Have you ever been hypnotized before? It seems a little scary at first, but it's also a proven psychiatric method of bringing all those inner demons to light, and working through any hidden issues you may have. Well Maya, the psychiatrist heroine of Hypnosis, swears by this method, and she's prepared to use it every chance that she gets to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her colleague and ex-boyfriend, Dr. Blanche, in this dreamy and hypnotic point-and-click adventure.
I love nice surprises, and indie racer/shmup Pressure is certainly one of those. With enemy vehicles all around you, all guns blazing in your general direction, you'd think that picking bullets out of your teeth would be all that's left of your career in living.
I've played a lot of CCG battle games, so you can trust me when I say that most are the same old, same old - collect virtual cards, upgrade them and then "battle" other players by comparing yours to theirs to see who has the bigger number. It's a genre that has lizard-brain appeal to the obsessive-compulsive collector gene in all of us, but as far as actual gameplay goes it tends to be less than impressive. Tekken Card Tournament takes the opposite approach: The collecting part isn't great, but there's some real gaming to be found inside and it's not too bad at all.
Going out to the movies is supposed to be fun. Of course, kidnapping, locked gates, and disappearing ticket takers aren't usually a part of that experience. Fear for Sale: Nightmare Cinema paints a gorgeous picture with both images and words, setting you loose in a noir-esque world where you investigate strange goings-on at a movie theater that seems to be hungry for human souls.
The "mobile first" mantra has become increasingly popular when it comes to creating games that are going to end up on smartphones and tablets, but MMORPGs made specifically for those devices are still rare. Game Insight's Dragon Eternity can call itself one of the few and the proud, but while it scores high marks on the design front, it's a little too jumbled and confusing to call a complete success.
The best games not only entertain, but teach us something. Actually, since the word "teach" conjures images of stuffy classrooms and boring lectures, perhaps it's better to say, "the best games are the ones that pique our interest in the real world." While hidden object game Vampire Legends: The Story of Kisolova isn't the slickest or most original game ever made, it deserves credit for pointing us toward an intriguing supernatural story rooted in real historical events.
The year is 1891. Anthony Beechworth, alone in his mansion's attic, hangs himself. A final letter that he has mailed to his lifelong friend, J. Devitt, arrives with only the phrase "Videte ne quis sciat" scrawled across the page. Devitt recognizes this code from their time spent together at a school for scientific study, and that Beechworth must be in trouble. He leaves immediately to find his friend and offer his support, putting in motion the first events of The Last Door: Chapter One - The Letter.
It's interesting that Lost Tales: Forgotten Souls contains a form of the word "forget" in its title, as this is one dated hidden object puzzle game that's incredibly easy to forget. While the game's storyline is actually quite interesting, it's presented with enough technical issues and an overall lack of detail that makes this one more disappointing than fun.