Simply recommending this mod would be an unfathomable understatement. Not only is this the definitive way to play Dungeon Keeper, for me it surpasses any other installment of the franchise even today. Having it so easily accessible now deserves praise to everyone involved! Any word more could only steal your precious time actually playing the game.
Play if you like point and click riddles in multiple episodes full of humor and (mini-)game references which eventually make you wonder how deep such simple mechanics can go. As the name suggests, this game has some identity issues which you as the user can help to sort out. I found the story humorous and well thought out, although, the climax got overdramatic loosing some of its light-heartedness. It is peppered with references to other entries from the media which clearly come from someone in love with Game(s). Those with special interest in good old Adventures and RPGs may find it especially appealing. The hit on free-to-plays is well deserved (for the scourge which they are) but turned out somewhat tedious in its own right. Out of the box thinking is constantly encouraged but thanks to the help function you never run a risk to get stuck. Besides the multiple dimensions of gaming you will encounter, the voice acting was the real star for me in bringing it all alive. Certainly a great entry for everyone with a gaming history and the right sense of humor.
Play if you like to write a journal of your failures as a Lovecraftian cult leader to slowly unravel obscure game mechanics while under constant threat of going insane (in both worlds). Pros: seriously deep details to dig into. DLCs push it even further while the last one turns the game upside down testing your skills to the limit. Keep track of everything you learn and by no means look up the wiki, it would spoil all the game has to offer as the gameplay loop itself is barebones at best. Use headphones to soak in the atmospheric soundtrack. Cons: - Rogue-like misunderstood: They are strong when teaching you to make the right calls in an ever changing environment. Here each run is the same and mastering the early and even mid-game just turns those parts into a grind after you got literally cursed without warning. This makes loosing feel unnecessarily punishing and forces extra cautious and thus slow gameplay. A normal save system would have incentivised exploration way more than bragging about a missing manual. Iron mode achievements are not unheard of either and would have turned hard-but-punishing into hard-but-fair for the initiated. - Minimalist presentation: simple card art, bland text boxes, and a myriad of tiny symbols - only rarely did I find something inspiring for what it is. You better bring a vivid imagination to piece it all together. A strong narrator could have turned this around, but you will hear not a single word. - Poor optimization: Everything crucial is based on sharp timers, but you can't jump to the next event. Only pause or accelerate time. Further, you have to keep order on the game board manually. There is only one drop-off zone where all the clutter gets dumped. Even repetitive tasks can't be set one auto-repeat but require constant attention. Combined with the grindy nature of tasks this turns cult leadership into a tedious management job. Luckily, all this could be remedied with mods - if you had full access to a certain workshop...
"The price of this bundle automatically lowers based on the games you already own." Which happens to be 6.60 if you own ALL four games already. Cannot reccomend... --- Otherwise fun game series and well worth a look.
Play if you like to layout ever growing factories to produce ever changing patters of otherwise meaningless shapes. The premise is simple: use a set of logical gates to manipulate shapeS and colors to a given target. The learning curve works well as you progressively unlock new gates or variants thereof. This oddly enough sparks the ambition to continuously optimize your factory, although, it only revolves around painting, cutting, and rotating basic shapes to finally stacking intricate designs. Soon enough you will be copying entire factories which, however, doesn't save you from the tedium to wire them and make repetitive adjustments. For those looking for a relaxing experience you can spend plenty of hours sharpening your logical thinking if you bring an eye for detail. In which case the ultimate goal will be to build a factory that makes any shape requested for the level on its own, essentially so you can watch in awe of a fully automated the game.
Play this game if you like solving smart minimalist puzzles in an atmospheric gray scale platformer. The game is set out in Limbo and very much open to interpretation from that point. The art style, color palette and sound effects, while all simple, form a coherent scenery underlining the sense of mystery more than horror. In fact much of its appeal stems from its simplicity. Controls are limited to move, jump, and interact. Likewise, the environmental puzzles can be reduced to a few key objects per instance. Despite this, strategies required to solve them are constantly evolving which keeps them original. While trial and error is certainly involved, the save points are frequent enough to prevent it from becoming punishing. Game length is about right. Although, I found the forest starting area most intriguing while following chapters would become more sterile if not ultimately empty. Similarly, puzzles were more interactive in the beginning where you feel smart about finding the solution and became mostly timing based, challenging you at its peak with split second execution. Ultimately, I feel it hinted at some deeper meaning beyond the obvious which later stages could not deliver.
Play if you like solving point and click riddles while descending into obscure horror fantasies. At least that is how I experienced it at first because the story did not connect with me. It is centered around the psychological trauma and ill fated attempt to compensate via drugs. It is told non-verbal in small cut scenes and of cause the puzzle levels themselves. The art style mixes the studio's classic glee with severe gruesomeness. Scenery and riddles are as diverse as it gets with nothing but the cursor to solve every puzzle. It never felt scary as it was all too obvious to me that you are only solving a series of puzzles, even when an action wound result in one of the rare violent resets. Thus, the psychedelic horror delivers only psychologically. In the end that may also be its true nature: a psychological character study. In all other cases I could not recommend this, as you would either be too unrelatable to feel its cold grip or too close to escape from it with no alternatives offered.
Play this if you what to guide a grumpy fluff ball and his sidekick in a quest to eat a cherry in a point and click adventure packed with black humor. The art style is cute and belies the perpetual dark sense of humor. Fans of road runner might feel right at home. Paired with the bloopy music and noisy sounds dealing with all kinds of odd creatures did not deliver the charming experience of other games from this developer. I’ll give it that: it is highly imaginative at all times. But to a modern receptionist I wouldn't recommend this for kids, although they may actually have more fun with it. Riddles range from one to multiple screens solved predominately by trial and error - sometimes even by forced design. Exploring all the possible options is, however, rewarded by very creative animated scenes showing the often unpredictable outcome of your choice. This is spiced up occasionally by a little mini-game. Just don't expect any hard nuts to crack.
The BG series is nothing short of praise, which I will not reiterate when the real question is: why play the originals now that you could play BG3 with its final patch? The answer: it just keeps getting better since decades thanks to an ever so determined modding community. The skill and quality at which new content is created raise the whole game beyond the average ratings. What awaits is an epic journey from humble beginnings to facing gods. Which can be shaped exactly to your liking once you understand the game after one vanilla play-through. Or so people say, but I have to disagree. Despite its greatness it is not without flaw in its original state. So pick these up for your first adventure (search for BGEE + mod name): - Dragonspear UI++ [if anything you want a modern UI or suffer inventory management] - BG2 Banter Pack [to modern standards you need this to bring your companions to life or wonder where all the praise is coming from] - IEP Extended Banter [same as above] Final note about the buzz around the enhanced editions: they are a truly fantastic gift to the community. The enhanced engine is what enabled modders what was previously thought impossible and in that sense keeps on giving fabulous improvements to us players. However, with them came new content which many [myself included] consider badly integrated (this does not mean bad in itself). Add to this some abysmal marketing and community management, and you may see why some die-hard fans have come to peace yet. But fret not, as modders also found a remedy for this to restore the original experience: - Convenient Enhanced Edition NPCs [tone down or completely remove unfitting content] Enjoy your first run! And if you get infected like many others, it will only be the beginning to merging BG1 and BG2 together (or even IWD and NWN), push the AI to new limits with SCS, and tweak the game into perfection to last you a lifetime.
The BG series is nothing short of praise, which I will not reiterate when the real question is: why play the originals now that you could play BG3 with its final patch? The answer: it just keeps getting better since decades thanks to an ever so determined modding community. The skill and quality at which new content is created raise the whole game beyond the average ratings. What awaits is an epic journey from humble beginnings to facing gods. Which can be shaped exactly to your liking once you understand the game after one vanilla play-through. Or so people say, but I have to disagree. Despite its greatness it is not without flaw in its original state. So pick these up for your first adventure (search for BGEE + mod name): - DLC Merger [mandatory to continue if you own Siege of Dragonspear] - Dragonspear UI++ [if anything you want a modern UI or suffer inventory management] - BG1 NPC Project [to modern standards you need this to bring your companions to life or wonder where all the praise is coming from] - BG1 NPC Music [add some flavor to above mod] Final note about the buzz around the enhanced editions: they are a truly fantastic gift to the community. The enhanced engine is what enabled modders what was previously thought impossible and in that sense keeps on giving fabulous improvements to us players. However, with them came new content which many [myself included] consider badly integrated (this does not mean bad in itself). Add to this some abysmal marketing and community management, and you may see why some die-hard fans have come to peace yet. But fret not, as modders also found a remedy for this to restore the original experience: - Convenient Enhanced Edition NPCs [tone down or completely remove unfitting content] Enjoy your first run! And if you get infected like many others, it will only be the beginning to merging BG1 and BG2 together (or even IWD and NWN), push the AI to new limits with SCS, and tweak the game into perfection to last you a lifetime.
