Paradox Vector
The most exciting and admirable aspect of Paradox Vector is unquestionably the art design, which is not only unique, but a true joy to look at. All the colors and shapes build up a very stylized, but beautiful environment which is exciting to explore to the last detail.
Apart from that, many other aspects of the game may or may not cause… 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 feelings in certain players - depending on their gaming taste or temperament - like the enemy AI, the layout of the levels, the sometimes unbalanced difficulty, the sharp contrast between the first and second half of the game, etc. But even with the hit and miss parts, I think Paradox Vector is still worth to play. Recalls many great and interesting aspects of old (FPS) games combining with a truly unique aesthetic.
– Real player with 11.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Nonlinear Retro Games.
I’m not too far into Paradox Vector but I’m very much enjoying the old school vibe of the game. Think 80s Tron combined with a prison-labyrinth setting. The game has proved quite challenging due to HP restores being limited, however the dev has noted this and adding some extra nodes to make the game a bit less daunting at the start. (Even though I died a lot, I actually enjoyed how punishing it felt, reminded me of the good old days)
There’s no real soundtrack to the game from what I’ve encountered, but the creepy ambience adds to the atmosphere. It actually surprised me with how many jump scares it’s given me. Prepare for plenty of brain-bending areas that will play tricks on your mind as you try to navigate your surroundings.
– Real player with 7.0 hrs in game
Stars Die
Stars Die is an amazingly atmospherically dense experience. it’s a very short game but honestly doesn’t really need a whole lot of time to express itself and its ideas, and does a great load of work narratively and emotionally with the brief period it takes to complete. the game has 6 endings, including 2 secret ones, and going through all of these brought its own interesting character insights to the table. getting to explore the island itself was a real treat - the distant ambient thump that plays everywhere really added to the feeling that it might be alive, and each little area feels distinct while still flowing into each other naturally. the soundtrack is really great also - the swells of synth or heavy beat coming in at a dramatic moment to provide tension felt really perfect (and tbh the tracks all just slap, i’d love to see a release of the soundtrack by itself!).
– Real player with 10.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Nonlinear Atmospheric Games.
I did not enjoy the story on my first playthrough because the second half of the narrative was too heavy on exposition, but the game has several endings that will add more context to the experience. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes to complete the game, depending on which character you align with. To my knowledge there are at least 5 outcomes not counting the secret quest. The format reminded me of Fatum Betula because the main character essentially decides the fate of the world, additionally to the retro aesthetic and exploration in general. The area that you explore is not very big, although there are hidden trinkets that can be difficult to find. As far as the gameplay, it’s a walking-sim with some dialogue choices, even though the conversations don’t seem to impact the outcomes - you can change your mind at the very end (with a few exceptions). If you need to locate a character, you can use a radio that can be obtained shortly after meeting the crew. There is a time limit which can be disabled in the settings, meaning that you could miss out on some events if you don’t get there in time.
– Real player with 8.7 hrs in game
Elderand
The game has a heavy focus on skill-based combat, which means reckless explorers will be punished time after time. Do not fear, as your timing and positioning will improve once you find your battle style.
Choose a look that suits you best with character customization options that allow for varying skin tones, hairstyles and colors.
Become the most powerful warrior by leveling up your character’s attack, magic, and other stats to take on the unforgiving beasts of the land.
Discover, buy, and collect a myriad of items, including unique relics, potions, weapons and shields. Bargain with shopkeepers to gather even more loot and upgrade your character.
Journey to distinct lands filled with ancient mysteries to unravel. Slay lethal creatures, find hidden passages, and befriend strangers from the Errant Breach to Omulore. While forging your path through the world, remember one thing, curiosity is your greatest ally.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1413660/Elderand/
Read More: Best Nonlinear Gothic Games.
EVOLUTION - Versicorae Domlion
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Hybrid between a 90s inspired RPG and a Visual Novel.
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7/10 hours of gameplay.
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Experience the connection between five different stories set in may 1938.
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System based on riddles and strategic fights against horrible creatures.
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Gloomy pixel art and hand-drawn graphic.
EVOLUTION - Versicorae Domlion is a hybrid horror video game between a Visual Novel and a RPG.
The player will have the opportunity to experience four different stories, different depending on the character chosen, to finally compose a single great story. To advance, you will have to find out why Cathrine, Michael, Arthur and Anne were chosen by the mysterious Alexis and help them resolve their inner conflicts.
The game offers, in addition to the rich storyline, the opportunity to visit the city of Gris to get to know its inhabitants, enhance the skills of each individual hero and to face dungeons guarded by fearsome monsters.
Heretic Operative
Updated review after the most recent patch. Most issues I had with the game have now been fixed, and I have changed back to a “recommended” review as promised. This is the longest review I’ve ever written, and the only one I’ve edited more than once. These facts alone should tell you something about the depth and investment this game offers! Most of the text below this line is no longer relevant, but I’m leaving it up as a history of sorts and a memory of what kind of long-winded criticisms the patient devs have dealt with! :D
– Real player with 39.0 hrs in game
Digital Boardgames are a bit of an odd genre. As a fan of both physical board games and digital strategy games I’ve struggled to grasp the hybrid. Why represent a complex strategy game with cards and dice rolls when you don’t have to, especially if your game doesn’t have a physical equivalency.
Enter Heretic Operative. The description reads “Inspired by games like Pandemic, Arkham Horror, and Talisman” and that was a big selling point for me. Having recently become an obssessive for the Arkham Horror card game, I knew what this meant for the game in general - action-point, narrative driven “built to probably kill you” by design. Great.
– Real player with 34.1 hrs in game
At Eve’s Wake
High-quality visual novel with multiple endings, fantastic graphic and sound component, and intriguing premise.
The Good Parts:
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Fascinating set-up of family ties based on cult-like faith, bloody competition, and something outright paranormal with overall dysfunction taken to the next level.
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Great writing throughout. It manages to introduce a complex fictional idea in a manner that captures attention and makes you ponder.
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Atmospheric world-building. There’s sinister feeling intertwined with some outright shocking moments. “At Eve’s Wake” isn’t horror in the pure sense of the word, but more in a psychological one, so it has a very well-done horror element burning its way through the game, sometimes on slow simmer, sometimes as a wildfire.
– Real player with 11.3 hrs in game
Ahhhhh I was so excited for this to come out and it’s finally here! I’ve just finished my first playthrough and it lived up to my hype, if you’re having any doubts about picking up the full game then please try out the demo and you’ll see what I mean.
-Gorgeous art and music, just a delightful atmosphere throughout
-A well developed and intriguing story of mystery, murder and mishaps
-An incredible amount of dialogue choices with a variety of endings seemingly possible depending on them.
I love visual novels and narrative-driven games, so I feel that I know what I’m talking about to some degree, and I say this- At Eve’s Wake is a beautiful and eerie story that deserves your attention if you’re at all interested in Lovecraft, mysteries, visual novels, or graverobbing. Trust me on that last one.
– Real player with 7.2 hrs in game
Cosmophage
Love this game. Does a great job of easing you into a chaotic bullet hell. The music makes it feel that much more intense which puts a unique and needed flare to the genre. Challenging, but rewarding!
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game
At first I thought “hmm, this is pretty easy!” - no, it gets harder. Sound track is on point, too!
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game
Lannath
Explore dreary, dream-like worlds that descend into madness in this Horror-RPG. This game combines survival-horror, RPG, and roguelike elements to create a truly unique experience. The objective in this game is to accumulate insanity by hunting monsters. As your insanity increases, the world will change and descend further into madness. Once enough insanity is obtained, you can challenge the final boss.
This game has a unique combat system in which you simultaneously control a headless knight and a haunted sword. You will need to avoid enemies with the knight while striking them with the sword. Use spells to gain the upper hand in combat by targeting enemy weaknesses. You can also level up your stats by finding “chlorprellae” in the world.
In Unknown Mode, you can play on randomly generated worlds. You can customize these worlds by choosing how many of each specific enemy will spawn in your world. You can use this feature as a dynamic difficulty slider to determine exactly how hostile you want your world to be. With this feature you will have a very different experience each time you play, and it allows for endless replayability.
Features
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Unique Combat System
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Randomly Generated Maps
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Dynamic Customization of Maps
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Haunting Atmosphere
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Insanity Mechanic
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Good for Challenge Runs
Saint Kotar
It’s an interesting game, and has many excellent points. But all in all I can only give it a weak recommendation.
Pros:
–Excellent, dark art style.
–Very atmospheric.
–Subtle but fitting music, with a couple of tracks that are so good that I find myself excited for the soundtrack.
–Extremely dark, in a way that few games are willing to go.
–I played through it twice and generally enjoyed the experience both times.
Cons:
–Extremely thin story that often doesn’t make sense. A huge chunk of the game is spent wondering why your sister would have ever had you all come here. Having played through the game twice, I find myself still unable to answer that. Possibly the answer is, “Actually, she didn’t.” But if that’s the correct answer, a HUGE amount of story that fleshes out how the character who did knew to do that and why they’d want to just isn’t in the game (but absolutely should be).
– Real player with 41.6 hrs in game
Full disclosure: I backed this game’s Kickstarter and have reviewed it for the Croatian gaming portal FFA. You can find the Croatian review here . This is an abbreviated version of that review.
Saint Kotar is a traditional p’n’c adventure game trying its best to fit in with the rest of the adventure greats. It plays like most standard examples in the genre - you explore a variety of locations, examine and interact with objects, talk with people quite a bit and try to piece together what exactly is going on.
– Real player with 28.2 hrs in game
AOD: Art Of Defense
Clearly a mobile port but the game is kind of addicting, its basic tower defence with ability to level up the units and heroes that control one of each of the units. The units costs to put down along with the gems you get for doing missions is reasonable enough that you do not really need to spend real money on the game. It is in a sense a great time killer while you wait for your mates to come online or just to shoot a few missions before you retire for the evening, it is kind of relaxing mindless game play as a lot of the missions are easy, some though do throw you and you end up using the special gem based weapons to save the day. If you like tower defence this is for you, if you like it user friendly this is also for you but i wouldnt play this as a main game so to speak. Saying that 7/10 not bad time waster imo
– Real player with 111.8 hrs in game
i am not a big fan of tower defence games, but it was free so i gave it a go.
well worth it. possibly the best tower defence game i have so far played and i still play daily weeks later. its challenging enough without being frustrating and its entertaining enough not to be dull. graphics are sufficient and not 90’s pixels like so many other free games and micro purchases are not massively over=priced which is another norm.
latter stages im sure the cost of microtransactions and what they provide will be redundant as the cost to reward ratio will be worthless, but early game it can be a real benefit. getting all 6 heroes unlocked early is a real benefit.
– Real player with 79.1 hrs in game