Story-rich games, visual novels, interactive fiction I’ve tried and you should too.
Grey Block is a new psychological interactive fiction. This is a story about Theo Church, a young man who is involuntarily committed to a place called the Green Valley Psychiatric Hospital. Within the framework of a mysterious conspiracy, he tries to escape with the help of a hired assassin, who Theo tells a nurse was originally hired to take Theo out but instead rescued him. She is the primary secondary character outside of Theo who provides the information Theo needs to escape Green Valley. Together they navigate the watch of green-lit security camera spotlights, collecting security badges and hacking unattended…
Thank you to Space Colony Studios for reaching out to me about this upcoming interactive fiction demo for Stories From Sol: Part 1 Gun-Dog. I'm so excited to tell you all about this new demo. It has touches of retro nostalgia, with a sci-fi storylines, and the beginning of a really good series.
“Dream Harvest,” the developers of NeuroNet: Mendaxy Proxy have provided a demo that gives a special preview of this futuristic fiction that showcases a highly visual and highly interactive story experience. The synopsis goes something like this. Wake up, you’re the newest programmed artificial intelligence developed by a very prominent corporation in the high-tech metropolitan Catena. Take it into your own hands in the bizarre POV of the AI, who is named Arc after a few calibrations in the prologue, or “beta” if you will. As you evolve, you’ll be given various responsibilities that will make you think and test ethical tropes that perhaps you aren’t as committed to as you think.
With eye-catching flat graphics and exciting period stylized environments, no one could say the game Overboard! doesn't have class. (Also known as Overboard! Get Away With Murder.) Literary elements and composition create an intellectual environment on the fictional steamship SS Hook, where your task is to resolve speculation on a murder. It's not just an ordinary mystery though. From the very get-go, it's made apparent that you, the apathetic yet charismatic, Veronica Villensey, are the killer--of her own husband! It is up to you to decide what your motive is, or if you even care! For context, however, it is hinted that the financial ruin of the late Mr. Villensey is most of the motive.
There's a short, charming story in Eternia: Pet Whisperer. Even if you're a cockatoo/border-collie lover like me, or whether you lean more toward the exotic koala/frill-necked lizard, or rat brothers. These animals have a slight backstory, and cute appearance, plus a natural subtle wit. It's got that solo dev quirk that I love best of all, where the plot derails to form a full loopable plot-line but keep things manageable; that's a plus, folks. And I'm not going to spoil it for you, because you deserve that, but also because I think it's one of the charms of the game.
Today, I plunged headfirst into the free games pile new releases over on Steam store. On my arrival, I discovered a cozy little visual novel among the listings called Fayburrow, and I decided to take a look at it. Fayburrow is a free game created by the self-named "Fayburrow Troupe" at VIA University College in Denmark. It just hit the Steam store today. What was first intrigue, turned into a fascination with the conjunction of such delightful graphics with a genre I have not covered in far too long! So, after downloading, I fired it up and took it for a spin at the courtesy of the game's student makers and you dear reader. Let's take a look at Fayburrow.
For the record, I am a big fan of Way Down Deep and their dating sim releases over the last year like the socially distanced romance sim Romantic Distancing and the popular release Half Past Fate. I've been eyeing Date Night Bowling since I first saw it in an upcoming games roster. So when the opportunity to play it on Switch arose, I snagged it and slipped on some bowling shoes. Eww, digital ones! I jest. Anyway, what we've got here is a combination of a very pleasant to look at video game with plenty of replay value and a pretty darn decent bowling simulator for the Switch. It's about $8 right now on sale. I decided to play through a date and flip through the options, I'll tell you what I observed here. Overall, to begin with, it's a good game.
Earlier this year, I took a look at a visual novel from this developer called The Last Act. Incidentally, they have a new act called Not It: Spookiest Edition just in time for Halloween. In fact, this whole game's story revolves around an old legend of a curse that arrives every Halloween. I suppose, being on hiatus and everything, I can still find some room to squeeze this one in because this whole month I'm doing a Halloween theme. Also, it is released today, so that's a scoop I can't resist. Therefore, from a very distraction-free space, mostly, let me enthrall you with a first look at Not It: Spookiest Intentions.
Blake is an interesting new visual novel from LegendOri Productions about a complacent computer programmer turned vigilante in a futuristic cyberpunk city. The primary scenario within the game involves a new technology that can make somebody totally anonymous. Even amongst the modern people-tracking computers of its era, a criminal of heinous description is leaving a fatal trace and incidentally has decided to start toying with Blake's sanity.
Beacon Pines is a visual novel, but really it qualifies with a new level of cozy interaction and fathoms deep optimistic complexity to its characters. The basic structure of the story relies on an interesting "plot device" made of... well, plot devices! You start in a storybook tale of a young fawn, though I'd say that's up for interpretation, named Luka at his grandmother's. Through exploration and experimentation and interacting with those around you can acquire something known as "charms." Charms help change the course of the story. You may need to go back and forth to test what works and what doesn't, but with each charm, comes some new element that alters everything. Hold on to your BOOK straps, we're going in.
