Overview of (blog) life in January 2023

January 2023 was the start of a new year and despite all the stressful real life, there were still quite a few games and other media to cover.

Even if December was already over, I could squeeze in a fun Happy Christmas 2022 article.

Overviews arrived on time as usual:

New additions to the media collection in December 2022
Overview of (blog) life in December 2022

Game releases revolved around indies, as expected:

Children of Silentown
Criminal Expert
Garden In!
Mahokenshi
Power of Ten
A Space for the Unbound

GOG releases were so numerous this time, covering classics as well as indie titles:

GOG releases 2 games from Graffiti Games
GOG releases “Hero of the Kingdom” games
GOG releases 2 retro games from Piko Interactive
GOG releases 4 more games from Freedom Games
GOG releases more Atari and Ziggurat Interactive games during its Winter Classics Sale
BATS: Bloodsucker Anti-Terror Squad
Chromosome Evil
Edge of Galaxy
Insomnis
Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl
Kingdom’s Life
Mainframe Defenders
REKKR: Sunken Land
Save Room – Organization Puzzle
WarForwards

GOG also had the return of some free stuff:

GOG celebrates the new trailer for “The Witcher 3: Complete Edition” with a free goodies collection

Speaking of free, the selection of free games was pretty great:

Amazon Prime Gaming free games in December 2022 (second round)
Amazon Prime Gaming free games in January 2023
Epic Games Store free games: “Dishonored – Definitive Edition” and “Eximius: Seize the Frontline”
Epic Games Store free game: “Divine Knockout”
Epic Games Store free game: “Epistory – Typing Chronicles”
Epic Games Store free games: “First Class Trouble” and “Gamedec – Definitive Edition”
Epic Games Store free games: “Kerbal Space Program” and “Shadow Tactics – Aiko’s Choice”
GOG free game: “Haven Park”

Blogging last month was quite an act, with baby Sebastian taking much of my attention and time (which he still does), so there weren’t any reviews. Even if I’m working on quite a few, we’ll see when they’ll materialize and if the daily blogging routine is sustainable.

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Epic Games Store free games: “Adios” and “Hell is Others”

Epic Games Store‘s new free games are Mischief‘s cinematic first-person game Adios and Strelka Games/Yonder/A List Games‘s disturbing multiplayer pixel shooter Hell is Others.

Adios is one of those games that many people might consider more like a playable movie, as one experiences the life of a pig farmer whose old friend, a hitman, brings another body one should dispose of. It’s both a story of crime and life-altering decisions that wouldn’t feel out of place in cinema.

Gameplay revolves around exploring the farm in the American Midwest and doing daily chores, but also to contemplate life itself, especially since the decision to stop in the crime business can mean the end of it.

Official website

Hell is Others is quite a weird title in which everyday man Adam Smithson finds himself in a world gone crazy, as everything in Century City needs blood to survive. So he has to bring it back home in any brutal way possible.

As a multiplayer online extraction game, one tries to stay alive like the rest of the players, because the monsters are actually people like Adam himself. Building a safe place in Adam’s apartment, giving plants more blood (something completely different than yesterday’s game release of “Garden In!”) for having better ammunition are only a few of the strange things one does in this title.

Official website

Both games can now be added to the Epic Games Store account for free until tomorrow, February 2, 2023, at 5:00 PM.

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Game release: “Garden In!” (PC)

Dramatic Iceberg and Bonus Stage Publishing‘s casual sandbox game Garden In! is a peaceful and cozy alternative to hectic everyday life.

Sometimes life can be overwhelmingly difficult and stressful, so it’s great to fall back on titles like this which is simply about growing plants and nurturing them.

While I’m not particularly fond of gardening and don’t have any plants at home for their own sakes, there’s still something about caring for simple things like that to calm down. Here one can’t only grow different kinds of plants with the right seeds and conditions, but also combines them to create new ones. In addition, decorating one’s house is always a nice touch if it looks this cozy.

The game is out now on PC with a 10% launch discount that lasts until tomorrow, February 1, 2023, at 1 PM UTC.

Buy the game for PC on
GOG
Steam

Official website

If you liked reading this article, make sure to LIKE it or comment on it on EMR’s Facebook page :). Or FOLLOW the blog on EMR’s Twitter page.
Using the GOG link and buying the product also helps ;).

GOG releases 2 games from Graffiti Games

Graffiti Games offers GOG customers the chance to experience 2 more of their pixel art output.

RESTLESS SOUL from Fuz Games was released in September 2022 and is an adventure RPG hybrid, with a few arcade segments thrown in, about a soul that tries to get back to the land of the living by finding eight keys to open the portal to life. This is what evil Dr. Krull wants, too, with the Grim Reaper trying to constantly stop the endeavor of the player as well.

The game doesn’t take itself seriously, being a comedy that pokes fun at almost everything gaming and life related. Constant breaking the fourth wall moments and other humorous dialogues aside, there are lots of mini-games, puzzles to solve and enemies to defeat in bullet-hell lite battles.

Official website

Lila’s Sky Ark from Fuz Games was released in April 2022 and is a pixel art action-adventure game with a psychedelic touch, as heroine Lila has to prevent the Conductor’s minions from destroying music and magic in her world.

Of course it’s not only the great soundtrack (that can be bought separately) that makes this such a memorable experience, but the bizarre world itself that is a music dream (or nightmare) come true. Touching subjects like loss, loneliness, grief, and depression, the game doesn’t shy away from mature themes, but there’s still plenty to like in its gameplay, including music-inspired enemies and weapons that can be unlocked via alchemy recipes.

Official website

Both games and the soundtrack are now available DRM-free on GOG with 25% launch discounts that last until February 2, 2023, at 2 PM UTC.

If you liked reading this article, make sure to LIKE it or comment on it on EMR’s Facebook page :). Or FOLLOW the blog on EMR’s Twitter page.
Using the GOG links and buying the products also helps ;).

GOG releases 2 retro games from Piko Interactive

Two more retro titles have made it in DRM-free form to GOG with courtesy of Piko Interactive.

Dark Rift, originally developed by Kronos Digital Entertainment and published by Vic Tokai in 1997, is a one-on-one fighter in which various characters duke it out to gain all pieces of the Master Key which allows the bearer infinite powers of the cosmos.

Of course this is just an excuse to beat each other senseless, with all kinds of warriors hitting hard to gain the upper hand. What is rather strange about the title is that it was first done for the N64 (for which I found the trailer below), but the PC version has remained rather elusive (or technically problematic to emulate). So hopefully this new one makes players experience it in the modern age without any technical issues.

The Humans: Meet the Ancestors!, originally developed by Blue Monkey Studios and published by Koch Media in 2009, continued the puzzle platformer series on the DS and PC, tasking the player to help cave dwellers rescue their tribesfolk and themselves.

I still remember playing the original titles from the 90ies, which were clearly inspired by the legendary Lemmings games, as one had to use the unique abilities of them to progress. While the new version lacks some of the old-school pixel art charme, the cartoon character still shines through.

Both games are now available DRM-free on GOG with 15% launch discounts that last until February 1, 2023, at 2 PM UTC.

If you liked reading this article, make sure to LIKE it or comment on it on EMR’s Facebook page :). Or FOLLOW the blog on EMR’s Twitter page.
Using the GOG links and buying the products also helps ;).