Through the Darkest of Times ( PC (Steam) – Strategy – 2020 ) + TRAILER

Taking a trip to see the rise of Nazi Germany, its peak and eventual downfall is definitely on the unique side as far as experiences go and, if nothing else, Through the Darkest of Times excels at it. Shame it falters at other aspects you'd expect a strategy of this type to handle far better.

Aforementioned problems quickly rear their ugly heads as it doesn't take long for you to realize this immersive period is built on rather simplistic turn-based strategy. After randomly rolling your character you have a leader of your resistance group. With time you expand it with more generated members, each with their traits and proficiency in matters of subterfuge, propaganda, etc, and map of Berlin offers hotspots to interact for missions. You assign members to task, possible modifiers like equipment come into play for risk/success rates, and off you go. Problem? Even though it may make some narrative sense in order to stay alive, game almost encourages you to play passively and forego high profile missions. Only things that actually matter are those that directly affect group's longevity prospects aka funds, supporters and lastly morale. Keep those decent and you can stroll through game's four chapters with ease.

Apart from those mechanical bits that affect the math you also have evocative narrative CYOA pieces which are, sadly, mostly there for the fluff. Game is obviously geared very much against the Nazis and definitely does not hold back any punches in terms of what topics are broached. Morality boils more down to how OTHERS see the regime, how people are converted to it, etc. Historic events are the highlight of the game and serve as milestones. To feed into the above they're also arbitrary time skips so you have no idea just how long you'll spend in each chapter. This ended up backfiring more than once and I never got to set off that bomb during the Summer Olympics in 1936. Or smuggle out those prisoners when I had the chance...

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Vampire - Coteries of New York ( PC (Steam) – Visual Novel – 2019 ) + TRAILER

A Visual Novel that doesn't require any familiarity with Vampire: the Masquerade to be enjoyed yet I would still say Coteries of New York is helped if you have some. Particularly with the latest edition of the tabletop roleplaying game that updated the setting used here. Is THIS game worth playing, however?

Having only three playable clans; Brujah, Ventrue and Toreador, is an odd choice, but one obviously aimed at representing core values of the vampire “government” that is the Camarilla. Seeing your character was on the receiving end of a rogue Embrace it's not long before your life is spared by Prince of New York and giving lease on unlife under Sophie Langley as she ends up vouching for you. If any of this is confusing don't worry because game has a neat glossary you can reference. One glance at the genre should pretty much tell you everything you need to know. Only “stat” to really keep track of is your Hunger as the only indicator you have is how much strawberry gem is smeared over your screen. I can't shake the feeling an actual stat screen could've immensely helped here to fight the arbitrary nature of what your character can do at points. Adding a sort-of timed nightly nature means you'll have to forego bits of content for replays, awkward narrative that should have perhaps given you more to do past errand duties and a single railroaded ending make this a short ride even with rather solid writing.

Other than gorgeous production values for the genre you can't help but marvel at, even if you're looking more at the dialog screen than animated backgrounds themselves, in case you ARE familiar with the source material there's quite a few references and callbacks here. Particularly with canonical characters in such a hotly contested area like New York. Primary issue running through Coteries of New York is just how cut short it plays. Both in how it strings main events and in the ending itself which throws everything to the wind for a sudden cop-out not even companions you worked for can save.

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A Case of Distrust ( PC (Steam) – Adventure – 2018 ) + TRAILER

Stepping into the roaring 1920s with A Case of Distrust isn't as perfect as you might have hoped for, but this text-based adventure nails the period more than anything else that may have been on the table.

Phyllis Cadence Malone doesn't have to wait long until her police officer turned private detective office has a visit from certain Mr. Green as he divulges about the threatening letter he's received before putting down a $100 bill as down payment as our protagonist accepts the job. This sends her down the route of visiting a suspicious bar and even calling back on her San Francisco PD for some inside help. And yet, befitting stories such as these things are never as straightforward until they are because hey, this isn't the first private eye mystery murder case you've played.

I'd have to say how flat the entire plot feels was what irked me the most. I got the impression there were very few peaks in how the story was told. Even as you reach the climax when you point out the murderer, in familiar murder novel format, it just lands as very matter a factly. This is not helped by the fact game buries you in evidence and clues gained from clicking on everything during the more guided first half or so before the training wheels come off... and you're left with a truckload of material uselessly occupying your journal. It's not like A Case of Distrust is particularly intent on obfuscating its simple logical sequences, given there are no puzzles as such and instead you rely on asking the right questions, but final section had me driving around more than warranted. Still, it was a while before taxi driver dialog was exhausted.

True to what game's description says art style is certainly one to pop with stylized silhouettes and apt use of minimalist visuals. It was the richly saturated scenes and transitions between them that stood out the most for me. Presentation manages to offset limited content on offer and period-appropriate music does its job. I wish there was more.

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Distance ( PC (Steam) – Racing – 2018 ) + TRAILER

How often do you play a racing game with a narrative? To raise the stakes even further, how often does that game turn out to not even be focused on racing itself? Well, Distance is such a game and even though it doesn't end up being my kind of thing it's still a title worth checking out.

Now that I've blown that load I kinda regret it because I can't really tell you much about the story. It's the future and some kind of ominous corruption is spreading as people are fleeing via teleporters. Reason why details elude me is because narration about the events and what lead to them is conveyed to you while you're busy avoiding stage hazards and focusing on driving your car. Which in my opinion is quite a shame because I found the package very atmospheric and straight up unnerving when certain level transitions happened.

This is firmly rooted on the arcade side of things as you're not really racing, although multiplayer exists and there are various trial modes, so much as surviving each level. What start as simple as “boost so you can jump over a ravine” turns into grasping which surface to stick to or avoiding moving lasers. Limited boost meter is recovered upon passing ring checkpoints and mastering it is key to enjoying Distance. Game doesn't overwhelm you with myriads of gimmicks, but of those included some are more finicky than others... and yet in spite of that “game feel” is very satisfactory. Bite-sized levels don't overstay their welcome and Workshop has a bunch of them up for grabs.

Distance is a game that loves its contrasting colors and makes good use of signaling what's what with those colors which is worthy praise considering you need to be able to tell at a glance whether that's a drop you need to reverse boost for or jump over. Electronic soundtrack is the absolute star here and gets you pumped for the journey, though.

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The Shapeshifting Detective ( PC (Steam) – Adventure – 2018 ) + TRAILER

Last time I played some Full Motion Video adventure games they came on half dozen CDs you had to rotate to get access to areas. If anything I'm glad that advent of larger hard drives got around those with radical new features like full install, but I would hesitate to actually call The Shapeshifting Detective an adventure game as such.

Upon starting the game you're sent on a mission to resolve a killing in small town of August, but even as you're briefed up to speed by an antagonistic agent it's clear you, the character who assumes the name Sam, isn't exactly normal. Shifting forms is your primary tool as you check in the local guesthouse housing a motley crew of characters who may have had a hand in the murder of Dorota Shaw. Or seem to have foretold it seeing as they're a group of tarot readers everyone is wary of.

Where the game falters is more or less the fact it's just a sequence of interviews you have with real life actors playing these characters. That is the draw. A novelty, if you will. What The Shapeshifting Detective eschews in the process is anything resembling puzzles or challenge in general. You interview people, assume their forms and then ask again under pretext hoping they'll spill some beans. This goes on for couple of literal hours after which you make the decision on who you think is the killer. Needless to say this is somewhat of a simplification on my end lest I spoil anything, but as you play you clearly find out not everything is as it appears to be in this small town and everyone has baggage they'd rather hide. You are there for the experience rather than brain teasers.

I'm glad to report that, baring select few, performances are on the quality side of acting, Zak and Poe's actors hamming it up a smidgen too much for my taste. This works on some level because the killer apparently varies if replay information is to be trusted. Hourly news reports book-ending each Act and radio drama readings do wonders for the atmosphere.

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Minit ( PC (Steam) – Action, Adventure – 2018 ) + TRAILER

Appropriately named, Minit is among the best throwbacks to the very first Zelda I've played, albeit with a twist of its own. One that annoyed me at first until I came to terms with its workings.

You get 60 seconds in each run after which you die and respawn at your Home. Befitting a well-designed it's not like the entire slate is wipe clean, though. You keep whatever progress you've made – be it finding that last annoying hotel resident hiding among the bandits or unlocking a camera. My comparison to Zelda was not an off-hand comment either seeing as Minit operates on basically identical formula with the distinction it's a lot more condensed because everything has to be within a minute's reach. With what few coins you find you can buy faster shoes to move around and you do unlock Home teleporters. Without a map you're left to rely on your own devices and memorizing what each screen contains. Contrary to the above I'd say neither combat or dungeons are the most vital elements here as it's more finding your way through the world.

You know story would be the first paragraph for me to tackle in reviews, but there really isn't much here. It's gradually unveiled that a local factory is up to no good and you almost accidentally end up involved in foiling their plans to manufacture swords. Characters with few lines stood out more for me than any overarching narrative. Possibly because I was clinging to their every word fearing obtuse hints to keep a watchful eye on, but at no point did I find myself lost.

Looking at screenshots you can clearly tell we're working with a monochromatic pixel presentation here and yet what it won't convey to you is effort that went into charmingly animating Minit. There's low fidelity appeal here you either like or can't stand on artistic principle. On the other hand this soundtrack is not above flexing.