Fran Bow

Point-and-click adventure games generally don't have any replay value, and this is no exception - but Fran Bow has left such an impression on me that it will always have a place in my heart. The game's combination of the macabre and the innocent is truly unique and skillfully done. First and foremost, the game is horror-driven, particularly in the opening chapter. This will be off-putting to those who do not see any value in being disturbed. If you fall into this category, you can stop being curious about this game right now. Seriously. There are plenty of great adventure games that won't traumatize you like this one will. Now. With that out of the way, let me say that this game does horror in a way I have never seen before: it infuses it with childlike innocence and hope. The story really is a STORY with themes and a message, not just some meaningless gore-fest without substance. It will make you feel intensely unsettled, but then it will turn right around and make you feel warmth and cuteness. The dissonance is well-executed and, in a word, delicious. In terms of its worthiness as a LucasArts-style adventure game, it definitely pulls its weight. Puzzle difficulty is nicely balanced - neither too simple nor too obtuse. (This is with one very stupid exception... you will know it when you get to it. I do recommend looking up the solution in this one particular instance.) The narrative is a mix of literal and abstract, and some players may find the non-linearity annoying. I, however, feel that it is the kind of story that can only be understood after it is finished. The ending (no spoilers!) initially felt like a let-down when I first completed it, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. It really gave me something to chew on for a bit. If you can stomach it, I dare you to take the ride! This is one twisted piece of beautiful art.

Story: 5/5 Worldbuilding: 5/5 Art Design: 5/5 Graphics: 4/5 Sound: 4/5 Gameplay: 4/5

Let me first say this game is charming, the artwork is original and lovingly done and there are many unique scenes and environments to explore. The music is unobtrusive and goes well with the game but may be too banal to listen to by itself. The characters are quirky, bizarre, horrifying, cute, adorable and disgusting, sometimes all at once. the story is very intriguing and at times too obscure to enjoy. Its like reliving Twin Peaks with many unanswered questions, especially the ending. If you like clear cut conclusions then you may find this one unsatisfying. I bet you will hit the forums to see what others thought had happened, I know I did. Game mechanics were simple mainly, point and click, with dialogue trees, some inventory combination. To me this is where the game fails, the dialogue choices had no impact at all and seemed rather to be used to fluff out the game length and give an illusion of player activity thru the story telling aspects. You also could not skip the dialogues and this was maddening when you were attempting to solve puzzles and inadvertently clicked on a char that had lengthy conversations. Using inventory was also annoying as you had to open inventory, select the item then apply it to the item in the room, every.single.time. In a point/click puzzle game this was beyond belief, where using different inventory combinations on hotspots are normal. worst aspect of this game was the save game mechanic, or lack of one. It uses one save feature, where you stop the game is where you pick up. Works great in theory except for the fact that game saves are often corrupted. This happened to me, during play i accidentally pressed some random key on my keyboard and found that the game had skipped an entire chapter and gone to the next. My only recourse was to start over. I have no idea why someone would design a game to use this , it stunk really and ruined my experience. Forums were full of people with corrupted saves, inexcusable.

If you like the art style, enjoy atmospheric adventure games and don't mind a "open to interpretation" story or even prefer those you should buy this game. Don't buy if you dislike disturbing imagery/situations. Music is great, puzzles are logical and you almost always know what you are trying to accomplish. The game does a great job with small hints IMO; I suck at adventure games and could finish this without any problems, so veterans will likely find little to no challenge. Story is interesting and not as dark and "edgy" as you might expect from the beginning or the promotional material. No bugs or crashes, game feels polished. First playthrough took me around 10h.

This game is a beautifully dark adventure. The characters, artistry, sound and music made for a beautifully crafted tale well worth hours spent solving its wonderfully challenging puzzles. The game mechanics are very interesting and unique as characters frequent other realities and perspectives putting a unique spin on the game. I was looking for a puzzle game similar to The Room from Fireproof Games and this did not disappoint, I am looking forward to more from Killmonday.