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Meet Hanako at Embers

There's a possibility for the game to be really interesting but it's not quite there yet. It's a delivery service coop game where you deliver packages to doorsteps with enemies chasing you. Right now the game doesn't have much in the way of content - limited number of enemy types, limited world/terrain environments, and packages are the same box with a QR code that you scan.

That said there's the opportunity to do some really interesting things if there was more variety in the enemies, environment and the package itself. Think something like Futurama where all sorts of bizarre and wacky scenarios occur (fluid packages, timed missions, high gravity/low gravity environments, hostile fauna, jetpacks, fun and creative ways to ward off or defend themselves from local nuisances).

Another thing that isn't too fun is the core gameplay loop. You run around looking at street signs, scan bar-codes, and throw packages at doorsteps while occasionally shooting enemies. Games like Lethal Company which have a similar game-play loop tend to be more fun because of the horror component and some teamwork involved. Right now the game doesn't quite do that yet, everyone sort of is doing stuff independently, maybe getting help to shoot enemies every now and then.
This could be improved with more content and variety which could produce more interesting emergent gameplay/teamplay mechanics.

The navigation system with the reliance on street signs is abit of a headache (maybe memorising the map is part of the skill curve but I found it more frustrating than a fun gameplay mechanic). I don't think adding a waypoint system would be better since that would encourage a really boring run at the marker type of gameplay. Lethal Company (again I don't want to compare these games too much since they are different) does this better since the "goals" are randomly placed (sorta) and helps feed into the horror side of the game. It encourages you to spend more time exploring and immersing yourself instead of staring at street signs. I'm not sure what system you could implement given that this is a delivery game, but I don't know if chasing down streets signs is that fun.

If the developers keep building on this I think they could have something really fun, but right now the demo was abit of a chore to get through gameplay wise. But the concept has alot of headroom to grow into, and there are many sources of inspiration to spice up the gameplay and teamwork mechanics. On the performance side it feels like a Unreal Engine beta (abit too much motion blur, a little bit stuttery when looking around quickly, some temporal visual effects smear abit), but it runs okay for an early access product.

Can't really recommend the game for anyone to pick up and try (it doesn't really feel finished enough to recommend and expect someone to have fun with), but I think there's a fair amount of potential there.

EDIT: Found another coop game called "R.E.P.O" which has a delivery type style gameplay. They have physics based packages and a variety of environmental hazards and enemy types which makes it more interesting.

Very well thought out story and characters. Positive story which is rare to come to now adays.

My head is very fun puzzle game. Don't let the visuals fool you, the difficulty of these puzzles is anywhere from medium to difficult. Very fun and head scratching solutions with deceptively simple looking designs.

Very creative

An incredible remaster of a classic game. It is an absolute enhancement over the original, and should be considered a must have if you plan on playing through the Half Life 2 franchise. In many ways it is even better than Half Life 2 (and its various episodes) since it has had a decade of FPS advancements to improve its gameplay and graphical fidelity. It is also a very well optimised title and will easily run on any 2010+ hardware, and makes up for any graphical deficiencies with tasteful and cohesive art style.

I'm a bit torn on this DLC. The overall narrative and contribution to the main game's themes is very nice and complementary, but the "puzzle" design and map layout are quite annoying. There's a bit of a game design whiplash as you go from just spending every time loop slowly exploring the new areas, to essentially collecting slideshows, then some spurious puzzle solving, and some "stealth" heist style games.

[Exploration]
The art and level design is nice, and everything is decently close together so it's not the most annoying thing to explore. But unlike the main game where you have the opportunity to use your jetpack or ship to travel quickly, you are stuck with limited use of your jetpack (because of the high gravity), or water rafts which are annoying to steer and slow to get anywhere. If you are okay with 50% of your time being riding a boat, jetpacking, or walking then I guess it's not too bad.

Some parts of the map are concealed until after 12 minutes into the loop, and since it takes a while to circumnavigate the areas you will have to spend alot of loops just walking and around and stumbling onto these landmarks. The ship log helps alot in this regard, and there are navigation cues in the level design to help you out, but it's still quite time consuming.

This wouldn't be too bad except that you are essentially stuck in the same place the entire time. The main game has multiple planets and a much more diverse set of levels so you never get fatigued by any one part of the game. In contrast you are stuck in the same "village" and are slowly exploring it, hoping that you eventually get the right area and uncover another hint.

[Story]
The story is nice and is this time more visually engaging than Nomai scripture on stone walls, instead they take the form of slideshow reels. Story has the same "vibe" as the original game and meshes quite well with its themes.

[Puzzles]
The puzzles themselves this time involve mostly reading the slideshow reels carefully. This wouldn't be too bad except there are so many of them that you quickly lose focus on what's actually relevant to solve a particular puzzle. A lot of this has to do with the story which involves a third party, who ends up making it intentionally hard to understand what is going on. Coupled with the somewhat out of order discovery of the clues (unless you really go step by step thoroughly between each section), and you can end up misdirecting yourself easily.

If you ever find yourself tangled up in the hints, just absolutely remember that they are meant to be discovered in a particular order based on how far away it is from the entrance and paths. Then they begin to settle nicely into a step-by-step hint train. Biggest problem for me was when I was mixing up early hints with late hints and confounding myself into obscure theories. Sorting it into chronological order from a game design standpoint makes it more obvious what the developers had in mind.

For the final puzzle of the game, the only relevant hints are in the previous stage. If you only focus on the hints provided at this previous stage then you will not become confused. Don't go for some uber complicated environmental puzzle theory that requires several steps and locations and early hints to solve. Just focus on the immediately prior hints and focus on those. (Don't go around the map trying conjure up a super mega puzzle together, it doesn't exist).

This isn't like the main game where you need to go to fly across the solar system to figure out a puzzle. Most of the puzzle pieces are close together chronologically (if you try to keep things in the intended order), and in position. There are only a few puzzles which require you to traverse to more than one part of the map.

[Stealth]
Some people find this scary but the model design of the "aliens" is basically a big owl. Each of the stealth/horror sequences only has at most 2 or 3 places where you have to evade detection. In this regard it is less like Amnesia (the horror game), and more like hide and seek. Like playing peekaboo with a cat or dog.

The only scary element to the stealth part of the game is the darkness. Here you will probably be extremely disorientated since these areas turn pitch black. Here you might accidentally fall into a pond or fall off a ledge to a sudden and unexpected death. The aliens don't really chase you if you have your light turned on, they just slowly stroll towards you until a certain radius where they will sprint (they have to be pretty close for this to happen). This means you can be pretty generous with when you use your light so you can get bearings and still avoid being caught.

[Summary]
It's a different game from a game design standpoint. If you have any habits or patterns you developed in the main game, you should probably try to forget them and create new ones from scratch. This way you keep things chronological in your head and avoid being confused. The story and themes are similar to the main game and complement nicely. There is excellent attention to detail in the art and design of the game. The puzzles are about as engaging as the main game. I would recommend this if you liked the first game and are okay with a slight change in game design.

Not really a puzzle game, and more of a detective exploration sandbox where you put pieces of a narrative together. There are a few puzzles but they are quite simple. It's a great game with a wonderful art style, atmosphere and themes. Don't spoil yourself and go into this game blind, the game will help you with all of the hints necessary to complete it.

Enjoy roasting marshmallows in a campfire.

Get this over KSP 2. With mods this game eclipses the sequel in almost every possible aspect.

[Graphical Mods]
- Deferred rendering (blackrack)
- True volumetric clouds (blackrack): Patreon $5 one time to download - Updates require resubscription
- Scatterer (blackrack)
- EVE Redux - Environmental Visual Enhancements (blackrack)
- Parallax 2.0 (GamesLinx)
- TUFX - Textures Unlimited Special Effects (Shadowmage)
- Waterfall (Nertea)
- Restock (Nertea)
> And so many other more

[Gameplay]
- Inferno Robotics (Rufold Meier)
- Tweakscale Rescaled (JonnyOThan)
- B9 Procedural Wings (Linuxgurugamer)
- kOS - Kerbal Operating System (Dunbaratu)
- Kerbal Konstructs (Ger_space)
- Restock (Nertea) - Adds parts to flesh out the existing stock parts
- Modular Kolonization System - MKS (RoverDude)
> And so many other more

[Patches/Quality of Life]
- Community Fixes
> And so many other more

Very well made DLC. The puzzles are of medium-hard difficulty compared to the easy-medium difficulty in the base game. This is a must have if you wanted more difficult puzzles. Around ~12 hours of puzzles for 100% content, alot less if you want to do the bare minimum (which the game permits for all 3 sections). I would highly recommend doing the bonus/additional "optional" puzzles since they make the DLC well worth it afterwards.

The DLC comes in three sections:
1. Orpheus Ascending (~1-2 hours)
Has around 16 normal puzzles, 3 bonus puzzles and the single large floating sphere puzzle. Story is pretty interesting and it's themes build upon what you have in the main game.
The 16 normal puzzles are easy-medium difficulty, and the 3 bonus puzzles involving moving parts are medium-hard difficulty (slight difficult bump IMHO). The single large floating puzzle is not hard after you "get" the trick, although it is disorientating for the first few seconds.

2. Isle of the Blessed (~5 hours)
Consists of 3 colour regions (red, green, blue). Each region has 8 regular puzzles, 1 "lost" puzzle, 1 golden puzzle for 30 normal puzzles. Then there is the giant cube puzzle (which is a somewhat sparse and loosely sequential set of puzzles and isn't that interesting IMHO). There are also 6 golden stars (although just as easy to get as the main game). Not much of a story except for the "continuation" of Miranda/Yaqut's relationship, although there isn't that much plot.
Most puzzles are of medium difficulty, with the golden puzzles being medium-hard.

3. Into the Abyss (~5 hours)
Consists of 8 puzzles to get the minimum ending, and 25 puzzles to get the full ending (total of 25 puzzles, you only need to do 8). Adds interesting context/background/internal monologue into Athena's internal commentary in the main game. Nicely complements the main game and its story line.
Most puzzles are of medium-hard difficulty, with a few hard ones. I wouldn't consider any of them to be "nightmarish" hard, but that's fine since they are meant to be solvable within 20 minutes - the game developers help you along the way with sensible cues. Most of them are structurally simple (not that many parts), but are conceptually more complex than the rest of the puzzles in the DLC and main game.

Graphics of the DLC are just as good as the main game, and the optimisation is on point. Voice acting and story/writing are also very good and make this DLC worth it from a content point of view.