When Our Journey Ends – A Visual Novel

When Our Journey Ends – A Visual Novel

When Our Journey Ends follows the adventure of Mariko, a high school student who ends up stranded at an unfamiliar train station on her way home one day. She quickly discovers that it is not an ordinary place and learns about the spirits that dwell there. This visual novel features a unique graphical style, with lovely animated backgrounds, but it is rather short and the main story is not as fleshed out as much as we would have liked. It does feature a number of side stories that take place after the main story, but even with these the game is over way too soon.

Gameplay: Short and lacking in meaningful choices.

Graphics: Interesting character spirits and beautiful animated backgrounds.

Sound: English voice acting for all the characters and a very decent soundtrack

Gatling Gears

Gatling Gears

Play as Max Brawley and take on the evil Empire from the cockpit of your Gatling Gear in this top down shooter by Vanguard Games. It features vibrant visuals, tons of explosions and plenty of action. Since the game pretty much only consists of shooting everything in sight, it can become a little repetitive, but blowing things up remains satisfying and with three difficulty levels, you can challenge yourself no matter what your skill level is. It’s not the most memorable or impressive title in the genre, but it is very solid and very enjoyable.

Gameplay: Blowing up everything in sight stays a blast right throughout.

Graphics: The levels are varied and packed with detail.

Sound: So-so music, but the sound effects are really good

Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! HD

Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! HD

Whether you already played The Fowl Fleet or fondly remember Nelly Cootalot from the freeware version, you definitely don’t want to miss out on this HD revival of Spoonbeaks Ahoy! It’s a charming point-and-click adventure with a wonderful protagonist and a cast of interesting characters. The humor is still great, and while the game is very short, it is also very cheap, so there is no reason to miss out if you are a fan of the genre.

Gameplay: The game is short but amusing and entertaining.

Graphics: The HD upgrade looks good, but the visuals are still very simple.

Sound: The soundtrack is decent, and the voice acting is much better than what we expected

Darkarta: A Broken Heart’s Quest Collector’s Edition

Darkarta: A Broken Heart’s Quest Collector’s Edition

Darkarta: A Broken Heart’s Quest is the story of a mother who has to brave the Netheworld and rescue her daughter from an age old curse. It is definitely an intriguing story and the game also features tons of hidden object scenes as well as mini-games to keep players hooked. Thanks to the beautiful art style and atmospheric music, it is easy to get sucked into the gameworld, and a lot of effort clearly went into polishing the game to perfection. Darkarta has already won numerous awards and after completing it, it is obvious that all of them were deserved. If you are a fan of the genre, then this is a title that should not be missed.

Gameplay: A lengthy adventure with plenty of puzzles and mini-games to enjoy

Graphics: The art style is beautiful and the game is filled with scenic locations.

Sound: Decent voice acting and a the soundtrack isn’t bad either

Heroine of the Sniper

Heroine of the Sniper

Heroine of the Sniper is a very simple sniper game where you have to guide your little animated heroine through fifteen challenges. Most of these involve shooting at targets from a long range, although there are also a few levels where you get to move around a bit or where you man a machine gun while inside a vehicle. It’s not the most polished game on Steam and ends all too soon, but still manages to be quite entertaining while it lasts.

Gameplay: The challenges are fun and varied, but the game definitely needed a few more.

Graphics: The 2D animated heroine looks nice, but the 3D visuals are fairly simple and levels look very bare.

Sound: Unobtrusive music, but the sound effects are pretty good

Warhammer: Chaosbane

Warhammer: Chaosbane

Warhammer: Chaosbane is an isometric action role playing game that is set in the Warhammer Fantasy Battles Universe. It offers four diverse characters to play with and also allows players to join up three other friends either locally or online. The game is really enjoyable, but a bit rough in places, especially in terms of variety and loot. It is fun while it lasts, but currently the amount of end-game content that is available is not as good as it could have been. Hopefully future updates to the game will continue to build on its solid base, but until then it is bound to disappoint some players who expected more depth as well as variety.

Gameplay: Great selection of characters and plenty of skills to use on hordes of enemies.

Graphics: Very detailed, but it doesn’t take long to see everything the game has to offer.

Sound: Decent music, but some of the voices could have been much better

Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa

Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa

Uncover the mysteries of Fujisawa Academy by using your special powers to reveal their secrets in this first development project from PQube. The game is a lot of fun and offers a nice mixture of visual novel, match-3 mini-games and even a sprinkling of ecchi content. The story is gripping from the get go and to uncover all of the secrets you are going to have to pay attention and make the right choices or else you might find yourself back at square one. Although it can become a little repetitive and it is a little too easy to miss some vital story branches, the game is a lot of fun and well worth the effort.

Gameplay: The story is interesting and your choices have a big impact on how things play out.

Graphics: Great character designs and some nice Cgs.

Sound: Full Japanese voice acting for all the characters

Baseball Riot

Baseball Riot

Baseball Riot is the sequel to Tennis in the Face and features the exact same gameplay, except this time you will be using a baseball bat and ball instead of a tennis racquet. The game does feel slightly more challenging, especially now that stars have to be collected from the levels themselves while taking down enemies, but overall the game does feel slightly more lackluster. A lot of the visuals feel identical to the first game and the gameplay is the same only slightly more frustrating. If you are a fan of the original and want more of the same, but with an added challenge, then Baseball Riot is worth it, but everyone else is better off with Tennis In The Face.

Graphics: Backgrounds are still bland and the characters are all reskinned from the original game.

Sound: Decent, but unremarkable.

Gameplay: Still fun in short bursts, but more frustrating than Tennis in the Face

Close to the Sun

Close to the Sun

Close to the Sun puts you in the boots of Rose Archer, a reporter exploring the quarantined depths of the Helios research ship to find her sister. The Helios is the creation of Tesla as a haven for the greatest scientific minds, but right from the start it is clear that something went terribly wrong. Close to the Sun is inevitably going to draw some comparisons to the Bioshock titles, but it is more of a walking simulator that has a few puzzles and chase sequences sprinkled in for good measure. It’s not a bad game, but does feature a few annoying bits and never reaches the heights it could have.

Gameplay: Slowly walk through beautiful surroundings while solving puzzles and running away from the occasional foe.

Graphics: The levels look great, but the character models and animations let things down slightly.

Sound: Decent music and the voice acting isn’t too bad either

Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren`s Call

Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren`s Call

Nightmares From The Deep 2 is a worthy follow up to the first game and once again stars the plucky museum curator, Sarah Black. This time Sarah has to contend with an isolated town full of cursed people who are slowly turning into sea critters. To break the curse Sarah will have to take down the corrupt mayor of the town, which is easier said than done seeing as he made a pact with Davy Jones. Fans of the original game will love Nightmares From The Deep 2 as it offers the same type of enjoyable and polished experience.

Gameplay: Not that hard, but very enjoyable.

Graphics: The backgrounds look great and the animations have been improved compared to the original.

Sound: Great music and sound effects, but the voice acting could have been better in some spots