Harvester

You always were a kidder Steve. You always were a kidder Steve. You always were a kidder Steve. All I'm going to say is buy this game here on GOG. The Steam one is much worse on modern hardware. (That's GOG's strength.)

First 3/4 of the game is a very good, funny, clever, satirical and sick (in a good way) adventure. I don´t think such game would pass these days without getting banned everywhere. You can even give a porn mag to a little girl (probably the funniest scene). And now the negatives: Some puzzles are stupidly hard and require too much pixel-hunting. I seriously doubt somebody has found the key in a fountain without walkthrough. In the last 1/4, the adventure turns into stupid combat game with awful control. Even 8-bit arcade games had more elaborated combat system. All you can do is to insanely click your mouse and hope you hit and do not get hit. The manual brags about 21 unique weapons but in fact they are two - long ranged (shotgun and nailgun) and short ranged (the other 19). I was able to finish it just because you can save your game anytime.

*Disclaimer: I streamed the GOG version of this so if you see this review on other sites, assume that is the one I'm talking about.* My first part of the stream here: https://youtu.be/5w3J3g42G2g Entering this game with as little knowledge as possible, (which is generally how I try to enter all games before playing them on stream) I only knew that this game has a history of being disturbing and even controversial, but luckily for me, I don't have any triggers so I was able to play it without taking a lot of mental harm. That said, this certainly isn't a game for everyone and is not for those with a weak stomach or are easily offended since the time-period being depicted people have choice opinions of others from different marginalised groups. That said, the story itself is one that starts with intrigue where you play as Steve, who wakes up with amnesia and is surrounded by his "family" and has memories of things that don't exist like such as a remote control, but when he tried to conjure that memory up it was a struggle. Ontop of the amnesia, he is also meant to be getting married and as you investigate the town you find that the people in this town are a either strange, twisted, psychopaths, outrageous or any mixture of the above. At times this game felt like it has content in this to just be a shocking game, however there is some real substance in this in regard to the mystery, the secret society inside the lodge, plot-twists and the ending which allows everything to make sense! I have more to discuss in regards to my own theories of the ending and the world, however, I do not wish to drop off any spoilers. It's one of those games that if you are curious, you should most certainly experience it as it should certainly belong in video game history as one of those missing gems. Especially with the acting in regards to the FMV footage in game.

not a good game by any standards imo, at leats has 2 endings but still felt like wasted time when I was done with it

Harvester has a lot going for it in its characters, narrative and overall vibe of the game. Everything just seems off right from the get go and there's a lot of dark humor and disturbing imagery throughout the game that kept me going. But the gameplay itself ranges from mediocre to outright bad. Particularly the combat, I'd say is the worst part of Harvester. As for the exploration and puzzles, as I said the interactions with the characters and overall narrative were VERY entertaining to me and it's what kept me going, but the puzzles and way you progress through the game are very cryptic and it's like a guide is almost requires unless you spend obscene amounts on time on everything. All in all I really enjoyed Harvester but it's definitely not for everybody.