Not A Game Review

A charming adaption of a best-selling novel (which I am yet to read) with genuine, heartwarming moments. It follows multiple storylines which - you guessed it - intersect at many points throughout the game. There's romance, political intrigue, choices and consequences - sometimes heavy ones. That said, this was definitely one of the most engrossing stories I have come across in a game for a while; I can only imagine how gripping the novel must be.  Definitely a must-play if you are looking for a touching story told in a point-and-click adventure format. 

Image courtesy of Rewind You know the feeling when you start playing a game that just connects with you in a way most games don't, and leaves you wanting more every time you stop playing? It is a battle with your inner self to stop for the day, and get back to the tasks on hand. It is an inexplicable attraction, almost magnetic in nature.  Somewhere in the decade between being 10 and playing my first game on our first ever PC (Zuma's Revenge) to being 20 and spending all my free time closeted in my room (I tend to fixate on that a lot) playing almost exclusively story-rich games, the feeling of eager anticipation as to what a game would bring next faded over time. Partly because games quickly turned into a routine fixture in life. Though I never indulged in excessive gaming hours (I still don't, except in rare cases), it was the same thing that happens with every other object of attraction in life; too much familiarity and the magic seems to fade. Though I enjoye...

He looked at the watch, lying sideways on the nightstand - he had never worn it after the first day. 7:47 am. Almost time.  He double-checked everything one last time. The bag - which would be stuffed full when he returned with the haul - check; wallet - check; phone - check. 7:49 now. Just a few more minutes. L ots of planning had gone into this; he had to pick the perfect hour to avoid the crowd. 8 am worked best. The store would have just opened for the day - he would be in and out in less than half an hour, back at the hideout.  As he walked out of his room, his mind erupted in a frenzy to stop him in his tracks.   "You have enough for at least two more days. Why want more? We'll consider this after we've run out. Come on. This is foolishness." Just a few more steps. Almost at the front door now. Keep going. "No. Stop. It's almost 8. You're going to run into a ton of people. Abort." He put on his shoes, the only pair he owned - he...

Another one of those games that I need to play in small chunks lest my mind decides to make my stomach violently eject any food I was careless enough to ingest in the past few hours! Jokes apart ( I was perfectly serious ), this game was extremely enjoyable - more so for me, because the game's protagonist bears an eerie resemblance to my new friend Johan.*  There are a few loose ends in the story, which I guess they were hoping to address in a sequel. The story itself plays out in a believable fashion, but it's the gameplay that steals the spotlight here. Right from the start, it is clear that the focus here is on the running, jumping and vaulting - which is perfectly fine by me. In fact, it is commendable just how authentic the actions feel, given the first-person mode. It is a relatively short game but felt a lot longer to me, only because of the frequent breaks I needed to take in between playing it. A special shout-out to the main menu theme, which is extremely ...

Going into Detention, I was expecting something along the lines of Fran Bow in terms of violence and story. Though comparatively lacking in the gore department (not complaining about that at all), the story simply blew me away.  What started off as a fairly normal mystery - you play as Wei, having fallen asleep in class and waking up to everyone having disappeared with only a typhoon warning left on the blackboard - slowly escalated into a deep dive in the tragic past of Ray, who is seemingly introduced as a side character in the initial stages of the game.  The game is set during the White Terror period in Taiwan; the political climate is highly charged, with suspected enemies of the state being locked up or put to death for the slightest perceived offense. It is in this setting, facing undead terrors that sound like they're right out of a horror movie, that Ray navigates her way through the deserted school. As time passes, and the environments - and monsters - ...

When I first browsed through the Origin Vault with a grin that would have made the Joker proud, none of the titles excited me more than Vampyr and A Way Out - here were two games that I knew I'd never purchase otherwise; it would be a crime to miss the chance to play them along with all the indie darlings the Vault had too.  And then, a sinking feeling. For some reason, I knew none of my online friends would want to play with me. Either they're super busy with their lives or simply do not care about story-driven games with the same passion as I do. It was one of those times when you know even before you ask that it's not going to happen, no matter what they say. And of course, I asked. And of course, it didn't happen. But then, I did something totally uncharacteristic - I went onto a Discord server, laying out an open invitation of sorts to play A Way Out with me. The best part? The other player wouldn't even have to buy a copy, they could play along as a fri...

The last game I played in 2019. Limbo was surprisingly fun, considering I have little patience for games that simply rely on puzzle solving and offer little progression in the story as reward. There's not a lot of explanation given here, as to who or where we are. You play as an unnamed boy in a bleak world, dodging giant insects and a vicious band of boys, all in pursuit of a mysterious girl who remains just out of reach. I badly want to go through interpretations of the game, they really intrigued me; however, doing that will surely mean venturing into spoiler territory. In no way do I want to deter the handful of people who read my entries from skipping this one because of spoilers. I went through several articles on the internet in order to wrap my head around the game and there are some very interesting theories out there which sound credible too. I'd advise playing the game first - won't take more than 4-5 hours - and then going through the theories and explan...