Mancheg00bfusc8r
2021
I like the idea of a low-stakes, story-driven slice-of-life game set in a small open world, but a short ways in, I'm pretty certain that this isn't going to be for me; there's no apparent narrative hook, and the gameplay in the non-story sections is tedious and doesn't feel good to control. There's also some egregiously bad voice acting from one of the NPCs you meet early on, which struck me as a pretty bad sign. If you find the story and characters compelling from the outset, you'll probably be more forgiving than I was, but this came off to me as a pretty underwhelming execution of a strong premise.
an incredibly beautiful, polished Metroidvania with great exploration, platforming, and puzzles on top of the stunning visuals (which do an amazing job of combining 2D art with 3D character models and lighting effects) and some of the best-feeling traversal mechanics I've ever experienced in the genre. and that ending... maybe it's a bit emotionally manipulative, but I sure did feel something in the gut there
2021
interesting experiment using blink-based controls for a tearjerker narrative game. I don't think it's quite as good as it's been made out to be - I didn't find the story to be as moving as others did, I could only get the blink detection to "acceptable" rather than truly reliable, and I don't think the blink gimmick ends up adding as much to the narrative design as the developers thought it did. having said that, it's still a nicely told, short experience that tries something different, and it's definitely worth a play if the premise intrigues you. I'd wait for a sale or bundle, though
If you’ve played the first two games, you know what to expect: another short, cute, simple, and silly walking sim. More of the same, but it’s a nice little game to play through in a short sitting.
Flawed but very fun indie arcade brawler, with combat somewhat like a deeper, more violent version of the Arkham games' combat. Could have been a few levels shorter and has some frustrating difficulty spikes from gimmicky vehicle levels and one-hit kill attacks, but there's a really satisfying, addictive flow to the mechanics that was enough to get me through the more frustrating bits to the end.
2021
Interesting premise (a post-nuclear Nazi bunker with Wolfenstein-esque advanced technology and a dash of Slavic mythology), and I enjoyed walking through and reading documents piecing together the story, but it has a lot of flaws: environments, while often pretty, are oppressively static; it's linear even by walking sim standards; the game too often forces you to stand in one place while conversations play out; the story spends too much time building to a reveal you'll see coming a mile away; and key parts of the world-building are muddled. Its art direction and premise, along with some of the backstory, are compelling enough that it might be worth a try as part of a sale or bundle, but not at full price.
2020
Another solid bite-sized horror point-and-click from the developer of the Midnight Scenes series. Found the last puzzle a bit obtuse, and the ending is needlessly expository for such a straightforward story (look, it’s basically Sweeney Todd, I’m not spoiling anything that isn’t obvious from reading the description), but hey, it's free. Nice pixel art, too.
2016
Some very clever meta-horror gimmickry, and I appreciate that the recent update added a bit more technical polish, but not that much fun to actually play. Wandering through a generic Wolfenstein 3D-esque environment, trying to figure out an obtuse puzzle while being stalked by an instafail monster, is not my idea of a good time.
As with the original game, this is a simple, bite-sized horror point-and-click, but this one is a significant step forward in that it actually manages to feel like a self-contained story instead of a teaser for a larger project. Never actually very scary or disturbing, though.
As 15-minute horror games go, this is a decent enough little point-and-click, but the story is so underdeveloped that it feels more like a teaser or proof of concept for a larger game than a self-contained, bite-sized game. Will try some of this dev's other games to see if they stick the landing better.
2018
A short, nicely creepy sci-fi walking sim with slight text adventure elements and glitched-out PS1-esque visuals. The ending sequence probably shouldn't have introduced a fail state, but it's easy enough to avoid.
2021
A horror-themed take on Pikmin is an interesting idea and the glitched-out pixel art is nicely creepy, but after spending just a little while on this, the combat focus, lack of difficulty settings, and sparse checkpoints suggest that this just isn't going to be my thing. I'm sure others will like it better, but I'd recommend The Wild at Heart instead for a 2D Pikmin-like on PC.
Solid first-person horror walking sim with light stealth elements and Nordic mythological themes. Nothing extraordinarily novel for this sort of game, but what's here is fairly well done, though it could have used some more checkpoints, and a few objectives could have been clearer.
Heavily qualified recommendation: A solid, enjoyably tense horror cinematic narrative game for most of its length despite some dumb genre tropes, which unfortunately shits the bed pretty badly in its last 20 minutes or so; I encountered multiple abrupt character deaths that felt unearned by my prior choices, and the twist ending is absolutely godawful and completely undermines the entire story up to that point. Worth a play if you're a fan of horror and cinematic narrative games with high production values, but only in a bundle or at a steep discount.
2019
it's a short, PT-inspired horror walking sim, with the usual formula of a small space that alters itself with various spooky happenings as you backtrack back and forth. Not bad for a game in that subgenre made by a single developer, but too janky for my taste; I ran into a bug where I was viewing a security camera feed and was unable to exit out.