The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow is a point & click adventure game by Cloak and Dagger Games. It’s set in Britain during the olden times with a story steeped in British folklore, faintly sprinkled by Lovecraft. Now, I don’t want to say everything occult, otherworldly must be Lovecraft, and I wouldn’t say this was inspired by it either, until the end that is. For it’s only a small segment of the game, time-wise, but it’s a huge part of the narrative – so, there we go.
Eternal Darkness is a Lovecraft-inspired survival horror from all the way back in 2002. It was made by Silicon Knights and released for Nintendo Gamecube only. However, thanks to emulators (Dolphin in this case), it’s possible for even me to play it without too much trouble. I did try it out when it was released, though, since I borrowed a friend’s Gamecube to play this game specifically and Resident Evil (the remaster). I don’t remember the reason, but I never got very far – I can only assume my focus was on finishing Resident Evil before I had to return the console. Anyway, here we are, and I have just completed Eternal Darkness, and what can I say? It’s a great addition to the genre, even if a bit linear at times. It did feel good to once again have to use tank controls and experience fixed camera angles. It’s kinda ironic because nowadays developers are hell-bent on cinematic experiences, yet, have totally ignored fixed camera angles, which to me personally feels very movie-like. If embraced, it would make their lives much easier since the game director has full control over what you will see and how.
Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones is a Lovecraft-inspired RPG by the developers Cultic Games. I have completed this game once before when it was released back in 2019, but I got into a Lovecraft mood and remembered I had this game. But after spending about 10 hours in Arkham again, stuff is coming back to me why I didn’t like the game that much. It’s not all bad, though, it’s just a major disappointment for what could have been something good.
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (for Windows 10) is a remaster of the original Gears of War that came out in 2006 for Xbox 360. It was made by Epic Games, and it was a big financial success, popularizing the third-person shooter with cover mechanics. The remaster is made by The Coalition, which has also made the modern 4th, and 5th games in the series. I’m not sure what came over me, but I was in the mood for popping some moles, and what game is better than that than the OG pop-a-mole title! I played it with an Xbox 360 controller to maintain the feel of the 360-days.
The Forgotten City is an RPG/Adventure made by Modern Storyteller. What is somewhat unique about this title is that it started out as a mod for Skyrim, which you can find on Nexus. I have not played the mod, so I went into the game without any prior knowledge of the story, or setting, besides what I had seen on the promo shots, and read what it was about on the store page. I have to say, impressive work, considering it’s not even on the same game engine – just that alone must have been hell porting-wise, but in the end, it was all worth it, because it’s a great game that I think deserves its standalone status.
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