Who are You!?
Haunting Humans Studio MS Windows
Games that feature UFOs and aliens as a theme aren’t new, but this one paints a picture that tries to be more grounded in reality than most.
You are Ray Roswell (pun very much intended, I am sure), whose wife disappeared mysteriously years ago, leading to him drifting apart from his daughter and taking to the bottle.
The game addresses some tough issues, including depression and suicidal thoughts, while posing the player a mystery to solve – what exactly happened to his wife?
Told as a first-person story the focus is on exploring and finding items that give you an insight into Ray’s relationship with his daughter as well as their interest in UFOs.
There are video and audio tapes that you’ll need to collect and play, with the former involving what looks like real footage of UFO witnesses as well as reports into sightings.
Although the game seems to be set in America, there’s a lot of references to Argentina, which is unsurprising since that’s where the developers are based.
There’s no combat, with the game preferring to create a spooky atmosphere with the occasional jump-scare.
A word of warning if you decide to check it out – the game doesn’t save your progress automatically, as I discovered after playing for about an hour and leaving, only to resume and find myself back where I started and having to go through the same video and audio tapes that I’d already seen and heard.
You are set goals to achieve in order to move the story along, such as finding several audio tapes or even just exploring a particular area, and after you solve all the tasks in the starting place – your home – you’re transported to the woods where you’ve got to find and search a remote cabin.
This was where your wife disappeared and since you arrive in the dark, expect some eerie moments, especially as you’ve not much clue which direction to go in.
Solve the tasks in this area… and the game ends.
Yes, this is the first chapter of three that are being promised, with the next one due in a couple of months.
Whether or not the release depends on the success of this part, I don’t know. I hope not, since I’d like to see where this goes.
If you’re intrigued to find out more before the next chapter, there’s a free game from the developer’s website called The Amanda Roswell Project, which recounts the events leading up to her disappearance.
Sands of Aura
Indie.Io PS5 (Also for Xbox Series X/S, MS Windows, Switch)
THE hero of this latest fantasy action/adventure is a young knight-to-be who sets out to save his – or her – town from the corruption that is affecting the world.
It might be a rather generic background story that has become common in fantasy games but this one tries to shake things up a bit.
You can modify your character’s appearance at the start, which is a nice touch, but in the game you end up viewing yourself from such a distance so it doesn’t make a great deal of difference what you look like.
The action is presented in third-person isometric view with one stick being used to rotate and tilt the camera. You’re able to zoom in the view a little, but doing so makes it harder to see what’s around you which makes it trickier to fight groups of enemies.
Soon after entering the start area you’re given your first task, which serves as a tutorial for the basic skills. These involve the use of weapons and spells which are found in books hidden around the locations.
As well as these there are chests that contain useful items such as runes, which can be used to augment your armour.
Then there are talismans that are scattered throughout the locations, each of which boost a particular skill, damage caused, or defence.
The opening half hour or so also gives you your first boss fight, and shows that this game as a strong echo of the Dark Souls series in the challenge of its combat.
After you leave the world starts to open up a bit and you’ll find a lot of people to talk to and tasks to pick up, and after some time in this region you’ll get access to a Grainwake, the game’s ships which sail on the world’s sands, rather than the sea, and that will take you around the various islands.
The Souls-like DNA extends to having save points which see some monsters respawn but instead of bonfires, it’s large bells that are the feature that restore you when rung, with smaller ones carried with you and able to give you health when needed.
Exploring and fighting earns you Glint, the game’s currency, which you drop when you die and will lose if you don’t recover it.
Combat is based on using both weapons and magic, although while you have a secondary, heavy, attack, it is much slower.You’ve got special attacks, too, but these take a while to regenerate once used so you’ll need to use them sparingly.
Magic can also imbue your weapon. This feature gives you limited access to extra combat power. Different effects can be added by finding spell books which you can then use for attacks, dodging or blocks.
There’s some good voice acting from all of the cast and I really liked the orchestral score, too.
