Following Freeware: June 2017 releases
Steve’s Selections
June Bride Nightmare
It was supposed to be the happiest day of Yuno’s life. With all their family and friends in attendance, she was to be wed to her beloved Reiji. But before they could complete their vows, a maniac with his head swathed in bandages and carrying a sword burst into the cathedral. With a wild fervour, he set about slaughtering all those present. Bravely sacrificing himself, Reiji distracted the lunatic long enough for Yuno to flee into the back corridors. Unarmed and alone, she must now explore this strange building for a way to escape. All the while, her tormentor stalks her, seeking to finish the work he has started.
June Bride Nightmare from MemoriesofFear is a disturbing horror story that is not for the faint-hearted or young. Presented in a bird’s-eye retro role-playing game style, the main area of the cathedral has large stained-glass windows and decorative tiled floors. Some of the back areas carry on this grandiose style whilst others, such as the crypt, are less friendly places. The protagonist wears her wedding dress throughout, making her all too easy to spot given her predicament. Characters are simply but effectively animated in their movements. The whole building has atmospheric lighting, with many rooms heavily cloaked in shadow, which can be partially lit by a candle found early in the game. Yuno often makes text-only observations to herself, with a full-length portrait appearing when she does. A slightly disjointed piano and organ piece befitting the setting backs up most of the action. This is replaced by more dramatic horror music at appropriate junctures. There are also a number of sound effects, most notable being the slash of the sword.
Thorough exploration is the key to success, and control is handled through the cursor keys, with space used to interact. There are also a handful of others keys whose uses are explained the first time they are needed. To aid players, objects that can be interacted with are faintly highlighted for identification. Acquiring a light source should be an early priority, as many rooms are too dark to search otherwise. This also defends you against another threat, some strange blue butterflies infesting certain rooms in the building. An on-screen graphic represents Yuno’s sanity and memories. The former diminishes when she comes into contact with a butterfly or the maniac, with complete depletion ending the game. The latter fills in as Yuno explores, with the ending partly dependent on how many memories have been collected. There is a small amount of inventory to collect, and a list of objects obtained will be offered for use when you interact with a suitable location. There is also a stealth mini-game that occurs when the maniac catches up to you (at set points in the narrative rather than randomly). During these sequences you must attempt to sneak past your tormentor. Due to these segments, and a couple of other potential deaths if you do not take proper care, regular saving at the reusable typewriters throughout the game is advised.
June Bride Nightmare can be downloaded from the RPG Maker website.
46 Memory Lane
Three years you’ve been away on business. Three years separated from your beloved Angela. You’ve carried her photo with you for that entire time to remind you of her, but soon you will be with her again for real. Your misgivings start, however, when you find the neighbourhood is more squalid than you remember and your old apartment building seems radically altered. With Angela missing from the apartment you once shared, you set out in search of her. Three years is a long time to be away, but can things really have changed so much in your absence?
46 Memory Lane, by shamz, presents a disturbing psychological tale. Whilst not directly displaying any extreme content, the themes explored here are definitely adult in nature. The pixel art graphics are fairly simple, but with enough detail to identify people and objects. The setting is a run-down street, with graffiti on the walls and a broken window in the only shop. From here you will visit your own apartment, which is not the friendly home it once was, and a seedy bar. The animation is limited by the presentation but conveys the actions depicted, such as an old man drinking from a bottle, reasonably well. There is no music as such, the game being backed by a single low unsettling tone instead. Sound effects include the beeping of a security keypad and the hiss of static on a TV without a signal.
Control is through the mouse, with right-click examining and left-click attempting to interact. Inventory items appear in a drop-down menu at the top of the screen, and can be examined or selected for use in the same way. This is vital for some of the puzzles, as the items themselves can contain vital information. The puzzles are mostly simple in nature, requiring you to explore fairly small areas and use recently acquired objects in a relatively straightforward fashion. The game is very dark in tone right through to the ending, and has a slightly surrealistic feel, with some events suggesting that reality is not quite as solid as it appears. Whilst a single session of an hour or so should be sufficient to complete the game, there is a save system available if you can solve the puzzle to locate it.
46 Memory Lane can be downloaded from the AGS website.
Kosmonavtes: Escape Reality
For a while now, Vala has been unsure what to do with her life. Then a newspaper advertisement offers the exciting opportunity she has been looking for: a space mission is being put together which may prove vital to the survival of the Earth. However, many others see this as a golden opportunity as well, so even getting a copy of the paper to submit an application is a challenge. They also won’t accept just anyone for such a crucial role, with candidates facing a series of tests. Will Vala be able to get past these obstacles to achieve her dream?
As the debut episode in an intended series, LKMAD’s mobile exclusive Kosmonavtes: Escape Reality presents a game packed with puzzles, presented in a first-person slideshow format. The graphics are done in a high quality hand-painted style with a realistic look. Locations include the newspaper stand in a local park, Vala’s house and the project’s underground bunker. These scenes include limited animations like leaves blowing through the trees. Some items, such as a combination lock, appear in pop-up windows when you interact with them. During the text-only conversations, you will see half-body representations of the characters talking. A gentle piano and woodwind piece accompanies your quest. This is supplemented by sound effects triggered by your actions, such as the click of a key turning and the barking of a dog.
Control is performed entirely through screen tapping, with no other gestures required. Items you’ve collected appear at the bottom of the screen; tapping one highlights it, with subsequent taps resulting in attempts to use the object unless you tap it again. The game is split into eight chapters in total, with each chapter having a major goal such as getting a copy of the paper. To achieve these objectives, a wide variety of smaller challenges stand in your way. You will need to learn a post office sorting system, rescue a cat from a tree and penetrate an underground bunker, among other tasks. A number of puzzles are standalone challenges, leaving players to work out the rules on their own. Fortunately these are fairly intuitive, but if stuck you can purchase help using hint coins. These are given as rewards for completing each chapter, but are also available as optional in-app purchases. This game ends with Vala achieving her dream of joining the program, with the story promising to develop further in future instalments.
Kosmonavtes: Escape Reality can be downloaded from the App Store.
Latest Gaming Articles
All Articles
