Existensis
To all the people reading this, I recommend you finish the full game, explore every location in the game perceiving its beauty whilst doing so, this game is an astounding experience and exploring every region enables you to proceed even further in the lore of the game in which regard I choose not to specify so as to encourage others into experiencing a blind play-through and as to not ruin the lore.
tl;dr - Quit wasting your time looking at reviews and get the bloody game already, its an absolute masterpiece.
– Real player with 19.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Philosophical Adventure Games.
I haven’t finished it yet but it takes me ages to finish games and I really want to leave a positive recommendation.
This game is gorgeous, charming and so immersive. I did not expect to be so entranced by this world – especially because I rarely play fantasy games and I’m never interested in fantasy lore – but the more I play, the more I want to discover more areas, more characters and more of the story. I bought this the day it came out because I immediately loved the artwork and the fact that it’s all hand-drawn by one person, I just wish I started playing it sooner.
– Real player with 7.0 hrs in game
The Court Of Wanderers
The Court Of Wanderers is a logic focused, non-linear puzzle game set in an enchanted estate where you never know what you will find behind the next door. Due to its mechanics driven design, there are lots of puzzles and surprising interactions to discover. Explore, think, struggle, and be amazed as the impossible becomes possible before your eyes.
Features
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Tightly designed and fair puzzles
Learn the rules of The Court, and discover how puzzle mechanics combine and interact in surprising ways. The numerous puzzles are novel and quick to solve, if you know how…
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Challenging yet accessible
No feats of timing, quick reactions or dexterity are required, just insight, and unlimited undo and reset a mistake is easily reverted. The game offers plenty of challenging conundrums, but due to its non-linear nature you can always explore somewhere else, and return later with a fresh perspective (or not at all).
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An impossible and mysterious world
Discover and rediscover a world that appears and disappears as doors open and close. Make your way through shifting corridors, secret chambers and hidden passages. Will you be able to tease open the doors closed?
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Non-linear story
Learn about The Court and its residents through strange memories and philosophical encounters, as you wander through a world that might defy understanding.
Read More: Best Philosophical Puzzle Games.
Green Phoenix
- Informational review
On rails shooter + good graphics - a bit slow = Narrative experience in futuristic world. Avoid obstacles and collect crystals. Could use more enemies or obstacles to shoot.
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– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Philosophical 3D Games.
In Vitra - JRPG Adventure
In Vitra is a decent game. It is definitely worth the money I spent on it, and I would buy the sequel, if there was one. It is not an especially difficult game, in fact, after a few hours I found out that you could run away from the majority of the enemies, and still progess in the game. I finished the game at Level 14 for all my characters, and was able to beat the final Boss with 19 out of 25 Full Potions remaining in my Inventory (I will say that the Final Boss was a bastard to kill). JRPGs are my thing, having slogged my way through Millenium, every blessed part, and others of its kind, and God knows there are worse games in this genre than In Vitra. It’s kind of basic, but I enjoyed it and hope the producers continue to grow and create better and better product.
– Real player with 12.5 hrs in game
This game I have rather mixed feelings about primarily due to the fact that the balancing in this game feels off a considerable amount. What I mean by this is that the early game is exceedingly brutal and the further you get the easier things become. This is very strange when at the start of the game everything kills you in one hit (no joke) and at the end due to the fact everything is vulnerable to status effects the final boss literally CANNOT DAMAGE YOU, or can’t damage you more than poison hurts him. I swear what is with developers making poison like the deadliest status in the universe?
– Real player with 9.0 hrs in game
＜/reality＞
The story is interesting because of mixing spirit world mythology with technology. Quite an interesting match that really holds. The game itself is more of a book. Generally you read. There are some choices and they are meaningful ones but they are really rare in comparison to the development of the story. I think the use of communication technologies as a way to create narration through spekaing in chat in this visual novel was a good idea. It gave at start necessary ignition for the story to unravel. After that there were many unnecessary repetitions of the same phrases and questions. It made just the novel more lenghty.
– Real player with 26.4 hrs in game
TL;DR: This is branching VN. For the uninitiated, choose your own adventure picture book basically. Overall, the VN is nice, but I have a nagging feeling that something’s missing. Perhaps it’s just an indication that I liked the experience and want more.
Pros:
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Art is gorgeous
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Music is nice
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Story is interesting, although there are a few weird things here and there
Neutrals:
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Branching is decent, although there isn’t as much of it as you would assume during the first playrhough.
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Characters are, for the most part, believable. Human characters, I mean. Although some suspension of disbelief may be required, because character motivation might seem… well, shaky at times. Which is forgivable in light of relatively decent branching.
– Real player with 12.6 hrs in game
Mirror Land
WHAT IS THIS
Mirror Land is an original game that focuses on optical illusion puzzles. It is inspired by some Magic Mirror Concepts such as FengYueBaoJian in Dream of the Red Chamber and The Mirror of Erised in Harry Potter. It uses MAGIC MIRROR to GRAB and RELEASE characters and cooperate with moving the MAGIC MIRROR to complete incredible space puzzles.
According to THE MIRROR CONCEPT, a series of gameplay and stories are created. Meanwhile, this game uses poetry-writing methods as a source of reference, which makes the game more interesting and creates a poetic atmosphere in it.
**For closer eye movement and deeper puzzle layout, the puzzles of this game are specially developed for vertical screens. If the player’s display can be rotated to vertical, as long as the windows desktop is set to vertical. Then open the game, the game will be full screen. Or, if the display cannot be rotated or you don’t want to bother, players can just use the normal horizontal screen mode. The game experience will not be different, and the areas on the left and right sides of the screen will be filled with black. **
HOW TO PLAY
You can learn how to play from the demo video or read the tips below.
0.The MIRROR and The Feet of the character have an interactive relationship.
1.When you can see The Feet of the character in the MIRROR, press the MIRROR Button, thus the character is tied to the MIRROR surface and turns into 2D form.
2.When the MIRROR is moved, the terrain reflected in the MIRROR is changed.
3.When the 2D form character’s feet meet an empty foothold reflected by MIRROR, press the MIRROR Button again, thus the character is released to the corresponding terrain.
MECHANISM
Pedal Trigger can make the terrain or other things change.
THRUST DEVICE When the character moves to the front of the THRUST DEVICE, this device will do a powerful thrust and push the character out for a certain distance. During this process, the
character is not affected by gravity.
CLUSTER LIGHT
When the source of The CLUSTER LIGHT is turned on, there will be a beam of The CLUSTER LIGHT. It can be reflected by a MIRROR. You can make the LIGHT travel to different positions by adjusting the angle of light emission as well as the angle and position of the mirror.
1.The CLUSTER LIGHT can pass through transparent terrain.
2.When the CLUSTER LIGHT reaches a FLAT place whether it is transparent or not, a TELEPORT POINT of LIGHT can be etched at the irradiation point.
3.LUMEN STONE CAT can travel in CLUSTER LIGHT-TELEPORT POINT System
NPCs
LUMEN STONE CAT is a passenger of the CLUSTER LIGHT. It is a mysterious animal imprisoned in the LUMEN STONE. When it is not exposed to the CLUSTER LIGHT, it looks like a dull square stone that is almost as tall as the character. In this case, It can be dragged and moved on a flat place, helping characters reach different terrain. But when THE CAT is moved to a teleport point of the CLUSTER LIGHT, which connects with another teleport point by CLUSTER LIGHT, THE CAT will transform into a cat that can swim in the LIGHT. After it reaches the teleport point as far as it can, THE CAT will transform into stone-form again.
The SILENCE is such a STABLE being that no character can push it away. When it blocks a character’s way, the character can only walk away and wait for it to go to the next position, or catch it and put it in the MIRROR.
The STRENGTH In most cases, the STRENGTH will push away every movable object that gets into its reach. How far it pushes an object depends on the size of STRENGTH. During the pushing process, the STRENGTH and the object are not affected by gravity.
What The STRENGTH can push away: the character, the cubes, and smaller STRENGTHs
What The STRENGTH can not push away: THE SILENCE, THE LIGHT FLOWING STONE CAT, and solid terrains.
When the STRENGTH pushes the objects beyond its ability, it will be pushed away by the reaction force.
The STRENGTH can also be caught and put in the MIRROR.
CHESSBOARD OF THE MIRROR MECHANISM
1.When the character is caught and put on the CHESSBOARD OF THE MIRROR, he will become a chess piece that can move to the adjacent chessboard grid.
2.Each chessboard grid has a corresponding relationship with a certain foothold out of the MIRROR. When the MIRROR releases the character, the character will be placed in the corresponding position.
THE STORY OF MIRROR LAND
There is a continent in the darkness where the sun, the moon, and stars do not exist. The LIGHT is stored in a big mountain like gel. The mountain is called LUMEN.
Living creatures near the LUMEN gradually evolve into humans. They learn the methods of mining and using the LIGHT. They pipe the LIGHT to high places, illuminating most places. Technology and civilization are developing. Kingdom has formed.
Not far from the west of the LUMEN is the MIRROR PLAIN where the supply of MIRRORS is inexhaustible. Once the last piece of MIRROR PLAIN was exploited, an earth movement will come. A new MIRROR PLAIN will raise.
These MIRRORS can catch living creatures and put them into the surface of MIRRORS. This is discovered by accident.
One of the believable legends is about a hunter. Once upon a time, he was chasing the LUMEN BEAST. This BEAST escaped to a mirror. The hunter prayed subconsciously that someone could help him catch it. Unexpectedly, THE MIRROR responded to his prayer and caught the BEAST.
Later, people found a way to make MAGIC MIRRORS between witchcraft and technology.
THE STORY OF XIU(the character)
XIU’s ancestors are INKMEN,XIU is a inkman as well. INKMEN is one of the results of human genetic modification.
After humans learned to make MAGIC MIRRORS, some clever bad guys commit crimes with MAGIC MIRRORS they make, and leave no trace of themselves. The ruler of the kingdom decides to keep all the clever guys under supervision. Every movement of them has to leave a trace behind. So the clever ones become INKMEN. Ink always seep out through their skin, and their shoes cannot be waterproof. So the footprints they leave are all ink-like.
XIU’s mother was a TRAFFIC MIRROR ENGINEER. In a TRAFFIC MIRROR test 7 years ago, when the MIRROR released her, she disappeared. This strange thing made people panic, but no reason was found.
Now XIU is fifteen years old, inherited mother’s relics.XIU found 7 SPECIAL STONES among them. One day, a mysterious voice came into XIU’s ears, saying,” Take THESE STONES to the FURNACES I designate. Then forge them into a HAMMER according to the drawings I give you. Use the HAMMER to smash the one-thousand-year-old MIRROR hanging in the capital. And you can find your mother…”
“As long as there is a chance of finding my mother, I will try it…”
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.
The Pale City
I did not know what to expect when I initially dived into the Pale city- but I can say I found myself thoroughly invested in the experience.
There is a lot of effort placed into the overall writing, with some excellent bits of prose helping to underline the grimness of the Pale Citys world. It’s jarring but in a very human way to alternate between the crassness of normal conversation, before it dives into the chilling bits of monologue which help to underline the natures of the character. And there’s an underlying horror to the world at large that would be well at home in a Lovecraft novel- even without the more blatant naming of some of the enemies.
– Real player with 16.7 hrs in game
10/10 - This game is fucking awesome.
It might be a matter of taste but I found it to be an example of my “ideal” game play experience. Story-driven dark fantasy that is mechanically challenging as well. There is a particular way you have to defeat certain enemies. And there are no “random encounters” which I always found very annoying, every fight was part of the plot, to say the least. No grinding or anything.
Do not let the graphics fool you. Although I think that they actually enhance the mood of the game, some may skip this title simply because of the graphics. Do not do that. If you are interested in narrative-driven RPGs, you must get this game. It has the same amount of story and value one would receive from a well written book, making it well worth the price. I paid $3.99, since it was on sale, but I may purchase a second copy to send to a friend because I feel that this game deserves it.
– Real player with 12.9 hrs in game
Altarays
a great experience vr but unfortunately no hieroglyph so and quasi no statues so we have not really the impression to be in egypt but the special effects are great
i recommand but a little short with too empty temple (quasi no statues and no hieroglyph)
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
‘Altarays’ is a 5 minute slightly interactive experience that sees you touching some woman’s head, being transported to ancient Egypt and sitting down while dark ghosts surround you and a snake comes to say hello. What? Do you want more than that for £5.99? Tough, because that is all there is. Even if this…”experience” was free I would be struggling to recommend it, but given the £5.99 price tag, it makes things a little easier for me. Avoid this, it’s crap, pointless and vastly overpriced.
– Real player with 0.1 hrs in game
Story
Really interesting project, even if you just walk for the most of the time, the number of endings is quite impressing, but i can’t find out how i should get this many endings. It’s kinda weird the interaction with the objects, you can just watch them so it’s hard to tell if something changes when you “use” them. I’m waiting the update that should be released in these days.
– Real player with 0.8 hrs in game
Good visuals if you remove the gray filters that make it hard to make out objects, more obstacles in the infinitely long pathways and also the controls are very bad also cinematic mode is weird also the skeleton looks funny running and also the enemies die in 1 hit and also the skeleton bowl doesnt accept my ball so i have to rule the tomb until judgement day
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game