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[Vampire On Titus]

Spirit Hunter is a series of psychological horror adventure games by Experience. To date there are two entries, Death Mark and NG, both of which I enjoyed thoroughly, but the upcoming third game is looking especially good to me. For one, I think the lead artist has really stepped up his character designs and made some subtle but notable enhancements to his style. I don't think there's a single design I dislike but these are my favorites:

In addition to that the overall presentation has been upgraded considerably. The first two entries were 1st person point and click games with static images, the new game is a mix between side scrolling exploration and first person scenes. Props to them for actually doing frame by frame animation in a high res art style. Some aspects of the motion could be a bit more polished (like your companion character jittering slightly as he follows you) but overall it looks good and could make the game more atmospheric.

This is also the first time in the series where it feels like Experience has an adequate amount of time and resources to fully make the game they wanted. As a developer, they're primarily known for making dungeon crawler RPGs so when developing Death Mark, they had intentions on adding RPG elements to the ADV genre. You can see remnants of that in the first game because the character profiles have stats next to them, which basically did nothing since those systems were scrapped due to time and budget restraints. But for this game they've brought back those ideas, expanding the partner mechanic so that who you bring to investigate with you can impact the outcome of life or death "suspense act" choices, the items you find, etc. Being an adventure game there's no combat, but there is some form of leveling for your character and companion. In general the systems look deeper and it feels like they're putting their all into it.

​

Today I was looking over some of the media for the game that the devs have been posting on twitter and the horror imagery in the promo art really impressed me. I tend not to find many horror games very scary, but I like the aesthetic of horror. Really, the Spirit Hunter games have always been great at this, so I don't know if I'd say it's been stepped up significantly but the stuff they've been showing is as striking as ever.

So, yeah, I'm really excited for this game. It's coming out December 1st in Japan, a localization by Aksys Games has been announced already. I'm hoping the English release will be early to mid 2023 at the latest. If you're a fan of horror or adventure games, I think this is something you should definitely keep an eye on.

Made this thread in anticipation of the new Spirit Hunter game, it's coming out soon (and hopefully the localized version is coming not long after). The more I look into this game the more hyped for it I get, definitely take a look if you're into horror/ghost stories, or if you like mystery solving adventure games in general.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Syberia is half off right now, so you can get it for 20 bucks. Good deal for anyone who was interested but holding off.


New trailer for Cats and the other lives dropped, it's coming out November 24th and assuredly taking it's well deserved spot in my backlog with the rest of the cool looking games I don't have time to play.


This is from two months back, but I missed it at the time. Update from Cyan showing off some progress on their new Myst-like puzzle adventure, Firmament. I can't say I have my finger on the pulse of what's popular in VR but these environments certainly look gorgeous to me and I can instantly see the appeal in exploring them that way. Recently, I became aware that there were some successful adventure games in VR, like Lone Echo, so I think this could be good for Cyan if that audience takes to it.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Dope video by OneShortEye, summarizing the Colonel's Bequest and going over some little known factoids of the game. Bequest has been a favorite of mine since I played and feverishly replayed it for a few days straight, like a year or two ago. It's a style of adventure game that I haven't seen often, that I would say Perfect Tides belongs to (open ended, few gates to progress, but with many optional objectives), and something I'd like to see more of.

 

[Fuz]

I started Unusual Findings.

(this poster is fucking fantastic)

First impressions are really good and there's a little letdown.
Looks great, great pixel art and good animations - it's a great throwback to a certain type of old adventure and to the 80s (I'm an absolute sucker for 80s movies and aesthetic).
The music is fantastic, really sets the tone. Really an excellent job on that. There's also some licensed music and I wonder how much they paid that and if it weren't better to use those money elsewhere...
Voice acting is a mixed bag. there's some good actor (the kids) but most of the others are absolutely AWFUL, even sounding like a parody (the hobo, the electrician). They really spoil the mood.
Walking: ok, bear with me. This is often very annoying because you always have to be mindful of where you click. Meaning that due to hotspots in the path you'll often open the menu instead of walking. And if you double click to run you'll have to listen to a description or something, so you'll have to find an empty spot to avoid the triggers. This seems like a minor thing, but I assure you, it's VERY annoying - you move a between screens quite often and it happens a lot. Also, the action coin is pretty big and ugly, and sometimes part of it might appear out of screen, forcing you to close it, walk more and reopen it. And by the way, this would have been a perfect game for verbs, why the fuck did they go with a barebone coin interface is beyond me.
Writing can be a little amateurish and ingenuous here and there, but nothing major.
I've been stuck in the first part for a while and it wasn't bad, felt exactly like when I walked around in adventures trying to get a lightbulb moment, back then. Once I solved that I just didn't see an extra exit on a screen the game basically went on on autoplay. And here comes that little letdown - Act one is set in the small city, which has a very 80s atmosphere - which was what I was looking for, the main point of interest. But it's brief, and you'll get thrown WAY too soon into the research base. So, goobye "Back to the Future vibes"; the game definitely doesn't take enough time to set the prologue and first act right, they don't take enough time to define the 80s tropes and atmospheres. No school, no bullies, not a wide enough cast of supports. We get way too quickly to the uncovering of the "mistery". Research bases are historically reserved for the endings, goddammit! They throw away the 80s too soon. And it looks like we won't get out of the base quickly, probably just the resolution will happen outside. This is a big letdown for me, but I suppose most people wouldn't care.
Now I'm stuck again on multiple puzzles, which is good. I'll might add some more impressions later on.

Edit: I forgot.
*sigh*
The game has a single autosave slot. A. SINGLE. AUTOSAVE. SLOT.
You can't save, ever. Want to keep a save of that scene you like? FUCK YOU.
This is especially surprising due to how the game is conceived, the tones and all the references to the golden age of adventures.
I can't even begin to state how much I fucking hate it. For me, it's an HUGE flaw.

Quick update: my time is quite fractioned lately and I'm just playing it in short bursts. I think I'm ruining it for myself, playing like this is depriving it of coherence. It's also definitely not an easy game.
Anyway... it's really, really good. I'm loving it. Really happy with this game except the voice acting
We'll see if it will hold up until the end.

EDIT: Well, guess what. Finally had a long session and completed it. Clocked in at 17 hours, which is a lot and probably accounts more than an half for the time spent falling asleep on my keyboard.

I can confirm all my good first impressions. Great pixel art, some really cool animations (maybe a little exaggerated at times), fantastic music, good writing and simple, but effective and very in line with 80's storytelling, plot. Pretty sure it will have a sequel and can't wait for it.
Puzzles are good, mostly logical and occasionally I got stuck but once solved the main problem all was kind on autoplay; I had to use a walkthrough for two puzzles: one is... very random to me and I suppose one of the devs has a degree in chemistry, and the other I would NEVER have solved it, especially considering my playing habits in relation on how the game engine works although I could have solved it by chance by falling asleep on my keyboard.
As I said, it falls a little short on the prologue, it doesn't take enough time to set the tone and you have to fill in the blanks, a little too many references (and I bloody hate the name changes i.e. "Galaxy Wars" instead of "Star Wars" - it's not even consistent since some are the real ones) and some voice actors who are downright terrible. All the main characters (the kids, the Bull and girl, whatever her name was) have excellent voice actors, though. The girl needed more space to develop the character and interact with the cast, anyway - as it is, she's sadly just background. Also more Bull action would have been cool, but I guess money was short for that.
There's still the problem of the single save, and it's HUGE because apparently there's 3 different endings and FUCK NO I'm not playing it all again from the start just to see the other 2. Devs nowadays think they're too important and like to waste our time. This REEEEEEEEEEALLY gets on my nerves.
In any case, excellent game, easily one of my favourites of the last years.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Anyone try out Roadwarden? Reviews seem positive and I like the art.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Anyone try out Roadwarden? Reviews seem positive and I like the art.

Looks nice. Gonna wishlist it.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

New trailer for Between Horizons has dropped, it's a mystery solving adventure game from the developers of Lacuna. This new game seems to put an even greater emphasis on open ended investigations and the player living with the consequences of the solutions they come to.

Cyan has also just announced a remake of Riven

With extra information in an FAQ on their website:

Q: Are you working on a remake of Riven?

A: Yes.

Q: Is it a remaster or a from-the-ground-up modern remake?

A: It is a modern remake.

Q: Is this remake point-and-click only like the original Riven was, or will it be traversable in 3D space?

A: The remake of Riven will be fully traversable in 3D space. Any other supported navigation methods will be announced at a later date.

Q: Why did this take so long? It’s been 25 years!

A: Riven is one of the most highly regarded games in Cyan’s history. We didn’t want to approach it lightly or frivolously. Cyan is a small indie studio. We wanted to make sure we could take on such a difficult, costly and complicated endeavor – and do it well.

Q: Is this the Starry Expanse Project?

A: No, this is a from-the-ground-up remake of Riven from Cyan. However, the Starry Expanse team did assist in kicking off this project. See our blog post here for more details on that.

Q: Which platforms is it coming to, when it is coming out, what are the system requirements… etc.?

A: We don’t have information to share about that yet.

Q: If I purchased a copy of the original Riven, will I get a free copy of this remake?

A: Thank you for your support over the years! But, no. This new Riven is not an update or upgrade, it is a modern from-the-ground-up remake that has required (and will continue to require) a substantial investment of resources.

Q: I must know more! Where can I find out more information about this new version of Riven?!

A: The best way to keep up with the development process is to subscribe to our Cyan Insider newsletter, as we typically share the latest news with our subscribers first!

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Quick update: my time is quite fractioned lately and I'm just playing it in short bursts. I think I'm ruining it for myself, playing like this is depriving it of coherence. It's also definitely not an easy game.
Anyway... it's really, really good. I'm loving it. Really happy with this game except the voice acting
We'll see if it will hold up until the end.

EDIT: Well, guess what. Finally had a long session and completed it. Clocked in at 17 hours, which is a lot and probably accounts more than an half for the time spent falling asleep on my keyboard.

I can confirm all my good first impressions. Great pixel art, some really cool animations (maybe a little exaggerated at times), fantastic music, good writing and simple, but effective and very in line with 80's storytelling, plot. Pretty sure it will have a sequel and can't wait for it.
Puzzles are good, mostly logical and occasionally I got stuck but once solved the main problem all was kind on autoplay; I had to use a walkthrough for two puzzles: one is... very random to me and I suppose one of the devs has a degree in chemistry, and the other I would NEVER have solved it, especially considering my playing habits in relation on how the game engine works although I could have solved it by chance by falling asleep on my keyboard.
As I said, it falls a little short on the prologue, it doesn't take enough time to set the tone and you have to fill in the blanks, a little too many references (and I bloody hate the name changes i.e. "Galaxy Wars" instead of "Star Wars" - it's not even consistent since some are the real ones) and some voice actors who are downright terrible. All the main characters (the kids, the Bull and girl, whatever her name was) have excellent voice actors, though. The girl needed more space to develop the character and interact with the cast, anyway - as it is, she's sadly just background. Also more Bull action would have been cool, but I guess money was short for that.
There's still the problem of the single save, and it's HUGE because apparently there's 3 different endings and FUCK NO I'm not playing it all again from the start just to see the other 2. Devs nowadays think they're too important and like to waste our time. This REEEEEEEEEEALLY gets on my nerves.
In any case, excellent game, easily one of my favourites of the last years.

Sounds good, I might play this as my next game after The Captain. Unfortunately I haven't had too much time for gaming recently but I will relatively soon, so I'm looking forward to this.

Anyone try out Roadwarden? Reviews seem positive and I like the art.

I have not tried it but I've seen it on twitter a few times. It looks interesting, the style gives me a vibe somewhat similar to the first wave of Legend Entertainment games:

That alone piques my interest, so if anyone plays it I'd be interested in their impressions.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Sounds good, I might play this as my next game after The Captain. Unfortunately I haven't had too much time for gaming recently but I will relatively soon, so I'm looking forward to this.


I have not tried it but I've seen it on twitter a few times. It looks interesting, the style gives me a vibe somewhat similar to the first wave of Legend Entertainment games:

That alone piques my interest, so if anyone plays it I'd be interested in their impressions.

I played the demo on my Deck. The controls were not set-up for a controller but the few minutes I played were enjoyable. I will probably wind up picking it up over the winter. I'll update here once I have some time into it.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

This game looks pretty interesting, you play as a vigilante aristocrat during the French revolution. The style give is reminiscent of the early 90s LucasArts games, but most reminds me of Fate of Atlantis in particular. The campaign makes explicit mention that they're not shying away from puzzle difficulty, and that alone sets them apart from many new adventure games, so props to them if they can pull it off.


Trailer for the latest Sherlock game, which is a remake of a previous game but seems to retain the post-Crimes & Punishments emphasis on deduction based puzzles and branching cases.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

This just got announced, looking quite spiffy.

 

[Fuz]

This game looks pretty interesting, you play as a vigilante aristocrat during the French revolution. The style give is reminiscent of the early 90s LucasArts games, but most reminds me of Fate of Atlantis in particular. The campaign makes explicit mention that they're not shying away from puzzle difficulty, and that alone sets them apart from many new adventure games, so props to them if they can pull it off.

Spoiler

Other than the other obvious one.

 

[Luthia]

 

[Luthia]

Oops... I posted too quickly

Just finished Kraken Academy!!
I wasn't expecting much at first, I tried it because I liked the pixel art and it looked kinda fun, and I really enjoyed it in fact.
You play as a new student in a school crumbling down, and you get required as "disciple" by a kraken living in the nearby lake, who gives you a timetravel amulet and sends you on missions to save the school.
It's as weird as it sounds, and don't expect any real puzzle, but I found it really funny and interesting in the end.

 

[GreenAlien]

Deponia Collection is 1€ for the next 24h via fanatical (steam keys).

I only played the first one, not a big fan of comedy adventure games... but it's a well liked series so it might be a really good deal for some of you

 

[Vampire On Titus]

New Dark Pictures game is out, despite me being very up and down (mostly down) on SuperMassive's games, I have enjoyed aspects of them. Devil In Me piqued my interest since the gameplay trailer showed off some expanded exploration, bringing item puzzles into the mix, and a death game style scenario similar to others I've enjoyed before. Unfortunately the Steam reviews tell a story of bad glitches and worse netcode.

It's a bummer because co-op puzzle solving is something I've always thought adventure games could explore more thoroughly, but it seems like at best people should wait for this to get patched up.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

It's a bummer because co-op puzzle solving is something I've always thought adventure games could explore more thoroughly, but it seems like at best people should wait for this to get patched up.

Any good examples of co-op puzzles come to mind?

 

[The Cockatrice]

Any good examples of co-op puzzles come to mind?

We Were Here Series on Steam

store.steampowered.com

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Any good examples of co-op puzzles come to mind?

The series Cockatrice posted is probably the best received that I've heard of. Then there's stuff like Escape Simulator or Escape Academy, which I've also heard good things about. Good examples are hard to come by since this isn't super well worn territory. This one isn't out yet, but I played the demo with some friends.

It's somewhat Ace Attorney-ish, except you and up to 3 other are all walking around town collecting evidence and trying to follow leads. It's not perfect and you really need to be on VC with a steady flow of communication for it to be comprehensible, but there could be something there if they refine what they've got.

There was also an NES adventure game with co-op called Erika and Satoru’s Dream Adventure back in the day, it recently got a fan translation and presumably you could play it with an emulator that has netplay or use parsec.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Out today, been looking forward to this one. But I've also been pretty busy lately, and even busier now with Holiday stuff coming up. Hopefully I can find time for it. I'll also get the adventure game of the year poll up soon since we're almost at 2022s close. I think there's still some releases squeezing in at the end but this was (probably) the one I was looking forward to (?)

 

[Fuz]

So I'm playing Lucy Dreaming and it's bloody awesome.


I'm loving it and it's possibily the best adventure since Thimbleweed Park*. Writing is great, dialogues are fun and on-point, the peculiar humour is actually pretty funny, pixel art is really good (although the particular palette chosen with mostly mute colors can be a little tiring. Weird since it's about dreams and you expect them to be vibrant. Reminds me of Maniac Mansion in many ways, though.). Voice acting is quite good too and there's TONS of useless hotspots with flavour text, all voiced, that add lot of personality to the game world. As a downside, there is an hotspot button but it's
- annoying to use (need to keep clicked a few seconds before it activates)
- mostly pointless because it doesn't mark all the hotspots, but just a few. Feels like it marks only the important ones, so to act like a hint button, but it doesn't always follow this rule.
Musics are great, and I SWEAR they stole a few notes here and there from Monkey Island and casually glued them in, but even if they're well composed and appropriate for the game, sometimes the loop can be a little annoying if you're stuck in the same place for a while.
So, all great so far right?
But wait, there's more! Here's where the game really shines.
Puzzles.
Puzzles can be very, very clever. I'm loving them. I've got stuck more than once, that good way of being stuck, not the annoying one, and there's been a number of "A-AH!" moments; They can be weird but logical (logic with a sprinke of moon) and they're all very well designed and interesting - so far. I am truly impressed on how good the puzzles have been to this point, although sometimes there's a bit of nudging the player in the right direction that I don't really like, as in characters casually mentioning something you need to do to progress, that for me translates either into "don't tell me things! I want to work it out myself!" or "I already figured it out, don't patronize me you son of a bitch!". No big deal, anyway. It's a me-thing.

* Just kidding, Perfect Tides is. Although LD might be a better "classic" adventure in its mechanics.

Out today, been looking forward to this one. But I've also been pretty busy lately, and even busier now with Holiday stuff coming up. Hopefully I can find time for it. I'll also get the adventure game of the year poll up soon since we're almost at 2022s close. I think there's still some releases squeezing in at the end but this was (probably) the one I was looking forward to (?)

GODDAMMIT

 

[Vampire On Titus]

So I'm playing Lucy Dreaming and it's bloody awesome.


I'm loving it and it's possibily the best adventure since Thimbleweed Park*. Writing is great, dialogues are fun and on-point, the peculiar humour is actually pretty funny, pixel art is really good (although the particular palette chosen with mostly mute colors can be a little tiring. Weird since it's about dreams and you expect them to be vibrant. Reminds me of Maniac Mansion in many ways, though.). Voice acting is quite good too and there's TONS of useless hotspots with flavour text, all voiced, that add lot of personality to the game world. As a downside, there is an hotspot button but it's
- annoying to use (need to keep clicked a few seconds before it activates)
- mostly pointless because it doesn't mark all the hotspots, but just a few. Feels like it marks only the important ones, so to act like a hint button, but it doesn't always follow this rule.
Musics are great, and I SWEAR they stole a few notes here and there from Monkey Island and casually glued them in, but even if they're well composed and appropriate for the game, sometimes the loop can be a little annoying if you're stuck in the same place for a while.
So, all great so far right?
But wait, there's more! Here's where the game really shines.
Puzzles.
Puzzles can be very, very clever. I'm loving them. I've got stuck more than once, that good way of being stuck, not the annoying one, and there's been a number of "A-AH!" moments; They can be weird but logical (logic with a sprinke of moon) and they're all very well designed and interesting - so far. I am truly impressed on how good the puzzles have been to this point, although sometimes there's a bit of nudging the player in the right direction that I don't really like, as in characters casually mentioning something you need to do to progress, that for me translates either into "don't tell me things! I want to work it out myself!" or "I already figured it out, don't patronize me you son of a bitch!". No big deal, anyway. It's a me-thing.

* Just kidding, Perfect Tides is. Although LD might be a better "classic" adventure in its mechanics.


GODDAMMIT

Really glowing impressions, looking forward to playing this when I'm less busy.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Many years ago Steam had a sale for Daedalic games.
I think they had a package that included every Daedalic game they ever made for like a buck. (Might have been more )
Years later I get a Steam Deck and have finally gotten around to playing some of them.
Deponia is an old school point and click adventure and there are 4 games in the package.
I'm only a few hours into the first game and I'm surprised I slept on this for so long. This is good stuff.

 

[The Cockatrice]

This is good stuff.

Careful, some of the people here might lynch you for that opinion. I also loved the series.

 

[Fuz]

Completed Lucy Dreaming.
I can confirm my early impressions. Such a good game. Good writing, clever puzzles, witty humour, excellent music and art. It really shines on each of its facets. And the game doesn't fuck around, those puzzles can be pretty hard.
The story is good and it comes to a satisfying resolution: no half-assed finale, which is something that often plagues this genre.
I guess, and I'm positive that was the intention of the developer, we can kinda consider it a sort of Maniac Mansion sequel for how it looks and plays. And look at Lucy's profile and tell me she's not an Edison! And all the shenanigans with her family - they even got an hamster!
Fantastic game, a must play for anyone who likes old style adventures.

Saw the "first final plot twist" coming from a hundred miles, though, I smelled it basically since the beginning of the game. Which means that I did not see the second one coming. Good misdirection job there!

Man, such a good game. I'm glad it exists.

 

[Fuz]

Well, I started The Case of the Golden Idol. I'm on a roll! Thank you, shitty weather.

The Case of the Golden Idol

Step into the shoes of an 18th century detective and uncover the mystery behin

www.gog.com

Solved the first 4 scenes and I'm loving it. You examine the scenes, record clues, then use those clues to fill in the blanks on a description of the murder scene. Sounds easy right? Well, it's more complex and smart than it sounds.
Don't get fooled by still pictures, the game looks great. Very original and captivating.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Fuz has more time for games at the precise moment I'm the busiest I've been in years, TT_TT. Loving the impressions, though, can't wait to play some of these that you've mentioned, especially Lucy Dreaming.

 

[Fuz]

I'm done with Golden Idol. It's a short game, and thus maybe overpriced.

Good game toh. I didn't like the second half as much as the first half, it's too focused on "crossword magazine" puzzles, where you have to go reasoning by subtraction. I would have liked it more if it kept the detective style of the first chapters. I felt my brain cells slowly melting and I actually had enough of it, so I just used a solution for the end.
Anyway, quite enjoyable with a good story and a music that perfectly sets the tone.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Here's the poll for the 2022 adventure game of the year voting. It should be enabled, that people can add their own suggestions. So feel free to add any relevant games I might've missed.

 

[Fuz]

Well I'm finally playing Norco now.
Wasn't too happy at the beginning, felt boring and uninteresting for the first 30-60 minutes. Then the weird started to ooze out. Very interesting, hard to put it down. Gripping story. Great storytelling. Although often quite pretentious and self indulgent in its writing. Awesome sound design overall, it complements everything beautifully.
Feels really good so far. On a negative note, I hate that there's no difficulty at all. The "puzzles" are immediately solved, it's just a visual novel with some interactivity. Another HUGE negative points is... only 3 save game slots. Devs nowadays need to stand in line, go and get fucked, I'm so tired of this shit. And to add shit over shit, they have no indication or name so if you have more than one save with the same "party" they look the same and you don't know which is the latest. I can't even begin explaining how much I hate all of this.

Edit: Completed it now. Weird as fuck. Beautiful.
A few many things left open for my tastes, toh. Wonder if there's other endings. But a really great narrative experience.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Here's the poll for the 2022 adventure game of the year voting. It should be enabled, that people can add their own suggestions. So feel free to add any relevant games I might've missed.

Deadline?

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Deadline?

I always keep the poll open until I make the new year's thread, so likely the first to second week of January.

 

[Fuz]

Started Cats and Other Lives. I'm not happy. Just a walking simulator with a particularly boring story and mildly annoying controls. Might refund and finally get to Chinatown Detective Agency.


One thing that REALLY pisses me off it's that, while being just a walking simulator, there's an annoying popup appearing every 10 minutes or so on top telling you that you can enable hints in the options. There's no way to disable the popup. Makes me want to

 

[Vampire On Titus]

New trailer for Master Detective Archives: Raincode, it continues to look really interesting. I like Yuma and Shinigami's designs, some of the master detectives get into that Danganronpa-ish territory of just looking kind of thrown together. But I'm liking the look of it and I appreciate the ambition from Kodaka in the interviews I've read. It's clear he really cares about putting his all into this game.

 

[Fuz]

Ghost of a Tale

Get the coolest independent games this season has to offer! Find them on our Fresh Ind

www.gog.com

Not sure we can call it a proper adventure game, I might be a little OT here, but it's so good I wanted to share it with you guys. Its FREE on GOG. Give it a try, it's really special. Most overlooked game of the past years.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Ghost of a Tale

Get the coolest independent games this season has to offer! Find them on our Fresh Ind

www.gog.com

Not sure we can call it a proper adventure game, I might be a little OT here, but it's so good I wanted to share it with you guys. Its FREE on GOG. Give it a try, it's really special. Most overlooked game of the past years.

Played it when it launched. It was really nice indeed.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Well I'm finally playing Norco now.
Wasn't too happy at the beginning, felt boring and uninteresting for the first 30-60 minutes. Then the weird started to ooze out. Very interesting, hard to put it down. Gripping story. Great storytelling. Although often quite pretentious and self indulgent in its writing. Awesome sound design overall, it complements everything beautifully.
Feels really good so far. On a negative note, I hate that there's no difficulty at all. The "puzzles" are immediately solved, it's just a visual novel with some interactivity. Another HUGE negative points is... only 3 save game slots. Devs nowadays need to stand in line, go and get fucked, I'm so tired of this shit. And to add shit over shit, they have no indication or name so if you have more than one save with the same "party" they look the same and you don't know which is the latest. I can't even begin explaining how much I hate all of this.

Edit: Completed it now. Weird as fuck. Beautiful.
A few many things left open for my tastes, toh. Wonder if there's other endings. But a really great narrative experience.

There's like this Norco lore web app/thing which came out after the game. I haven't gone through it myself, but I've heard it fills in some of the blanks if you dig through it.

 

[Fuz]

I wish I never learned of this.

Spoiler: Yes, that was clickbaity, I'm aware.

Lost Screenshot Of Forgotten "Married With... Children" Video Game Surfaces Online

Love and marriage! Love and marriage!

www.timeextension.com

Now I need it and I can't have it. Huge fan of the show.

There's like this Norco lore web app/thing which came out after the game. I haven't gone through it myself, but I've heard it fills in some of the blanks if you dig through it.

I don't remember the answers so I didn't progress at all.

 

[marcincz]

Beat Return to Monkey Island few days ago and I don’t know, what to think about it.
Imho first part of the game was very good, but second not so much.
Nice to meet old acquaintances and familiar town, but expected something better.
Probably my fav adventure game of 2022 is As Dusk Falls.

 

[Fuz]

So, if you don't have it yet

1. Shame on you
2. Free on GOG right now

Broken Sword: Director's Cut

Uncover the identity of a jester assassin. Unlock the legend of the Knights Templar. Unra

www.gog.com

 

[SweetShark]

So, if you don't have it yet

1. Shame on you
2. Free on GOG right now

http://[URL]https://www.gog.com/en/game/broken_sword_directors_cut

[/URL]

To be VERY fair this is the directors cut with the weird drawn portraits if I remember right. Never was a fun so I played the older version.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

To be VERY fair this is the directors cut with the weird drawn portraits if I remember right. Never was a fun so I played the older version.

If you claim this you also get the option to download the original version.

 

[SweetShark]

If you claim this you also get the option to download the original version.

I know for Steam, but I don't know for GoG.

 

[Luthia]

Available today !! Also on GOG

 

[Fuz]

Available today !! Also on GOG

So, just very very very early impressions. I've just seen the intro and the first few screens and characters.
Clearly reminds me of Inherit the Heart.
- Art style and animations are fantastic.
- Fantastic presentation as well.
- Voice acting seems exceptional.
- TONS of charm.
- Best possible interface for a P&C (also it's got the classic keyboard shortcuts - another big plus in my book).

Negatives:
- No options. At all. You have sound options when you're in game, and that's it.
- Starts in windowed mode, alt+enter makes it full screen... but it's bugged; stays the same resolution/size as in windowed and the screen is moved to a side, if I alt+enter again... the window stays the same size as the whole screen and the game portion moves to the other side. If I try to manually reduce the window, the game cuts the playable area too. It's... very weird. An image for a better explanation: https://i.postimg.cc/MpD4QpfK/Owl.jpg
- No hotspot button and there might be a certain degree of pixel hunting.

Closing thoughts: I hope they'll fix the window bug with a patch (which will probably be too late for me), but if the puzzles and story are good and the general presentation quality stays consistent for the whole game, we may have a masterpiece here.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

So, just very very very early impressions. I've just seen the intro and the first few screens and characters.
Clearly reminds me of Inherit the Heart.
- Art style and animations are fantastic.
- Fantastic presentation as well.
- Voice acting seems exceptional.
- TONS of charm.
- Best possible interface for a P&C (also it's got the classic keyboard shortcuts - another big plus in my book).

Negatives:
- No options. At all. You have sound options when you're in game, and that's it.
- Starts in windowed mode, alt+enter makes it full screen... but it's bugged; stays the same resolution/size as in windowed and the screen is moved to a side, if I alt+enter again... the window stays the same size as the whole screen and the game portion moves to the other side. If I try to manually reduce the window, the game cuts the playable area too. It's... very weird. An image for a better explanation: https://i.postimg.cc/MpD4QpfK/Owl.jpg
- No hotspot button and there might be a certain degree of pixel hunting.

Closing thoughts: I hope they'll fix the window bug with a patch (which will probably be too late for me), but if the puzzles and story are good and the general presentation quality stays consistent for the whole game, we may have a masterpiece here.

I also briefly checked out the intro (and was super impressed, likewise appreciated the 9row keyboard shortcuts

I had the same fullscreen issue, go into the install directory, open "winsetup" and, under graphics settings, change the driver from SDL 2D Software renderer to OpenGL. This fixed the issue for me.

 

[Fuz]

I also briefly checked out the intro (and was super impressed, likewise appreciated the 9row keyboard shortcuts

I had the same fullscreen issue, go into the install directory, open "winsetup" and, under graphics settings, change the driver from SDL 2D Software renderer to OpenGL. This fixed the issue for me.

That solves that bug, thank you.

 

[Fuz]

So, just very very very early impressions. I've just seen the intro and the first few screens and characters.
Clearly reminds me of Inherit the Heart.
- Art style and animations are fantastic.
- Fantastic presentation as well.
- Voice acting seems exceptional.
- TONS of charm.
- Best possible interface for a P&C (also it's got the classic keyboard shortcuts - another big plus in my book).

Negatives:
- No options. At all. You have sound options when you're in game, and that's it.
- Starts in windowed mode, alt+enter makes it full screen... but it's bugged; stays the same resolution/size as in windowed and the screen is moved to a side, if I alt+enter again... the window stays the same size as the whole screen and the game portion moves to the other side. If I try to manually reduce the window, the game cuts the playable area too. It's... very weird. An image for a better explanation: https://i.postimg.cc/MpD4QpfK/Owl.jpg
- No hotspot button and there might be a certain degree of pixel hunting.

Closing thoughts: I hope they'll fix the window bug with a patch (which will probably be too late for me), but if the puzzles and story are good and the general presentation quality stays consistent for the whole game, we may have a masterpiece here.

Heads up about Owlsgard.
Got to Chapter 3. Fell asleep in front of the computer, woke up at 4 am, ALT+F4 out to bed and I lost all my save games.
I am... very disappointed.

 

[SweetShark]

Heads up about Owlsgard.
Got to Chapter 3. Fell asleep in front of the computer, woke up at 4 am, ALT+F4 out to bed and I lost all my save games.
I am... very disappointed.

Da fuck? How is this possible?
Also, how did you manage to sleep in front of your PC. Is the game that boring?

 

[Fuz]

Da fuck? How is this possible?
Also, how did you manage to sleep in front of your PC. Is the game that boring?

Nah, it's awesome.
I fall asleep in front of games all the time when I play at night, I managed to succesfully sleep through a vanilla Ragnaros raid back then.

I was also full of coffee.

In any case, I already quick ran to the point I was. And realized it's quite a short game. Awesome toh.