When I first started the game, I was doubtful. Why is this game so praised? It has minimal gameplay, it’s more an interactive movie than a game. Except it’s made in RPG Maker, so it doesn’t look that good. However, after playing it for a while it started growing on me. Finding Paradise has some kind of unique charm and atmosphere. I suspect it’s partially thanks to the soundrack that fits the game perfectly. I started to like the main characters, their banters and childish humour. As I said earlier, the gameplay is simplistic, the main focus here is the story. You enter the memories of a dying patient, visit the keypoints of his life and try to alter them in attempt to grant him his wish. That’s all I’m gonna reveal. If you like heavily story focused games and don’t mind minimal gameplay, give it a try.
This game is a classic. It provides a great Jedi Knight experience. You get to slash enemies with a lightsaber and use various Force abilities. Besides that, it's also a decent shooter. Yes, once you get your hands on a lightsaber, it's hard to switch back to guns. However, playing as a Force empowered gunslinger on different playthrough has its charm, too. Levels are vast and require backtracking. Sometimes it's hard to follow how to progress. You need to really pay attention to environment. The story is... also there. It revolves around the magical Valley of the Jedi that grants people Force powers. It isn't great, but it is servicable. It takes you on the trip to variety of places - the skyscrapers on Nar Shaddaa, Cloud City on Bespin, various Imperial bases and more. The game can be little iffy to work to on modern systems. However, both Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy run pretty ok with OpenJK. Despite its age, this game is still fun to play even today. And thanks to modders, you can make it work on modern systems and with better resolution.
Initially, I had problem getting into the game. I never played Baldur's Gate or any of the "classics", so I felt little lost. I even abandoned the game. But I returned back to it after some time and I do not regret it. It took some time getting used to the game's flow and mechanics. After I adapted, it was great. Combat still sucked. However, exploring this new weird environment and talking to its inhabitants was intriguing. The story, soundtrack, atmosphere are awesome. You are an immortal man who forgot his memories and is on neverending search for his lost self. I liked uncovering my previous lives, meeting and learning about my companions, learning about this odd world I found myself in. After finishing Planescape: Torment I'm really glad I gave it a second chance.
It's hard to review all these games in one review. Some of them are better, some of them are worse. You sea how some mechanics are added or changed as series progresses... What do they have in common then? They are relatively short, the two main characters are likable, the voice acting is solid (with few exceptions, when young actress is voicing some old lady), the puzzles are simple, the bigger focus is on the story, they have noir atmosphere with jazzy music and they are generally enjoyable. As a package, these four games are definitely worth it.
I have played some of the SH games in the past - namingly Testament and Jack Ripper. And I have to say, this game is better than what I expected based on the reviews and my experience from the previous games (from my point of view). The game shares similar features I disliked in others in the series. It is very linear and doesn't allow you to progress however you want. You need to perform actions in particular order, which can be tedious. Sometimes it isn't clear what the game wants from you. There is no highlighted objective and characters don't give you any feedback. They just stare at you and expect you to guess what developers had in mind. The case usually is you missed some tiny object to click on (thank god for spacebar). I'm not saying other people might view these things similarly negatively. It's just what I personally didn't like. However, I enjoyed the story more than in other entries to the series. Paradoxically, this doesn't feel like SH story. You sneak through an asylum, explore swamps, chase the thief on the streets, look for pirate treasure... It's more like going on an adventure than solving a murder mystery with one of the most famous detectives. It might put other people off, I didn't have problem with it. The puzzles were okay. Overall, this game was simpler than other in the series. It's also not typical SH murder mystery. And the graphics is quite dated. If you don't mind those things, you might enjoy it. But I would wait on sale.
This is the start of the series, so the gameplay mechanics aren't as refined as in sequels. Which is expected, given this is the first game. Missions are quite repetitive - climb the towers to map the city, finish some of the side missions to obtain information and kill the target. Repeat. Note, that there are no subtitles in this game (at least the english version). Keep in mind you need to adjust the sound. Everything is maxed out by default and it can be hard to understand what characters say during cutscenes, unless you reduce the backround music. However, the setting is pretty unique. You will have opportunity to walk and parkour through three cities - Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus - during the time of crusades. The setting and atmosphere is what brought me to this game and what allowed me to overlook its shortcomings. The second however is Altair. Altair is badass and watching him to deal with enemies is joy. That's why I wasn't sick of saving the attacked citizen for the twentieth time. If you want to sea how the series started and you are willing to overlook its simplistic mechanics and repetitive mission design, give it a try.
This game is a good party based RPG. If you like games like Dragon Age (the first one), you should enjoy this one too. However, I have several gripes with this game. First, the story, the setting, the characters are little too much generic. You have your classic fantasy setting with dwarves, elves, mages, dragons... You name it. You have story with the chosen one and magical artifacts. You have companions who fit the templates - charming rogue, beautiful elven lady with connection to nature, strong dwarf warrior that likes to drink, evil necromancers with evil plans and so on. You will get everything you would expect from classic fantasy setting - but nothing more. However, it all works together really well. The unique (at least for me) Dark Eye rules set with refined gameplay makes it enjoyable experience. Just know what you can expect from this. My second issue is lack of fast travel. Overall, very enjoyable game with refined gameplay and lots of content. Recommend.
This game takes full advantage of comic book style - there are panels, speech bubbles, each sound is visually represented (you can "see" steps of the enemies behind the corner). Some weapons have special visual effects, like sniper and crossbow. Overall, the comic book style is really well done and it still looks great. However, my biggest issue with the game is save system. When you save a game, you save at the last checkpoint. It can be little tedious to walk through the longer stealth section of a level (again) and listen to the same conversation (again) because that one guard hit the alarm again (stupid guard). Overall, besides occasional frustration it's a truly unique game.
Like other reviews mentioned, this is a short game. But that's not a bad thing. The story is simple but enjoyable and the postapo atmosphere is great. The art style reminded me of Limbo and This War of Mine mixed with zombie apocalypse. Gameplay can sometimes be rough around the edges. Overall, it is a short but atmospheric experience. Just bear the length of the game in mind. Hopefully, you won't be disappointed.
Wacky and hilarious adventure game. I admire developers for all the ideas they had. The game doesn't take itself seriously. You will like it if you enjoy wacky cartoony humour. Then throw in decent voice acting (and acting in case of Christopher Lloyd) and you're in for a treat.
