A beguiling adventure in which you uncover the secrets of an expansive and mysterious world – haunting both the environment and its denizens to craft ingenious solutions to the many challenges that await.
When I read ‘twin-stick shooter’ and ‘action’ as tags on steam I was a little hesitant, but felt drawn in by the art style on display. Thankfully for me, there was a lot less action than I expected. The demo showed off a game of exploration, collection and puzzles where navigating the dangerous dark land of Eternity is our goal, guided by the welcoming lights around us and the friendly locals.
While our character moves quite slowly, shooting feels great and is used for many more purposes than just shooting enemies. We are Hauntii, a ghost that has the ability to posses objects and other things, influencing them to do as we please. This could be lighting up a previously unlit path, growing to allow us to reach other places, becoming a turret to shoot heavier objects or even allowing more traversal to find all of the secrets. Our goal is to collect fragments of our past, bringing them together to paint a clearer picture of who we were and how to free our self from the tether this land has on us.
Hauntii reminded me of some other indies that I have played or seen in the last couple of years, and while it isn’t exactly like any one of these games, I will mention why they prompted memories in me. My first touchpoint was Gris, a very artful, intentional experience promising emotions through imagery and sound. Chicory is the second game I was reminded of, due to the way that we can change the world as we interact with it, as well as having a sweet vibe underlined by a threat. Finally, The Wild at Heart was my third reference point, not at all through gameplay, just very vague aesthetics, exploration, an interesting forest family, a hub area and the use of the dark. If you like any of those games for any of those reasons then there is a potential that there will be something here for you too!
This feels like a one for the couch, to play on a cozy night in with the lights low, candles on, a blanket and a nice cup of hot chocolate in hand.
Demo Length – 1 hour At a glance + Art. + Music. + The animation. + The use of colour. + The distortion in the dark. + Shooting feels very smooth. + Finding secrets. + The whimsy. +/- The puzzles were quite simple, but I also didn’t feel like my hand was being held. – Not sure why I was collecting things other than my memories. – Movement speed is a little slow.
SAY ANYTHING in this bizarre dungeon adventure where words control everything. Fill in the blanks with text or voice to uncover lost abilities, embark on strange quests, and solve mindbending riddles. Can you conquer the crypt and uncover the mystery at the heart of CRYPTMASTER?
I have never played anything quite like Cryptmaster before, and that is not only down to my lack of dungeon crawling experience. In Cryptmaster, you gain your powers through words. Exploring, finding chests, solving riddles and killing enemies grants you letters, aiding in figuring out your characters next ability in this dynamic game of hang-man.
Is it cruel to make a crew of dead people play hang-man? Probably, but it is also very fitting with the games humorous tone. A huge part of the gameplay is being able to type words at any time, which you can use to take as many guesses at the game of hang-man mentioned above, but also to interact with the world around you. Our ever so slightly demonic looking guide will converse with us depending on what we try to do, resulting in me getting chastised for my virtual kleptomaniac tendencies more times than I should probably admit.
Combat didn’t fully click with me during my two times through the demo. The first time I tried the recommended ‘real time’, but the juggling act of remembering the words and typing them accurately with haste would send me off into a clumsy panic, struggling to decipher whether what I was doing was effective or not. The second time I decided to try the ‘turn based’ approach. While I did get hit less during this mode, I didn’t quite understand what consisted as a turn. Thankfully though, the riddle based sections were enough fun to compensate for the difficulties I was having.
The last section of the demo showed a preview of mechanics yet to come, but it ended before getting to experience them, including some resource management regarding using words. Time will tell whether these mechanics will work for me personally, but I can imagine the audience that thrives on this gameplay. For me, this feels like it would be a really fun live-stream game, as the collaborative effort of solving the riddles and the over-arching word puzzle of the abilities would be a lot of fun for everyone. Not to mention, getting to meet some absolutely bizarre characters with very fun performances.
Demo Length – 45 mins At a glance + The riddles are fun. + Being able to type at any time is a great choice. + The freedom to explore. + Fun performances and character designs. + The sketched art direction compliments the word based gameplay. + The humour is fun. – Realtime combat felt difficult, turn based felt confusing.
1000xRESIST is a thrilling sci-fi adventure. The year is unknown, and a disease spread by an alien invasion keeps you underground. You are Watcher. You dutifully fulfil your purpose in serving the ALLMOTHER, until the day you discover a shocking secret that changes everything.
This is a write up of my first impressions of 1000xRESIST having played through 2 chapters of the game. I intended to play around an hour or the first chapter – which ever came first – but this game got it’s hooks in me. I had to tear myself away otherwise my first impressions would become a full blown review. On one hand, I wouldn’t mind that but on the other, I have lots more games to try out during the fantastic LudoNarraCon.
*My first impression posts aren’t usually this long but I had a lot to say about this game!
First thing’s first, this is an experimental game. It does exactly what it wants to do and does so confidently. I will admit, I was not sold at first. I found the opening slightly off-putting, feeling like I was supposed to care about these characters that I had never met, having an experience that I don’t understand. However, with a little more patience the world was built, less through exposition and more through exploration and character interactions. Half way through chapter 1 I got into my groove and by the end of the chapter I was all in.
The steam description sets up an epic story about aliens and diseases and the ALLMOTHER, and while these are all certainly present, creating the entire setting for the game, it surprisingly feels very personal so far. Even more impressively, it remains personal and creates an investment despite incredibly flawed and some even dare I say unlikable characters.
The game splits between the present time and the past, parts of the chapter taking place in the form of what I would call long vignettes. The character who’s memories we are exploring, in my opinion, is down-right awful, but I am compelled to see what made her that way. What particularly shines are the relationships, personalities and actions of the people around her.
A common complaint in either cinematic narrative games or walking simulator style stories, is that there isn’t enough for us – the player – to do. I feel it is important to point out that I can personally enjoy a narrative game with very minimal mechanics. Having said that, I find 1000xRESIST to have struck a great balance of engaging gameplay so far. The primary verbs that I have experienced so far are walk around, interact, and a time hop mechanic.
The time hop mechanic alone warrants the existence of this game. Not to sell the other aspects short, but the way it weaves intricately with the environmental storytelling and level design has been fantastic to experience so far. Not to mention that in each chapter the mechanics have been used in their own way, leaving me eager to see what other ways the story is going to be told throughout the rest of the game.
An example of the impact of the aethetic contrast.
The presentation – particularly in chapter 1 – felt inspired. The lighting alongside fixed camera angles were super effective, I felt dread rounding every corner without it ever being too much. The design of the aliens that have literally plagued humanity and the effect that they have had on the world brings a fantastic contrast to the world of 2047, an unknown amount of years prior, right before the effects took hold. Switching between both of these times in the blink of an eye creates a jarring effect aesthetically and a devastating one emotionally.
It is hard to describe what to expect as this game is unique, but I felt influences or slight similarities every now and again from other media. The first being that the experience of Chapter 2 is exactly the experience that I wish I had from the game Virginia. A wonderfully executed montage experience that I can’t say I have seen many games try. Other looser and unexpected vibes I got lead me to think of set up and themes of stories like Signalis and Everything Everywhere All At Once. I am not saying that you will have the same experience in this game as you had from those other properties, but they felt worth mentioning none the less as if you enjoyed them, I think there could be something here for you.
1000xResist is an experimental narrative game that resonated with me in ways that other experimental narrative game sometimes have not. Both chapters that I played were strong and emotional. What is different about this game is that I don’t actually know what I am going to be doing next. Rather than being goals driven, I am being taken on a journey. A tour of a world entirely different to the world I know. And that is great too. I am excited to see what lies in store.
This game breaks the mould – this is what Indie Gaming is all about.
At a glance + All in on the experimental storytelling. + Enough input required from the player to keep it engaging. + Time hop mechanic. + Environmental storytelling. + Very intriguing concept all around leaving me hungry for more. + Not exposition heavy. + I feel invested in characters despite not agreeing with them or even liking some of them. + The Asian-Canadian perspective enriches the whole experience. + The aethetic – particularly in chapter 1 – is great. + What a cool idea for a disease. +/- The characters are flawed, and I think the game is trusting player curiosity to carry on despite the player characters feelings on the situation. +/- Took a while to understand what is happening. +/- No indication about what is next, just this really interesting world. – Disconnect in dialogue took me out of it occasionally e.g. Watcher talking as herself when people see her as Iris.
For my highlight video of the LudoNarraCon 2020 I only included the games that I played for the first time during this festival. Meaning, I didn’t want to repeat games from my Steam Game Festival: Spring Edition 2020 video. Instead, I hand picked my top 6 experiences from the new demos I played.
Here are my top games in Alphabetical Order! For more info on why they were great, what they are about and to see some game play, the video below will have you covered!
Backbone – Backbone is a noir roleplaying detective adventure. You are raccoon private eye Howard Lotor, a second-class citizen of dystopian Vancouver, BC inhabited by animals. Interrogate a diverse cast of characters, collect evidence, and choose which leads to follow.
Lost Words: Beyond the Page – Lost Words is a 2D narrative adventure game where players move words to solve puzzles. The game features a story written by Rhianna Pratchett and ties the narrative into the gameplay in an unusual way, by having the player running on and interacting with words to solve puzzles.
Over the Alps – Postcards written in invisible ink reveal a secret history… Travel back in time in the debut game from Stave Studios, OVER THE ALPS. Stay undercover, evade the police, and race across 1939 Switzerland in this Hitchcockian World War Two spy thriller.
Ring of Fire – Scour police records. Antagonize your suspects. Comb through a disturbing crime scene. You’ll stop at nothing to expose the truth. Ring of Fire is a search-based detective noir puzzler with a mature narrative set in the hyper-stylized streets of New London.
Still There – Every day is the same on the faraway Bento space-lighthouse – until a mysterious radio message breaks through. Evade the past, welcome oblivion, make the perfect Italian coffee. Still There is a psychological adventure game about grief, technical puzzles, wacky AIs and dark humour. How far is far enough?
Tangle Tower – Unravel a thrilling mystery by exploring a strange and twisted mansion, discovering curious clues, interrogating peculiar suspects and solving unique puzzles. Will you be able to uncover the secrets of Tangle Tower?
Video of my Top 6 Games from the LudoNarraCon 2020!
After covering the Steam Game Festival: Spring Edition 2020 I was looking forward to the Summer Edition. Little did I know that the LudoNarraCon 2020 was just around the corner. Basically, it is the same type of event as the Steam Game Festival, except this one is solely focused on narrative games. It’s like it was made for me! Naturally, I went on to play 15 more demos.
Since a few of the Steam Game Festival demos were available again, I added them to the playlist too, bringing the total up to 19! Really enjoyed covering this festival, and once again found some more gems that I want to keep an eye on.
Full playlist of the Steam Game Festival: Spring Edition 2020, featuring 20 demos!
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