Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma
This is, without any doubt whatsoever, the dumbest story I have ever experienced in my entire life.
And I’m not even disappointed. I’m actually impressed by the amount of effort that was spent on writing every single detail of this ginormous pile of garbadge. Congratulations to everyone involved.
The disjointed narrative structure makes it impossible to care about anything. Characters will constantly reference things you haven’t seen yet or specifically chose not to do. Imagine if someone told you to direct a movie. But you’ve never read the script before until they hand it to you one page at a time and completely out of order. There’s basically no coherent story up until maybe the last 25% of the game. At which point it all comes together on the premise that nothing mattered anyways, that there was never supposed to be any story in the first place. The arbitrary decision points and branches just boil down to a check list. Sometimes it even feels like you’re playing a 90s Sierra game: “Do you want to go left or right?”. “Left”. “An anvil drops on your head! Game over”.
– Real player with 24.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Puzzle Psychological Horror Games.
game looks awful, is poorly structured with weird flag triggers that’re hard to find and the story is barely passable imo.
get it only on a sale and if you REALLY want to play it yourself instead of just looking up the story beats online.
– Real player with 24.2 hrs in game
The World Next Door
I’m really torn going into this review. I gave it a thumbs down, but I didn’t hate it. It’s a solid 3/5. I’ve played through twice now, and I’m trying to talk myself into a third run. My overall opinion is, unfortunately, the game isn’t worth the $15 I paid for it. It IS worth playing, however, so if you can get it on sale and you’re thinking about giving it a try, don’t hesitate. Here’s a breakdown of what I loved and hated:
Pros:
- Battles are fought with a take on the Match 3 style games, so it’s an easy system for most people to pick up. That kind of accessibility is always appreciated. Some other players have struggled with it on the PC, but I plugged in an Xbox controller and had no issues. (If you find it’s still too difficult and you’re more interested in the story than gameplay, you have the option to turn on assist mode in settings. You’ll still have to go through the puzzles, but you’ll no longer take damage. If you’re getting frustrated, I’d suggest switching it on to finish the game.)
– Real player with 10.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Puzzle Female Protagonist Games.
Oh the places you’ll go…
Full disclosure: My best friend works at Rose City Games. That being said: I was able to test this game pre-release and loved it enough to get a copy on Switch. Here we go.
You’ll like this game if you are looking for a solid visual novel with characters who actually come off as real teens (see very below for more on them). You’ll like it if you want beautiful artwork (Lord Gris is kinda-sorta fantastic) and you’ll like it if you dig a good, chill soundtrack. I also need to point out that the battle system has all the potential to be something crazy good; properly adrenalizing a match-em-up puzzle format is no easy task.
– Real player with 7.7 hrs in game
Oniria Crimes
Oniria Crimes is a strange and interesting game from Ckolmos, a small studio from Madrid, Spain. If you aren’t too fussed about expecting a meaty main story, there is plenty of vibrant voxel art and deep lore to make this game worth playing.
This game is set in Oniria, city of dreams, a sort of shared-consciousness virtual reality world inhabited by people in their sleep. There is plenty of talk about “awake-world” in the game, but we never see it; the full game is spent exploring this dreamy urban environment. The lore of Oniria runs very deep, and a big part of the game is figuring out just what this world is, how it works, and what makes it tick.
– Real player with 12.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Puzzle 3D Games.
A really good game with a very interesting background that makes you use your brain.
Totally recommended and if possible I recommend to play it with a partner, it’s a lot of fun to be both trying to solve the case and getting our own theories out !
– Real player with 12.2 hrs in game
RE:CALL
In RE:CALL you play through the memories of the character you’re controlling. Your actions inside these flashbacks have immediate consequences in the present moment, letting you take advantage of the situation in order to progress the story. Tackle mind-bending puzzles that rely on altering your own memories to shape the future.
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Solve mysteries by manipulating your memory. Escape a factory, solve a crime, and win the hearts and minds of your enemies by changing the past.
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Get immersed in an epic narrative-driven adventure with a diverse cast of characters.
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Get to know over 10 unique characters, each with their own quirks.
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Investigate and solve the mystery of your mysterious power. Who is behind this?
System Under Surveillance
PLEASE NOTE: the game is still in development.
System Under Surveillance (SUS) is an upcoming indie stealth game with adventure and puzzle elements, reminiscent of some of the classics of the 80s and 90s. The graphic style is retro with a modern twist, with gameplay taking place in an old-school isometric world, while the story unfolds as an interactive comic book with all illustrations hand-drawn in pixel art!
THE STORY SO FAR:
His only memory is being in a car chase involving his mother, after which, Adam finds himself alone in the middle of a dystopian city, not knowing how he got there. He soon discovers that a mysterious governmental organization is after him, but he has no idea why.
During his struggle to evade the murky forces hunting him down, Adam meets an eccentric cleaning robot. Despite being called TURBO, Adam’s new robot friend is clumsy and slow, albeit with a big (digital) heart. TURBO teams up with Adam in his mission to stay alive and uncover the dark truth surrounding the accident.
IT’S A COMIC BOOK, TOO!:
Get drawn into the game through its carefully illustrated pixel-art comic book. Your progress helps tell the story. Recover the missing pages to piece together the unsettling truth behind the accident and why you’re being followed wherever you go by deadly robots. And the story has only just begun.
STEALTH OR DIE:
In the world of SUS, you have no power over your enemies. You’re completely vulnerable! Without any combat capability, your only chance of surviving is through stealth.
Scan your surroundings and work out how to use them to your advantage. Make the most of each character’s unique abilities to trick your enemies, sneak past them and stay undercover.
SWITCH BETWEEN TWO UNIQUE CHARACTERS, AT ANY TIME!:
TURBO,is a rickety old cleaning robot, but it has some very handy skills! It can:
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hover above holes to propel itself to new areas;
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transform into a metallic ball and roll up pipes and down narrow alleys;
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generate a powerful electric shock by spinning in place, temporarily disabling nearby electronics;
Adam, is a regular boy who is also uncommonly resourceful. He can:
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remotely take control of enemies, open doors and disable security systems;
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create diversions with everyday objects;
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make use of clever gadgets to solve the puzzles in minigames;
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and more…
NO ORDINARY HEALTH SYSTEM:
SUS replaces the old-school health bar with a threat level. It serves to immerse you even further into the story, bringing you closer to Adam, the ordinary boy whose life depends on outsmarting his enemies. Stay undetected to keep the threat level low, or get detected to make enemies follow you, only to trick them into letting you into restricted areas. The threat level goes back down when you hide. But you can’t stay hidden forever!
The Golden Cross
Warning: This is not a game for casual gamers. Only PRO GAMERS should even think about buying it.
GOAT 2020-2021-2022. Raool shot a kid.
On a serious note, this game is an absolute disaster and I’d bet money you’re not gonna get past chapter 1 without having to go back and grab things you have no idea how to. This is a disaster artist level game, and has made me laugh harder than it ever was. I am probably the only person who has ever played this.
Dev, if you’re reading this. Thank you, I’ve died laughing. Next time, consider making a Gmod map or something instead of a 6 euro game. Although, considering the quality, I presume you’re like…12 and for that, this is an impressive accomplishment. I hope you had fun making it.
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Better than Cyberpunk
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
The Wishing Stone
The Wishing Stone is a point & click puzzle adventure game with challenging puzzles. It’s also a mystery visual novel with an emphasis on storytelling. Different choices and what you do while exploring/solving puzzles both can contribute to different endings. Different endings show different perspectives.
It has 7 endings + a special chapter.
Story:
Ailsa unexpectedly receives a wishing stone from a suspicious witch. According to the witch, the wishing stone could grant her 3 wishes, but she must make the first one before midnight. Unfortunately a simple wish leads to unexpected developments. Nothing is what it seems and Ailsa soon realizes there are inconsistencies in her memory and in the world around her. Is she in a bad dream? How can she get back to her normal life?
Welcome to Ailsa’s adventure as she goes on a journey to stay away from troubles, and to complete her wishes and get her normality back. You will guide her to explore, solve puzzles and make choices. She might find the truth or she might sink into the darkness. Her fate depends on you!
#### Features:
Explore the environment to discover the life of Ailsa and find out what’s happening around her.
Collect items and use items to interact.
Solve various fun puzzles.
Read diaries, letters, notes and dive into Ailsa’s past. Help her solve mysteries and find lost memories.
Experience a touching original story with twists and turns while listening to beautiful music.
Meet the interesting characters and make choices for Ailsa. The Wishing Stone has 7 endings (excluding the 2 bad ends) + a special chapter.
Broken Minds
Truly a hidden gem :)
The store page makes it look a bit bland and cheap, but it’s actually a quality VN.
It’s not just a “Click Next”-VN, but you have to focus on what’s happening.
The story is pretty good and I would recommend to play it on “Master Detective”-Mode to get all the interesting mini-games wich are well done :)
The VN also has multiple endings, depending on your choices and after unlocking them you can get the true ending(s?).
Unfortunately I have to say that I felt that the VN could have been better with less endings, since you are forced to do them to unlock the final ones. Even with the skip function it takes a bit of time for a playthrough since you still have to navigate through the rooms, etc. So it felt kind of tedious after a while and it didn’t feel like the endings offered something surprisingly new for me.
– Real player with 12.5 hrs in game
Note: not for all! It’s not an easy reading nextnextskipskip VN, you should have a sense of logic, pay attention to details and words.
I’m not sure about a genre, but it’s mostly Visual Novel. But you should pay attention for all (that’s what for 3 big arrows on the screen — for a little bit exploring and for deeper immersion); otherwise you’ll get stuck with logic minigames, delete the game in frustration and will never know how great the game is. So, the phrase “the gameplay consists of logic and reading comprehension puzzles” is completely true, and you can’t go on to the next part by pressing “skip”.
– Real player with 10.1 hrs in game
Wonder Cave
Nice idea but a bit laggy/buggy. First time we opened it, we couldn’t even open a game. Second time, we heard none of Jafar’s opening dialogue. Few other times it felt laggy. Also, we accidentally closed the game after hitting Exit on accidentally hitting Menu - our fault, but the lack of “ARE YOU SURE” box wasn’t cool.
Puzzle wise - rotate everything, look everywhere. I’d have preferred more puzzles around clues.
– Real player with 3.0 hrs in game
Awesome game! I played it with my brother and indeed it was not easy!
If you like playing quests, this is definitely for you! I found it really entertaining when you’re playing with somebody rather then alone! It’s very challenging and exciting! Highly recommended!
– Real player with 3.0 hrs in game
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
I usually don’t have a high opinion of Visual Novels. I thought Danganronpa was an exception. I was wrong. Very wrong.
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is a compilation of the first two of currently three Zero Escape games. In a sense, they are puzzle heavy games that can really get your gears grinding but what they truly and absolutely excel at is storytelling.
I wasn’t hooked until about 75% into the first game, but it took so many completely unexpected turns that ultimately, from the games point of view, made absolutely sense and blew my mind away. By the time of finishing Virtues Last Reward I can barely contain myself from not instantly starting up the third game because I was so hooked on the story. Even although I have to admit that the semi-3D look of the second game was a step down to the comic look of the first game in my personal opinion.
– Real player with 138.7 hrs in game
So I don’t normally write reviews seriously, most of the time it’s for a joke or something silly I wrote when I was younger. Now I won’t pretend that these games are flawless. The dialogue can drag on at times and the english voice acting for 999 personally was a hit or miss for me. Virtue’s Last Reward has significantly better voice acting in my eyes yet I know some people might be put off by this odd cast of characters. At first glance, this seems like any other visual novel game with seemingly stereotypical characters due to design. I mean, you got the fanservice character, the “bland” protagonist, the edgy mysterious man etc. But if this is the case, why would I write about a collection of games positively if I seem to be pointing out what is wrong with it right off the bat? Because quite simply it’s my favorite game.
– Real player with 98.5 hrs in game