The trainer makes the game enjoyable. Recommended.
There's some very good stuff here. Your combat team does tactical maneuvers in dim light, scavenges scarce resources, and fights creepy/strong things. Straightforward skill/research trees make a significant difference in the game as you progress. And the characters have enough self-defense smarts that you want them to survive. The stock game was good enough to draw me in. Unfortunately, it has multiple serious problems. The cheat trainer game solves many of the problems. Give your guys tons of ammo, upgraded guns, and all the armor. Save whenever you want. The game changes from "hellish grind" to "hey, I'm making progress." The developers get credit for recognizing the problem and releasing an official trainer for free.
A fun hidden-object game. It's free, try it! Nice artwork. Good music. The hint system works well without giving everything away. Some minor issues *almost* cost it a star: 1. It's not obvious that you can click-and-drag to move the screen up. You must do this to find all the cats. 2. Winning the demo level doesn't take you back to the main menu, so there's no way to close the program. I think Alt-F4 did it? The program behavior may be different when users have the extra level DLC.
This game hits the mark on many levels. Background music is orchestral, tense, and there's enough of it to keep from being too repetitive. The pixel art works well. Scenes and levels are creepy. The intro is very strong, and kept me wanting to learn more for an hour or so. But it felt like there were too many doors to go through, too much backtracking, and a couple of undiscoverable things like "hit the invisible red button in the shadows to scare the psycho killer." As with most adventure games, I had to open a walkthrough to keep progressing. I think the biggest flaw was progression: it didn't feel like I was getting closer to a solution or understanding as the game went on. I made it about 75% through, then watched a longplay video for the rest. Was easily worth a few dollars for a good set-up and good artwork. The soundtrack is recommended if you like horror movie music.
A walking simulator should have good visuals, an interesting story, and clear progression. Firewatch hits the visuals, stumbles on the story, and utterly fails on the progression. Visuals: fantastic. Firewatch’s aesthetic is consistent and very enjoyable to look at! Story: okay at best. There’s hints of some good stuff. But all the main character’s decisions relate to his girlfriend/wife and the new woman he meets over the radio. You also play a mopey weak man no matter what choices you make. For example: someone mugs you and your girlfriend. If you beat the mugger up, you _cry_ about it later. I almost left the game right there. Progression: horribly, horribly broken. Official routes are often hard to find, hidden, or blocked by brush. I’m repeatedly unable to make progress because the developers arbitrarily decided my character shouldn't go that way. There’s a path visible, in the direction I need to go, but my character won’t step over an ankle-high rock. Other times, my character can climb/drop like spider-man. This effectively leaves me stuck early in a book, unable to get to the next page. At least I got to see some pretty scenery for a few hours.
The 60 seconds to grab supplies is fun. I thought you would get to do this periodically to grab more supplies and save your family, but unfortunately that's not the case. The rest of the game is a slow slog watching family members go starve, dehydrate, go crazy, and die. There's no way to have enough resources to keep everyone alive, no matter what you grab in the first minute. This is played for laughs. There's an emotional problem here. The rush to grab supplies builds sympathy for the dad and family. Why would we then enjoy watching them suffer? Conversely, if we want them to suffer, why would we rush to grab resources? NOT FUN.
Avernum is a framework for casual RPG fun. You run a party of four. Want a muscular thief? A nature-loving priestess? A wimpy lizard-mage clad in steel armor? A brooding cat-sorceress who drinks wine and shoots lightning from her fingers? You can make anything you have skill points for. Every character has their place in this huge, living world. Locations, architecture, even the stuff scattered around serves to reinforce their stories. Every once in a while, you get a scene right out of pen-and-paper RPGs. There's [spoiler] where all the guests have been murdered and aren’t happy about that, written in chilling style. A vampire invites you to his lair; in you go, lured by the promise of XP and loot. There’s a lot of fun and adventure to be had here. Download the demo at Spiderweb Software if you’re unsure. Odds are, you’ll get hooked.
You can argue that a hint book/strategy guide should be an extra purchase, but charging extra for the manual seems . . . excessive.
This is smart, creepy fun. Multiple episodes with an interwoven narrative work well together, and the cheery theme song sets you up for each episode. If you're nostalgic for when computer keyboards clicked and TVs were a great^H^H^H^H^H^H way to display a screen of text, this will resonate with you even more. For the most part, the gameplay is engrossing and the puzzles make sense. This game blends warm nostalgia and horror - that is QUITE an accomplishment. Unfortunately, in a few spots, the puzzles are completely opaque. There are subtitles, except when you need to enter numbers that only have audio cues. Or - in one case - the command you have to type comes from incidental text on a previous screen. Since walkthroughs are readily available, I'm not taking off any stars. While the adult side of me appreciated the scares and story, I also feel like I just revisited my childhood. Absolutely worth the money.
DD:DA is an open-world action RPG where you complete quests and fight monsters. There is crafting, and a story, but you don't have to focus on them unless you want to. The levelling systems are just complex enough without being overwhelming. The game rewards you for paying attention to what options are available, but you don't have to study a massive game system to have fun. One thing that makes Dragon's Dogma unique is its class ("vocation") system. Your character can play as a mage for a while, shift to being a warrior, and then shift to something else. On the way, you pick up statistic boosts ("augments") you can still use after you switch vocations. Some skills also transfer. This improves the variety of play, and gives you a reason to try out different play styles. Of course, if you'd rather stick with one vocation and become a monster at one thing, you can do that too. Monsters are tough at first, but they do not level up with your character. That means you see the results of building a stronger character as you go. Monsters that were threatening early on become one-hit kills. But there's plenty of world to explore, and VERY tough monsters can be found if you go looking for them. You build a party with the pawn system, including one sidekick you can name, train, and keep with you for the whole game. Pawns are helpful without getting in the way. They make suggestions, but you can tell them to shut up if they get annoying. They learn how you play so they can assist you better. In practice, this is wonderful! The variety of body types available in this game means you can create a physically varied party, or narrow it down to one type if that works better for you. This helps greatly with immersion. My only real gripe so far: you'll travel and re-travel areas of the map repeatedly, no matter how carefully you place your portcrystals. This is the most fun I've had with a RPG since the Risen series. Highly recommended.
