Call of the Sea is a really nice point-and-click puzzler, with a really original setting and stunning graphics. P&C means that you get really interesting puzzles to solve, but it also means you engage in the occasional pixle hunting project, especially as there are a few puzzles that lack an intuitive solution. At a little over 5 hrs of gameplay, I wouldn't get this at the list price, but on sale it can be a nice addition to the library for those looking to scratch a walking sim itch. No performances issues on my end. The only real downside for me was the story. It's a wild, sci-fi type narrative mystery, but it never really cohered for me, and the "big reveal" at the end felt forced and unsubstantiated by the clues leading up to it. I suppose there are some horror themes, but this is NOT a scary game at all, nor is the narrative particularly gripping. While the voice acting is very good, and the writing very strong, the mythology behind it just doesn't make sense (made all the more obvious by the Rube Goldberg architecture). In the end, I just mostly ignored the story and enjoyed the exploration, which is fun and satisfying when you get through a particularly knotty puzzle.
Styx is a weird game, but it features excellent stealth mechanics that build on the Thief legacy, but from a third-person pov. I'll say up front that the story is bonkers and, in general, not the interesting. But, they deploy some really interesting plot twists throughout that are quite surprising and keep things fresh. The game also reuses a lot of its intricate maps, though each play through typically involves moving in different directions and with new areas unlocked. Following the Thief model, the game is too difficult for a Rambo approach, forcing the player to take stealth tactics seriously and to think carefully through how to achieve each goal. There are lots of options and wide latittude for achieving mission objectives. The mechanics are a little clunky at first, but by the third mission I was a basic ninja and really began to enjoy the challenge of the game. Graphics look great, and if you really dig into the optional goals like no alerts or no kills or all tokens, this game provides a lot of playtime, well over 30 hrs. And since it occasionally goes on sale now for around $2, I'd say it's a must have for any fans of the stealth genre.
Gylt is an excellent little adventure that takes most of the core mechanics and atmosphere from the Evil Within franchise and transposes it onto a dark but mostly family-friendly storyline. This *is* a creepy game, with monsters and jump scares and dark corners, but there's no gore, no violence, and the story centers around bullying and loneliness rather that evil corporations creating mutants. Since it's taking such a strong inspiration as its starting point, Gylt is really good in terms of it core gameplay. Lots of adventure, exploration, puzzle solving, and stealth mechanics, albeit with a somewhat awkward combat system if you get noticed. The world-building is very good, and extremely rewarding as it unspools. Things you noticed earlier become available later in the game as your abilities increase. The animation and cut-scenes are first rate, combined with some very eerie music. At around 10 hrs of gameplay, Gylt is an extremely satisfying and scary little adventure. It does have a couple downsides though. First, it makes the common mistake of thinking that they have to "up their game" in the final sequence, and thus abandon everything that made the earlier chapters great. The last scene (the "point of no return") involves some purely perfunctory linear play punctuated by a tedious chase sequence. I'd blame the developers more except that this is such a common mistake across losts of games. Why abandon a formula that has worked for the entire rest of the game? Makes no sense. Second, the story is both incoherent and frankly trite to the point of offensiveness. Bullying is a serious issue. In Gylt, the protagonist basically ends of flagellating herself for being the bully, and it's neither helpful nor meaningful. Meanwhile, the bullied mcguffin for the whole story just instantly forgives our protagonist for "saving her". That's not how bullying is addressed, or broken relationships fixed, sorry. Otherwise, excellent game.
Although I don't think any game will top Limbo's perfection as a puzzle platformer, or Little Nightmare's macbre and suggestive imagery, Darq is about the closest thing I've seen to a successor to both games. The artwork is splendid. It features fully 3-D artwork with an incredible amount of detail and creepiness, coupled with a bone-jarring sound design. But where the game really shines is deploying a very clever mechanic to produce some fairly tricky puzzles. Essentially, the game leves are constructed in a kind of rubix-cub fashion, such that you spin rooms in various ways to complete objectives and solve puzzles. It works incredibly well. Like other reviewers here, I found the difficulty level for the original seven chapters, and the Tower, to be just right -- challenging, but I usually could solve my way out of it in a few minutes. The Crypt, on the other hand, wicked difficult, in part from the geometry of the level and in part because the puzzles themselves are at an extra level of difficulty. Thoroughly enjoyable tho. It's a short game. The first seven levels and the Tower took me about 2.5 hrs. Your mileage will vary on the Crypt depending on how fast you can figure out its trickery. But while it's short, I'd say it's the best way you could spend your hours. Make sure to play with a gamepad for the best experience. Really, my only complain is the last chapter ends with a chase sequence, which is a little annoying, but it's pretty mild in the pantheon of chase sequences, and all the other chapters make it totally worth it.
There is so much in Requiem to love. The original game was a masterpiece, and Requiem largely reproduces the basic gameplay mechanics of Innocence but with fun new upgrades and twists. At its best, the stealth sequences, puzzles, and battle mechanics are both challenging and satisfying. Given that this is included in a world of unbelievable beauty, detail, and horror, Requiem is a truly marvelous experience. And yet it really does fall short of the original in some significant ways. The most concerning to those thinking about buying the game is that the developers went overboard with the cinematic "feel" of the game. Too many cutscenes and walking sim sequences bog the game down in what is basically just eye candy with a few taps of the E button. Some of these go on for a very long time that really pulls the player out of the action. Like I said, when it's good it's good, but there can be real spells between them, and the final three chapters are largely just walking sim sequences. Sadly, Requiem does not maintain the clever and cohesive plot and storytelling that made the original so brilliant. This game felt like a splatter of disconnected ideas, and there was no rational reason for the characters to move from one sequence to the next. Again, the visual set pieces were stunning, but they had no real reason to exist other than the developers wanted them too. The story is chaotic - for instance, a long sequence has the protagonists descending into the bowels of the earth where nothing good awaits, only to discover that nothing good awaits and then have to escape. This, plus a lot of really banal dialogue, makes this game far inferior to Innocence. It gets four stars because there truly is so much here to love. I just wish they had gone for something a little less bloated and a little more tightly structured. At it's finest moments, it's one of my favorite games. But at 27 hours, there was too much bloat time filling up my total hours. Hope the next one is better.
Silt is breath-taking in its visual beauty, no question. The whole world design is immersive and stimulating to the senses. In that way it does compare to Limbo in terms of its visceral impact. But unlike Limbo, there is not much of a coherent story here, and even less in terms of gameplay mechanics. Yes, there's some fun techniques where you have to animate other sea creatures to solve puzzles. But none of the approach the realm of complexity or originality in other platformers. This is a game you play for the beauty and relaxation, not difficulty. It took me about 2.5 hrs to complete, and I never felt particularly frustrated or unsure of how to proceed (as long as I remembered to look for creature to possess). Definitely worth a playthrough if you enjoy artistic platformers (this one is a "swim" platformer), but get it on sale and don't expect the kind of brilliant ingenuity of some other recent titles.
Calm and relaxing swim simulator. Lots of beautiful artwork. The kind of game you want when you just need to reduce anxiety and don't want to have to think too much. Great with a gamepad. Only suggestion is to get it on sale.
White Shadows has some of the best artwork and sound design I've seen in a simple side-scroller. The gameplay is standard and simple, but also fun, and the dystopian themes are rich and suggestive. It's short and simple, but gorgeous and worth a play through.
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is not flashy, but what it offers is solid. It provides several large-scale maps to sneak around in, with multiple objectives in each map, plus bounties and challenges for replay. Each map can take several hours to complete; the whole game for me took about 30 hrs. The mechanics are good and quite varied; you can snipe, run and gun, denote explosives, utilize environmental mechanics, throw knives, or even take down enemies unsuspecting from behind. The maps are really well-designed and littered with counter-snipers, making the whole process of exploring a map to discover its secrets really fun. Not mind-blowing or original, and I've never played the other games in the franchise, but this title is fun.
