narratively-driven

I’ve often wondered how to view games that don’t carry a lot of challenge. I can feel like a passenger throughout but some of my most memorable experiences have also felt very trivial to complete. It’s a quandary I’ve had to keep in mind whilst playing Wavetale, an adventure platformer […]

Wavetale – PS5 Review

December 27, 2022 in PS5 / Reviews tagged adventure / apocalypse / exploration / narratively-driven / platforming / thunderful / waterworld / wavetale by Mike

With the democratising of games development, it’s nice to see more solo developers get off the ground. Wreck Tangle Games is a one-person studio that’s looking to mix bedtime stories with horror. The result is Quintus and the Absent Truth, a visually appealing title that does somewhat suffer from a […]

Quintus and the Absent Truth – PS5 Review

July 23, 2022 in PS5 / Reviews tagged adventure / horror / mouse / musician / narratively-driven / platforming / quintus and the absent truth / wreck tangle games by Mike

I know games sometimes like to cover civil unrest, protest and it’s consequences but they largely don’t concern themselves too much with ethical quandaries behind the curtain. There’s always a greater good and the good guys usually win out. Vengeful Heart has a fairly obvious cause to fight for but […]

Vengeful Heart – PS5 Review

April 4, 2022 in PS5 / Reviews tagged cyberpunk / dystopia / eco-terrorists / insurgency / l / narratively-driven / salmon snake / vengeful heart / visual novel by Mike

FMV games are always a fun thing to dig around. There’s something about an interactive medium featuring physical actors which always brings about some interesting results. The latest of these to come my way is Who Pressed Mute On Uncle Marcus? Coming from Wales Interactive, this is a product that […]

Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? – PS4 Review

March 18, 2022 in PS4 / Reviews tagged adventure / family quiz webchat / full motion video / Murder mystery / narratively-driven / poison / wales interactive / who pressed mute on uncle marcus by Mike

A while back I reviewed Strawberry Vinegar and it was arguably the moment where I really, really started to sound alarm bells about the visual novel genre. It was probably one of my first introductions to the fiction that is, ostensibly for weirdos, by weirdos. I knew Ebi-Hime had written […]

Blackberry Honey – PS5 Review

March 1, 2022 in PS5 / Reviews tagged blackberry honey / ebi-hime / love story / narratively-driven / victorian housemaids / visual novel by Mike

It’s been interesting to see puzzle games find their way into my rotation lately. A lot of them have been of an indie persuasion and they haven’t been especially enduring. A puzzler with a good hook or some interesting ideas will always grab me and In My Shadow manages to […]

In My Shadow – PS4 Review

February 25, 2022 in PS4 / Reviews tagged house / in my shadow / jumping / narratively-driven / playbae / puzzle platformer / puzzles / rooms / saws / spikes by Mike

Occasionally, adventure games catch my drift and The Song Out of Space seems right up my alley. Coming from Pixel Noire, the tale of extra-terrestrial interference, murders and Cold War tensions do tick a lot of my boxes. Unfortunately, it all seems rushed and doesn’t linger on the intrigue to […]

The Song Out of Space – PS5 Review

February 21, 2022 in PS5 / Reviews tagged aliens / cold war / fbi / narratively-driven / pixel noire / point and click adventure / the song out of space / visual novel by Mike

It’s another day in the visual novel dungeon for me and this might be the first time a direct sequel has landed in my queue. Kansei: The Second Turn HD is the middle chapter of Sakevisual’s Green Tea Line narrative. Following on from Jisei: The First Case HD, our nameless […]

Kansei: The Second Turn HD – PS5 Review

February 9, 2022 in PS5 / Reviews tagged green tea line / kansei the second turn hd / Murder mystery / narratively-driven / police procedural / sakevisual / visual novel by Mike

If nothing else, visual novels are a way for me to get out of my comfort zone and see into other people’s lives. It’s a genre very much not for me but, over the years, it’s given me plenty to think about. A Year of Springs, developed by npckc is […]

A Year of Springs – PS5 Review

December 19, 2021 in PS5 / Reviews tagged a year of springs / baths / friendship / Lgbtq / love / narratively-driven / npckc / relationship / spa / visual novel by Mike

I can’t quite imagine living in a small rural setting. They always look kind of devoid of life and I tend to miss my home comforts. The Prince of Landis, developed by one-man team Lorestrome, is an adventure game with a small slice of that life. Landis feels like one […]

The Prince of Landis – PS5 Review

November 20, 2021 in PS5 / Reviews tagged Adventure game / aliens / bullying / narratively-driven / oregon / Pixel art / small town life / the prince of landis by Mike

As I play for visual novels, I’m becoming well-versed in the genre tropes and what authors tend to favour. I think I’m through the fish out of water stage and well into these being about mystery and murder. Gosatsu Visual Novels have arrived with a Playstation 5 version of their […]

Shinrai: Broken Beyond Despair – PS5 Review

November 12, 2021 in PS5 / Reviews tagged detective / gosatsu visual novels / investigation / japanese / Murder mystery / narratively-driven / shinrai broken beyond despair / teenagers by Mike

I think losing my memory might be the one part of getting older that would terrify me. Reminiscence in the Night comes from Team Soletude and plays on those fears. What follows is a very brief narrative that maybe doesn’t quite hit the right notes about losing grip of the […]

Reminiscence in the Night – PS5 Review

November 9, 2021 in PS5 / Reviews tagged amnesia / dementia / loneliness / narratively-driven / nightmare / point and click / reminiscence in the night / team soletude by Mike

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