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This is more like an interactive story-driven novel in retro RPG style.
And yet it is a hidden gem here in Steam.

There are currently 3 main installments in the To The Moon series:

• Episode 1: To The Moon
  
• Episode 2: Finding Paradise
  
• Episode X: Impostor Factory

Difficulty  ★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (you can't lose nor is there a real challenge)

Again FreeBird Games has proven that that a good story and soundtrack can create a wonderful atmosphere, even if there is no real gameplay or a lack of big visuals.
Still it cries out for getting a true visual enhanced gampelay like in "Life is Strange - Season 1".

At least there is a good chance that also this episode will also get an anime movie.

Flaws of this game:

• still no 16:9 support
  
• text font while speaking is sometimes too blurred again (compared to the crystal clear background bad)
  
• close up on Collin in the end scene is too pixelled (redraw the scene properly as you done before)
  
• no controller support this time

Good things:

• music is awesome again
  
• very good story idea (act 1 was not that good, but in act 2 and 3 things really got interesting)
  
• heartbreaking and touching story
  
• concept excellent for doing many other storys / episodes

The sequel to this is "Impostor Factory" and was released September 2021.

This is more like an interactive story-driven novel in retro RPG style.
And yet it is a hidden gem here in Steam.

There are currently 3 main installments in the To The Moon series:

• Episode 1: To The Moon
  
• Episode 2: Finding Paradise
  
• Episode X: Impostor Factory

Difficulty  ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (you can't lose nor is there a real challenge)

This interactive story has proven to me how important a good story and soundtrack is for the atmosphere, even if there is no real gameplay or a lack of big visuals. This is why I still give it a deserved thumbs-up.
The retro RPG style is not even a real mistake, it does work out well enough, but it cannot live up to the rest of it. I understand that the studio was able to produce everything out of one hand this way.

Though I really would have appreciated a visual concept like it was done in "Life is Strange - Season 1". Honestly, during all the act 1 I thought this whole thing is more suited for a marvelous anime. And hey, it seems that my prayers were heard, because an anime movie was anounced 2017 - thank you for this, I truelly see forward watching it :)

https://akibento.com/blog/2018/05/21/to-the-moon-anime-movie-begins-production/

For those who can't wait, the game is still making you wanna cry. I warned you ;)

Some flaws I noticed:

• no 16:9 support
  
• text font while speaking is too blurred, background is very clear, doesn't match together
  
• object clipping is sometimes weird
  
• close up on Dr. Rosalene in act 2 is blurry like hell, redraw her like you did for River and Johnny
  
• the death of the original River is skipped (author missed a good scene here)
  
• clumsy controller control in act 3

Good things:

• music is awesome
  
• brilliant story idea
  
• heartbreaking and touching story
  
• concept excellent for doing many other storys (traces of a complete arc is noticable)

The sequel to this is "Finding Paradise". If you liked this one, you have to go for the sequel too.

One of the best metroidvanias out there and acutally under my personal top 3 in this genre for the time being.


Difficulty  ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ (fair but still challenging)

The game is a worthy followup and spiritual successor to the Monster World saga. The team really managed to spread the good old retro feeling but give it a completely new touch itself. If you liked the remastered version of "Wonderboy III - Dragon's Trap", you will absolutely love this one. It is not necessary to know the predecessors.

Some minor flaws:

• though it has a lore, the storytelling ony focuses on connecting game parts. Don't expect too much
  
• the game avoids instadeaths (good), but as soon as you character gets stuck anywhere, you die instantly
  
• the aiming with the tongue of the frog form can be very tricky on the faster-paced parts
  
• the intro is awesome, the outro seems a little rushed
  
• pig form is left out at the boss battle (why, just why?)
  
• not playable as "Monster Girl" (though the sequel might get a heroine)
  
• Lupia's secret at the well has too little hints for solving
  
• bosses are not redoable

Good things:

• for a Metroidvania the difficulty is well balanced because it uses instadeaths very rarely (still expect to die often, but there is no penalty for this)
  
• lots of unique equipements and forms to play with
  
• a ton of diversified puzzles and lovely game details
  
• it is fun to collect all secrets
  
• no ultra-difficult Steam achievements
  
• very intuitive ring menu for the forms and magics
  
• whole map can be revisited

I absolutely would love to see some DLCs (like local coop with Zeke or Pepelogoo, play as "green haired girl", complete soundtrack) or even a whole new sequel to this one.

Still, well done devs, this game was worth my time :)

Forgotton Anne is like a playable Ghibli film with a lovingly created world. The gameplay itself is a mix of simple platforming and not too difficult puzzles. There are no real action scenes, nor direct fighting. But since the game is meant to be mainly story driven I don't miss it all. The possibility to make divers decisions during this game which is affecting the storyline is well done, although they are not affecting the endings too much.

I really enjoyed my journey through this game so much I actually created a guide:

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1930785927

Basically, Flower is a beautiful and calm exploration type game. The playstyle and the idea is unique and is hardly comparable to other games. Like many indie games it tries out something totally new.

Yet hit as too many flaws in my eyes:
* too short
* becomes repetitive
* bugged ultra settings, not only me is getting flickering grass effects
* on Win10 there is a sound/music bug (activate Win7 compatibility to fix it)
* the game is designed for PS3/PS4 motion control, the PC however does not have a native support, yet it works on PC
* to get motion control with my PS4 controller I have to redefine my left analog stick manually to the gyro sensor, which is not a comfortable way
* analog stick controls and camera view is sometimes totally messed up if you get in corners
* the achievement Pure is only difficult to get because controls and clipping sucks (got hit from invisible objects, camera turned in the opposite way of the movement you do, just crazy)

This game can be entertaining for a short period - nothing more. Still I just can't figure out how the magazine Time thinks this is one of the top 100 games of all times.

A rather short game, but I avsolutely like the lore and the basic concept of the game. Graphics are simple and give you a little retro-feeling. It is the prequel of one of my most beloved Metroidvanias out there.

A short but very unique puzzle platformer game. Mostly mechanical puzzles which are not too difficult. The best part was mastering the "beast" of a machine while doing the 99 minute speedrun achievement. If you get the hang of it, it is fun like hell. I enjoyed it a lot.

I am really fond of the good old Wonder Boy series (especially Monsterland and Dragon's Trap). Played them on the Sega Master System and also on emulators. This is a cult classic and a must play for everyone who likes 2D platformers.

What I liked about the remastered version:

* very cute and well made art concept
* the completely new intro
* new movement frames while changing directions or attacking
* absolutely new dialogue lines in the shops (even funny ones that made me smile)
* playable female version with her very own dialoge lines and concept arts on every game aspect
* good sound and music quality
* on the fly modern <-> retro mode switching by keystroke
* retro gameplay itself was not altered in any way
* new diffculty modes (with a fair time limit -> damage over time)
* secret EXTREME difficulty (which was totally not accessible by holding a certain Inventory button somewhere for a certain unknown amount of time) ;)

What I disliked:

* the artstyle makes finding hidden entrances sometimes a little extra difficult (eg lion-man charm stone entrance)
* some few remastered music tunes were too much altered
* controller controls were a bit weird. Had a lot of pinpoint movement issues on the difficult jumping parts. I do not remember having the same issues on the SMS or using emulators

But this game version is by far the best one out there and worth the price. I am absolutely thankful to the developers who made this. Good job :)

Another World (US title: Out of this World) is one of the greatest cinematic 2D platformer. I really loved to play it when I was young. Considering, that this game was only done by one single person (except sound and music), it was a quite an amazing job. Eric Chahi was the living proof in 1991 that even indie studios like Delphins Software can make great games.

Plus points:
* a nice cinematic story line (without narrative parts) and a good action-adventure
* enhanced high res support/filters and new detailed background pictures, which fit in the artstyle of the game very well
* enhanced sound and music filters
* you can switch off the enhanced graphics/sound/music anytime to enjoy the original retro feeling
* 3 difficulty settings, forcing you to completely overthink they way you engage enemies (details below)
* gamepad support and customizable keys, still keyboard felt to be more precisive for playing

Negative points:
* the game seems to run a litte bit faster than the original one, making it more difficutlt when it comes to timing
* the game is rather short, if you figured everything out you can master the game in 30 minutes (speedrunning in 8)
* get accustomed to dying a lot in this game as it is the key concept of the game (learn by doing the hard way)
* unclosed story - especially if you cut out the very bad sequel, which was even exspelled by the original author

I played the new version in hard difficulty. First it felt like I was rusted a lot, especially in fights. Dying to situation I shouldn't. Things that worked out easily back then didn't at all now. After some time I figured out that the shield your gun can drop is wearing off faster than usual and the enemies are more accurate hitting you. This rendered using the mega blast of your gun useless as your shield wears off before you can actually fire it. I had to rethink my tactics and found out that you can win most fights only by spamming shields and wait for small gaps in the enemies defense. So it was doable. I really liked that this small change in the game mechanism was a refreshing thing.

I enjoyed my small "time travel" into the good old days a lot - and I will hopefully find myself playing through this game from time to time again for a zillion times :)

This is the very best playable underwater aquarium simulator I ever saw ;)

Abzû is a simple exploration adventure game in which you swim around, solve easy puzzles, collect stuff, watch fishes and do funny things. It is the right game for casual gamers or veterans like me who want some easy going in between.

Graphic is simple, yet the particle and fish swarm effects are awesome. I played it on "ultra" settings - sooooo many fishes: small ones, huge ones - and tons of them. I think every well known fish is in this game (except the clownfish). They also put in a lot of effort to make them look correct in movements, behaviour and looks. But not only the wildlife, but plants got a lot of little details too.

The swimming physics are also nice, especially if you jump out of the water. They even thought about what happens if you jump against a wall - your character does a rebounce from it to avoid a crash.

The game itself is rather short, but I don't care. For that money it was a nice little timekiller that took me on a great underwater journey, and actually made me play around with all the physics and fishes for a while. Was great fun to do so, and that is why it gets a well deserved thumb up from me :)