Chernobylite

Chernobylite

Another gem, played it in the native language with subtitles, a great and unexpected experience that initally seemed like a generic mashup of other genres. Well worth a review.

Off the top suggestion: Play with combat on hard, management on medium and survival on medium.

Gameplay/Gameplay-systems - 8/10

Gameplay is split up in some major directions, Survival, Combat, Base-management/building which together are influenced by a somewhat simplistic Skill/Ability system and a multi-part difficulty system.

Real player with 70.0 hrs in game


Read More: Best RPG Horror Games.


The game play loop is pretty solid for a survival game, at least it kept me entertained for a while. But its definitely not horror, just survival. The main failing is the story. It tries so SO hard to be branching and have tons of options, but the game funnels you into the “correct” choice, so there is not roleplaying in this. If you do like I do and choose the “incorrect” option each time just to spite the system, it will essentially end up pretending like you chose the “correct” one, with no explanation. Ive read a few reviews so far that talk about how great the story is, no offence to them but you can essentially be assured that anyone who thought the story was great or complex is under 15 years of age. This is painfully sub-mediocre time travel/multi dimension storytelling. And I think too many younger ppl are too easily wowed by gibberish. But my main complaint for the game is the protagonist you play as. You, the player, will figure out whats going on long before your character does, and so you will want to make choices that reflect what you know, but you are forced again and again to make decisions based on what your character knows. And technically if you do things a certain way like I did, your character ends the game without figuring it out. Its frustrating. But, the game loop is pretty fun. The building is like fallout-4-settlement-building-lite. There’s some npc managment and some semi interesting story points. You could do worse for a game, but you wont remember this long after you finish it.

Real player with 36.5 hrs in game

Chernobylite on Steam

ICY: Frostbite Edition

ICY: Frostbite Edition

Not quite like anything I’ve played before, but I enjoyed it.

It reminded me a lot of one of those “choose your own adventure” books where your choices lead to different outcomes. Another reviewer mentioned feeling railroaded, but I can only think of one instance where I felt like I definitely had my hands tied, and I thought there should have been at least one other option. On a few other occasions, the narrative backs you into a corner, but while the outcomes were regrettable, it felt right since those were pretty desperate situations.

Real player with 37.9 hrs in game


Read More: Best RPG Interactive Fiction Games.


ICY: Frostbite Edition is a post-apocalyptic story driven survival R.P.G. developed by Inner Void and published by Digital Tribe. This title takes place in a distant future during a new Ice-Age where the remnants of humanity try to eke out a living as best they can in the harsh environment and terrible conditions of what’s left of the world that once was. After suffering an attack from raiders and being captured, you witness some of your friends getting sold to a strange group of heavily armed mercenaries. Shortly after that you and a few other random people are eventually able to escape your captors and run for freedom. As the leader of this new group of survivors, it’s up to you to guide them across the White Wasteland and track down the mercenaries who’ve taken your friends while also making vital decisions that could mean life or death for your new family of nomads. You’ll have to brave the rough elements as well as viscious wild animals and ruthless raiders while you scavenge for supplies, hunt for food and find shelter. If you encounter new people, who do you trust? If conflict with another group arises do you fight or run? Prepare yourself for a thought provoking, emotionally charged and highly immersive adventure through a very believable post apocalyptic world as you lead your travelers in their quest for survival, revenge and redemption.

Real player with 33.4 hrs in game

ICY: Frostbite Edition on Steam

Frozen State

Frozen State

What can be said for a game like Frozen State? A lot.

It’s a great game in that it’s genuinely tense. The stakes are high and you can’t just reset the gambles you make. I have been playing it since, I think about the first month it came to Steam, and it has changed dramatically.

When I first bought it, I was afraid at first, it would be the same generic kind of survival game that has been washing up on the shores of Steam like rotten flotsam. Frozen State is like a big, ice coated barge crashing into the shore and unleashing a horde of the undead onto your normal beach going day.

Real player with 82.0 hrs in game


Read More: Best RPG Horror Games.


This is one of those games where I wish there was a numbers system of review or at least a neutral recommendation. I got this on a sale, so I’m not sore about it. A warning right off the bat, and why I, in general, can’t make a strong recommendation: this game is NOT forgiving in the slightest (which is, admittedly, part of the appeal). I have VERY mixed feelings about this game.

Release version allows you to start as one of three characters, each with differing levels of durability, carry weight, and skill points invested in certain slots. It doesn’t run on conventional exp system, but by specific items found in containers randomly generated or on enemies (themselves usually randomly generated). You start in same house, but where everything is relative to the game world randomizes each playthrough, so each play is different (with the exception, in my experience, of the Explorer, which is on the same map tile no matter what).

Real player with 50.0 hrs in game

Frozen State on Steam

Anima Forest

Anima Forest

at least it’s a good start. please keep improving it.

Real player with 3.4 hrs in game

This game is probably going to be really good when it is finished, So far, while the game is difficult, it is really fun. The art style and different enemies are very unique and are different from other survival games I have played. Now knowing that the game is still in early access, there are a few things I would change. First, adding wasd controls would make the game a lot easier to control. Secondly, I think the days should be longer. The amount of time in the day is not enough to make food, gather materials, and set up a wall. Overall though, for a dollar, this game is really good and I would recommend it for anyone who is looking for a unique survival game with a good challenge to it. (also if you like animals)

Real player with 3.0 hrs in game

Anima Forest on Steam

Happy Bones

Happy Bones

Happy Bones is like a beautiful fever dream that continued to surprise me and simultaneously disgust me all the way through.

You won’t forget this game for sure, I’ve never played anything quite like it!

Real player with 19.3 hrs in game

the game was great and i loved the horror elements:)

Real player with 6.4 hrs in game

Happy Bones on Steam

Reign and Ruin

Reign and Ruin

Reign and Ruin is an online multiplayer survival game, set in a medieval fantasy world.

Do you enjoy action? Explore a vast, open-world in which you must survive the harsh elements, hunt to survive, establish a settlement, defend your home from raiders, slay monsters that crawled out of the void, and dominate all those who stand in your way!

Do you enjoy roleplay? Craft dozens of different medieval fantasy outfits, plant crops or decorative florals in your farm, sightsee dozens of scenic locations, express yourself with a huge variety of emotes and dances, connect with others using voice chat, and live out your medieval fantasies!

Play together with friends and strangers as you adventure this beautiful and perilous new land. Build your own home or even a shared thriving citadel. Climb your way up from a lowly peasant to a mighty king. Hold the peace in the realm by hosting lavish banquets, or dominate your enemies in epic siege warfare!

Enjoy Reign and Ruin in single-player, co-op, or persistent online multiplayer!

War ravaged through most of the world: your homeland and everything you held dear was brought to ruin. After a powerful storm sinks the ship you stowed away on, your life is spared through divine intervention. When you gain consciousness, you find yourself in a far a more dangerous land. Despite the abundance of beauty and wonder before you, this realm is a battleground of banished gods. The exiled deities tear open rift portals from the void, sending forth their armies in an attempt to re-establish their ancient dominion.

Will you rise up against these divine beings to establish your reign, or will you meet you join them in causing ruin?

Reign and Ruin on Steam

Starvoly

Starvoly

Nice game, I think it can be improved. I advise.

Real player with 9.7 hrs in game

Too many things are missing at the moment.Took weeks for patch that lets you open the chests and that still doesn’t work properly.Audio drives you mad so you can either have music and sounds or complete silence.Needs a lot of work and commitment putting into it but I don’t think the Dev is bothered.

Real player with 6.7 hrs in game

Starvoly on Steam

Survival on Amazonia

Survival on Amazonia

This is a game that strongly reminds me of the game; Leviathan : A survival RPG. One thing that separates this game aside from the male protagonist is there is no annoying ‘running against the clock’ element. One thing you need to know here is that you need to have the uncensored patch installed to get the full experience of the game, otherwise, the game will be rendered bland without the necessary ‘spice’ to break the monotony of the grind.

Just like Leviathan, the difficulty curve tends to get pretty high early on as long as you know who to pick your fight with. Slow and steady grind is the recommended approach here since some foes can party wipe you in less than 3 turns if you just fight haphazardly.

Real player with 11.9 hrs in game

Full Disclosure: I am a Patreon supporter and have played the game from the demo.

Uncensored Patch is available on their Patreon, Noxurtica.

Gameplay: It’s fun, the story is engaging, and the dialog is decent, but I wouldn’t play it without the uncensored patch. Survival aspect is interesting at first, but it isn’t really comparable to real survival games like The Forest or Minecraft. You still get to upgrade your base and craft stuff, so that’s cool. The combat is pretty mediocre, but there isn’t any grind and it’s reasonably difficult. Overall, it’s a decent game. I do think it could have been more fleshed out with character development and stuff like that, but other than that, it’s a game worth playing.

Real player with 1.1 hrs in game

Survival on Amazonia on Steam

To Ash and Ember

To Ash and Ember

Meet your Maker and Kill Them.

That which was Dead refuses to Die. One of the Slaughtered Gods is resurfacing; bringing with them all the terrors of the night as the world warps under their dead weight. Through hidden doorways and between flesh-strewn trees you seek the name of the one who dares haunt this world and, in fantastic ritual, rip them from out of the Veil to face you in grim combat. Wounded, mentally shattered, and bedeviled by a Godcurse you return triumphant to a city whose people have become further twisted by this game of cosmic import. But how long until your mortal body fails you? In what hour shall your will be finally broken? How many divine curses can your soul bear before it shatters? The embers of chaos still burn and another Fallen God shall surely surface – and again you shall stand against them until either you, this world, or all the Fallen Gods are Ash and Ember.

To Ash and Ember is a singleplayer Dark Fantasy Event-based RPG. It plays like a board-game without needing to shuffle decks, set out a board, or read manuals. This is a game of time management and decisions, of who to save and who to sacrifice, and of a City whose windows and streets grow darker and stranger the longer your battles continue.

Features

  • The Slaughtered Gods leave indelible marks. Investigators may become as warped as that which they fight: going mad, growing horns, and perhaps even dying and becoming a Wraith. The City’s locations may burn, be distorted, or become infested with otherworldly abominations.

    Battle horrors beyond imagination. In the shadows gleam knives and teeth that shall seek to crush you that their dead God be allowed to return.

  • The World forever twists underfoot. You will routinely encounter World Distortions that change how the game is played or impose restrictions as the Slaughtered God stirs in their astral grave.

  • Harden your heart, steel your mind, guard your soul. Investigators gain Experience from their trials and battles which they can use to level up, gaining Perks and Quirks: advantages that come with disadvantages. The more experienced, the more Complicated.

  • Enlighten the World or Burn it. If all is lost you may abandon a Worldline to its fate and migrate to another. Even if Investigators fall, you can Enkindle new ones to continue the fight against the constant horrors that face this world.

  • Fate’s cruel but fair dice. In true board-game fashion, you roll against Fate herself to determine the outcomes of the many tests that face you with six-sided dice; each Investigator has their own strengths and weaknesses.

  • This is Your Story. Game events are presented as mini-narratives with branching paths, opportunities, and perils. Your choices may open up new possibilities – or seal them.

  • Come as you are – armed to the teeth. Wield, discover, empower, and sell an array of spells, weapons, and beasts alone or with Companions and Allies as you stand against the Resurrection.

To Ash and Ember on Steam

Bernadette and the Demon Circus

Bernadette and the Demon Circus

Bernadette awoke in a hospital after a tragedy, strangely completely alone. Walking it she begins to find herself inside a circus of horrors. Only Lucce, a magical luminous rabbit can save her from this nightmare.

A TERRIBLE PLACE

What is this horrible world she got into? A confused nightmarish place that combines hospital environments with a circus of horrors and gigantic human bodies… what are these monsters that resembles tortured performatic artists?

A MYSTERY TO UNVEIL

What terrible thing Bernadette did that put her in that hospital? What terrible things people did to her before that? So many questions to answer in this history of the terrors of transphobia.

INSPIRED BY CLASSIC

Bernadette and the Demon Circus is a top-down survival horror RPG inspired by the classics of the genre like Silent Hill. You control the title character and Lucce, a luminous rabbit that is both Bernadette unique way to protect herself against the enemies (his light hurt the circus monsters) as well as what keeps her alive (stay away from him and you are dead).

Bernadette and the Demon Circus on Steam