Army of Tentacles: (Not) A Cthulhu Dating Sim
EDIT June 20, 2016: The New Game+ DLC is here!
The DLC improves the game a fair bit in my opinion. I am a sucker for dating sims, as my library can attest. This one keeps it interesting by not letting you date everyone at once, and having the characters actually mention something about it. Unfortunately, no one appears to be polyamorous, but there’s definitely more than just heterosexuality, which I know a lot of people look for in a game. The quests here are still just as ridiculous, but I grew even more attached to characters, especially ones I didn’t know you could recruit in the base game! It’s zany, keeps the humour, and lets the player in on the inner thoughts of various characters. Also university is always a fun setting to play a game in.
– Real player with 20.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Party-Based RPG Time Management Games.
Review with accompanying screenshots and video at Sinical Network
I received this game for free as a curator connect offer for my group Visual novel, JRPG, Anime, and bought the DLCs with my own money. Army of Tentacles: (Not) A Cthulhu Dating Sim is a supernatural parody visual novel with RPG elements by Stegalosaurus Game Development. It features a female or male protagonist by the name of Perry Hollycraft who is tasked to lead the Deep Ones (subterranean dwellers living in a remote volcanic island) to conquer the inhabitants of Innsmouth, a small coastal town in New England.
– Real player with 13.7 hrs in game
Stellar Tactics
I bought this game last night, it was cheaper than my takeaway. I ate the takeaway whilst it downloaded. I have only three hours on record as I write this - I cleared the first section, that I might call the prologue, or tutorial, (It’s not just a tutorial it’s real content) - and I had just gotten into the next part of the game. To say I’m excited is an understatement. Maybe it’s just the right match for my peculiar tastes or whatever, I don’t know, but I enjoyed very much the first introductory, prologue like, tutorial-like bit of the game. I’m really not paying much interest in work today and am just trying to get as much info from the dev twitter, this forum, etc. A game’s not captured my imagination and enthusiasm like this for a long while.
– Real player with 255.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Party-Based RPG Character Customization Games.
This is how old school gaming used to be.
You had to play the game, and “do your time”.
So far, my time has been well spent. The game is rough yes, but it’s ample for what the game is trying to achieve. Here is what that achievement is:
Pack all them goodies off of them table top RPG’s we played in the 90’s, and make them appear on the screen. If you want what a “vintage style 90’s tabletop game” feels like on the screen, play it.
So them smart dev’s did just that.
Yes, it can be frustrating testing new software, sending feedback with the right intention is difficult, especially since there is no macro coded yet with the “insta help section”. Play the game for a bit, and stumble around in it. I followed the tutorial, and decided that fun is what we as the gamer make the game.
– Real player with 158.5 hrs in game
Super Army of Tentacles 3: The Search for Army of Tentacles 2: Black GOAT of the Woods Edition
THE LOVECRAFT APOCALYPSE IS TOTES ON.
The Old Gods are cold. Calculating. Ever waiting. Ever patient. Slumbering towards that day in which the cosmic apocalypse beckons.
And then somebody just has to pull a Leroy Jenkins and start the fun early.
Perry Hollycraft has been called out of “retirement” (i.e. the death plane known as the Dreamlands) in order to figure out what Old God did what, when, and why. The rest of the pantheon isn’t too happy that the apocalypse has been called early. With Gods fighting among themselves in a bid to take advantage of the situation, and the rules thrown out the window, Perry has more than their work cut out for them. Who do you trust (your party members, probably)? Where do you turn (the available hub areas)? How many endings in this game actually differ from one another (we cut it down from twelve to five, but mileage may vary)? Do your choices matter (it depends on how you define “matter” in the context of a video game)? When will this structure of questions end (now)?
To destroy humanity, they’ll need to save it.
-
All the DLC from the non-GOAT Edition! All the Outfits! All the quests!
-
The second game in the non-award winning series!
-
Broadcast in glorious 1920x1080!
-
A brand new, 100% deeper Argument System!
-
What’s more revolutionary than a silent protagonist for the first game? How about a COMPLETELY SILENT SEQUEL?!?! LIKE, RIGHT????
-
15 party members, ranging from Army 1 party to Army 1 NPCs to newbies!
-
More skill options and more attributes!
NOTE: Contains mild language and mature themes such as innuendo, drug use, etc.; nothing TOO explicit.
10% of all sales go towards St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Read More: Best Party-Based RPG Character Customization Games.
Super Army of Tentacles 3: The Search for Army of Tentacles 2
This game plays a lot like a choose your own adventure visual novel. It has a lot of various places to explore and a multitude of quests to play through besides the main quest line. The combat in the game is either wordplay based or trivia based (much of it being US history).
I really enjoyed my playthrough of the game and will likely replay. Even though I’ve played thru it once, there still were many side quests I could go back in another playthrough to do and various options to drive the story other ways. The humour in the game was a plus for me too.
– Real player with 17.1 hrs in game
It’s 2017 and the Apocalypse is years ahead of schedule and the gods have disappeared. You, a Deep One, have awoken from the Dreamland and must find the Necronomicon before Nyarlathotep, The Crawling Chaos and his 7 gods does and restore things to how they were or bring in a new age.
Alright, so SAT3: TST2 is the third VN in the series and it’s not nearly as cool as I made it sound in the paragraph above. This VN is, at its core, pure insanity and chaos. It’s a Lovecraftian adventure where you fight monsters by answering trivia questions (Brush up on your Shakespeare.) and fly around on a floating ship/city while “fighting” Microsoft paint horror monsters and creatures. One moment you’re in Antarctica making friends with a… yeti girl with pointy teeth (?) and the next you’re challenging Alexander Hamilton to a rap battle and signing the declaration of Independence. (Reminder: It’s 2017.)
– Real player with 13.0 hrs in game
Tortured Hearts - Or How I Saved The Universe. Again.
I’m not much of a review writer, so I’m not going to do an in-depth analysis, but 150+ hours in I’ve become completely addicted to this game. As advertised, it’s old school in the larger sense of its design and flow, but it has elements and specifics that are entirely unique. It is difficult at first to figure out how some things work, so you do what pretty much all old school RPG’rs did: play for a while, figure out how things work, then start a new game for real. There’s a huge demo that can serve that purpose for you. This is not one of those games with 40 hours of cut scenes and an onscreen arrow pointing you to what you need to do next, where flashy graphics (that sometimes even work) substitute for game play. You will get quests that you will not be able to solve until well into the game, and you’ll have to stop and think about where you need to go and who you need to talk to. If you want a game that holds your hand and points you to every answer, this is not for you. If you want to solve things on your own, can handle some frustration and you value the game over flash, I think this is a great game for you.
– Real player with 990.4 hrs in game
Game has some great potential but just far too frustrating. I fully get the concept of trying not to “hand hold” to make the game more difficult, but so much of this game is just running all over the map just hoping you find the right person to talk to and trigger the correct speech line. The entire game is mostly just based on brut force.
Then there is the combat system. You have no control at all over what your team does in combat. To make it worse, the AI is horrible. You will find your team wasting mana casting a cc spell on an already cc’d enemy or casting the same spell over and over that the enemy is immune to. A strong monster will be one hit away from death and your mage will cast three straight buffs instead of killing the monster.
– Real player with 541.1 hrs in game
Chronicles of Elmyra
I’m changing my decision back to a positive about this game as I got in contact with the developer of where I’m getting stuck at and they are working on solutions to fixing the glitched areas as we speak. The game is great as well as the story and I can go back to recommending this game and that it is worth the money now. Thank you for contacting me 4p0 Informatica.
– Real player with 28.6 hrs in game
SKALD: Against the Black Priory
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1609100/Skald_Against_the_Black_Priory__the_Prologue
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1712620/SKALD_Against_the_Black_Priory_Original_Soundtrack_Vol_I/
You drag yourself from the black tides, across the corpses of drowned men, and onto the unwelcoming, craggy shoreline. Gulls cry overhead and the stink of seaweed fills your nose. By some miracle you have made it to Idra. It will take all your skill to survive and unravel the eldritch mysteries of the Black Priory. Pray your sanity holds.
About the Game
‘Skald: Against the Black Priory’ is an old-school roleplaying game that combines modern design and a fully realised narrative with authentic 8-bit looks and charms.
Delve into a dark fantasy world, full of tragic heroes, violent deaths and Lovecraftian, cosmic horror. Explore an engaging, branching story mixed with rich exploration and crunchy, tactical, turn-based combat that will seem familiar yet innovative to RPG fans, old and new.
Do you have what it takes to lead a company of broken heroes from the tainted shores of Idra to the gates of the Black Priory - and beyond?
Features
Lovingly crafted retro-style art:
-
Experience a richly illustrated world of authentic pixel art using thousands of hand-drawn tiles and images
-
A palette inspired by the legendary Commodore 64 computer.
-
Optional CRT filter for that authentic old-school experience.
Deep character creation:
-
Build your main character and recruit a party from among a dozen diverse characters, each with their own skill-set, agenda and personality.
-
Choose from a dozen classes and backgrounds as well as heaps of feats, spells and equipment as you take your party from level 1 to 20.
Crunchy tactical combat:
-
Engage in challenging, fast-paced, turn- and grid-based combat.
-
Play it your way, with fully customizable difficulty and feedback settings. Or hit ‘auto-resolve’, lean back, and (hopefully) watch your party cleave a bloody path through their foes.
A richly detailed, living world:
-
Explore the vast expanse of Freymark and the Outer Isles and watch your actions spell doom or salvation for the region.
-
Focus on the rich, branching narrative… Or live the life of a mercenary and explore varied sidequests and encounters - the plot will wait for you.
-
Manage your party as you make camp, recruit hirelings, travel by land and sea, and interact with powerful factions and their visions for the world.
Become part of a fantastic community:
-
Skald was made possible by crowdfunding and already has a large, passionate and welcoming community that can’t wait to meet you.
-
By joining Skald’s Early Access you’ll have a direct line to the developer, get sneak peaks and give feedback on forthcoming plans and help shape the game into a modern classic.
-
We will publish the powerful tools used to create the game in an effort to support and encourage modding and content creation once the game has fully launched.
The Story of Skald: A Dream Come True
Skald is the dream-project of a lone Norwegian developer, AL.
AL missed the thrill of delving into grand, immersive games such as ‘Ultima’, ‘Magic Candle’, ‘Wasteland’ and the Gold Box series. When he noticed the lack of newer roleplaying games that combined the classic (early 90s) charm with more modern game design he decided to take matters into his own hands.
AL set to work crafting the game of his dreams.
A highly successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaign with 700 backers, and a fast-growing community of passionate fans proves he made the right call.
Collaborators
Despite being a one-man company, Scape-IT has been able to collaborate with some amazingly talented people in creating SKALD:
Danny Salfield Wadeson is a UK-based writer & narrative designer who has worked on BAFTA and TGA nominated narrative games such as Roki, Backbone and Duelyst
Twitter: @MadQuills
John Henderson is an experienced fine artist and illustrator and is also a teacher of Art. Whether using dip pen, oil paint or pixels, John’s work is easily recognizable as being highly atmospheric as well as lovingly created. Having worked on many publications and indie gaming projects he is also currently busy with his own project, Wild Wood for the C64.
Twitter: @JohnHen65953721
Scott Hartill UK based artist and game designer. More interested in pixels than anything else. Currently busy developing a PS1 style survival horror in his spare time.
Twitter : @cluly
Torgeir Fjereide is a Norwegian artist and illustrator. He loves painting mythological and medieval scenes and he’ll take any excuse to paint a bearded man.
Twitter: @TheBrushOfThor
Post Horn Public Relations is a pro-bono initiative created to support talented developers.
Twitter: @horn_pr
Rachael A Edwards hails from England and spends most of her days writing fantasy novels about morally grey characters in worlds filled with mythology, corruption and magic. An avid gamer, Rachael’s love for storytelling began at a young age. She is currently working on a YA fantasy novel and is represented by Rena Rossner of The Deborah Harris Agency.
Twitter: @RachaelAWrites
MementoMoree (formerly known as Paolo Pomes) has been creating art since his late teenage years. Proficient in most types of art, from pencil & paper to highly detailed 4k textures, he’s found solace and pleasure in the retro pixel art!
Twitter: @MementoMoree
Marco Pedrana is a digital and traditional art vagrant. He started as draftsman in advertising and comics, went on in illustration, then painting, then conceptual art. He doubled back on videogame design with Aeon of Sands, creating its graphic, story, and sfx. Lately he freelances as a 3D generalist for indie game and cinema productions.
He focuses on narrative art, regardless of the medium or scope.
Twitter: @marcopedrana
Romanus Surt is the main guy at Graverobber Foundation, the developer behind Das Geisterschiff and Der Geisterturm. He does music for SKALD.
Twitter: @surt_r
Edwin Montgomery is a composer and sound designer for games, films and performance. A long-time RPG obsessive, he wrote the soundtrack for inXile’s remastered 30th anniversary version of “Wasteland”. He has created music and sounds for a variety of fantasy game worlds, including Warhammer 40,000, Game of Thrones and Neverwinter. Edwin does sound design for SKALD.
Twitter: @edwinmyshkin
Sorcerous
First Impressions
In Sorcerous you explore an interesting world with a band of engaging characters. Unlike most JRPG style games you’ll need to approach each battle a little more cautiously. Taking note of enemy weaknesses, different options provided by different equipment loadouts, what all the different items do and making sure to exploit every advantage as often as possible is key. Combat feels more inspired by Dungeons and Dragons rather than Final Fantasy. With a focus on difficult encounters managing HP and MP can be tense, but so far hasn’t been overwhelming. One potential downside to this is keeping track of what equipment offers what spells, which spells do what, and the various strengths and weaknesses against the different types of enemies.
– Real player with 16.6 hrs in game
So far its a fun game I just started but loving the music and the adventure.
– Real player with 7.0 hrs in game
The Fellowship Saga
Unlikely Heros
In the kingdom of Falone, you control a party of adventurers who suddenly find themselves in an epic struggle for control of the crown.
Key Features
-
Turn-Based Combat: Accessible, Familiar, Tense, and full of choices by using the system from the 5th edition of the world’s most popular RPG.
-
Party-based: Teamwork and synergies necessary by creating and managing a party of 5 adventurers.
-
First-person: Accessible first-person gameplay provides up-close action and full controller support.
-
Tailor to your playstyle: 12 Classes and nine races provide a wide range of customization and flexibility - and extended by one level of subclassing.
-
Exploration: The world of Falone has a wide range of areas to explore, including vast wildernesses, towns, and dungeons.
Arcante
Somehow reminds me of Might and Magic 6 (although others might say it more resembles M&M 9 ?)
Anyway, there were multiple games of this genre (first person, fantasy world exploring, party based RPG)
Probably a rare genre nowadays.
We all know turn-based party-wise crawlers, or top-down RPGs.
Arcante feels like a variation, that wants to keep the action (free movement) of the M&M 6, but at the same time modernize the clunky spell casting (which required the player to pause the game, even with memorized / active spell, to get the upper hand).
– Real player with 26.9 hrs in game
This game has the the old Might and Magic vibe. Could use a bit more content, more quests, characters, and story but I am enjoying some nostalgia. If you are looking for an old fashion romp through fantasy ville give it a try.
Finished it up. Took ab out 9 hours. Didn’t find a use for the bird head statue or the second city riddle, but the ending was…interesting. Still mostly enjoyed it despite some quirks. Very old fashioned might and magic approach to the genre, but it was a fun romp down memory lane. To the creator, good luck and I hope you are successful enough to try again.
– Real player with 10.3 hrs in game