Recent reviews by Fiona the Red

Nancy Drew grew up, got an edge, and became entangled in a dark local mystery involving the supernatural. That might be enough to convince you to play Kathy Rain, but if it's not, read on.

Kathy Rain is a wonderful graduation for those of us who grew up with HerInteractive's Nancy Drew series. Many of us also had a (perhaps handed down) NES, Atari, or Game Boy, so we've a nostalgic love of pixels. We're also a bit generationally jaded, sharing Kathy's world-weariness and sarcasm. There's a darkness in both the character and the game that feels personally relevant.

Not in that demographic? No problem. Kathy Rain holds appeal for any fan of point and click mysteries. Bonus appeal if you're a fan of the supernatural and slightly macabre, and you like seeing it in pixels. The game is logical in its progression; if you get stuck, just try what you would do in real life. There's no tedious haphazard item combination. Puzzles are clean and feasible. Even with full achievements, you can complete the game in ~5-8 hours, so it's a solid adventure that won't eat all your time. (Great spoiler-free achievement guidehere.)

Kathy Rain is a satisfying offering in the PnC mystery/adventure genre, comfortable to play with a nice nostalgic aesthetic. You couldn't ask for much more, but the game gives it anyway: an intriguing story and a surprising depth of themes and character. Satisfying, and highly recommended.

The good:
Epistory was my first experience with typing games, and a lovely one at that. I type quickly, so I played the adaptive difficulty and had just enough challenge to keep me interested in the well-paced typing adventure. Eventually your character learns new magic types, making battles more dynamic. Your typing destroys enemies - woodland insects and arachnids - as well as terrain, opening up new areas to explore and chests to open. The typing mechanic never feels forced; the game is linguistic through and through. Each word typed feels organic and relevant to the unfolding story. There's much to explore (even more than is necessary for the storyline), and the quaint yet geometric art style encourages you to do so. The story itself is beautiful and unassuming; Epistory is unexpectedly touching. (And don't worry, you are still free to explore the world even after the story's final chapter.)

The bad:
As much as I treasure this indie gem, I had a few issues. Some of the ice puzzles were nothing but tedious and incredibly difficult to complete - not because they were difficult to solve, but because the design was antagonistic. The game has an arena option, where you can put your typing skills to the test and compete on the leaderboards. It's a fun game mode for nerds like me who enjoy typing, but it's buggy in fullscreen. Speaking of typing nerds - I type over 100 wpm, which is (at times) faster than the game could register - problematic during some battles.

The end:
Epistory is surprising. It's charming, it's unique, it's enjoyable. It's one of those games you play on a bit of a whim, and then you come to revel in your discovery of. Epistory is one of those lovely games none of your friends know about... until you tell them... and you will.

After putting two or three hours into this game, I happened upon a review here on the store page which contained a major spoiler. But I kept playing. Why?

Fran Bow is a wonderful example of games as art. Look at the aesthetics of this game: simultaneously macabre and whimsical. Listen to the music: unsettling and lulling, at the same time. Read the dialogue: dark, dreary, and innocent. Examine the plot and the themes: hopeful, demented, terrifying, confusing, beautiful, powerful. Not just a game, but a journey with a little girl who is plagued by her past and her mind.

I kept playing, because the game had reeled me in. It had charmed me. And by the time I completed that last chapter, I wasn't sure what was real anymore. Delusion? Fantasy? Hallucination? Was the game really spoiled for me at all? I don't think so anymore. There is much room for interpretation with Fran Bow. This is not just a game to be played, but a game to be pondered. This is a game that can't truly be spoiled.

This game has an achievement called Supernova, which unlocks when you die 50 times.
This game has an achievement called Navigator, which unlocks when you finish the game once.

Know how many people have earned Navigator? 2% of players. A mere 2% of people who have played this game have been skilled and/or lucky enough to complete it. That's it. 10% of players have achieved Supernova (*raises hand*), a number low only because 90% of people gave up on this game before it could kill them 50 times.

Steredenn, this celestial pixelated beauty, is unforgiving. It is brutality with nostalgic imagery and a transportative soundtrack. This game, this glorious, horrible game, this thing called Steredenn, will either repel you or entrance you. If you love Galaga and hate yourself, play this game. If you love pixels and outer space and shoot-em-ups, play this game. But only if you hate yourself a little bit, too.

I wish that I could give The Guest a horizontal thumb; an in-between recommendation. A thumbs-up feels too enthusiastic, and a thumbs-down feels a bit unfair.

The Guest is a mixture of escape-the-room, point-and-click, walking simulator, puzzle, and mystery. There are also elements of suspense and sci-fi, and the combination of all these works pretty well overall. The controls weren’t too clunky, but they could stand some refining. I will note that I experienced two technical problems, one of which could have been game-breaking. Also worth noting is that I was unable to save the game once I reached the latter half. Since I finished it that evening, it didn’t really matter to me. But if you plan on spreading this game out, beware. The Guest only takes about 3-4 hours to complete, though, so finishing it in a sitting is feasible.

I absolutely love when games are atmospheric, and The Guest is just that. From the sound effects to the lighting to the graphics, The Guest captures a certain atmosphere and doesn’t let go of it. Having said that, atmosphere is this game’s strongest point; on other fronts, it felt a bit lackluster. I enjoy a good puzzler, but I felt that these puzzles were at once too difficult and too mindless. I solved a couple of puzzles by more or less clicking randomly, and that’s just not satisfying. There’s one puzzle in particular (under the bathroom sink) that just did not make sense to me, even with the in-game “guide” to it. Maybe that’s just me being a dummy, but I would have never solved it without checking a walkthrough. The puzzles worked pretty well mechanically, but from a player’s viewpoint they were not very intuitive. They were mostly tedious, and I had a few moments of: "Am I supposed to know what to do here?". I find it hard to say that a puzzle game is objectively good when the puzzles just aren’t what they should be. With a little work, though, Team Gotham could make some really lovely puzzles.

Story-wise, I felt a bit cheated. There's a fine line between mysteriousness and vagueness, and The Guest unfortunately crosses over to the wrong side of that line. There are questions about the world and characters and plot that we just don’t get answers to. The material is undoubtedly there, it just isn't brought to its full potential. The premise is gripping, but it's not fleshed out as much as it should be, leaving players with more of a skeleton than a meaty game. Truth be told, I really do want to see a sequel to this game, where the puzzles and controls are more refined and the story is more prevalent and better developed. If Team Gotham makes a sequel, I’ll be playing it. And if I’m not mistaken, The Guest is their first project; for a first project, this is a solid and respectable effort. (And if you’re into achievements, there are some easy ones and some hard ones. I enjoyed the achievements a lot, even though I couldn’t get some of them.)

In the end, The Guest left me wanting more. Sometimes for the wrong reasons, sometimes (maybe mostly?) for the right ones. I’ve chosen to give this game a thumbs-up because I did overall enjoy my experience, and I appreciate this game for what it is. I feel a bit disappointed in it, and I can absolutely see its fault, but it’s not bad. If you’re willing to take a $10 risk, buy The Guest. You might be disappointed, but you’ll probably be appreciative. It’s worth it for the beautifully crafted atmosphere if nothing else.

When I bought this game for my brother and I to play over the holiday for old time's sake, I wasn't expecting for us (both adults) to scream multiple times while playing. But we did. Maybe that just means we're big weenies, though I'd like to think that just means HER Interactive made a solidly creepy game. I loved the atmosphere of this game, as well as the backstory. While I had hoped for more oomph in the resolution, I - we - enjoyed our time at Thornton Hall.