UlverHausu

Fire

Date: 2015 | 24 of 27 achievements |
Screenshots

Neon










**More of a Puzzle type game than it is a Point n click**
The only thing i expected it to be, Daedalic is pretty much Adventure/Point n click stuff, well not this time it isnt.
In Fire you are on a journey, after being thrown out of your own camp, to discover...well...the title of this game.
This is a really minor game, whoever designed this game was mostly trying to come up with different ideas with this concept. So you could be in prehistoric era and then suddenly....a Time machine.
There is no real narrative, levels are short, and mostly made of "intuitive puzzle design"...which is actually the opposite of logical puzzles.
It fits with the idea of this neanderthal chaotic character trying to understand a world outside the camp, and outside is era, by adding the minimalist puzzles.

Game of Thrones

Date: 2012 | 34 of 50 achievements
Screenshots

Neon












**What's my purpose?**
A Game of Thrones RPG that catters to neither fans.
Focus makes Mid tier RPGs, but this one had to have sold less than expected. Console gamers especially, just ignored this game
The combat system is clunky,and aside from opening up later on, as some major issues
They ripped the combat system from Dragon Age, surprisingly is no less clunky than the Techomance series, and it desperately needed some work done.
The camera for instance, does not work in small spaces of which there are many. It gets behind walls, most times clip through them.
Characters models don't need to be in contact with each other or even near. With multiple characters on screen i had to open up the slow mo Skills wheel, just to make sure i'm attacking the right enemy.
In later chapters, everything gets considerably better, even the combat system gets more entertaining when you finally start using some extremely effective combos. seriously, chapter 8 was when even the combat, although still janky, started to feel really satisfing.
There is like 14 chapters, how did it took so long.
This chapter based system is what confuses me the most. Typically games get rushed, that means later levels are rather unfinished,
Well, GOT (2012) stops feeling rushed at chapter: 8
It's a very slow introduction of our two characters, with barely anything else, those chapters are extremely short. There is barely any side quests, you have to follow a linear path, with barely any enemies and secrets, that our just mouse drop with no AI, or patters, that is so obviously put there to use both Mors and Alester special ability.
And then suddenly, levels get really long, with Side Quest, a vast ability tree, its even possible to fast travel to different areas. No open world of course, but that level of freedom alone, is not something i expected after so many hours of play.
The story is rather silly though i have no major problems to what it turns to, its how long it takes to get there that is the problem
Mors is our Nightwatch man, not much is know about the circumstances until later in the game, and Alester is the mysterious lost son wanting to take the throne of House Sarwyck. ofc the two stories meet and move from there, but gosh it take a while.
At Least the awkwardness the of cutscenes brought a smile to my face </p>

Harvester

Date: 1996 | no achievements
Screenshots

Neon












**The quintessential exploitation movie**
Your either Harvester or Harvest
oh...Harvester i've talked about this game between friends, it's surprisingly well known for a mid-90s Point n Click
The opinions i've heard about it, are on the other hand unsurprisingly divise
I have agreed with all or most negative opinions, it's just that in some cases they are the reason why i like the game so much.
It's that much close to the exploitation genre, it's not overly satirical, or stylish. Nope, Harvester just came out of a time where people discussed adding censorship in gaming and how violence in games would desensitize people from feeling guilt and therefore lead them to commit real world crimes.
They simply grabbed that concept and went with it, simply because someone somewhere, will be furious and disgusted it exists
It's not the most original story ever, now that i look back it might just have been a collection of tropes
Steve wakes up with a terrible case of Amnesia, has any good story begins. Our hero! surrounded by violence, incest and bigotry. He Is in an arranged marriage, with the only sane person in town. The one person you dont want to be in a crazy place.
Steve plans to find some answers by joining the lodge, a building that is constantly giving an ominous atmosphere to the place, not just because how many times it's referred by the towns folk, but the enourmous size makes it hard to miss when walking around.
Gameplay is original enough for it to get past its shortcomings
First half offers an open town to explore, and like most games in the genre there are dead ends, but i didn't exactly felt lost, if anything some items i ended up finding where useful eventually. Other than that it feels very much like groundhog day everyday. That is until you reach the second half, the Lodge.

Investigator

Date: 2016 | 23 of 34 achievements | AdroVGames
Screenshots

Neon












**Yet another walking simulator**
From the screenshots it looks great doesn't it? I don't feel like its a big deal at this point with walking simulators, with no AI, puzzles, physics.Let alone in a game that uses CryEngine
Though i do appreciated, what they? went with.
More important than having good graphics, is having taste.
And i do love film grain in games, the dense fog is fine, but whats really nice is the usage of colors in chapters. Every location as a saturation of one color, between Blue, Green, and Red.
You are a detective, during a time of extreme conditions, and at first it is like you are about to investigate this one case, and try to find this one criminal, and bring justice by your own hands. At the very least i thought, the main story would slowly unravel and The "End of the World" plot would stay in the background where it belongs
But there is no pursuit of anything, your simply trying to find places to sleep and survive the decrease in temperature, on your way to some bunker. if you found the guy or not, thats pure coincidence
so...why is it called investigator, why does it matter what he has done for a living?
More importantly, what am i supposed to take out of this?
The Narration is unecessary ofcourse, there is no real plot, so why does it matter.
As a game of course it does not offer that much. Just be happy to find some platform jumping and keys/fuses to collect...because there is nothing else here.
The DLCs are alright, the free one included with the game is influenced by the new RE. And, again the gameplay is minor, but it isn't terribly mind numbing

Jack Keane

Date: 2008 | No achievements
</div> Neon












I don't think i ever hated a decent game this much. I don't even know why, it might just be a culmination of factors
Usually Deck 13 is good at grabbing something popular and make it their own decent attempt at it. The little bit i've played from The Surge wasn't bad, even here i can tell influences from Monkey Island.


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