The New Nightmare is one of those games that trips itself up because it couldn't decide what it wanted to be; creepy mysterious thriller or action/adventure. The beginning is so promising, regardless of the character you choose; Aline finds herself on the roof of a strange manor and is forced to find her way in via the room of a strange old woman, while Carnby (whose name sounds a lot like "Corned Beef" whenever the characters speak it aloud) is forced to take the more direct approach and explore the manor grounds. As they explore, they come to realise the place is infested with all manner of strange creatures, from malevolent spirits to beasts that flourish in the dark. These latter beasties can make for some genuinely tense moments as you flee down darkened corridors desperately searching for a light switch before the game gives you sufficient weapons. The game makes excellent use of lighting even beyond dispelling enemies; sure the dimly lit rooms are also trying to mask how mediocre some of the textures and modelling are, but hey, it's SPOOKY darn it. There's a sequence for Aline where she starts hearing whispers cajoling her onwards that get stronger the closer she gets to her source that is absolutely unnerving. Carnby's exploration of the grounds before he finds his way inside is similarly creepy, with lightning flashes illuminating the dark vegetation and rubble, and an unpleasant surprise or two lurking behind closed doors. The problem is that the longer you play it, the scarier it isn't. Subtle atmosphere and mood is abandoned in favour of tedious enemy blasting as the game throws more resilient enemies at you to impede your progress. By the halfway point, it's more annoying than it is tense and frightening to round a corner and find a group of baddies milling about waiting for their turn to chew on your face. Aline's path fairs a bit better since she takes longer to find herself armed, and as such gets to explore the spooky halls and rooms feeling more vulnerable; within minutes, by contrast, Carnby is forced into frustrating shooting sequences against enemies. It's like the developers saw the popularity of Resident Evil and were worried this game wouldn't be received as well unless they shifted the focus more on shootin' varmints. It doesn't help that the narrative gets bogged down in a lot of silly "ancient legend" hoo-haw, complete with mysterious Native American dude whose exposition just winds up making the game sound ridiculous. Horror isn't horror anymore once you explain it away, and unfortunately the explanation The New Nightmare comes up for its mysterious island isn't particularly scary. The gameplay itself is... alright. Controls are mostly responsive, . Enemies soak a lot of damage before they drop, so the game tries to encourage you to find alternate ways to dispose of them or sneak by. The problem with this is that the game likes to throw groups of them at you in tight quarters so that you're forced to kill at least one or two in order to get by, and both our would-be heroes are disappointingly fragile, dying after a few hits. It doesn't help that the most lethal of enemies tend to be faster than either Aline or Carnby can stumble along, either. Is it worth six dollars? That depends. If you're a big fan of the genre, then it's worth it just to play it and see what it gets right. It's not unforgivably bad, and its good points mostly balance out the bad to make the whole experience serviceable, if not particularly memorable. While it lasts, The New Nightmare is mostly entertaining, and as long as you don't expect too much from it (or any degree of perfection), it makes for a good evening's play.
The Longest Journey represents the absolute best and worst of the adventure genre. The best? An incredibly complex story backed up by some of the most memorable, likable characters and snappy, natural dialogue I've ever had the pleasure of encountering in a game. April is a wonderful protagonist, fiery and funny, and the people she meets are always interesting, even the NPCs you only meet once. A tremendous amount of effort has been poured into making the story feel as believable and immersive as possible, and the game itself is actually quite long. The sort of thing that takes you weeks rather than days. The worst? Most of the puzzles were apparently conceived in some sort of bizarro dimension. The logic behind them is frequently baffling, with completely ridiculous items and combinations, and the solutions are so overcomplicated that even if you're the "go everywhere, try everything" type of player, you'll still have to consult a walkthrough at least once or twice. When you do, "How the heck was I supposed to know THAT?" is the most frequent reaction. And yet, somehow, the game manages to keep being fun. The writing is fantastic, the voice acting is surprisingly good, and the environments are fascinating. April's semi-futuristic world somehow manages to be even more interesting than the magical realm she eventually gains access to; it's seeing people like you or me strolling down an ordinary looking street while power-armored police officers direct sky traffic overhead that manages to seamlessly mesh the fantastic with the everyday. This is, of course, all backed up by a soundtrack that features some wonderfully atmospheric pieces that only serve to help immerse you even more. Of course, the visuals are more than a little dated by today's expectations, and the game can look ugly at higher resolutions, but I actually feel the areas still look beautiful, while the people are unfortunately blocky. Despite some frustrating puzzle solving, The Longest Journey is one of the games you really need to play if you never have before, and even one you should play again if it's been a while, if only to remind yourself that amidst a current-day clutch of blah-bland adventure titles, there are still titans of the genre out there.
King's Bounty: The Legend was not a game I expected to enjoy because it's so different from what I was expecting. I have an appreciation for turn based games, mainly because I am slow and boring, but the first few times I tried King's Bounty's battle system I was left feeling put off. Easily the biggest annoyance comes in learning your limits; it's far too easy for enemies to absolutely decimate your forces, and you'll spend a lot of time running back to places to buy more. The game is extremely unforgiving if you enter battle unprepared with the wrong types of forces, and developing the habit to save before every encounter should be a top priority. It's true that a little cunning will get you far, but battles can be won or lost in a single turn, and that can be hard to swallow. But over time, you get the hang of things. You know what spells work best in any situation, you learn how to work the battlefield, and before long, you're running towards fights rather than away. Not only is there a tremendous variety of creatures to be discovered and destroyed, but there's also a big, satisfying expanse of treasure to find and upgrade. (By fighting inside the item, of course. How else?) Oh, and if you want, you can marry a frog princess. Or a zombie queen. Or... well, you'll see. In fact, if you can handle the combat, really the only other issue with King's Bounty is its dialogue, which tends to be either painfully dull or unintentionally hysterical, and is delivered by characters that are weird and bland at best. It feels like it was lifted straight out of a twelve-year-old kid's Dungeon and Dragons fanfiction, and if you can handle your stalwart hero of the land proclaiming "OK I am ready!!" before he plunges into battle with a necromancer lord, or even crack a smile at it, you'll do just fine. For your patience, you're granted a massive world teeming with interesting creatures, and quests that generally revolve around slaying them. The visuals are big, bright, and cartoonishly enjoyable, and it's impossible to not enjoy trampling around the overworld with your big, stampy-hoof'ed horse, running down brigands and chasing shiny treasure. It definitely is a game that takes a while to become adept at, but once you do, you'll find it's got a lot of charm and potential. You'll never call the characters memorable with a straight face, and it's never going to inspire any poetry, but King's Bounty: The Legend is tremendously fun and addictive, as long as you don't try to take it seriously.