no fuel, they have to ask for work from an old, unpleasant acquaintance, which unchains a series of events that will change the fate of the Solar System, making them unlikely heroes.
Fight your way against aliens, zombies, robots, androids, AI’s, sicarios, and more while meeting hundreds of characters in the Asteroid Cities, vInternet (a Virtual Internet that has gone mad), and Deep Space. Rescue three girls in danger and learn Satan’s true name, while uncovering a terrible conspiracy.
Features of Episode 1:
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A modern take on classic gameplay!
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Turn-based Battle with Point N' Click elements, just like the JRPG gems of the past!
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An irreverent story with characters you will never forget!
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Save anywhere!
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More than 70 unique enemies!
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Meet hundreds of characters!
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10 or more hours of gameplay!
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4 or more hours of hilarious side quests!
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A dark, cyberpunk soundtrack by The Krundas!
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More than 40 levels!
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You can connect to vInternet anytime and explore!
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Use Chips to learn new abilities!
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Episodic story!
Synther
Features:
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You Are The Agent - you belong to Steiger corporation, a privatised company employing hunters. You are participating in the Awant project - the first programme that uses servo-savants to remotely accomplish dangerous tasks.
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Open World - more than 70% of the island is explorable: from docks and metro station recesses to individual flats inside buildings. Use various routes to reach and explore the location.
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Autonomous City - you are not a hero, you’re a newcomer with a specific task, the city will take care of itself without you and go on regardless.
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Unique and simple player interface - no excess on-screen information, all actions are accessible with a few keys.
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Personal Microcomputer - translate, discover, gain valuable information and start conversations with every character you meet.
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Reputation System - be good or bad, make enemies or allies, every decision matters.
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General Language SGA - learn the famous Standard Galactic Alphabet or use your microcomputer to translate visually in real-time.
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World Randomization - thanks to the total randomization of the main mission setup the gameplay is different every time.
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Think Like A Detective - look for clues and analyse them to solve cases.
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Learn Electronics - learn the basics of logic systems by hacking, disabling door locks as well as computers or find alternative solutions to gain access.
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Advanced Artificial Intelligence - characters have their acquaintances, locations where they belong and their personal goals that don’t have to correlate with yours.
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The Real Real-time - schedule and meet your informants at appropriate places and times. Follow characters in the world and analyse their activities. Your simulation goes on regardless whether you are in it or not.
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Almost Permadeath - if you leave the simulation in a dangerous location and your reputation isn’t in a good state there is a possibility you will die even when you are not playing - however, you always have the opportunity to escape and survive.
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Limited Time - your servo-savant has a limited lifecycle. After the expiration point it will start decomposing and eventually end the game session.
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Extensive Communication & Transportation - walk, use the metro or your autonomous vehicle to reach locations.
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Define The Simulation - it is you who decides what you experience in the simulation. Accomplish main mission, random ones or neither. Eliminate anything that moves or hack and explore the world.
Description:
Synther is an FPP simulation game with adventure-like, detective elements set in a futuristic, open world. The game is innovative and reminiscent of early 3D games and DOS applications.
The game is set in a city located on a remote island and the year is 2050. The players get a chance to step in the shoes of Agent from Steiger Corporation, explore vast areas, crime scenes and gather intel, that reveals even more mysteries surrounding the city and its inhabitants. The police, paramilitary groups, gangs, fractions, large corporations - they can all stand in your way or can be helpful during, what can be the most demanding assignment of Your Agent career.
Synther has been in development since 2013, and is highly inspired bymovies like Blade Runner, anime like Ghost In The Shell and games like Deus Ex, B.A.T., and Syndicate from the ’90s.
Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon
When Under a Killing Moon debuted in 1994 it was a marvel, the first story-based adventure game to incorporate both 3D first person movement and FMV (Full Motion Video). When it showed up on Steam at a bargain price I decided to replay it and see how it held up against the recent spate of indie-made story games that I’ve been playing. The verdict - it’s still pretty amazing.
Sure, the graphics are pixellated and the controls are a little…odd. But the production values are stellar - great sound, acting, writing, and game design. The mouse-based movement control took a little getting used to, but actually worked much better than the fidgety controls in recent games like Edith Finch and Stories Untold, which just about drove me mad.
– Real player with 23.0 hrs in game
Trawling through the relics of adventure gaming’s past can often be more frustrating than fun, but I’m happy I gave Tex Murphy a chance! Under a Killing Moon tells a great tale set in a near-future, post-apocalyptic world, done up in the most advanced tech 1994 could muster. Even if – unlike myself – they don’t see beauty in jerky live-action videos so low res they contain weird rainbow blotches, everybody who enjoys adventures will find something to love in the silly-serious narrative, and especially in the character of Tex Murphy: a down-on-his-luck, fedora-wearing PI torn straight from the pages of a Raymond Chandler novel. Some of the actors are pretty good, some are so bad they’re good, and some of them are just straight-up bad – tough, yet affable, yet goofy ol' Tex, though, is consistently played to perfection (perhaps that’s because he’s portrayed by Chris Jones, who is also the series' head designer). It’s easy to see why this character picked up such a cult following!
– Real player with 16.8 hrs in game
FORECLOSED
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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? No, certainly not. It is still an interesting cyberpunk adventure with some shooting, stealth and hacking.
In the near future, everyone wears an implant in the head, but your implant is different. It has been modified without your knowledge, and it seems that someone wants to kill you because of that. You have been working as an unimportant employee at Securtech, and you obviously got this experimental chip as a guinea pig. All your colleagues who also got the experimental implant have already been eliminated. What a nice coincidence that the person who designed the experimental chip, the busted CEO of Securtech, also has a little problem atm, and needs your help. Maybe you two can help each other?
– Real player with 11.4 hrs in game
Foreclosed
An atmospheric cyberpunk shooter with interesting comic book aesthetics and a pumping soundtrack. Gameplay feels a little repetitive but the story is short enough to keep your interest.
Foreclosed is a narrative driven cyberpunk shooter set in the style of a graphic novel.
Evan Kapnos awakes to the news that the company who owns his identity have gone bankrupt and his account has been foreclosed. He has lost his job, his implants and access to areas around the city.
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game