“A first-person adventure puzzle game set in the 1930s that tells the story of Norah, a woman on the trail of her missing husband’s expedition.
“The search takes place on a strange but beautiful island in the South Pacific, filled with secrets waiting to be unearthed. It is an otherworldly tale of mystery, adventure, and self-discovery.”
Platforms: Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Release: December 8, 2020
A sorrowful narrative driven adventure about a kind old man who hears the cry of a creature in the wilderness and starts off on a journey to help. Explore a postwar environment (inspired by ancient Russia and Iceland) by boat or on foot with your magic staff which you can use to fight enemies or solve puzzles.
The title comes from a wake ceremony called “selfloss”, which you can use in order to heal your own wounded soul.
Platforms: Windows
Release: 2021
“A classic film noir type adventure game with dark humour, adult themes and very, very dangerous animals.
“Sonny Featherland and Marty McChicken were once legendary detective partners, but time had passed them by. Sonny is a burnt-out, alcoholic ex-cop, who spends his days in an abandoned hotel, while Marty hides behind the facade of a star-detective, but slowly he’s losing himself. Now they’re back together again on a case bigger and much more dangerous than anything they’ve ever encountered before.”
I received a key for this from the developer and although visual novel/point-and-click stuff isn’t really my thing I decided to give it a whirl because the premise of chickens as police is pretty interesting to me.
I wasn’t planning to play much but I did get a bit sucked into the story and ended up going through the first chapter which took about four hours. There are four chapters I think and I’m a bit of a slowpoke, partially because I lost like 20 minutes trying to get a high score in the target practice minigame. The game feels quite polished mostly because of the art and voice acting (which is almost always great) but I also didn’t really encounter any bugs, except one time I did things out of order and the characters talked about visiting a place they had already been (maybe they were trying to block out the body they had just found).
The questioning/interrogating of characters is probably my favourite bit (choosing the right dialogue options based on your updating knowledge of their personality) especially because I’m not sure what happens if you completely screw it up and getting the “True Detective” stamp at the end is a super satisfying relief after previous anxiety.
The game is mostly about visiting locations, talking to characters, and trying to learn who you can trust while unraveling the mystery. It feels like there might be a lot of depth to the characters, but I’m not far enough in to make a determination on that. The writing overall seems good and the dialogue is pretty decent I think although it misses the mark a couple of times for me as I’m not super into noir.
I’m not sure if I will continue, although I really want to meet Miranda the giraffe, but that’s definitely mostly a factor of the visualnovelness (it’s not a hard-core one but I’m severely lacking in patience at the moment), so if that’s your jam it’s definitely a game to look into.
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Release: November 5, 2020
“A beautiful 3D adventure platformer set in the fantastic world of Calysgore. Featuring the young boy Matheus joined by a mysterious entity called Calydra. The two embark on a quest of finding four crystals that represent lost elemental powers.”
Platforms: Windows
Release: TBA
“Explore a strange and wonderful archipelago in this classic comic-style adventure. Guide young mechanic Mo on a journey to find the strength to let go in a world about to collapse. The powerful Omni Switch at your disposal may not be enough to fix all that is broken…”
Platforms: Windows, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Release: 2021
“A handcrafted adventure with nice psychedelic vibe and simplified craft system. Explore incredible worlds inside the strange Box. And try to find out what mysteries awaiting outside it.”
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
Release: 2020
“Become lost within a storybook world, travelling through beautiful environments, meeting strange and unusual characters in a heartfelt story. You play as Ember. You are trapped in a puzzling place, searching for meaning and a way home. At its heart, it is the story of rekindling hope in an otherwise hopeless world.”
This looks hauntingly beautiful and it was quite a surprise to discover that it’s releasing today. 🥰 I really hope it turns out as good as it seems as a touching puzzle game is right up my alley. There is also an explore mode where you can just wander around the world talking to the characters at your own pace.
The music in the trailer is from LAMB and it is called As Satellites Go By.
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Apple Arcade
Release: August 27, 2020
“An Action Adventure RPG that takes place in a fantasy world called Elor. An ancient evil re-awakens and the fate of the land is thrown into Aron’s hands. Aron will have to unite the people all while learning how to use his new abilities.”
Platforms: Windows
Release: 2020
“A truly engaging 3D action adventure RPG game where you are thrown into a surreal but somewhat familiar setting with humans, creatures and monsters to interact with, learn and hunt – journey, survive and discover the world that exists beyond.
“This game is not just about killing arch-demons and saving the world. Take in the atmosphere and live a realistic life in an unrealistic world. This is a game that tells stories about people with ‘unusual’ jobs such as hunting monsters and what happens in their everyday life doing so.”
Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox, Xbox SX, Nintendo Switch
Release TBA
“Join Kristal as she sets out on her journey to better understand herself and the world around her in a point and click adventure game, featuring turn-based combat elements and hand-painted environments.
“The Girl of Glass is set in a fictional mid-20th-century European country ruled by a tyrant eagle. You play as Kristal, the girl of glass, who is struggling with growing up, letting go of the past, and finding a future to believe in. On your journey of discovery, you will visit numerous places and meet a wonderful cast of characters to interact with – all in very detailed, hand-painted graphics.”
Platforms: Windows
Release: Summer 2020