gamesvision

Games Vision #4

The fourth issue of the very fickle Games Vision column about games.

World Of Horror (cross-platform, panstasz) – roguelike early access game in the style of uh what? Text horror adventure with RPG elements? Graphically reminiscent of games of the 80s, a choice of 1-bit or 2-bit palette with variations is available.

The controls seem strange at first, but you get used to them over time, because that’s what roguelike is for – to surprise and be original in every aspect. Amazing chiptune music, late 80s Japanese aesthetics, visuals inspired by the works of Junji Ito, strange stories in the style of Lovecraft, almost infinite replayability.
What else do you need?
Rating: 9/10

Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] (PC, Daniele Vicinanzo, Giulio Perrone, Leonard Menchiari) – a modern game in the style of Another World, Flashback. The palette is specially reduced to CGA colors. The description of this game should begin with the legend of its creation: around 1987, one of the children of the Eternal Castle developers saw the game and remembered it for life, as a result, the game was never released, but the source code was found and restored in 2019, releasing an improved version. However, the description on Steam contains information that this is a remaster of the 1987 bestseller, but that year the game with that name was not released, what is true and what is not is up to you to decide.

The graphics and gameplay are clearly aimed at those who like to feel nostalgic for the good old days, there are often moments when it seems that the game has frozen, but in fact you just need to press the movement or action buttons to see what is happening on the screen. This trick creates a feeling of awkwardness and loss of control, which was often used in older games, which was completely abandoned in modern ones.
Rating: 8/10

Death & Taxes (PC, Placeholder Gameworks) – have you ever dreamed of working as a judge and executioner in one person? Do you like long black robes, metal scythes, and cracking knuckles? Then this is the perfect game for you, because “There are only two things you can’t avoid – death and taxes.”

This is a one-of-a-kind simulator of the angel of death, you have to choose who will live and who will die. In addition to killing or giving life, you can read the news feed on your smartphone, see how the choice affects the world of the earth. You also need to communicate with your immediate superior named Faith (Fate), buy items and all sorts of utensils for the table, for example, I bought myself a brutal cactus. Do not forget to talk to the mirror, very exciting. Of the minuses, it is worth noting the general intimacy of what is happening, after a few game days the game becomes a little monotonous.
Rating: 8/10

Games Vision #3

The third issue of the non-permanent column about games Games Vision.

Observer (PC and consoles, Bloober Team) – cyberpunk horror from the valiant Poles. A short and very atmospheric horror starring Rutger Hauer. As a cyberpunk fan, I liked absolutely everything about the game. Not very difficult puzzles, charming glitches of the main character, gameplay with calm moments mixed with action, the ability to literally dig into the memories of the dead, a plot in the style of Ghost in the Shell + many references to Sci-Fi pop culture. Of the minuses – too much glitches, sometimes it seems that because of their abundance it is impossible to play, also some players were annoyed by specific horror elements, frightening so much that they could not continue playing.
Rating: 8/10

Paradigm (Windows/OS X, Jacob Janerka) – a quest that manages to parody and laugh at everything at once. It makes fun of the USSR, America, the quest genre, glam rock, old consoles, people, monuments, IT specialists, cones, computers, women, children, parents, artists, love, scientists, the gaming industry, the players themselves – in general, you can’t list everything. An absolutely unpredictable plot, absurd atmosphere and art, not particularly difficult puzzles. The game has rare bugs and crashes, some moments and jokes are slightly predictable and not original.
Rating: 9/10

Late Shift (PC and consoles, CtrlMovie Ltd) – interactive movie. I really regret that a basically good idea received such a bad implementation. Everything is bad – the plot, the lack of star actors, the acting, constant freezes in the PC version, almost zero variability (illusory). It is completely incomprehensible how it was possible to release a game with so many problems in the 2010s, because in fact it is an ordinary video player, the whole game could have been posted on the Internet, for example, on YouTube, but instead they used Unity and managed to break even such a powerful game engine. The official forum on Steam is dedicated to fixes, hotfixes, workarounds, etc. There is a technical disaster, no user support, all testing takes place directly on the players. Bought rave reviews and testimonials.
Rating: 3/10

Games Vision #2

Variable heading Games Vision.
I write short reviews of games that I have played recently

SIM aka Sara is Missing (Android, Monsoon Lab) – ты находишь телефон девушки по имени Сара. Внутри телефона есть встроенный помощник IRIS, она хочет найти свою хозяйку и просит тебя ей в этом помочь. Задача понять что творилось в голове Сары из ее переписки, фоточек и видео, найти где она находится. Игра очень оригинальная и достаточно пугающая. Минус в том что нет локализации на русский и другие языки, нет версии для iOS, хотя очевидно что интерфейс игры копирует продукцию Apple (IRIS – SIRI) Также игра очень короткая.
Rating 7/10

The End of The World (Android, Sean Wenham) – игра про расставание – парня бросила девушка, теперь он бродит в поисках вина и спит под мостом, вспоминая моменты когда они были вместе. Умилительные моменты воспоминаний, грустная музыка, переход в белое, в принципе отличная игра для женской аудитории и некоторых пацанов. Мне не понравилась бюджетная графика с претензией на оригинальность (напоминает Another World Эрика Шайи), нулевой геймплей, попытки выбить из игрока слезки, предсказуемость, десять минут прохождения. Любителям ванили рекомендую.
Rating: 5/10

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Werewolf Tycoon (Android, Joe Williamson) – a game about a werewolf who eats people in a city park. The graphics and gameplay here are cheerful – childish, the colors are light without gloomy tones, no blood and people look like round cupcakes with funny animations. The rounds are short and simple, the only enemies are journalists with cameras. It sounds, looks and plays very fun. Of the minuses – low difficulty, watching ads for canceling Game Over, the mechanism for withdrawing points to social networks does not work.
Rating: 6/10