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ultrafilter posted:Kero Blaster: Frog action platformer. This one is by the Cave Story guy and it's quite alright. There are a couple free(?) side games like Nurse Hour.
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Jan 16, 2023 17:17
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Boiling Bolt: Pretty decent side-scrolling shmup. Cloudbuilt: 3D obstacle course platformer. Despite being released in 2014 it's getting a major update sometime soon. Football Game: A short and dark point and click game. Majotori: Ruin lives with your poor knowledge of trivia. Ord.: Read. Choose. Win? reYal: Go into this one blind. Type:Rider: I think someone mentioned this already but it will make you interested in the history of typography.
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Jan 16, 2023 19:33
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ultrafilter posted:Majotori: Ruin lives with your poor knowledge of trivia. Can second this one, I bought it after you recommended it in the Steam thread a couple of years ago and it was great fun.
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Jan 16, 2023 20:08
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Action Henk: Physics based platformer about racing action figures through homemade obstacle courses. Ceress and Orea: A short RPGMaker game about two women in love. FutureGrind: Stunt racer where you have to match the color of the track. Ittle Dew and Ittle Dew 2+: Snarky zeldalikes. These present themselves as less than serious but they're among the best in the genre. The Treehouse Man: Bullet hell on a spooky boat.
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Jan 17, 2023 22:49
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I finished Northern Journey last night. Clocked in around 10.5 hours. I was in love with the atmosphere and music the entire time. Definitely the biggest breath of fresh air since Cruelty Squad, which is another (semi) hidden FPS gem with strange moods and dream-like aesthetics. The pacing and game length felt fine to me. The game does sort of end abruptly, though. I wish there was a bit more time spent in the village to hear what the villagers have to say, even if it was more about why they still hate you. My biggest peeve with the game was combat, entirely because none of the weapons are fast firing or hitscan, which makes flying enemies a chore. If there was some mod or setting to increase reload rate/projectile speed of the player, I’d wholeheartedly recommend everyone use it. Combat complaints aside, I felt it was a genuine accomplishment a game could have so many different spider types. I’m not scared of spiders more than the next person, but me taking damage was the second worse thing to happen - being close enough to them in the first place was the worst. I’m proud to say I didn’t get touched by a single tick during my playthrough because eughhh. I also thought it was funny that the dev doesn’t mind breaking the fourth wall so often to tell you what you need to do. I thought that was kind of charming. Anyway, fully recommend this game to anyone who feels like FPSs have stagnated into a gross moldy soup. Game needs way more attention, less than a 1k steam reviews. Thanks everyone for showing me this gem!
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Jan 19, 2023 22:04
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Kamiko: Pixel art zeldalike from the Transiruby dev. Short but sweet. Knightin'+: Another zeldalike but just dungeons. The Death of Erin Myers: A point and click mystery about how the protagonist ended up dead. The Shell of Permafrost and Witch of Ice Kingdom II: Two short RPGMaker games about witches and cold. Total Party Kill: A wizard, a knight and an archer walk into a dungeon and you have to figure out who needs to die to get through each room. If your tastes are anything like mine, just pick up everything the dev has on Steam.
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Jan 19, 2023 22:14
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I don't post a whole lot, but as long as there's a hidden gems thread here I'd like to bring attention to: Märchen Forest: A game about an adorable dog girl in a fantasy forest that goes through really dramatic genre shifts each part. The first part is just a cute little adventure game about collecting ingredients, but the second part veers hard into dungeon crawler. The third part was DLC in the old version but only translated for this newer release, and it goes even harder into the dungeon crawl stuff. It's very sweet, the battle gameplay is fun timing based stuff, and unless you're really anti-anime I think most folks would like this. I found out about this one through those videos the guy who makes Astebreed puts out every year to show what games are being promoted at Comiket, the big Japanese doujinshi convention. (So it's basically just indie games except some of them are based on existing properties.) Potato Flowers in Full Bloom: I just sort of stumbled on this one. The title's weird but fits since your primary goal is delving ancient dungeons to find seeds that can grow in corrupted soil. It's basically a first-person dungeon crawler ala Wizardry or Etrian Odyssey with some little metroidvania-ish elements, like items that help you jump down further or keys that open doors. The battles are all based on strategic usage of stamina and "spirit points" (basically MP), with health being restored to full after each fight. The fights themselves aren't random either: groups lurk on the map that you can get the jump on if you don't fight them face on, and they respawn whenever you leave the dungeons to rest for a bit. It's super charming and has a really sizeable demo. (I can't afford the full game at the moment but the demo sold me regardless.) Also, you can make gobbos for party members! Heck yes.
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Jan 19, 2023 22:39
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Going to bump this thread to bring a bit of attention to Stephen's Sausage Roll Haven't even completed it yet and I'd already rank this among all-time great puzzle games like The Witness or Baba is You (and has been praised by the creators of both). The basic idea is square grid-based levels where you have to move around and use your fork to toast both sides of all the 2x1 sausages on burner pads before moving to a winning position. The cutesy design is just a framework for some brutally difficult puzzles, most of the levels being extremely compact and requiring a series of very specific movements to complete. There's little in the way of a tutorial and even the beginning stages are hard enough that it takes some perseverance to power through instead of bouncing off the game. The stage pictured above seems to be one of the most iconic, just managed to complete it myself after a lot of experimentation and half-solves and the solution was absolutely brilliant. The creators did an amazing job of taking a simple set of ideas and building around that with no added fuss or waste. The $30 price tag might seem a bit steep for a game with such basic graphics but it's relatively old at this point and I was able to get it for 80% off during one of the recent Steam sales. Even at full price I'd say it's worth it if you're a serious fan of puzzle games.
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Jan 20, 2023 10:32
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I loved Stephen’s Sausage Roll until exactly that puzzle pictured. I hated that it blocked all progression on that single puzzle. I ended up looking up a solution and it requires so many new insights that the game hasn’t at all prepared you for, imo. But maybe I’m just a loving idiot
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Jan 20, 2023 16:26
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Astrologaster: A visual novel about the life of Simon Forman, an astrologer and herbalist in Elizabethan England. Fragile Fighter: A decent action platformer with a really nice look and feel. Hinedere Beat: This is a really good retro platformer with an interesting story; it'd be absolutely fantastic if not for the pseudointellectual lesbian erotica (all characters are consenting adults). If you can get past that it's worth trying out. Kyle is Famous: Help Kyle become famous or at least fail in an entertaining way. Labyrinthine Dreams: A puzzle game built in RPGMaker. Wings of Glass: 3D platformer, a little rough around the edges, but it shows promise and I'm looking forward to the sequel. And with that, I've finished everything I want to recommend up until the end of 2019 (and some things I've played more recently, of course).
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Jan 21, 2023 00:12
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Astrologaster's been in a few of the giant itch.io bundles
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Jan 21, 2023 00:31
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Hwurmp posted:Astrologaster's been in a few of the giant itch.io bundles It has indeed, and it's wonderful. Different musical themes for every character.
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Jan 21, 2023 02:07
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Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King and Blossom Tales II: The Minotaur Prince: These games are about as close to A Link to the Past as you can get without being shameless knockoffs. If you're a completionist they'll keep you busy for a while but you don't have to find everything if you're looking for a more casual experience. Dead or School: Anime platformer/survival horror. I didn't expect much from this one but it's actually a pretty good game. There's no fanservice beyond what you see on the store page, and while the story is anime.txt it's still done pretty well. Double Cross: This is another action platformer one that's way better than it looks. Isbarah: Bullet hell boss rush platformer. This is a good game but I had to throw in the towel before the end. Tengami: Pop-up storybook from the Astrologaster dev.
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Jan 22, 2023 00:55
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ultrafilter posted:Dead or School: Anime platformer/survival horror. I didn't expect much from this one but it's actually a pretty good game. There's no fanservice beyond what you see on the store page, and while the story is anime.txt it's still done pretty well. I can vouch for this, it's pretty interesting for an anime zombie metroidvania and the store page is image is like the only horny thing in the entire game. Found this while trying to see if I posted a review of Dead or School when I played it StrixNebulosa posted:Alright alright here I go Not exactly hidden gems, but there's so many anime VNs in general you're not going to get lucky and pick a good one at random. My personal favorite is WORLD END ECONOMiCA episode.01 and the sequels. It's more of an anime with a dash of romance story about three different types of financial crises, from individual to societal. The first covers amateur day trading and the last is basically getting into an Enron like situation. pentyne fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Jan 22, 2023 |
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Jan 22, 2023 01:04
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Great thread, my wishlist is growing with every page. Dap is an action-adventure/horror/Pikmin game where you play as the titular forest spirit trying to save your home from a spreading corruption with the help of your fellow Daps. I really liked the setting, it's a dark and mysterious jungle even before the corruption sets in. And the game's great at creating an unnerving atmosphere with effective pacing and sound design. I wish your companions were more autonomous and the combat can be frustrating (it's hard to aim and you're fragile, be prepared to redo certain sections) but it stays tense because of how vulnerable you are no matter how many Daps are with you. It's mostly linear but each of the 8 chapters is varied enough to keep it interesting to the end. There's a demo. Dap dap.
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Jan 22, 2023 01:31
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pentyne posted:I can vouch for this, it's pretty interesting for an anime zombie metroidvania and the store page is image is like the only horny thing in the entire game. Oh wow, that brings back memories! Have another round of Best Visual Novels on Steam Amnesia: Memories - another otome, this time about a lady who wakes up with amnesia! A magical fairy-type fella has accidentally displaced your memories, and will help you navigate your life in four different parallel dimensions. Who can you trust? What's going on? I really, really fell for the character writing in this game. It's been around for ages and goes on steep sales, so I would absolutely recommend it... with the caveat that one of the male love interests is batshit crazy in a bad way. Adds a weird element of horror. Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly - another older one that's cheap (it's on sale right now!) that I found myself adoring. Its primary theme is grief - suffering from, coming to terms with, etc. The group of main characters wake up in a mansion with no memories and have to alternate between living together in a dorm (the only safe space) or exploring the endless haunted hallways that are filled with monsters. It feels like a dreamlike fairy tale in the best possible way, and I absolutely cried over it. Raging Loop - a wandering tourist finds himself stuck in a haunted Japanese village, where everyone proceeds to play werewolf/mafia... and then the time loop kicks in. An absolutely enthralling thriller that I wish I could erase my memory for so I could read it fresh. Okay, it's shorter this time as I've been playing other things. Here's a few runners-up that I haven't finished yet: Utawarerumono, first in a trilogy! It's a visual novel / strategy rpg hybrid about furry civil war. MAMIYA - surreal as gently caress dark story about a boy's funeral, those who knew the deceased, and the strange boy who appears to them. Contains trauma, suicidal thoughts, and worse. It's fascinating, but read it when you're in a stable place yourself. I should read more, but I've been distracted by Lingo, Everyday Genius Square Logic, Starcraft 2, Sniper Elite 5, Lost Odyssey (not on steam sorry), and more.
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Jan 22, 2023 02:27
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I have it eternally wishlisted (base price point a wee bit too high in my region) so I haven't played it yet, but if we're talking visual novels, the single player mafia deduction game of Gnosia is something to consider too.
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Jan 22, 2023 03:00
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StrixNebulosa posted:Amnesia: Memories - another otome, this time about a lady who wakes up with amnesia! A magical fairy-type fella has accidentally displaced your memories, and will help you navigate your life in four different parallel dimensions. Who can you trust? What's going on? I really, really fell for the character writing in this game. It's been around for ages and goes on steep sales, so I would absolutely recommend it... with the caveat that one of the male love interests is batshit crazy in a bad way. Adds a weird element of horror. I'll be the voice of dissent here. I really disliked this one. I played it on Vita and was really disappointed in how mean all of the boys were and then you get the really bad one. In most of the otome I've read, I like at least one of the love interests but I hated everyone in Amnesia.
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Jan 22, 2023 05:02
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FrumpleOrz posted:I'll be the voice of dissent here. I really disliked this one. I played it on Vita and was really disappointed in how mean all of the boys were and then you get the really bad one. In most of the otome I've read, I like at least one of the love interests but I hated everyone in Amnesia. Valid! I confess I adored all of them (except for the yellow one for uhh obvious reasons) but especially Kent, as he came across as autism coded really hard, and I adored how he'd try to connect.
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Jan 22, 2023 15:15
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Damsel: Comic book action platformer about vampire slaying. It overstays its welcome just a bit but is still worth checking out. Dawn of the Lost Castle: Mini-metroidvania in a ruined castle. Magnibox: I play a lot of these simple puzzle games but it's hard to write reviews beyond "it's a good simple puzzle game". This one's about magnets and it works really well. Mr. Fast: This is a very strange game but the soundtrack and how it fits the gameplay is just absolutely amazing. Undead Horde: I never played any of the Diablo games but this is what I imagine playing as the necromancer is like. Has a sequel in early access. World to the West: Zeldalike from the Teslagrad devs. There are four characters with different movement abilities so a lot of the gameplay revolves around figuring out how to get everyone to the next location. That's not for everyone but it did work for me.
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Jan 22, 2023 16:50
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Koburn posted:I just finished Islets Islets and it was an amazing ride. I have been playing many metroidvania's recently and Islets outperforms almost all of them. For some reason this refused to launch when I downloaded it but after restarting it worked alright. It's a pretty fun game!
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Jan 23, 2023 01:20
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Miracle Mia: Fight off interdimensional invaders with a tennis racket. Omnibus: The bus that can't slow down and has to do everything. The Enchanted Cave 2: Simple roguelike adventure game inspired by the Ancient Cave from Lufia 2. Velocity Ultra: The thinking person's shmup. 救う(SHE SAVE): Pixel art boss rush.
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Jan 24, 2023 19:48
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If anyone has any hidden gem suggestions specifically available on Switch, they'd be appreciated. I'm about to take a work trip for a week and could use something chill for late nights when I don't want to hang around a hotel bar. I've played a pretty big variety of Switch games, preferring mostly RPGs and tactics games. Of the ones I'd label "hidden gems" on the Switch for myself, I'd probably list off Labyrinth of Refrain and Crown Trick most readily. I'm strongly considering I Was a Teenage Exocolonist as a possibly lighter alternative to not-so-hidden gem Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but I'm open to any sorts of alternatives (or takes on Exo). Thanks in advance! edit: the one hesitation I'd have in recommending Crown Trick to others is that the loadtimes on Switch are simply unrealistically long. I have no idea how a game that modest takes that long to load.
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Jan 24, 2023 20:37
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Memnaelar posted:If anyone has any hidden gem suggestions specifically available on Switch, they'd be appreciated. I'm about to take a work trip for a week and could use something chill for late nights when I don't want to hang around a hotel bar. I enjoyed Tangledeep as an updated Nethack clone.
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Jan 24, 2023 20:54
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Memnaelar posted:If anyone has any hidden gem suggestions specifically available on Switch, they'd be appreciated. I'm about to take a work trip for a week and could use something chill for late nights when I don't want to hang around a hotel bar. Not exactly a tactics rpg but I have to recommend the solitaire card game Shephy
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Jan 24, 2023 21:04
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Memnaelar posted:If anyone has any hidden gem suggestions specifically available on Switch, they'd be appreciated. I'm about to take a work trip for a week and could use something chill for late nights when I don't want to hang around a hotel bar. Of the two I mentioned, I can confirm that Märchen Forest is available on the Switch on account of the fact that my mother managed to stumble upon and buy it completely independently of my recommendation which was... surreal to say the least.
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Jan 24, 2023 21:21
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Good underappreciated games on Switch (may not be hidden): Dicey Dungeons (dice-based roguelike with very different classes), Minit (GBC Zelda-like where you have a minute per life), Severed (touch-based fighting / dungeon crawl game that's about loss but not like in a super in your face way), Nobody Saves The World (Zelda-like where the gimmick is a magical transformation wand), Nowhere Prophet (Slay the Spire-alike card game with a kickass soundtrack), Into the Breach (mechas vs kaiju tactical game with perfect knowledge of the enemy's movements).
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Jan 24, 2023 21:52
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Antiquia Lost: A port of a pay-to-win RPG with a slime girl, but it's actually good. Bot Vice: Top down cover shooter where victory comes down to your total clear time. Degrees of Separation: Physics based puzzler with characters at different temperatures. Heroine of the Sniper: Sniper FPS with a bunch of short missions. In Extremis: You will never forget this. Pankapu: A throwback action platformer with a modern feel.
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Jan 26, 2023 19:21
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Arabel: 3D action platformer with some rail grinding sections. It's more than a little janky but I liked it anyway. Belladonna: A short point and click game about a young woman trying to remember how she died. Knight Bewitched and Knight Bewitched 2: Another couple high points in the RPGMaker world. The dev's other games are of varying quality so pick them up on sale if you're interested. Slice, Dice & Rice: A one-hit kill PvE fighting game. Strategy matters here. WITCH-BOT MEGLILO: An old school anime shmup.
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Jan 28, 2023 01:39
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The 7th Guest posted:some stuff to look for in those various itch.io bundles: Its core is a simple card game that's a brilliant abstract representation of the give-and-take of a conversation. You start with a deck of ten cards in yellow and green, the colors representing the culture of your home region, which lets you get along with people there. Whenever you finish a conversation, successful or not, you trade a card of your choice from your deck for a card of your choice played by the NPC. If you swap enough of your deck to blue and purple, you'll be likely to have successful conversations with people on the other side of the map. If you want to be clever, you can trade continuously in a way that lets you tour the map with mostly successful conversations. But there are other endings that focus on particular regions. (The story structure is like Long Live the Queen, not like Hades; you can choose your route each run, but (although there's a little bit of luck in how conversations go,) there isn't much randomization of events or boons, and no metaprogression.) EDIT: It's on Switch, too. Xom fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Jan 30, 2023 |
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Jan 29, 2023 23:58
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Memnaelar posted:If anyone has any hidden gem suggestions specifically available on Switch, they'd be appreciated. I'm about to take a work trip for a week and could use something chill for late nights when I don't want to hang around a hotel bar. Late but I got Exocolonist on the latest Steam sale, started playing it a couple weeks ago, been hooked ever since. Mechanically it's not too complicated, there's some fairly simple deck building mechanics where your 'memories' become increasingly powerful cards over the years, which you then use on events along with gear cards and collectible cards, and there's also some skill building life sim stuff a la Long Live The Queen where you choose what skills to train each month. The system feels more forgiving than in LLTQ though, like the colony will face some pretty serious threats but there's usually several possible solutions that rely on different skills, so you're not completely loving yourself over because you didn't take three dance lessons before your first birthday. Narratively, things start pretty cutesy but they can potentially get extremely bleak, particularly in your first run. As other games of its kind, it has timeloop shenanigans woven into the story, so you can get additional solutions to events in successive playthroughs through ~mystic visions~. There's many different endings and they're not just slight variations of each other. The characters, particularly your fellow pimply teens, feel fleshed-out and have their own satisfying character arcs (except for one of them, who can gently caress off). As far as criticisms go, there's a frustration that's common to this format of games where special events are usually activated by visiting a certain building, but often you'll build up requirements to trigger several of these events and you'll have to take several months to activate them all. I think they've been patching this so that some events can happen consecutively, but it's still frustrating when you've found the cure for your dad's illness but you have to wait an extra month to give it to him because this month you're slated to be introduced to the quirky colony AI. Another criticism is that the romance system feels rather shallow considering the central subject of the game. The friendship events are well-written, but the romance just doesn't add that much to them.
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Jan 30, 2023 00:34
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Blood Hell is a FREE twin-stick shooter that plays kind of like Enter the Gungeon. It's short, and it's not as polished as Gungeon, but it's still pretty dang good for a free game.
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Jan 30, 2023 01:55
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Fearless Fantasy: A weird RPG with QTE-based combat. This won't be everyone's thing but I liked it. Forgotten Passages: A walking simulator that breaks into small pieces. Perfect for when you don't feel like trying very hard. Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure: A zeldalike broady construed. They claim 35 hours of playtime but I finished in about 10 and I don't think I missed anything essential. Remnants of Isolation: A short RPG with an interesting combat system. It would need work to be suitable for a longer game but there's something interesting there. Schein: One of the few puzzle platformers that does both aspects really well. Song of the Deep: Underwater metroidvania from the Ratchet & Clank dev team. Space Pilgrim Episode I: Alpha Centauri: A point and click-style game in the RPGMaker engine. This one's free but the next seven cost a few bucks each.
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Jan 30, 2023 03:21
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A Fold Apart: A narrative puzzle game where you fold the screen to make new paths. Another Sight: A puzzle platformer featuring a mostly blind girl and her magic cat. Evo\Wave: A 3D platformer that explores different eras of video game history. Free. Smart Moves: Turn-based combat puzzler that's a good way to kill a couple hours. Super Skelemania: A mini-metroidvania that's also a good way to kill a couple hours. The Librarian: A very short point and click adventure from a dev who's good at that genre. Time Recoil: A twin stick shooter with an interesting time-slowing mechanic. ultrafilter fucked around with this message at 18:34 on Feb 1, 2023 |
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Feb 1, 2023 18:32
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Haimrik: An interactive storybook set in a world where words have power. Intrepid Izzy: 16-bit style metroidvania. OneShift: A short puzzle platformer with a world shifting mechanic. Puzzlecar: A very good casual puzzle game about swapping tiles to create a path. QV: Another puzzle adventure game. Shatter: A Breakout-inspired game that isn't just another clone.
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Feb 2, 2023 18:29
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Warriors of the Nile 2 What if turn based tactics but roguelite runs and progression? You can finish a whole run in an hour or two, tons of classes, tons and tons of upgrades/items/traits, and this game answers the question of 'can you have a broken build simulator ala Risk of Rain as a turn based strategy game?' It's yes, the answer is yes. Plus I love the theme and the game has clean graphics and wastes absolutely none of your time getting into it or playing it.
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Feb 7, 2023 03:34
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victrix posted:Warriors of the Nile 2 Do you have any opinion on the first one? I keep thinking I should pick it up first.
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Feb 7, 2023 04:22
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Dracula Frames: A spooky sliding puzzle game  Simona's Requiem: Like Simon's Quest but without all of the NES-era bullshit. Star Apprentice: Magical Murder Mystery: Bullet hell meets Phoenix Wright. Free. Strikey Sisters: Breakout with monsters. This isn't for everyone but you might love it and you'll know well within the refund limit. Super Arcade Racing: A really good no-frills 2D racer.
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Feb 7, 2023 04:59
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StrixNebulosa posted:Do you have any opinion on the first one? I keep thinking I should pick it up first. I haven't played the second one but did play the first. From the description it is very similar. It's a very less is more game design where none of the parts of the game seem like a big deal but the game as a whole is very fun.
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Feb 7, 2023 11:06
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I feel like this guy is well known among Goons, but I think relative to the larger world Locomalito is pretty unknown. A Spanish developer (there's also Gryzor87 on sound and Marek Barej and Jacobo García as illustrators on the non-game illustrations) who focuses on making arcade style games, most of which are free apart from a couple that got higher budget remakes. The one that got the most press is Hydorah, but there's a whole bunch on offer.
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Feb 18, 2023 23:35
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