Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure

I was a little skeptical about Gibbous because of two reasons: 1) the past few dozen games which used "Lovecraftian" as a selling point failed miserably in this aspect (except Sundered) 2) the Lovecraftian horror and the LucasArts style lighthearted point'n'click adventures doesn't seem the match well. I'm shocked to say it, but it simply works here. Gibbous kept the main focus of the Lovecraft novellas: the protagonists have no chance to see the whole picture until the finale, and they are virtually defenseless against the horrors from the stars. A lot of games fail exactly here: if you can just shoot down the elder beings, then they are basically reduced to regular monsters. What really amazing is that this game actually managed to also put comical characters in such an environment without ruining it: the world is wacky, the characters are goofy, yet the danger lurks around them. But how good the game is as a point'n'click adventure? In my book there is three good approaches for this genre: - 90% of the puzzles should be solvable in 20 minutes max, with 10% requiring a lot of thinking and fresh mind (classic) - all hard puzzles (more like puzzle games with point'n'click UI) - easy puzzles but really good story (basically telltale) Gibbous is on the easy side of the spectrum, no puzzles require walkthroughs or hours-long thinking actually. There are a few ones which could use a little extra clues, but it usually limit your combinations and play area to an easily manageable level. The problematic part is that the first half of the story is not so amazing, I frequently found myself losing interest in the game because of the easy puzzles and mediocre plot. The second half was much better, but I'd still give the game a 4/5 objectively if it wouldn't hit me on a personal level: first the Lovecraftian motives, secondly Transylvania. I'm eastern European and that area really gave me good vibes. Btw I hate cats, but I have to admit Kitteh was an awesome character.

The game was great. I loved the story, the names and voice acting. Music was also great and thee old school frame by frame animation was well done. Any point-and-click player/lover should give this title a try. The quests are simple really but relaxing. The only downside was the gestures and expresivity of characters especially at the beginning of the game. Somehow they didn't acted surprised or sad or anything. Somehow that changes during the game. Now, I'm waiting for Gibbous 2 or something :)

I really enjoyed my time with Gibbous, and most of that time came from just exploring the variety of commentary reserved to trying items with one another. The vast array of voice acted lines made for almost every interaction in the game is not to be understated, the developers really put a lot into it. The art is also fantastic with moody colors and crisp animations. The puzzles vary quite a bit in difficulty and the curve doesn't necessarily move smoothly. They got on the cusp of being too difficult at moments, but when I stuck to them and started noticing the patterns I had "Aha!" moments that made me feel very good with myself. One thing that made me sad is that the cat character who is featured very prominently in the promotional artwork very rarely has much to say. The man who accompanies her has a quip to say about almost anything, but Kitteh rarely gets to make comments of her own even in moments where I think they would be funny. It's a game worth picking up if you're having a point and click adventure game itch. It made me laugh, and even has some surprisingly emotional moments.

I know what you are thinking...oh no, a self described funny game inspired by Lovecraft?! Blasphemy! They are surely making fun of it. No...they are not. This game in its style is similar to what Pratchett writes- important topics with a sprinkle of humour to give it a new kind of twist. It works amazing, now do not get me wrong, I love Lovecraft but so far very few "lovecraft inspired" games actually engaged me in a any meaningful way, most of them were not scary or dark, they were pretentious. But this game...wow. There is a dark humour here, but also unsettling atmosphere and lurking sense of dread. While it sometimes plays with the genre it is always done with reverence to source material. This game is something that rarely happens today- a labour of love. Animations are fantastic, characters great, and style outstanding. Top 5 of my adventure games, I would be willing to put it on the shelf next to Gabriel Knight and Syberia.

Disclaimer: I am a little biased here because I backed this game and followed their kickstarter quite closely. I also attended a couple of their dev streams and the trio behind Stuck In Attic could not have been nicer. They cared about the backers as much as they did about their game. Right from the start you could feel this was a true passion project for them. And it makes me happy to see that all their dedication and hard work paid off. Considering it's their first proper game it's a really solid effort you'd normally expect from already established studios like Daedalic or KING Art. I am not a Lovecraft fan so there was always a bit of skepticism towards whether I would enjoy the game and I am glad to say that I did. The art style, the music, the wacky characters and the funny yet suspenseful story can easily match with the big dogs of the genre. They recorded several unique VO lines for basically every object you can interact with. Each screen you find yourself in shines with numerous little details and charming animations reminiscent of the 2nd Discworld game (but with much smoother animations). It's not a perfect game. Some situations and puzzle solutions did make me shake my head, the VO quality is a bit uneven and the jokes can come across a bit too forced. Also towards the end the story gets a little too weird and crazy for me. But despite those little gripes, it was a really enjoyable journey with nice little twists and turns. Normally I would give 5 stars but I have a feeling they can top this game with their next one, so I'm holding on to that 5th star for now.