Risen 2: Dark Waters is my favorite game on the planet as far as exploration goes. The open world hides the leftovers of tiny stories throughout its land. You'll find the remnants of ancient fights, travelers who succumbed to the perils of nature, temples of lost civilizations and caves once dwelt by humans or still inhabited by dangerous creatures. All the while, you'll be engaging in a wonderful story about sabotage, betrayal and, ultimately, trying to save your people. But this game is only mediocre as far as sound effects, music and voice overs. Nothing is jarringly bad, but nothing is very compelling, either. The worst part of the game is the tedious combat. Where at first it's fun, it slowly becomes tedious in the areas where you must go it alone. What is wonderful about the combat is that it is challenging enough that you really feel vulnerable in the wilderness, which only helps the feeling of accomplishment as you explore. But over time, the combat aspect of the game bored me. Even with the good and the bad, I've never played a game quite like RIsen 2. It's certainly not Risen 1, nor is it quite like anything else -- for good or bad. So, is this game for you? If you love to explore in a dangerous land, if you enjoy stories of pirates or if you enjoy the challenge of mastering a difficult game, then you'll probably enjoy Risen 2. Even if you don't find it compelling enough to finish, it's still worth a go for the unique thrill.
Octodad is a fun little experience where you try to act like a human using awkward controls and real physics. You get tangled up, stick to objects and get yourself into some genuinely funny experiences just trying to get through each chapter. If you want to have a good laugh with a small group of friends, this is a game to pick up.
You'll be soaring through the stars in no time as you discover the galaxy in a similar fashion to Civilization. You'll find special materials, build star bases, enhance your planets and battle it out with customized space ships. The strategic elements create endless gameplay. But where this game truly soars is in its diplomatic system. The AI feels like you're dealing with real people from real galactic civilizations. You'll tread carefully with some just to avoid war, give freely to others because they'll do the same (and you generally won't have to look out for wonky back-stabbing events that just don't seem to make sense) or you may just decide that a civilization is just too dangerous to live. Kill them all. Another great reason to like this game is that it features a vast array of difficulty levels, so you can learn the game while you play. This 1st game is my favorite. Everything is in 2D sprite form. I played it endlessly. Galactic Civ II made everything in 3D and kept many of the same elements -- but it just lost its charm for me. So do yourself a favor and pick this one up now and enjoy several hours of strategic fun.
Avadon is like a game-novel. More than any other RPG I've ever played, there was more reading, more believable characters (along with their ambitions and motivations) and more plot twists. If you've played some of Spiderweb's other games, you'll recognize most of the graphics and play-style. If not, then you should know that it's an indie game with less-than-awesome graphics. But it's good enough to get you by. Characters are animated, but their paper dolls do not show any of your armor or weapons. You play in a turn-based environment. You move your character, then you attack. Then it's the next character's turn. While you're doing your move-attack sequence, you also have a limited number of points per map that you can use toward super-powered attacks (mages have spells, warriors have self-heal and head-chopping awesomeness and so forth). As some say, the game is more "streamlined" and less "hardcore." You should translate that to: "It's near impossible to break your character" and "you'll have more fun with this game" and "you'll be able to spend more time paying attention to the awesome story elements and less time to a boggy interface and player-character design." There are few sounds and music in this game. You could play it on mute and you wouldn't know the difference. If you're going to play one old-school RPG this year, make it Baldur's Gate or Planescape or the likes. But if you've got the time to try an indie RPG, there are few better than this gem.
