Adventure Game Hotspot

• PC
• PS4
• XONE
• 55%
• États-Unis

There’s nothing about Edengate: The Edge of Life that’s inherently broken or neglected: the voiced dialogue is serviceable, the music fades into its atmospheric background, and navigating the town of Edengate works well enough despite having so little to do. It’s more a case of a game that desperately needed one of its core elements – be it story, puzzles, or creepy mood – to take charge and step into the foreground, putting a definitive stamp onto the overall experience. Instead, everything is accounted for but nothing makes any waves, so the game ultimately just fizzles out and fades away in a forgettable thud rather than a memorable bang.

• PC
• 70%
• États-Unis

Over the years, the stories about extraterrestrials that have stuck with me are actually about humanity, drawing us into understanding ourselves and our place in the universe. Somerville, unfortunately, doesn’t quite soar to those stellar heights during its four-hour runtime, as the player is never really invited into the world and its characters. But while the story, and especially the baffling third act, may not be something to phone home about, the style and level of artistic craftsmanship make it an immersive experience all the same. Even with a smattering of awkward gameplay and puzzle moments, you may find that the cinematic scenes, harrowing encounters, and exciting late-game build-up ultimately make it worth the visitation.

• PC
• 80%
• États-Unis

If you’re a fan of character-driven works of interactive fiction, and a graphic novel-style presentation doesn’t turn you off, you should seek out As Dusk Falls. Not a particularly long game, taking around seven hours to complete a single playthrough, it lacks much in the way of traditional gameplay, but the writing, acting, and genuine consequences for your actions more than make up for it. The later chapters falter somewhat in their effectiveness, and the ending feels unnecessarily jarring, but there’s plenty of replayability and lots of incentive to try new paths, making the game a strong choice for story lovers.

• PC
• 81%
• États-Unis

Aside from some brief moments of hair-pulling bewilderment, I remained totally delighted from beginning to end. If it had a bit stronger story (and a little more pep in its protagonist) the game could easily have established itself as an all-time classic of the genre, which in some ways is even more frustrating than its most confounding puzzles—it’s so close to greatness. Still, the fact that an adventure as original and imaginative as Voodoo Detective can come out in this day and age, embracing old-school techniques to look as good as it does—and all from a small, unheard-of studio on a presumably modest budget, no less—is really encouraging and bodes well for the future for more games of a similar throwback nature. It may have its share of bumps in the road, but Voodoo Detective is a joyful romp very much worth your time.

• PC
• 85%
• États-Unis

While the story and characters are probably too slight for Lost in Play to remain memorable for years to come, the amount of playfulness and joy on display in this polished romp of an adventure is likely to bring a genuine smile to your face, no matter your age. The challenge is fairly light, but the sheer variety of creative ideas and quirky jokes will keep you entertained all the way to the heartwarming end. And hey, if you’ve got kids in your life, you might find that it’s one of those rare examples of make-believe play that the whole family can get lost in together. Imagine that.

• PC
• 85%
• États-Unis

Return to Monkey Island overflows with an abundance of fun, wit, and game design skill that is sharper than Stan’s wardrobe. More importantly, it exudes a passion for the art of designing and the act of playing adventure games like only the best in the genre do. While definitely not above criticism, I believe it behooves every fan of point-and-click adventures – especially those who dig the comedic side – to set aside their expectations and approach the experience with an open mind and open schedule. About 6-8 hours of open schedule, depending on how much dilly-dallying you do. Like a group of adorable swarthy cutthroats earnestly performing their favorite sea shanty, it wants nothing more than to entertain you. And if you let it, you will be.

• PS4
• 80%
• États-Unis

Though it ended up being much different than I expected, Stray is a beautiful little game. With its tightly controlled puzzle-platforming elements and fairly generic graphic adventure puzzles, it may not live up to the full potential of its feline-focused premise, but it dazzles with its visuals and takes you on a thought-provoking journey through a subterranean wasteland of robots and trash. Despite some late-game character drama that doesn’t hit as hard as it could have, the game stirs up a lot of thoughtful ideas along the way and leaves you with powerful impressions that will stick with you for a long time afterward.

• PC
• 82%
• États-Unis

If nothing else, Supermassive Games is dedicated to its established formula, making small tweaks and improvements from iteration to iteration but not fixing what ain’t broke. This means the decision to pick up The Quarry is ultimately going to be an easy one for any existing fan of the studio. As I fit squarely in that category, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it, and I especially appreciated the quality-of-life changes and enjoyable cast of characters. Though it doesn’t consistently capitalize on its scares the way I wish it had, it’s certainly a good time overall that I encourage all fans of horror-themed interactive fiction to treat themselves to.