Pagan: Autogeny
Genre: Atmospheric FPS/adventure
Bundle: Racial Justice
Sabe's rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Post-apocalyptic" games usually have a certain vibe that runs counter to the name. Either the apocalypse is sort of an ongoing status quo, and the action might best be described as "siege mentality porn", or it's about picking up pieces of a past age and building some new civilization--"anti-apocalyptic" maybe?
Pagan: Autogeny, though, this thing is post-apocalyptic for real, and then it gets apocalyptic for real. The world you step into is no longer functional. It's lonely, broken, and uncaring. And with details withheld against spoilers, let's say that your actions don't exactly improve matters. The visual and sound design nail the developing mood at every step: the patter of rain has never felt more forlorn.
Gameplay alternates between Mystian, trying to puzzle out the functions of various impenetrable relics, and Hexenish, circle-strafing while blasting away at weird flaming-skull-hurling monstrosities. It's not easy, there's not much help to be found, but the puzzle of the setting can be unraveled, and I found it highly gratifying to do so!
Small word of warning: there's a bug that will in some playthroughs cause the Scarab Lord not to drop a crucial item. If you defeat that boss and it doesn't seem to do anything, this comment has your fix.
Genre: Atmospheric FPS/adventure
Bundle: Racial Justice
Sabe's rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Post-apocalyptic" games usually have a certain vibe that runs counter to the name. Either the apocalypse is sort of an ongoing status quo, and the action might best be described as "siege mentality porn", or it's about picking up pieces of a past age and building some new civilization--"anti-apocalyptic" maybe?
Pagan: Autogeny, though, this thing is post-apocalyptic for real, and then it gets apocalyptic for real. The world you step into is no longer functional. It's lonely, broken, and uncaring. And with details withheld against spoilers, let's say that your actions don't exactly improve matters. The visual and sound design nail the developing mood at every step: the patter of rain has never felt more forlorn.
Gameplay alternates between Mystian, trying to puzzle out the functions of various impenetrable relics, and Hexenish, circle-strafing while blasting away at weird flaming-skull-hurling monstrosities. It's not easy, there's not much help to be found, but the puzzle of the setting can be unraveled, and I found it highly gratifying to do so!
Small word of warning: there's a bug that will in some playthroughs cause the Scarab Lord not to drop a crucial item. If you defeat that boss and it doesn't seem to do anything, this comment has your fix.