The tricky thing about mysteries is that the answers to them are rarely more fascinating than the questions themselves, which can lead to a disappointing payoff if those answers are the only thing that matters to the narrative. Observation falls into this trap: it successfully builds an intriguing atmosphere of dread in its first hours, telling a story about a space station under the influence of mysterious forces, but then decides to lean heavily on some late twists and revelations that are supposed to be surprising and thought-provoking, but end up being just obvious and silly.

The story takes place in the eponymous space station, focusing on an astronaut named Emma Fisher, [...]

The Medium tries to blend the point-and-click genre with survival horror, failing to live up to both. With a problematic story that quickly derails after a promising start and a main gimmick that is ultimately wasted by poor puzzle design, The Medium eventually falls short of its ambitions.

The game starts with Marianne, a young Polish woman, looking for a tie clip in her father’s house to adorn his body. After putting the finishing touches on the corpse – she used to help him in his Funeral House – the lights go out and Marianne sees herself in the “other side”: she’s a medium that sometimes, against her will, is pulled to this other plane of existence [...]

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is an outstanding – if too safe – sequel to the already great Blind Forest, boasting the same mesmerizing aesthetic, haunting soundtrack, and engaging platformer mechanics. It’s an impressive adventure that, despite all its strengths, still doesn’t do much to evolve the series: it develops more the combat aspect of the game and introduce some sidequests and characters to help flesh out the world, but these elements pale in comparison with the others.

The story in Will of the Wisps revolves around the search for a cute baby owl called Ku. She was frustrated that she wasn’t able to fly, so after Ori helps her do it, they are caught in a fierce storm [...]

Call of the Sea is a first-person point-and-click adventure that tries to put a new spin on the Cthulhu mythos. With a colorful and vibrant art style, the game is unfortunately dragged down by clunky writing and questionable puzzle design.

It’s the 1930s and the protagonist is a white woman called Nora Everhart, who travels to a remote island in the Pacific in search of her husband, Harry. Harry was frustrated with his wife’s strange skin disease – which gives her some black spots – and decides to go search for a cure. One day, Nora receives a package detailing where Harry went to, an island southwest of Tahiti, and she decides to travel there and discover what happened to [...]

Indivisible is a mix of RPG and Metroidvania that boasts great art direction, building a colorful and vibrant fantasy world, but is also marred by some questionable design choices that take the fun out of exploration.

The story follows Ajna’s quest to avenge her father, who was murdered in front of her by a soldier named Dhar. The problem is that, when Ajna – who is just 16 years old – tries to fight Dhar, she ends up absorbing him instead – and now she has to deal with her father’s killer talking inside her head. With the help of some friends – who she absorbs as well – Ajna travels to Mount Sumeru to fight the vile warlord Ravannavar, who intends to destroy the world because [...]

Haven is a game that celebrates love with a wholesome vibe and simple mechanics. Its narrative excels at developing the central relationship between the main characters, but the lack of conflict and some boring parts eventually hampers what could have been a great and memorable experience.

Haven is about two runaway lovers. Yu and Kay have successfully managed to escape together in Yu’s small spaceship to a faraway planet called Source, which is divided into small floating islets connected by “flow bridges”. After an earthquake, however, their ship is badly damaged, leading them to search the planet for parts that could help Yu repair it.

The narrative handles [...]