Fran Bow

But its frustrating that you can't save. The game decides when to save, and if you want to revisit a previous chapter you lose all progress. This happened to me and I stopped playing the game because I didn't want to start a chapter from the beginning (You can't fast forward text you already know) after showing a friend the game from the first chapter. That aside the game is lovely. Wish I could put in it more stars. But clearly there wasn't too much testing on this game.

Don't let the 10-year-old protagonist fool you, this game is extremely dark, just like her demented little face suggests. Blood, guts, and everything else everywhere, but not just for shock value; there is a very interesting narrative lying just beneath it all. It uses jump scares, but the reason you jump is because the tension and psychological horror keep you on edge almost all of the time. When things are happy and whimsical for a while... BAM! High-octane nightmare fuel. Even the artstyle likes to lull you into a false sense of security before drop-kicking your brain into psycho land. Beyond all of that, though, the game has a pretty good message about how mental illness is viewed by society, and attempts to view it from the other side of the fence with a sympathetic - if a bit twisted - protagonist. The game gets downright heartbreaking toward the end, and you leave that stigma behind to see a tortured little girl who just needs some love and affection. The story is fairly ambiguous, but I think the reason for this is that when you suffer from mental illness, you don't always know what was real or not, especially back in 1944, when the "treatments" were far more horrifying than anything the patients would actually see in their delusions. The puzzles are generally pretty easy - almost too obvious in some instances - but every now and again, you'll figure out the puzzle, but not be able to actually solve it, because of some dumb, counter-intuitive way in which you have to do what you already know you have to do. I've definitely seen worse. This is maybe not the kind of game that everyone can handle, but if you have a strong stomach for this sort of thing, I cannot recommend it enough.

Fran Bow is easily among the best adventure games released in the past decade. A mystery that unfolds across multiple planes of reality, it weaves an entrancing tale and has a brilliant and distinctive art style that deserves to decorate goths' lunchboxes for years to come. Its plot and characters are truly original, and its handling of mental illness and (possible?) psychosis doesn't feel exploitative. The game's emotional content is finely balanced - moving, dark and sweet in equal measure, it never strays into cliche or cheap emotional trickery. The puzzles all fit together tidily, with only a couple that rely on obscure mechanics, rather than simply requiring a bit of thought, and the rhythm of puzzle solving ebbs and flows alongside the plot. Although it has a lovely musical score and atmospheric sounds, the game is fully text-based, which makes it great to play if you have to do it in silence

I came across this game by accident and bought and played it purely because of the stunning screenshots. This truly is a work of art. The tone of the game is pretty dark and scary, but because of a lovely, innocent main character there's always a light moment. The story stays compelling and making you want to find out what's around the next corner. The game mechanic of using pills to go to an alternate dimension of the same place in which you are, is very original. And this is crucial to solve the puzzles. I can really recommend this original, imaginative game!

Having played a few point and click advetures in my life I must say that Fran Bow does not break any new ground technically. The approach is the same, look around on the screen, see what you can talk to/interract with and don't forget your inventory. If stuck, hover with your mouse on the screen, see if you missed anything, visit all the places you can and talk to everyone multiple times, try combining things etc. So far, nothing out of the ordinary. But point and click adventures stand and fall by the story and atmosphere they generate and here Fran Bow excells. A very good horror aesthetic with a both nice (as in 'cute') and disturbing story at the same time. The take on the horror is pretty original, I cannot really spot any direct influences with the possible exception of Tim Burton. The characters are memorable, good and evil and the story takes you to both fun and disturbing places, sometimes even within the same screen. So, why not a 5? I guess I will withhold one star because I feel the game is a little too short (would have liked another chapter to flesh out the state of various realities), that some puzzles require guessing as to the techniques needed to solve them (like the impromtu chemistry lesson which suddenly requires dragging and not putting items in your inventory) and that the ending is a bit too light on explanations and 'closure' (although it does leave plenty of room for sequel). Nonetheless, if you like point and click adventures and are not put off by horror elements, definitely consider this!