The Curse of Monkey Island deserves a Special Edition too. While perfectly serviceable as-is, I'd like to one day see the full animated cels scanned in (if preserved) or recreated. The pixelation does MI1 and MI2 some favors, but Curse's art direction deserves so much better.
MyHouse.wad
I backed this project in 2016 as a fan of the BioShock series. I'm too young to have played the original, but what I wanted was some scroungy survival in confined spaces with a unique aesthetic... and that's exactly what System Shock (2023) delivers. It may feel "outdated" to some, like the UI and puzzle elements, but that's exactly what makes this game great. They're elements that don't get implimented anymore. They're hardly "out-of-date" or more "out of style" as they're perfectly functional and enjoyable, particularly the wiring puzzles (I'm one of the 2 people who loved the heck out of the hacking mini-game in BioShock 1) and cyberspace's arcade-style shooter. I'm only about 2 1/2 hours in so far and I'm hanging on every moment. So far, the narrative isn't especially original as I've seen it before likely for all the influence the original had on other games like Half-Life and, of course, BioShock. But the atmosphere, sound design, and music all make up for any short comings. Voice acting is much improved too compared to what little I played of the original. Also, no, there's nothing wrong with your game. The textures are stylistically pixelated and, yes, it looks great!
I got this game since Beyond Atlantis was one of my favorite video games/fever dreams I experienced as a kid and thought that maybe the first game could provide some context. In the grand scheme of things, it does not, but there are links to the sequel. However, as the game stands by itself, it was a pleasant experience once I got through the game's intro. Yes, this game has aged HORRIBLY. But, besides the wild idle animations and goofy voice acting, it gets to be a trippy experience once you finally make it to Standing God's island. I found this game to be relatively solvable. I was able to make it up until the Throne Room Puzzle without cheating but that was due to accidentally skipping the hint they gave me. The rest wasn't much of an issue. If you are at all familiar with point-and-click adventure games, you'll know that these games take patience and discipline not to look it up on the Internet right away. I did have one issue with the game not showing my ESC menu but was able to "feel" around with my cursor. Of course, the game stretches on widescreens. Also, this game auto-saves (ahead of it's time!) and Remember, this game released in 1997, same year as FINAL FANTASY VII and a year before Metal Gear Solid, so the graphics are relatively well done especially the environments. And the music is genuinely fantastic! But those animations... JANKY. Player: 9 hours, 27 minutes OS: Windows 7 64 bit
