Highschool Possession

Highschool Possession

Highschool Possession tells the tale of a student named Hikaru, who one day finds his conscience mysteriously alternating between the bodies of two girls in his school. It is an interesting premise, but due to the short length of the game not a lot of time is spent on fleshing it out more. While the art and audio is decent enough the story could definitely have benefited from a bit more work.

Gameplay: The basic story is quite interesting, but due to its short length a lot of things feels glossed over.

Graphics: Nice artwork, but not many different backgrounds

Sound: The soundtrack is decent, but the game features no voice acting

Sunless Sea Free Weekend On Steam

Sunless Sea Free Weekend On Steam

Players yet to experience the perils of losing their minds and eating their crew can now do so for free thanks to the Sunless Sea Free Weekend. Next week marks the first year since its release and in celebration players can try it out for free until 1pm PST on 31st January. Those who enjoy the game and want to add it to their library permanently can grab it at a 40% discount until 10am on 1st February

CLANNAD

CLANNAD

At first glance CLANNAD appears to be a typical slice of life visual novel featuring the adventures of high school delinquent Tomoya Okazaki. However, its engrossing storylines and fascinating characters make it a title that is hard to put down. Completing the multiple storyline branches takes a long, long time, but the excellent writing and emotional impact makes it worthwhile. The game is a must have title for fans of the genre, but thanks to its compelling storylines will definitely appeal to other players as well.

Gameplay: CLANNAD features multiple routes that lead to different storylines based on your choices.

Graphics: The art style takes a while to get used to, but the overall quality is very good.

Sound: The game features a stellar selection of tracks and very good Japanese voice acting

The Mysterious Cities of Gold

The Mysterious Cities of Gold

Nostalgia obviously plays a huge role when it comes to such a classic license, but this game is good enough to stand out on its own. The basic gameplay is engaging, but with a gentle difficulty curve that makes it suitable for younger players. Experienced players can aim for all the optional goals to up the challenge.

Gameplay: The puzzle solving provides a challenge for players of all ages.

Graphics: The visuals stay true to the animated series.

Sound: Authentic voice acting and catchy tunes

Penumbra: Black Plague

Penumbra: Black Plague

Black Plague focusses on the best parts of the original game (the creepy atmosphere and physics based puzzles) while trimming the worst parts (the combat) making it a better experience overall. Playing the original is still required to make the most out of it and it is a little on the short side but it made me jump quite a few times which is commendable.

Gameplay: Removing combat ramps up the atmosphere considerably.

Graphics: Better looking and featuring more detail than the original.

Sound: Solid voice acting and lots of creepy ambience

Fairy Tale Mysteries 2: The Beanstalk

Fairy Tale Mysteries 2: The Beanstalk

Fairy Tale Mysteries 2: The Beanstalk offers an interesting spin on a familiar fairy tale along with loads of hidden objects to find. The actual amount of traditional hidden object scenes during the main game is rather low, but the game makes up for this with plenty of fragmented objects scattered about everywhere. Players looking for something drastically different won’t find it here, but fans of the genre will have fun and the game is also quite newcomer friendly.

Gameplay: An abundance of fragmented objects to find and plenty of locations to explore.

Graphics: The scenes are all very detailed, but could have benefited from more animations.

Sound: Decent voice acting throughout

The Last Dream: Developer’s Edition

The Last Dream: Developer’s Edition

The Last Dream is a surreal adventure featuring a man pursuing the ghost of his wife. The game features a unique blend of hand drawn locations and live action cut-scenes while offering mini-games as well as fragmented object scenes to complete. Multiple difficulty settings make this a great title for players of all skill levels and the story, while not very original, is quite engaging. For fans of the genre and players looking for something a bit more unique than a pure hidden object game this title is easy to recommend.

Gameplay: A nice blend of classic point & click adventuring, mini-games and fragmented object scenes.

Graphics: The hand drawn visuals look great and the game even features live action cut-scenes.

Sound: Decent voice acting and appropriate music

Portal 2

Portal 2

Portal 2 proves that sequels doesn’t have to be lazy cash-ins on the original games success. Everything in this game has been expanded and made better in some way and playing it is a blast. The humor and dialogue are spot on and the puzzles, while not too complicated for veteran players, still have a few head scratching moments.

Gameplay: More story, more puzzles, more of everything.

Graphics: A vast improvement over the original.

Sound: Outstanding voice acting all round

Montague’s Mount

Montague’s Mount

Montague’s Mount is a game that left me with mixed feelings. I can appreciate what the developer has attempted here and the game has a wonderful atmosphere but it is definitely not going to appeal to everyone. There are lots of small issues that detract from the overall experience but I still found the game to be engaging and thought provoking.

Gameplay: The slow pace and slightly obscure puzzles makes this a niche title.

Graphics: The art direction fits the theme but make it hard to spot small stuff.

Sound: Excellent voice acting and absolutely brilliant music

Bioshock 2

Bioshock 2

A great sequel that makes a lot of improvements over the original but at times feels too much like an expansion pack rather than a full fledged title. It is still a blast to play and has some great insights into the world of Rapture but don’t expect the plot to be as mind blowing as the first. Things really pick up towards the end so stick with it.

Gameplay: All the tweaks and improvements you could ask for.

Graphics: Very nice but its clear to see that the PC version is being held back by the games console roots.

Sound: Atmospheric and moody