Our Secret Below
Curator page here -- [url] DaRevieweD #30[/url] -- [i]New review every Sunday[/i]
Brian Clarke of DarkStone Digital makes a comeback with his second major game! This time it’s a mystery-thriller with some psychological elements and a lot of challenging puzzles. If you’ve read my previous review of Inner, you’d know I was quite taken by his work thus far and his fresh set of eyes in the horror genre. He has a certain charm in creating smaller scale projects but still promising spacious room for players to ponder upon and enjoy.
– Real player with 19.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Puzzle Surreal Games.
Alright strap yourselves in because I’m about to go on a whole rant of details that are probably going to make me sound like a madman hunting for Pepe Silvia but here goes…
This game is absolutely delightful across the board. It’s definitely not for everyone, but as someone who is REAL dumb at puzzles and has the memory of a PS2 memory card, this game makes me feel like mf Sherlock Holmes. A lot of “hrmm….hrm….no that doesn’t make sense….wait…A HAH!”
Also full disclosure, I technically received one copy of the game, but I truly believed in this game for the reasons below and backed it on Kickstarter for an additional two copies to giveaway for a charity. So I’m not exactly sure if I’m supposed to claim I got this for free when I bought multiple copies? There’s the info though, you decide. But check out my other reviews, I got no problems being critical on games received for free.
– Real player with 13.5 hrs in game
Control:Override
Control:Override is a puzzle platformer with a unique and mind twisting mechanics that tests your understanding and imagination at each corner, even in its story.
As consumers, lets cut straight to the chase, do you get your money’s worth with the release price of 3 dollars?
Yes, and more - now to the review.
Gameplay…
… Is where the game shines, it begins with single mechanics, then it hits the player with a combination of them where every level is memorable.
– Real player with 6.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Puzzle 2D Platformer Games.
Good, unique little puzzle platformer. Controls were frustrating when I was trying to rush through things, but are manageable if you take your time. The rewind system works really well and lets you trial-and-error out solutions. Puzzles are a little on the easy side, but there are a few head-scratchers in there. Definitely worth a play-through!
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
LUNAR LICH/月球巫妖
Female characters are cute. It is recommended to add more horror elements. I hope the game can be designed with good-looking badges and backgrounds.
– Real player with 31.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Puzzle Exploration Games.
Creepy Tale
Creepy tale
Creepy tale is an interesting puzzle platformer with a rich story. The game delivers a great 2D platformer experience with befitting music and sound effects.
The story starts off with two brothers who decided to go collect mushrooms from an unknown part of the forest. What seemed to be a nice brotherly moment of peace and comfort was soon to be proven wrong.
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Even if this puzzle-platformer was $10, I would have no problems recommending it. It kinda reminds me of Limbo just because you tend to die a lot - it looks like a game for kids, but the deaths can be a little disgusting, like impaling yourself on the spikes or getting your face chewed out. Overall the game is just very enjoyable, nice animation, and the majority of the puzzles were creative and fun to do. I managed to finish it slightly under 3 hours, with a few missing achivements, so about 3 hours of content. There is some platforming involved, nothing too difficult though, especially compared to Limbo. Some moments in the game were funny, and the ending was very satisfying as well. You can use the controller to play it, but the buttons are preset (I used xbox-one).
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
Manipulate: Sacrifice
Meh…
This indie-horror game is very bland. The game feels empty, the walking pace is horribly slow which takes this game longer to beat, the sub title text is incredibly small and goes a quickly making it hard to understand what the hell is going on at times.
Also the cut scenes are hilariously bad and often don’t make sense.
It’s a very easy, straight forward walking simulator and you can beat in about 1 hour if the walking speed wasn’t so painfully slow.
Next..
– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game
Great effort for a small team nice work. The graphics are not very good, but the gameplay has been.
– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game
Midnight: Submersion - Nightmare Horror Story
Money well spent!
I played the game for 11 hours because I just couldn’t get over the nostalgia the old-school visuals gave me. I haven’t played a horror game in a loooong while, but I just couldn’t resist; I played it all night and was late to my university in the morning - and I have no regrets.
The closest comparison I can make is that its kind of like a Lovecraft’s Novel - it’s perfect for a comfy little Saturday evening to just cuddle up in a blanket, with a cup of coffee and get lost in the gameplay.
– Real player with 11.6 hrs in game
Outstanding game, I was scared most of the time by the nature of the creepy mannequins who kept showing out of nowhere, I like horror games but this was different and nice for a change, The puzzles can be quite challenging but you will always find clues on how to solve them if you walk around enough. Overall i’d give it a 9/10, only reason why it doesnt have a 10/10 is because it has no coop option. They should consider adding it on the future.
Overall great horror game.
– Real player with 2.9 hrs in game
HomeWork Is Crazy / 作业疯了
It is clear that the game is kind of challenging.However , there are some problems that still exist in the game.But , the idea of the game itself is a game that shows how parents in China are “suffering” from the homework of their children.So for the main idea of the game ,the game has achieved it.But there are some people who don’t like it so much.For the reasons , I can’t judge without exploring about it. The only thing I can say about it is that the game itself is not a problem, but it doesn’t meet many players needs ,probably.
– Real player with 10.0 hrs in game
Nothing Special.
– Real player with 7.3 hrs in game
Absinth
This game is a great mix of story, jump scares, tense atmosphere and exploration. This game also has some very hard puzzles that show up very soon, so be ready for some critical thinking. So far this has been the first horror game in awhile that has kept me tense through more than a chapter in a long time. The music, atmosphere and story kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through what is available in this EA release. I heavily recommend it to anyone that is a huge fan of more psychological horror with a dash of mind bending puzzles (Think Silent Hill-like).
– Real player with 8.0 hrs in game
I enjoyed playing this scary early access indie game. Dark scenes with scary music create an environment of a real psychological horror game. Although it is in early access and indie game, it has very high-quality graphics.
The game storyline is increasingly interesting and immersive which creates suspense to know more of it by playing next stage acts. Challenging puzzle and riddles need to be solved cleverly using an interactive and dynamic environment of the stage scenario. Especially in spare time, one can play this game for fun and time pass. The game theme design is also consistent and aesthetically nice-looking throughout. A bit heavy on resources due to high-quality graphics but can manage to run on medium to low settings.
– Real player with 3.4 hrs in game
Ghost blood
You can do a lot worse than “Ghost Blood” as far as horror games go but on the whole I’d struggle to recommend it. The gameplay loop involves finding key items to open up new areas to find more key items to solve puzzles - rinse and repeat. It doesn’t do anything remarkably bad but it’s quite confusing and you will spend a good chunk of your time playing wondering aimlessly around trying to find the next item you need to progress. Although the game seemingly encourages exploration, if you wonder off the beaten path the game will spawn an insta-kill zombie on you and you will be forced back to a checkpoint. Do you want me to explore or not?
– Real player with 3.7 hrs in game
Well what can I say, an excellent combination of shooter and horror, the game has an interesting plot, the graphics are good.
Yes, he is budgetary, but he works out his money
– Real player with 3.6 hrs in game
Meridian 157: Chapter 1
A very well thought out game: 5 Stars.
I prefer a game like this where you don’t need to walk around, but rather click to where you want to go. That saves on time, and on a ton of memory. Anything else is just a gimmick.
The camera is a great feature so you can easily recall clues.
When you’ve used a object and won’t need it anymore, it disappears from inventory. That prevents a lot of beating your head against the wall.
I love that you don’t actually have to manipulate controls and keys, etc. It’s enough that I found the right object and figured out what to do with it. A lot of games then make you put the key in and then turn it. Or they make you run the saw back and forth, or slide the lever. This game doesn’t put you through all that. Click the lever, and up it goes. Put the key in, and it unlocks the thing. Yay!
– Real player with 14.1 hrs in game
Good puzzle games should work the puzzles into the story instead of contriving a story around the puzzles. Puzzles for the sake of puzzles just becomes tedious. That said, I have played through all three chapters on easy and hard settings.
There is still one puzzle I don’t “get”: The pipeline clue for the domino settings on the side of the excavator in Chapter 2. The others, I think I have figured out one way or another. It is not an easy game, and is somewhat beyond the category of “casual” which is how it is frequently categorized. I originally gave this game a thumbs down, but for its story and rather unique take on puzzles, have changed it to thumbs up.
– Real player with 8.6 hrs in game