Zniw Adventure is a throwback to classic kid's adventure games, like Fatty Bears Birthday Surprise, Pajama Sam, or the Putt-Putt games. The art style is spot-on to evoke nostalgia in someone who grew up with those games, with nicely detailed backgrounds and character designs. This goes for the sense of humor, as well. There aren't many actual jokes, but there's a sense of humor running through almost the entire game. The characters are all very well done. Animations are all fluid and full of personality, and the dialogue portraits are quite charming. Zniw is obviously the stand-out character, but even characters who only show up for a single scene are interesting to look at and clearly have personality to them. Music is strong, and some of the tracks might just get stuck in your head. The writing is overall solid and carries the same charm as the rest of the game, with only a couple of lines that don't quite work. The tone might wander a little, and the pacing feels kinda fast, but that's easily overlooked. Zniw Adventure is a puzzle game, so what about the puzzles? For the most part, they're fine. A few puzzles made me feel smart for figuring them out, most were just okay. There's a few issues, like items that seem to be useless (they may be used to unlock secrets and I just didnt figure it out though), and one optional item that would have saved me about 10 minutes, but in general it's all perfectly fine puzzling. I think there's only one timed puzzle in the entire game. Really, the several times the game relies on hidden paths are the only real annoyance worth noting, since the only way you know where to walk is that the cursor changes color. The unlockable extras are cool. A bunch of concept art and a few minigames to mess around with. The in-game encyclopedia is surprisingly interesting as well, and a terrific feature for kids who like dinosaurs.
Hedon is an odd game. The title presents you with a well-drawn splash screen and a great piece of music, leading you to expect something with the pace of Tower of Guns and the soundtrack and world aesthetic of SEUM mixed with the writing of Quake. Then, you actually start the game. The first thing you'll notice is the graphics. Specifically, how everything is... would muddy be the right word? Indistinct, certainly. Very few things actually pop, or are visually distinct. The textures all muddle and blur together, with sparse lighting giving very little definition to the level geometry. What looks like a wall might actually be a pillar you can go behind, and that pillar might have raised parts you can jump on that are only visible from above. Walls and floors visually run together, objects like crates are only really discernible because they're a different color, and everything just generally lacks shading or definition. I can't say it any other way: The screenshots look flat because the game looks flat. It's a shame, because after playing through the first three levels, I found them to be surprisingly well-designed and intricate at times. The engine just isn't being used to its fullest compared to other games, like DooM, Heretic, Hexen or Strife. The next thing you notice is the character sprites. They look hand-drawn, which isn't bad by itself, but the animations are barely existant. Almost every character seems to only have about 5-7 frames. 2 for walking, 2-3 for attacking, and a death animation. This, combined with the muddy graphics, makes actually reading a situation very difficult. Enemies blur into the background even at middle distances, and have so little movement in their sprites that you can't readily pick them out. On to the good. Rather, the VERY good. The music is great, when it's not droning ambience. Energetic metal works great here. Combat is brutal and satisfying, with the axe one of the most satisfying FPS melee weapons I've ever seen.
Graphics: Tormentum is pure art. Fans of H.R Giger, Luis Royo or similar biomechanical, "living" nightmare artists will feel right at home from the title screen onwards. Every single screen is a visual treat, with more details catching the eye and emerging as you look at it. Nothing in the game is 3D modeled or sprite art; everything looks like it's part of a single painting. Easily the high point of the game, and there's more than a few scenes that would make amazing posters. The lack of a digital artbook is disappointing, given how much art there is (so much that there's an entire area filled with what I'm sure is unused concept art, as well as more art during the credits) Sound: If there was any voice acting, I never noticed it. Instead, all dialogue is written and presented that way. The music is eerie and feels generally suitable for the game and scenes. I never found myself humming along to it, or even really noticing it, though. Decidedly average for both music and sound effects. Nothing really stands out, for better or worse. Gameplay: Left click. That's the controls. Left click to pick up, use, look, talk, etc. Move the mouse left/right to see the rest of the screen you're on. Left click to pick up items, open inventory, solve puzzles by using items or solving actual puzzles. Click arrows to move from one screen to another, no moving the character himself. He just stands there on each screen. It feels more like a touchscreen game than a full PC game, which is odd because apparently it was developed for PC first, then later ported to handhelds. That said, MOST of the puzzles are genuinely solveable with a little thought. Only a very few puzzles really stumped me to the point of needing a walkthrough. Multiple endings, though it's fairly easy to get the good ending, even without trying. Length: For what it is, Tormentum is about the right length, easily beaten in under 3 hours. It's a short, casual experience that's enjoyable while it lasts.
Seasons After Fall is a charming game. So far, anyway. I only just got the second fragment and was surprised to find out I was 15% of the way through the game, so it seems like it'll be a decent length game. The sound design is delightful and the voice acting so far is great. Graphically, it's like playing through a storybook. Nothing really looks out of place, and it's got a pleasing, wild, magical feel to everything. The areas I've seen so far have been a little small, but that's not really a downside. Between the graphics and the sound design, there's an odd sensation that everything is calm and magical, but also sinister in some strange way, like an old Don Bluth cartoon. There's no combat, which makes the game quite relaxing to play. It also means there hasn't been any real tension so far, because you know nothing bad will happen. I'll put that down as a plus, since sometimes a relaxing game is just what you want. Unfortunately, there's two flaws. First, the game is oddly resource intensive and maxes out my GPU pretty much constantly, even after adjusting the video settings. Lower-end systems will probably struggle. That's bearable. The second, and greatest, flaw, is that the controls aren't very responsive. At least when using a controller. The fox feels very heavy and turns slowly, while jumping has a noticeable delay between pressing the button and actually getting into the air. This is especially noticeable and frustrating, on any part where you need to get a run-up to clear a gap. You may be controlling a fox, but it has the inertia of a boulder. Really, the controls are the only issue that's impacting my enjoyment of the game. If they could patch it, make the fox feel lighter, more responsive and maybe a bit more floaty, instead of like a brick stuffed into a roller skate, this would easily earn that last star.
Despite coming across as a fairly generic shooter Timeshift has some genuinely interesting features that make it stand apart from most other FPS games. Story: 6/10 Time travel stories are always tricky, and TimeShift does a decidedly average job with its story. You are the wearer of the Beta Suit, a suit of "armor" that can manipulate time, and you're trying to hunt down the inventor of the Alpha Suit to return to your proper time and undo everything they did. A fairly generic story, but the way it's told out-of-order is interesting, and the ending left me chuckling at the ingenius way it was handled without breaking the rules of the world. The world and setting in general have a hint of Half Life 2 about them. Not that it's a bad thing, but it's noticeable. Gameplay: 8/10 Easily the most important part of the game, does the actual gameplay stand up? Kinda. The combat is about as generic as you can get, just running around and shooting enemies. Where the game shines, though, is the time powers. Slow time to dodge bullets, get to safety or empty your weapon into whatever is in your way in safety. Stop time to do the same as slow time, but with the added bonus of enemies going flying when time goes back to normal and inertia kicks in. Always satisfying. Reverse time to remove sticky grenades from yourself, or for the laughs of watching everyone run backwards to where they came from. All of the powers are used in environmental puzzles as well, taking a cue from Half Life. Unfortunately the puzzles are a very minor part of the game, taking a back seat to the combat. Certain enemies can use time powers themselves, moving faster than you can react unless you slow or stop time to deal with them. There are vehicle sections that play almost like Halo or Half Life, as well. Graphics: 5/10 They look alright. Nothing special, but nothing particuarly horrible. Overall it's enjoyable, even if it isn't going to be considered a classic any time soon.
I'll start with the reason I knocked a star off: The Fall is only part one of a trilogy. Take it on its own, though, and it stands up quite well. Graphics are great, although a bit dark. Most of the backgrounds are silhouettes, with very little detail, while the foreground scenery is a bit of a mixed bag, ranging from okay to really good. The sounds and music are equally good; I never found anything which stood out as being irritating or repetitive, but I don't really remember any of the music that well. That might be because it just fit the scenes so well, but it's not really memorable. Gameplay is decent. Part point-and-click adventure, part platforming, part action/shooter. Much of your time is spent solving puzzles (find item A, use on object B, etc), with the occasional bit of combat mixed in. The platforming is barely there. The game's called a Metroidvania style game, but it's not. It's too linear, and much too short, with the emphasis on moving from one area to another by solving puzzles. The combat is a bit frustrating, given how dark the game is, and only the regenerating shield + how little combat there actually is makes it bearable. The keyboard/mouse controls are awkward and don't work very well; you really need a controller to be able to play with any ease. The high point is, without a doubt, the story and atmosphere. I won't spoil anything (even though you might guess what happens early on), but I found myself getting invested in the characters and their situation. ARID is one of the best written AI I've ever seen, and I have to applaud the writers and voice actors for their stellar work all-around. If you're looking for a game to spend a few hours on, and The Fall is on sale, I can't recommend it enough. It may not be long, and it may only be the first in a series, but it's good while it lasts.
