True Fear 1 is a great creepy point and click that made me think a bit of Phantasmagoria and some of the mechanics that were used in that game. The storyline is interesting and the puzzles are relatively simple, so that there is not any frustration. I would play it through again.
I have been looking for a new game at minimum set in medieval times. Kingdom Come Deliverance fit that bill. This game is unpolished and even though it is newer than Witcher 3, the graphics leave much to be desired. Additionally, the save system is quite annoying since there are certain save points and it will let you save on exit at the time of this writing. Additionally the player can buy savior schnapps to allow saving as needed for a price. The issue that I really take with this game is that it has a certain way that you are supposed to complete some parts and you cannot deviate from that way or you will die...repeatedly. Between that and the save mechanisim, I have burned a signficant amount of time replaying specific instances. Next, the voice audio sounds like they recorded some of it in an echo chamber, not sure what the issue was there. For $30.00 USD, this game is still pretty good, but it is in need of some serious polish and I have to knock off a couple of stars for the annoying save mechanic, specific way that it wants you to complete certain instances, the echoy audio, and less than stellar artwork. Again, my standards are crazy high comparing it to Witcher 3 (remember this was released in 2015 (3 years earlier) and still looks miles better). Take that as you may.
This game is great! It is excellent for people who are looking for a good interactive story. Just enough videogame and a good story to boot! Enjoy this one all :)
Quern - Undying Thoughts is kind of an odd sort of puzzle game. I personally felt that it was a bit difficult and definitely didn't hold your hand with any of the puzzles. I generally prefer simpler puzzle games and eventually went to look at walkthroughs for certain parts because the solution was unclear even after re-reading everything that I had. Perhaps there were things that I had missed reading thereby making it harder. Not my favorite puzzle game.
The game sets the story well and tells you who you are and why you are out in the wilderness. Beyond that though it is up to the player to figure out what to do. It took me a very long time to understand that there are these "memory" instances and that if you do not complete them as expected then you have to go back and complete them. As such -1 star because this is not a common mechanic in many games and some of these instances are not always noticiable. Some will argue that you should look through every offshoot of every path and I can agree with that, you should in a game like this, however, without knowing that these instances exist, what is the purpose until you find something indicating that you missed something such as a needed key, map, etc. Otherwise, fabulous storytelling and great controls! I sincerely enjoyed this game and its story.
Controls are excessively clunky to the point that it made the game unenjoyable for me. Graphics also left a lot to be desired, this looked like something from 2005, maybe, rather than something that came out in 2013. I was just all around disappointed. However, the bright shining star are the cut scenes. The game itsself is playable if you can put up with really terrible controls.
Pros: *Fantastic graphics (gpu: Nvida GTX960 cpu: Core i54690 at 3.5 Ghz) - Most settings on Ultra and a few are set to High, Facial expressions are vastly improved upon from tw1&2 *Truely open and dynamic world *Importable tw2 game *Choices still matter a lot more though now *Great voice acting *Horses, what can I say? *Nice inventory system compared to tw2 *Not very consolitisy for those PC gamers, very servicable menus *The world feels huge Cons: *Graphics are not as pretty as the trailers and were somewhat overhyped in the advertising - I tried to not watch too many of these for fear of the game being ruined since this is the way that games are going :( *Leveling "tree" is now more of a grid *Not being able to harvest herbs while on horseback (its just annoying to get down is all like in Skyrim; however it adds to realism) I have played tw1&2 before this and I have to say that CD Projekt Red really did the witcher trilogy justice. I look forward to the DLC and hope that they release an enhanced edition with the graphics that we saw in the earlier lets plays while it was still in production. I only hope that the game continues to be as fun as it is right now as I type this only about 4 hours in. I suspect that this will be my next Skyrim and hopefully it will be that for many people.
Good: Stable, fun looking graphics, interesting skills. Bad: Very slow-paced story, weak pre-built characters, poor verbal directions as to where to go, I wanted to like this game so bad, but it just fell short for me unfortunately. I really liked that coming from a more indie developer that the game was quite stable. I loved how the world was rendered and how the characters looked. I liked the names and what various skills did. However, I am a plot person, and I feel that this part truly broke the game for me. Regarding the plot, I felt like there were enormous gaps between plot points due to all of the side questing that the player had to do before being given another piece of the plot. This could have been remedied if the main story was clearly summarized in the journal, which they tried to do, but failed to achieve. This is a problem for me since I really can only play games for maybe and hour a day most days if I even feel like I want to sit in front of a computer. As for the rest of the cons, pre-made characters from Larian were generally okay as long as you stuck to a warrior, rogue, or mage type character. Once you selected something a little different like a witch. You would severely hamper your party because witches are quite useless especially in the early game due to everything seemingly immune to poison etc. The final gripe that I had was when I was told to go to a beach to find some hidden lair. Well, there are literally 2 beaches that the player sees before this, and neither has this lair. Perhaps a direction like Norther, Southern, East, or West would have been in order? All in all, if you like oldschool games where you beat your head into a wall and re-read a lot of interactions, then this would be a game for you. If not, then do not get this game.
I have played a lot of city builders in my time: Caesar Series, Pharaoh+Cleopatra, Tropico Series, Sim City Series, Banished, etc. However, I always find myself coming back to Zeus even in 2015. The reason being is you rarely feel that you just need to sit and wait for whatever to finish building, resources to stock pile to whatever goal, or just for your town to get populated to build the next building. Path finding is excellent especially when pathing is used in conjunction with road blocks to keep walkers were they need to be and those who need to pass through do. The plot is entertaining no matter what story you choose to play. If you are looking for a great city builder with excellent models this is it, it blows things like Children of the Nile and Banished out of the water in terms of graphics even though is is quite a dated game. I cannot speak for the gameplay variance of Children of the Nile vs. Zeus as I have not played it, but I have seen it's garbage for graphics and would pick Zeus any day to look at something prettier. I hope this helps you make your choice.
This game originally came out on EIGHT CDs. It uses a lot of video clips with real people who were decent actors. The plot is just creepy. And yes you can die in this game. There are lots of freaky moments as the game slowly unfolds. I highly recommend it, although you may need a walk through from time to time and you may need to adjust for compatibility, but let me tell you, it is worth it if you love a good story and being part of it! Graphics are obviously dated, but were cutting edge on its release day. Audio can get a little quiet in some scenes so make sure that its easy for you to turn up the volume without accidentally skipping a dialogue portion. *Spoiler Alert* Pay special attention to your surroundings in the fifth chapter, you may be surprised** All in all amazing story and if you like playing a female main all the better!
