I was prepared to recommend Renoir despite the few problems it has, but after going for the speedrun achievement (yeah, stupid decision) I have to say - stay away from it. I knew that it would be a pain in the ass, but I told myself that if I will first look up each level through a playthrough it will be bearable… I should have uninstalled it right after completing the normal achievements. But when I already had 8/10 levels done in under 15 minutes and three more hours in the game in total I had to keep going… well it wasn't without tears from my total exhaustion.

Detective James Renoir has one last case to solve - his own murder. As a ghost, he needs to navigate through familiar locations in search for his faded memories to uncover the culprit and to be able to rest in peace.

Renoir is a puzzle platformer game with nice Noir visuals and horrible unresponsive controls.
So the visuals are rather nicely done - but you can't go wrong with black&white. There are four locations to walk through - cemetery, police station, city hall, and monument. Although they are different they still feel the same so you actually stop paying any attention to your surroundings and only concentrate on the puzzles. The music, if there is any, is fine, fully in Noir setting. But most of the time there is only silence and the sounds of your footsteps, switches, etc. The voice acting would be good if you could actually hear him. The sound of Renoir's voice seems to be rather sympathetic but has a horrible echo (to make him sound like he speaks from the afterlife) that makes him hard to understand - without the subtitles, you would be pretty much left in the darkness.

The story is… weird and doesn't make much sense honestly - my biggest problem is with the "love story". Our hero is portrayed as at least a 50-year-old tired man with, well, not-so-attractive appearance (but with the voice of a younger man) who gets his hands on the most beautiful and popular woman all around. Yeah, not buying that… but well, maybe Kitty has a thing for older men… who am I to judge, right? It's just very hard to connect with Renoir as a character or to feel any sympathy for him at all.

As for the gameplay - you have to navigate through each level without stepping into the light. As the light switches are usually under some other lights you need some help. Fully programmable phantoms will provide that for you. You need to select them and order them what to do - in the programming phase they can step through the light, but once you start their programming they are gonna stop before the light. So you need to cooperate with them as you will switch off the light for them and they will switch off the lights for you. Sounds fun. Well, in the beginning, I found it rather clever and was proud when I managed to solve some of the puzzles. But as the game progresses you realize that it's still the same, there are no new elements added - just a switch that needs to be held, a switch that can be activated or a valve that will start a timed sequence of light/platform/trapdoor. All you have to do is to solve an even bigger and more hideous puzzle through a few screens that require a lot of trial and error as you often need to precisely time everyone's action/position.
Add to it the most horrible unresponsive and sluggish controls you have ever seen and the whole game quickly turns into a chore without any fun. Forget about any kind of precise movement - the characters stop two steps after you stop, it takes 1 second to turn clockwise, and almost 2.5 seconds to turn anti-clockwise!, positioning yourself on the ladder can be a painful experience… everything is just wrong.

There is also a funny achievement - completing each level in under 15 minutes. Whoever thought it would be a great idea was insane. If they at least made a different time count for each level as some of them are truly big and have very complicated puzzles, but no, all have 15 minutes. During this time you need to navigate the level, program your phantoms, execute the program, and wish that all will be timed right - all it takes to restart the whole level is one little mistake in taking a bad turn. You don't have any timer on the screen nor you can see afterward how much time you spent on it. If you want to be certain you need to track time on your own.
The achievement is not worth the stress and I am angry at myself for trying for it, but I have spent so many hours going for it that when I had only two levels left I had to keep going or it would be a completely wasted time.

So even if I look aside from the stupid achievement, I can't recommend it. It's just not fun even though it had a good potential. If you want a nice puzzle game with a Noir theme go for FRAMED instead, that one is great fun!

Contrast is a short cute game about a young girl Didi on a mission of saving her parent's relationship. Didi isn't alone on this hard task though as she can always rely on her dear imaginary friend Dawn.

Gameplay-wise it's a puzzle platformer where you need to progress by switching from normal 3D to a shadow 2D world. All you need to do is manipulate the light source in the 3D world to create a path from shadows through which you can overcome obstacles or solve different puzzles. The shifting mechanic is rather clever and fun although it can be a little bit frustrating in some moments thanks to clunky movement/camera as you get forcefully expelled from the shadow realm.
The achievements are pretty straightforward and mostly tied to story progression. Any missed collectible can be picked up afterward without the need to collect everything again.

The graphics are very nice, and the mood of the 1920s and Noir theme is dripping from it. In the whole game, we can fully see only Didi and Dawn, others are portrayed by their shadows which creates a peculiar atmosphere. The voice acting is done very well, with the only exception being Dawn who doesn't speak nor show any kind of emotions - she is just an unbiased helper. The soundtrack is beautiful and the main song is simply exceptional.

The game isn't anyhow long and has a good pace. It has a surprisingly serious story that is portrayed through children's eyes. The ending feels slightly abrupt and points to a possible sequel - which would be great, but I don't think it's gonna happen, shame as it's a really enjoyable game and I can safely recommend it.

Invisible, Inc. is a brilliant tactical game heavily concentrated on stealth. You take control of a group of agents (2-4) and lead them on various missions consisting of infiltration, quick and quiet completion of your objective, and finally everyone’s safe extraction. But as your targets are large, wealthy, and most importantly very dangerous corporations, you need to stay vigilant as their grounds are protected by guards, cameras, various security robots, or even firewalls. Your team isn’t powerless and every agent can be equipped with useful items like a chip for instant hacking, a flashlight grenade, a healing pack, a cloaking device, etc. You want to be quick as the time is against you (with each turn security level rises), but proceeding without caution can cost you dearly.

The visuals are untypical but very nice and perfectly fit the game. Both the soundtrack and voice acting are very good. The story is simple yet captivating and has a rather unexpected outcome! I wouldn't mind if it was a little longer though. The campaign consists of exactly timed chapters with main missions at the end of the said times, in between you can choose wherever you wish to go - to gather money, ammo, augmentations or to free prisoners (and maybe hire a new agent). With every successful infiltration, the difficulty rises accordingly so even on easy difficulty you can get into tight spots. It is very important to pay attention to the description of your enemies and choose the right tactic against them. Every level is randomly generated which keeps the encounters fresh and challenging (furthermore, you can choose from 5 different game mods or even customize it to your liking).

The game has some issues with compatibility and it crashed on me right after the tutorial resulting in a corrupted save. I barely started so restarting wasn't a problem, but I have decided to copy my saves as a precaution. Luckily no other crush for me, but better to be safe than sorry (others weren't so lucky).

This one little hiccup can't discourage me from recommending it to every fan of X-COM and other similar games.

Long-anticipated winter vacation must wait as our hotel turns into a crime scene with bodies slowly piling up! Following the traces left behind by the serial killer we are going to uncover a lot of dirty secrets from each victim's past. Apparently, they were not so innocent, and all point to someone taking revenge against them!

Short hidden object game with a modern setting and rather bloody story. Even though the story is grim the visuals are all sparky, colorful, and pretty to look at. The music and voice acting are of standard quality. The puzzles and hidden object scenes are fairly easy - it's a good thing on one hand - you are not frustrated, on the other hand there isn't much of a challenge. Being a private investigator means that we need to analyze the crime scenes - first you need to find evidence of a crime and then put it together in the right order. Backtracking isn't much of a problem, we are usually moving forward.
There are two collectibles to find - origami (every time different) and lilies, but no on-screen indication if they are already collected, so prepare to be nervous till the end! Also, some of the origami are pretty hard to spot.

The story is… stupid. The plot doesn't make much of a sense and the overall development isn't any better. Our heroine isn't suitable to be a private investigator if she can't correctly identify the murderer and save her new suitor!

Close both eyes on the story and you will get an easy, short game with straightforward achievements - a great plan for casual weekend gaming.

Duo McQueen and Dooley never disappoint. <3

Detective James Renoir has one last case to solve… his own death!

Liked:

• Nice visual style
• Noir theme
• Puzzles – from easy to challenging

Not liked:

• Sluggish movement
• Bad controls
• Sometimes unclear objective
• Bad sound – James‘ voice has a big echo to make it sound like he is speaking from the other side but also makes it hard to understand, luckily there are subtitles, but it still destroys the atmosphere
• The main hero looks like 50 years old tired man (but his voice sounds younger which adds a disproportion to the character) and the whole love story seems rather unbelievable to me. Well, maybe Kitty has a thing for older men… who am I to judge, right?
• Puzzles – they are still the same, no new elements are introduced, and can become tedious/frustrating/boring
• Speedrun achievement – ridiculous

Actually rather meh. I have expected a different kind of outcome.
Enjoyed the developer commentary.

Absolutely perfect! Bruce is as handsome as ever. <3

Direct sequel although with slightly different visuals. Still no standard CGs. It's fun but getting all the achievements can take a while.

Cute little game about bringing an old bakery back to life.

Mindbending! Loved it.

Very nice adventure game inspired by the work of Jules Verne. The puzzles are pretty creative and there are usually more ways to solve them.

Love knows no boundaries.

It was fine I suppose. Some moments were quite frustrating and I can't imagine playing it on my own without the help of my partner.

Cute little game in the vibe of Amanita Design games.

A slightly different hidden object game with cute visuals and a few frustrating moments.

On one hand an enjoyable stealth game on the other rather repetitive as you are required to go through each level twice.

A deadly virus is spreading on the Earth and the only hope for a cure is located on a distant planet named Arcania. It was once considered an option for colonization but was abandoned after the machines turned against humans. As the situation is dire a group of researchers is sent back there… but the mission didn't go smoothly. Your ship is destroyed after a rocky landing and what's worse you soon learn that you are the only survivor. But the mission isn't a complete failure, yet. There is still hope.

Assuming the role of an unnamed researcher you have to navigate through various separated islands in a search for the cure's ingredients. It would be quite meaningless without any means of coming back home though, so you find a new ship, but it lacks a few improvements to make it space-worthy. And also a lot of fuel. With that in mind, you need to explore the wilderness for anything useful.
But be careful! There are a lot of wild mecha animals that won't appreciate you being around them. Luckily you are not completely powerless against them as you have a simple energy weapon for protection. To get an even better edge during the fights you can hack one of the mechas to make it fight alongside you. Another thing you need to stay safe from is the unstable weather consisting of deadly storms full of tornados!

The game is rather linear with the story told through a few notes scattered around. You explore one island and then move to the next one. Each time you need to find and activate a beacon that will lead on. You also need to collect the fuel, materials and upgrades for your ship. Some bigger exploration in a search for secrets isn't really necessary - there is none. Even though the islands differ in their environment (forest, plains, desert, taiga) the structures are still the same - beacon, main docking station, windmills (give material for leveling up) and terraforming platforms (serve as a safe spot from the storm) - the last two aren't exactly needed for a story progression so you can be quickly done with it. Besides roaming around the islands you have access to an orbit station where you can store various supplies, upgrade your stats, grow plants from collected seeds, or check the status of your mecha pets.

The main aspects of the game consist of collecting resources and fighting with mechas. Both can be fun at the beginning but as they are rather simple they sadly become repetitive. From the collected materials you can create different types of ammo or a few other useful items like a battery for ionizers which are randomly set around the islands and can calm down the weather. Even the hacked mechas don't add much to the gameplay. They will follow you and attack everything aggressive nearby, but sometimes they need help with pointing out what to do or where to go. They can also become stuck and get to your position after the fight is over. Leveling up their stats makes them stronger and quite useful. You can have up to four of them in the group, but if you hit the limit and switch for a new one you lose it and with all of the upgrades… I was quite disappointed by the inability to make a little zoo on the orbital station as there is space for just four animals.

All in all, I have enjoyed the Sky Break but it was more like playing a demo, full of potential, but still a demo. With a little love, it could have become an interesting game. Sad to see it abandoned.

Interesting, I was rather curious about what happened on the station. Though the outcome was slightly underwhelming.

In Feather you play as a bird on a lone island exploring its secrets at your own pace. Soaring high up in the sky or diving deep into the underground caves is rather enjoyable.

I managed to complete it, not an easy task. ^^

More in my review.

I think it was a good sequel to the first F.E.A.R. The atmosphere is very tense, scary, and ominous. Shooting still feels good although I miss the ability to lean out… The game has a good pace with a lot of lore to be found around.

There are no manual saves only checkpoints, which scared me a little but they are quite often so I felt safe most of the time. Also, I have actually died only once at the very end so worrying about it isn't really necessary.

The ending is true to every horror movie.

There would be sometimes funny graphical bugs, slightly scary but still fun. Made a gif of my favorite one. xD

Pretty good game with a lot of possibilities in encounter solutions. Do you want to smash some heads in a brutal direct fight? Or you would rather lurk in the shadows silently taking down one enemy after another? Or are you gonna be a powerful wizard wreaking havoc among the enemies with your spells? Well, be my guest, pick whatever suits you, and even combine the three classes! Don't forget about many environmental hazards that can be used to your advantage in fights! The freedom you have is great and it's fun!

The Arkane touch is pretty clear and I felt like playing an early build of Dishonored! There are a lot of references to other games or popular media, the most apparent was probably the Master Thief Garrett. :D
The story is fine, with some nice twists leading to two different endings. The game is linear, but exploring the levels can reward you with additional weapons, armor, potions, or magic scrolls. The arsenal is vast, but the better weapons are locked behind skills, so you won't be able to use them all as you need to choose your skills carefully - you can't change them. The game looks good for its age and playing was smooth without any problems. There are lot of checkpoints, but you are free to save whenever you wish to - even during a fight!

A few complaints:
I wasn't a fan of direct fights as you can't properly feel when you land a hit. Also, you need to be very close, but enemies can hit you even from a distance you would deem safe.
Getting on ledgers or over obstacles was terrible and required a lot of tries, often resulting in falling to my death.
The loading screens between chapters contain a story summary, but you can't read it as the loading takes about a second. xD Wasn't a problem twenty years ago, I know.
The intros don't have subtitles and the main villain is hard to understand in some moments.

Overall I had a lot of fun with Dark Messiah, can only recommend it. <3

Oh well, a lot of time passed since completing the first game… 11 years. 😅 Can't say I remember the story much, only a few tidbits, but I think we have liked it.

We enjoyed this one too, the story is full of silly characters/situations and good jokes. They are mostly hit or miss but we laughed a lot. If you are thorough and exhaust every dialog option it can be a little bit overwhelming thus making the game somewhat long and slow-paced… but well, it all depends on your playstyle. ^^

Few of the achievements are tiresome and without a guide almost unobtainable.

Loved the platypus' and Ba-ba-ba-baby Goal! <3

This is such a little gem! We had so much fun. The handmade scenery is both beautiful and fascinating, it all looks so lively. The music is very catchy and suits the mood of '60. The voice acting is brilliant. Can only recommend it.

I usually manage to break the games I play in some way, did it even in this case. xD

Surprise, surprise, Dawn Harlock (or Ashmoore, who knows) is no longer the game's main heroine! This time she only appears as the side-kick who gets kidnapped and needs rescuing. xD

So, the demon huntress Dawn and her niece Lila (not sure from where she surfaced and what the hell happened to her sister?) are in Egypt searching for missing parts of a mighty artifact called Gauntlet of Horus which was sent to her doorsteps because the light is in danger… or something like that. As our aunt gets abducted by evil Seth we need to follow them into Ancient Egypt by a portal. Awaiting us there are the obligatory Sfinx with three questions and finally, a few Egyptian gods (Anubis! <3) holding the keys to releasing Horus. With his help, Lila will be ready to face Seth and save the world.

The Egyptian setting is a welcome change from the previous three mostly dark and gloomy environments. The graphics are yet again colorful and nice to look at. The music is all right. The voice acting could be better but on the bright side, we don't have to listen to our dear flat Dawn through the whole game again. The puzzles are varied and still of easier difficulty which is good as even the most hated ones can be quickly solved. Hidden object scenes are also fine. There are two collectibles to be found with an on-screen indication if collected, which is always good to have.
My biggest complaint goes to the shooting mini-game against the evil spirits - it's boring and when you miss it takes long until you are back in the right position again.

A peculiar game about a supernatural Newspaper agency. As the lead editor, you need to decide where in the city will you send your reporters. As the cases aren't anything ordinary you need to be ready for any kind of situation. You will be facing ghosts, zombies, thug gangs, cultists, aliens, barriers, and the most powerful, scariest, devilish of them all - heavy gates and hard walls! You can equip your reporters with many useful items right before you engage with an enemy (if you aren't ambushed), you just need to select the right items - it's a lot about a bit of luck too, especially at the beginning when you are low on funds. You make money by releasing your newspaper every day, the amount you earn depends on how much you investigate. Your reporter can also level up their skill over time. You can even hasten it with the right tools, but sadly they are hard to obtain.

The biggest flaw of the game is that it's procedurally generated. The cases aren't very coherent, it's just line after line of some random names and events. You won't find any real articles describing the cases when you release your issues, instead, you are presented with the same generated lines you uncovered in your investigation. You are pursuing several cases at once which makes it hard to orient in. Shame really.

When you look aside from the non-existent story and focus on the management side it's actually rather addictive. The game is only saved when you quit the game, which can be pretty frustrating on the harder runs as even the tiniest mistake can sabotage your whole run and you will have to start again. Or you can back up your save. ;)

Recommended only if you don't mind suffering. Even though there is a tutorial and a handbook you can check any time I still feel I don't understand some of the game elements very well thus turning the game into a lottery most of the time. So it feels more like a demo, blueprint, or skeleton of some bigger game. The engine is good but it's lacking the actual soul.

Twenty years after the events in the first game (don't remember it much, completed it in 2018) the Archdemon Ragnar is one step away from entering our world. Dawn Harlock, the last descendant of the mysterious demon hunter order and paranormal investigator, needs to stop a deadly conspiracy against her and save the world, again.

The story is most of the time rather weird with characters acting stupidly and ridiculously. Our main heroine is very unsympathetic mainly thanks to her flat and emotionless voice acting (other characters are more or less mediocre). She also can't be killed by any means in the world, like by a direct hit with a bazooka, thanks to a small magic amulet thus making all of the encounters rather irrelevant. The graphics and the music are fine, could be better could be worse. Puzzles and hidden object scenes are of an easier sort, the biggest challenge is to find all of the things needed to proceed thanks to constant backtracking.

There are definitely better (i.e. more clever and prettier) HOGs.

Five years after defeating the Archdemon Ragnar Dawn Harlock lived in peace. But now she needs to step out of her retirement and investigate a mysterious case of a missing girl as it seems like supernatural powers are at play. The further she follows the trail, the more she learns about her past and heritage!

I'd say it's better than the second game although the story is pretty weak and stupid at some moments. Like when a member of a demon hunter order appears and she is surprised that such an order exists… Although our heroine is getting older with every game, she doesn't become any wiser. She also remains as unsympathetic as before. Other characters are fine, they usually end up dead pretty quickly though. The graphics are prettier now, very grim and darkish. The overall atmosphere is rather well done, there are even a few "jump scares".

Puzzles are alright, still of an easier sort. Sometimes I was thinking over the top and yet the solution was very simple. Few of them are exactly the same as in the previous game. Hidden object scenes are nicely varied and don't repeat too much. There are three different collectibles to find, luckily there is a collected indication on the screen so no stress of missing something! The backtracking isn't that much apparent, but it's still there.
After completing the main story you can play a bonus chapter to see what had happened before we got to the crime scene.

Considering how the plot developed I am curious where it will go in the next two games and if our heroine ages even more.

Extraction Point follows right where the main game ended. Our rescue helicopter crashes down with us on board. With our two surviving companions we need to navigate the destroyed city to a new extraction point which is set up in a local hospital. The area isn't safe though as the otherwise vacant streets are full of mysterious deadly entities and enemy soldiers.

Extraction Point looks and plays the same way as the main game - the gunfights are intense, the enemy AI is rather clever. It became a lot more brutal and scary though. A few of the jump scares gave me almost a heart attack. xD Storywise there are no laptops or phone calls to give us additional lore, like in the main game.

There are known problems with FPS (like with the main game), but the community repair works like a charm.

If you have liked the main game, you will enjoy the expansions even though they are not considered canon to the story. I think that the first F.E.A.R. is one of the best shooters for sure. I was quite surprised by some of the mechanics and how well it works even after all those years. Love the leaning and slow motion! I was also fascinated by how clever the enemies are and how they can create barriers from the tables, cabinets, and couches to hide behind. They also talk together (which can give their positions out), try to ambush you, react to your flashlight, etc. Really a great experience.

Perseus Mandate follows a secondary team of F.E.A.R. forces. All of it happens in parallel with the main game storyline. Our main objective is to obtain more information about secret projects at Armacham Technology Corporation's facilities.

The graphics underwent a huge overhaul, it looks more modern-ish. It remains true to its predecessors - bloody and scary. New locations, enemies, and weapons are introduced, which freshens it up a bit. I have found this one more difficult than the main game and the first expansion. The ultimate boss battle was a horrible pain… no more again. Unlike the Extraction Point there are additional laptops or phone calls to give us a little backstory, like in the main game.

There are known problems with FPS (like with the main game), but the community repair works like a charm. This time though I have also experienced a few crashes and "out of memory" or "disconnected" errors. Yet again the discussions helped with that.

If you have liked the main game, you will enjoy the expansions even though they are not considered canon to the story. I think that the first F.E.A.R. is one of the best shooters for sure. I was quite surprised by some of the mechanics and how well it works even after all those years. Love the leaning and slow motion! I was also fascinated by how clever the enemies are and how they can create barriers from the tables, cabinets, and couches to hide behind. They also talk together (which can give their positions out), try to ambush you, react to your flashlight etc. Really a great experience.