You know you were thoroughly immersed in a game when at the end of it you just wish there was a little more to keep you in the world before returning to reality. That's how I found Greak. It tell the heart warming story of 3 siblings who have a devout bond with each other, while they navigate the ever increasingly hostile world around them and their people in Azur. The world felt quite lived in and the character fleshed out enough to get immersed in the world and the story. The different exploration and combat mechanics were also enjoyable along with being quite intuitive. Would be keen for a follow up game that expands more on the world :)
What a beautifully crafted gem of a game Ghost of a Tale is! Rich and intriguing lore in a world of anthropomorphic animals and wonderfully made environments to explore, which do a good job at making you feel like you've been dropped into a very lived in world. Adding to that are the many conversations to have with its inhabitants and interesting ballads to play. I genuinely felt taken up in the world of the game, and much like a good book found hard to put down. It's difficult to pin down, but the experience in it's entirety is like no other game I've ever played, but exactly like a game I've always wanted. And it's really hard to believe all of this came from an indie studio, but they've shown their worth their weight in... song from their creation. It can hiccup sometimes, but the crafted care is enough to overlook this and I would recommend giving it a play through during the AAA off season.
Story wise, The Uncertain: Light at the End is a good sequel to the first game by the same developer. The story writing is pretty good and it backed up by some good voice acting as well, which helps tremendously to bring to life Emily and her fellow survivors. Developer CommonGames have also done a great job with their locations, the graphics are descent and the puzzles fairly straightforward. Altogether, this comes together to be Telltale-like experience a step up in fleshing out the world introduced to us in their original game in The Uncertain series. There are some minor issues however, such as some text captions not matching the spoken words, or text not translated altogether. Plus, the facial animations are a bit ridged. Hoping the developer follows through on their intention for the third iteration in the series, but no news on this just yet.
Very well put together gem of a narritive driven exploration game here with some beautiful visuals. What Remains of Edith Finch is very much a game that keeps you engaged to the end with its pacing, and the creative ways in which you experience the stories of Edith's family. And you can't help but feel for their family after seeing how they tried to navigate through all their stories over many generations. What remains of Edith Finch deserves all the good recommendations it has received and I would recommend you give it a play through.
Good game for what I believe was a first for this studio. Descent story that kept the engagement until the cliffhanger ending. And interesting trying to imagine seeing the world of humans through the eyes of a curious robot. Only issue I had were some of the mini game mechanics and fixed camera angles. Other than that, would recommend on sale, looking forward to playing the sequel.
First off, in spite of all other flaws, the soundtrack for this game is gorgeous, a real treat to get the atmosphere going! I approached this game with the expectation of all the challenges other people had mentioned game play wise with point & click camera angles mashed with 3rd person movement, plus and graphics issues. They are definitely there, plus some strange NPC voice acting choices. But after having played Syberia 1 & 2, couldn't help but want to get back into Benoît Sokal's world again for the continuation of Kate Walker's story. That was my main focus in my playthrough - the story and the world, and just persisting through issues this game has. Definintely one to wait for a sale to snag, and experience with a controller is slightly better than mouse & keyboard. But if you are a Syberia fan and you come in with the right expectations, the game's issues will be an annoyance but they won't stop you from experiencing the world.
I tried to get into this game at the beginning, but found myself just using a walkthough at the end to finished the story. Maybe it's because I didn't play these type of puzzle adventure games in the late 90's. Some of the puzzles are quite straightforward and you connect the dots, while others require more abstract thinking. A notpad beside you is also quite handy if you need to jot down items needed when solving.
