I reviewed this for Two Credits. You can find the full review, the score I gave Book 1, and some cool screenshots from our time playing here: http://twocredits.co/review/ken-folletts-pillars-earth/ Note: This review will be updated once Books 2 and 3 are are made available. Summary (Book 1): Common complaints aside, I am a huge fan of Telltale’s recent games, with The Wolf Among Us ranking particularly highly with me. Until Life Is Strange was released, I had thought that Telltale had reached the pinnacle of its craft, but I was proven wrong. Until I played The Pillars of the Earth, I had thought that DONTNOD had reached the pinnacle of this particular subgenre of adventure game and, once again, I was proven wrong. The Pillars of the Earth is, without a doubt, one of the best adventure games that I have ever played, offering a beautiful, treacherous world full of political intrigue and turmoil. It is gripping from start to finish, constantly forcing you to make tough decisions and live with the consequences of those decisions. Unafraid to make you stare into the abyss, it will tug on your heartstrings until they are frayed. By some manner of miracle, it has achieved all of this in the span of one-third of the complete product. I am both excited and terrified to see where the story goes from here, but, in the meantime, I cannot recommend the first book highly enough.
I wrote a full review that you can see here: http://rgz.ca/gaming/a-bird-story-review-a-touching-interactive-short-story/ tl;dr for character limit: You just have to be patient and read into it a bit. If you manage to, it’s a rewarding experience. So little actually happens but it is an emotional roller coaster, nonetheless. It is one of those games that is worth making it through solely because it has the ability to make you feel for the characters in ways that other games rarely do. It’s the story of two souls that come together because they are alike in a way and what comes of their friendship. While that may be distilling it a bit much, it really is one of those stories you rarely find anywhere else. Just don’t go into it expecting much interactivity. Occasionally, you will have to walk around or interact with something but it is not often and, when you do, there is very little that you actually have to do. It’s largely an interactive movie and the story will go on regardless of what you attempt to do. Sitting at about an hour, it is the perfect length for what it is. There are a lot of surrealistic time compression techniques at play, as well, done in ways that add to the feeling of narrative mastery the game displays. So long as you do not expect a wholly interactive experience, and you are not opposed to games that might make you cry, this is one that is worth experiencing.
I wrote a full review you can find here: http://rgz.ca/gaming/screencheat-review/ tl;dr: It just adds up to this experience where I can’t shake the feeling that it will just never shake its jam game roots. The visuals aren’t especially polished, the weapons are horribly unbalanced, even if possibly balanced “in theory,” there are very few maps that don’t seem to be designed with any rhyme or reason, and it still has major bugs. It legitimately feels like a jam game someone polished up for sale – a game with a lot of great ideas that are great as ideas but not so great when it comes to actually using them in the game. I won’t deny that Screencheat is fun. Get a group of people together for four-player face-offs, where the game says you were “unfriended” or “elected” or thanks Obama for you getting killed, and it really is fun. My favorite addition to the release version of the game is a mode called “Murder Mystery,” which takes a bit of a page from Clue. You’re given three cards that you can check at any time. On these cards is a color location for your target that changes as they move from zone to zone, a weapon you should kill them with, and a point value you get from it. It was unique, it was fun, and in a game unlike this one where so much else just didn’t come together, it could have been something I would have really recommended. It’s just a shame. It wants to echo these past games so much that it even provides a similar jump arc. But it doesn’t echo these games. It doesn’t feel like a complete game. From the lack of maps to the bad weapon balance, it just doesn’t provide an experience that’s here for the long haul. It certainly isn’t one I can recommend people play competitively, which is something I’m very saddened to say. Perhaps that wasn’t what the developers were aiming for and that’s why it is the way it is. Either way, it needs a lot of work before it is a game I can feel comfortable recommending.
Well, most every second. It's a game that takes a bit of patience and a love for retro games. It's got all the trappings of a retro game, including the relatively easy puzzles and the ultimate need to backtrack if you want to 100% the game. But fortunately not if you just want to complete the story. It took me somewhere between 3 and 4 hours to beat and in that time, the only time I wanted to put it down was during the final boss when I just didn't pay enough attention to detail. There are one or two references (including one to a popular scene in a certain "legendary" RPG) that had me jaw-dropped going "you're kidding, right?" but for the most part, it was an enjoyable game with great jokes through and through. For me, it doesn't have much replay value but that's alright, as the journey was worth it. All in all, I'd definitely recommend it.
My full review didn't fit so I posted it on the forums but I'll sum up my feelings for the game. Zafehouse: Diaries is a unique game that requires quite a bit of an attention to detail. Not all of the game's details are exact, often being a bit unpredictable but it doesn't take away from the experience. It does feel quite a bit like managing a group of survivors from a desk somewhere while waiting for a helicopter to show up and being able to add yourself and your friends/family to the party of characters in the game adds to that feeling a bit. I fully recommend getting this game. At this point in time, it's a one-of-a-kind experience.
