Heady, mindblowing, excellent writing and design. Wondrous experience
A loving homage to horror flicks like "Babadook" and "The Conjuring" as much as a spooky puzzle game, "Madison" is definitely one of the horror games of the year. Bar the occasional puzzling decision (pun intended) in terms of gameplay, this is a truly terrifying experience with so much flavour and chutzpa. Alexis di Stefano shows lots of promise with a game that is Visage as much as Layers of Fear. It would be great to have several endings and a more developed story (As it stands, it can be seen as a series of clichés all ensembled together) but as an opera prima it is truly outstanding. Kudos to Bloodious, can't wait to see their next offering! And also can't wait to see the 35 euros become 20 or 15 (the game is truly short).
Don't expect a horror game, it's a mixture of different simulators with a creepy premise. It includes: - Countryside simulator: ✓ - Walking and running simulator: ✓ - Photography simulator: ✓ - Puppeteer simulator: ✓ - Tarot reader simulator: ✓ - Telegraph simulator: ✓ - Bicycle and boat simulators: ✓ I would urge the devs to eliminate all "running scared" scenes (especially the ones with words in them) cause they don't add anything at all to an otherwise serious, deeply disturbing tale. Get rid of these fake Alan Wake sentences, and the silly Lady in the lake scares, cause the core of the plot is much more important and disturbing than any horror nonsense. Devs could have created a really memorable mixture of WWII and psychological insanity by relying on the strong aspects of their plot: child abuse, insanity, violence, war, vengeance. Instead, they wanted to explain: - A half-arsed war story - A half-arsed family drama - A half-arsed ghost story - A half-arsed tarot reader story - A half-arsed love story - A half-arsed asylum story It's way too much. By the end, none of the simulators nor none of the stories seems developed enough to make an impression. On the bright side, each and every one of these ideas, stories and simulators is really interesting and fun. I would love for the devs to develop in depth seven different stories and games instead of this convoluted mess. As it stands, "Martha is dead" doesn't scare much, in spite of all the gorey scenes that never stroke me as crucial to the plot. I'll play more games by you, LKA. But you can still fix this one! It shows so much promise and it crumbles under the weight of its own ambition! Don't add so much: develop and explore the possibilities of one idea. Explore layers of one story, go deep into its madness, just like Bloober Team and Frictional Games and Red Barrels and Red Candle do. I know that you can do it cause you've got the vision, the talent and the knowledge.
This one is a strange beast. It is a point and click adventure with religious and Catholic undertones, like "Gray Dawn" meeting "Fran Bow". Its puzzles range between easy and medium-difficulty, there's some small (and really small) pixel hunting, and discussions and scenes about God and the devil that range between the hilariously clever and the embarrassingly fun. Both landscapes and atmosphere are top notch. You really see that they loved creating this world. As is usually the case, though, characters' movement, both facial and bodily, leaves to be desired. The game itself still needs some work too: random blackouts occur, the devs made some strange gameplay decisions (the Prologue may be the worst offender) and the voice acting is not always as good as it should. Sometimes you feel, as a player, that there's more lore than actual gameplay. Despite all these little flaws (that can be solved in future updates) "Saint Kotar" is a fun point-and-click adventure that doesn't scare you as much as lure you into a creepy story about godly faith and Satan worship. I think that some characters, some witty dialogues, the dreary atmosphere and the sets are worth the entry fee. Travelers willing to visit the little town of Saint Kotar will find much to like in this funny and peculiar B-horror tale.
This is a ruthless and frightening game. Possibly Frictional Games' best so far in terms of ambition, design and plot. (Not necessarily their most streamlined one, that one would be "Soma" and that's why it's still so popular). First of all I would recommend playing it with a DualShock controler or similar. The fear and the "safety"/"health" system works much, much better when you can feel it with your own hands. Secondly, it may not be obvious at first glance but the several stages of Tasi's adventure/progress are expertly designed and well-thought. I wasn't able to grasp the whole thing on my first playthrough due to the effin game being so demanding and brutal. After finishing and reflecting on some levels you can understand when is it that you were supposed to feel danger, when is it you were supposed to feel wonder, when gloom or sadness... and it worked every single time /scene/reveal. Some plot twists are like nods to other games and films. This old school, almost literary feeling doesn't bother me at all: the game is so frikin scary and violent that these clichés may come as a short-lived relief in an otherwise dark, utterly terrifying game. On the other hand, it's not true that you cant die in this game : if you die you actually lose the opportunity to "solve" a puzzle or to survive to a chase, so if you want to see the whole game you'd better buckle up cause it's not going to be easy. With its blend of different genres (sci-fi, adventure, HORROR) "Amnesia: Rebirth" is a mature, demanding game that marks a new and welcome stage in Frictional Games' evolution. It is definitely one of those games that demands several playthroughs to comprehend and absorb every layer of gaming experience and plot that are happening at once. All in all, a very satisfying experience. My 2nd playthrough was more unsettling than the first, and also more enlightening. The more you fear, the more you know. There's nothing else I can say.
I was completely amazed by State of Mind's plot and characters. Some plot twists were really surprising. And I would definitely enjoy playing more games by these developers. It certainly is more successful in a conceptual level than in its execution, but all its shortcomings could be solved with a bigger budget. It is a mature, thought-provoking game that defied my expectations. Well written, well designed, with some shortcomings as a game, but really successful when it comes to storytelling. It is a yes from me.
A mix of walking simulator, stealth game and puzzle/story driven game that is somehow less than the sum of its parts. There's plenty of humour and gorey horror to be found in here. But the game wants to be SCARY and DRAMATIC too. If only its creator could have decided between the two and had stuck to its guns till the end! In its Extended Cut, "Infliction" is like Rosemary's baby meets Hellraiser meets your Saturday afternoon TV drama about an abused wife and an alcoholic husband. The game jumps from genre to genre, from gameplay to gameplay, offering beatufiul art and atmosphere, but seriously lacking in coherence or a true message. After having played for half an hour I found nothing to be scared of. I died plenty of times, sometimes even as a cut-scene transition between one chapter and the next, realising that nothing was really happening in me, neither in terms of emotional investment nor in terms of fear. The whole haunted house thing is done much better in "Visage". Stress is much higher in "Song of horror" or "Outlast". Plots and art are much better in both episodes of "Layers of fear" and "The Signifier". And other recent games like "Don't be afraid" or "The beast inside" are way more entertaining and cohesive. Despite its flaws, "Infliction" has some really good ideas. Using a Polaroid camera as a weapon is funnier than expected. The voice-off, or narrator, who keeps laughing at you when you fail via hand written messages or phone calls is definitely a nice plus. It gives "Infliction" a personal touch, like the cooking tv show or the "Top of the world" by The Carpenters reference. "Infliction" shows some promise but doesn't really succeed in any of its ambitions. Buy on sale, definitely not worth its original price.
So much to love & admire about The Signifier Director's Cut. As a story-driven,puzzle-based game, it's one of the most mature ones I've played in a very, very long time. It asks that kind of question that you find in reallly thought-provocative and well-understood sci-fi. Consequently, it scares you shitless with an ocean of possibilities you would have never thought of. In terms of design, it's as beautiful as a perfect mix of "Observer: System Redux" and "Limbo/Inside". When it comes to gameplay, it doesn't help you. Like, at all. It makes you think and think over and over again to decide what's the best path to take. And, as it happened in Bloober Team's masterpieces, you may only be aware of the decisions you made when it's actually too late to change anything. "The signifier" is that kind of game that makes your decisions count. Not in a "Life is strange" way - where decisions are part of the joy of playing- but in a tragic, life-defining way. This is an indie game that defies all expectations, packed with spine-tingling scenes and hard-as-hell puzzles. A mature, provocative, endlessly imaginative product. Kudos to the Chilean studio for creatng this awesome mix of scifi, drama & horror. An absolute must.
It's difficult to stand out among the army of horror walking simulators. As of late, RedCandleGames' "Devotion", Wired Productions' "The Town of Light", most of Bloober Teams' masterpieces ("Layers of Fear" I and II, Observer: System Redux), Illusion Ray' Studios"The Beast Inside" or Sadsquare Studio's "Visage" have tried to add different kinds of layers or tones to violence, abuse, horror and pain from a first person perspective. Sometimes they choose a more adventurous and scary approach, sometimes they prefer to focus on studying the origins of personal trauma. A big budget game like "Outlast 2" tried to do both of them, with uneven results. Falling into the "personal description and horror" side of the equation,"The shattering" still offers some good, welcome surprises. Compared to games produced and designed by big budget companies, "The Shattering" could be seen as basic and unrefined in terms of visuals and gameplay. However, some of its scenes / levels are incredibly satisfying because of their convincing portrait of violence and damaged emotions. The game doesn't always succeed, sometimes verging into contrived territory. But when it gets it right, it really shines. Some chapters are outstanding nightmares, reminding me the most brilliant bits of "Layers of fear: Inheritance", "Visage" and "Devotion". In terms of gameplay, there isn't much to do, bar the occasional puzzle, but to unravel what went wrong in somebody's life. And boy, SO MANY THINGS WENT WRONG. Last but not least, being patient and thorough really makes a difference in "The shattering", cause the more you see, the more you know, the more you understand, the more you enjoy the pain. I don't think it is up there with the greatest walk sims (I'll always prefer "Layers of fear I & II" or "What remains of Edith Finch?") but it's enjoyable by itself. Can't wait to play its new DLC.
It's a wonder how unamusing this amusement park is. There isn't much to do, its scenarios are cheap, its writing bad, an extremely poor gameplay (zero puzzles, zero options), ... An utter disappointment.
