Sea of Leaves
A young girl disappears from her hometown, leaving friends and family.
After many years, she returns to her place.
What was behind her vanishing?
Sea of Leaves is a contemplative game set in the Gargano, a remote region in southern Italy.
Half drama, half mistery, the story of Sea of Leaves revolves aound a disappearance from the perspective of the missing one.
In Sea of Leaves you will explore the story through the stream of consciousness, which will reveal thoughts, memories, feelings and sensation.
Read More: Best Story Rich Drama Games.
Survive In Russia
Gameplay 1/10
Story 2/10
Controls 3/10
Graphics 4/10
Difficulty 1/10
Positive Aspects
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Runs smoothly and stable. No crashes, bugs, or other major errors.
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Is exactly what it’s advertised as, no more, no less.
Negative Aspects
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The music will fade whenever there is a sound cue playing. Very annoying and had me mute the entire game.
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The stories are a bit dull.
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The difficulty. You can finish each of the 3 stories in about 10 minutes. You just have to click a few times and make some choices and you’re done.
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Story Rich Choices Matter Games.
I kind wish there was more chapters and dlc help support game?? hint to developers.
I played it as far I could stay sitting comfortably by computer.
Like: Doctor story was interesting. I have yet play third time around teacher or rich kid roles yet.
Dislike: one chance encounters end up giving negative influences in your life is dice roll effect, there no character customization/ if characters were different sex?
Doctor character story last time I played it was unfinished. Teacher not sure how finished that was.
– Real player with 0.9 hrs in game
Nowhere New
TLDR: If you like indies, play this game. Its story and atmosphere are well worth a few hours of your time.
This is not a full size game. It was created by a small group of students on no budget, and it shows. However, for that size and scope, it is impressively complete. I greatly enjoyed the couple hours I spent playing.
Narrative:
The writing is very strong. The mystery is intriguing, the characters are likable and complex, and the story is well constructed. There are several emotionally impactful story beats; at various points I felt shock, anger, suspense, horror, compassion, etc. I enjoyed the prevailing theme of identity, trust, and how our experiences shape who we are. Also, LGBT rep is a plus!
– Real player with 3.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Story Rich Mystery Games.
Even though the game has unappealing visuals, I thought that the writing was very strong and I liked most of the characters. However, I ultimately was disappointed with the experience because the ending felt very anticlimactic, a big exposition dump to what otherwise was a mysterious story that could have gone in many ways. We play as a character that crashlands on a mysterious world where inhabitants lose their memories as they share them with other people. The game presents memory share as a mechanic but it’s somewhat cosmetic, for the most part, the story is pretty linear and you can only trade a few memories for a couple of hints, although I cannot confirm that as I decided to keep them. I wouldn’t say that it has any puzzles, you just have to talk to the characters in the right order, it’s not too convoluted. If anyone cares you can complete the game in about 90 minutes.
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game
All the Delicate Duplicates
A short, first person adventure with a strong artistic vibe, and a focus on narrative rather than puzzles. You explore the home of a family who has endured some form a mysterious trauma, which involves some psychological and metaphysical themes. Uncovering the narrative occurs through inspection of objects left lying around the home. One of the novel aspects of this game is the multiple timelines, allowing you to explore the setting and story at different points in time. The somewhat enigmatic story is intriguing and indeed I would have liked to have seen it fleshed out even further.
– Real player with 2.6 hrs in game
Absolutely Highly Recommended… IF:
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You have an OPEN mind
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You go into this knowing it is an experience, not really a “game” like most would define “game”
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you can deal with disturbing ideas, seeing the world as someone with a debilitating neurological condition (aka/mental illness0 might see it, every day
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You aren’t a pew-pew-pew-pew only kind of gamer, with extreme biases agaisnt anyone who is different than you.
Especially that last one.
Worth Full Price. Absolutely.
– Real player with 2.4 hrs in game
The List
“The List” is a mystery game where you search and watch video clips from a police database in an attempt to solve a cold murder case.
The mechanics are very similar to “Her Story”. You have access to a database of video clips showing the answers of a crime victim during several interrogation sessions in a police department. You can search this database by entering single words, and the database will show you the first 5 clips in which the person uttered that word. Finding new clips gives you new ideas for search terns, such as the names of people or places. As you find more and more clips, your understanding of the case grows, though you still have to do a lot of interpretation and deductive reasoning (partly because you don’t have access to the policeman’s questions). What’s nice and really helpful, is that each clip you have viewed will automatically be added to a timeline, where you can rewatch clips in their correct chronological order.
– Real player with 10.8 hrs in game
The List is another addition to the FMV mystery search type, where the player has to piece together a set of clips to ultimately solve the mystery surrounding the main character. If you liked games like “Telling Lies” and “Her Story” this is for you.
The design of the game itself follows those games in which you have some limited case information, a database, a search function and a series of videos of a one sided interrogation to piece together. This was decently done, with a few hiccups in it’s search terms (There was a typo in one of the clips) or the general vagueness of terms, where words might have a tense that you must acknowledge otherwise no results can show. I felt that maybe the developer could have changed some of the terms for a few of the clips.
– Real player with 8.3 hrs in game
Majotori
Simply awesome, and super funny :)
This game consists of lots of trivia questions and pop culture references, all packed in an awesome cartoonish graphic setting!
There are literally tons of different questions, mainly revolving into as I said pop culture, cartoons, movies, anime and so on, and you’ve always got to choose between four different answers.. the rounds are made of nine questions each, but the most important thing is that.. everything’s always enveloped in a story!
A funny one, with different endings and so on!
– Real player with 83.0 hrs in game
Excuse me but I have to write this out loud:
THIS GAME IS AWESOME.
Yes, that’s a highly subjective assessment, but let me tell you why I already love it after playing it just for a little while. Of course, this short review contains SPOILERS, so be aware of that before continuing to read my thoughts.
Running on the Unity engine (and being proof that there ARE good games using Unity) the graphics are kept simple still. Possibly there could be more (shadows, lights and all that) but this game doesn’t need it, as it works great with its simplistic, fun and cartoonish style. If you haven’t seen pictures or a trailer, think of South Park but slightly different. Being quiz-themed you’ll very often encounter text boxes flying in but there’s way more well done “retro pixel art” in this game than one might assume at first. Depending on which “story” you’re playing there are some simple and yet captivating backdrops, urban scenery or even stuff in space. I’m still a sucker for nice “old school” game art, and the graphics in this game work extremely well for me.
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Essence of Time
In Essence of Time, you are thrust into a school of elemental magic at a critical moment in history; it is time to choose a new emperor. As is tradition, the emperor will be chosen from the students. However, when controversy surrounds the winner, civil unrest grows into outright war.
Fortunately, you have access to the essence of time! By repeating those fateful last days at the academy, you can try to change who becomes emperor and prevent war from breaking out.
Essence of Time mixes turn-based RPGs and visual novel storytelling with time-travel puzzle solving. As you explore various timelines, you will experiment with your sphere grid, make new friends, wage combat against deadly foes, and unravel the many mysteries held within the hearts and minds of all who cross your path.
Fallen Gods
Once, the world was better, the gods greater, the wars over, the end farther. You were born in the Cloudlands during those bright days, one of the Ormfolk, forever young and strong, worshipped by those below for your forefathers’ deeds. But all has gone wrong. Wolves and worse haunt the night, the law holds no sway, and men’s hearts grow hard toward their gods. Fearful of their dwindling shares of souls, your kin turned against each other … and against you. And so you were cast down from the heavens, a fallen god broken upon the bitter earth. Now, you rise, free from death and ready to carve a bloody road back to your rightful home.
Features
Fallen Gods is a narrative “rogue-lite” RPG. You control the titular fallen god, who starts each game with different might, wits, health, and divine powers, and one of several animal familiars and magical artifacts. He has 90 days to win his way back to the Cloudlands, or he will lose his godhood forever. During that time, he must gather and manage a warband of up to five followers, find additional artifacts, and gain soul-strength by performing godly deeds (some kindly, some cruel). The world is full of barrows, caverns, swamps, towns, shrines, villages, castles, and other locations of interest. What you find in these places—what foes you will face in battle, what friends you can make, what dilemmas you must resolve, and what rewards you might win—changes every game. As your understanding of the world and its inhabitants grows, you will discover new strategies and develop new paths to victory, but the way will never be easy.
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Decisions fit for a (fallen) god. Fallen Gods is about hard choices with fateful consequences. Where should you explore, what should you seek, and who should you trust? The answers are never easy, but the outcomes are always interesting.
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Never the same story twice. Every game of Fallen Gods casts a different god into a different world, filled with different events, battles, dungeons, towns, and denizens. Even familiar encounters will change depending on your skills, followers, items, resources, and choices.
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A rich setting inspired by sagas, myths, history, and folklore. The world of Fallen Gods is drawn from the old sources of classic fantasy with modern glosses stripped away, restoring the wonder, terror, and otherworldliness that have been lost. The themes and even language of the game are those of the great sagas.
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A game of game-changers. The divine skills, animal familiars, human followers, and magical artifacts that you get in Fallen Gods meaningfully expand your options, rather than merely modifying some statistic.
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Ups and downs. The protagonist of Fallen Gods starts out powerful, and while he can grow mightier, he also faces the danger of losing the strength and assets he’s gained. Weathering setbacks and taking calculated risks is the key to victory. For a fallen god, even death can be endured.
GLITCHED
When a glitch appears in the video game world of Soren, an NPC named Gus becomes aware of you- the player. Travel together to solve the mystery of the glitch and save Gus’s friends, hometown, and digital world. As the story unfolds, Gus might start to question what role you play in his world.
Making choices will change Gus’s essence. His essence determines his personality, grants him new powers, and causes characters to react differently to him. There are six different essences and playing as each will provide a unique experience.
Not only will your choices affect Gus’s essence, but they will have a real impact on the world and characters. Make each choice carefully. What content you can experience will depend on your choices. Sometimes your choices will open up tons of new events, and other times you’ll stop quests before they can even begin. Consequences can be both good and bad.
Experience can be used to patch glitches, allowing you to access new areas and progress the story. Every activity in the game gives experience. Players are free to take on the content they want. Join the Hero Academy, raise bebos, go exploring, or kick back with your party members. No matter what you decide to do, you’ll be gaining experience and furthering your story progression.
Any time during your adventure, you can talk to Gus. You will learn about each other as you talk about his life, his surroundings, the world of Soren, existence, or whatever random thought pops into his head. As the game progresses, Gus will slowly become aware that you aren’t just a visitor in his world… but something else entirely.
There are no random encounters or grinding in GLITCHED. Fights only happen when characters in the world want to make a situation go their way. The story will change based on if you win or lose, so you’ll almost never see a game over screen. The turn-based combat uses a unique system with skills, energy, and quirks to keep every fight engaging. Collect different skills for your many allies and build a team to your liking.
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20+ potential party members
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Raise bebos and enjoy that sweet monster-raising RPG content
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A friendship & romance system for party members
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Tons of achievements
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Every object has unique flavor text (yes, every object. thousands of objects)
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Tons of outfits that change up all party members
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Cool and weird equipment
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Multiple endings
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Frogs
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A large and varied soundtrack with 100+ songs
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Tons of magic spells that have different effects on things while exploring
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A day & night system
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Looming existential dread as Gus slowly realizes he lives inside a video game
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Cool and wacky characters
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An arcade mode to take on unique and challenging battles
Misery Street
I’m still not very far into the game, but it’s pretty good.
It runs insanely poorly for how graphically simple it is. I have no idea how a game this simple can run that bad unless it’s doing crypto mining or something.
The PLC-as-currency thing is a little bit “Hey guys, can you tell that I played Lisa?” The EP Snails (is that what they are?) are at least slightly altered while clearly being an Earthbound reference.
The “maybe I should get a job” dialogue with the Hobo Grey kind of irks me. Even if it wasn’t a cliche joke that makes no sense in the setting (he’s in a tiny farming village plagued with both a serial killer and a continuous undead infestation in the fields), it would still be a crass misrepresentation of homelessness fit for the scribblings of an elementary schooler.
– Real player with 19.1 hrs in game