henke on 5/4/2021 at 12:25
QUITE SOMETHING!
[video=youtube;NZfehZvf6LU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZfehZvf6LU[/video]
(
https://hauntedps1.itch.io/demodisc2021) D E M O D I S C 2 0 2 1
I never had a PS1 so pretty much the only nostalgia I have for these aesthetics is from PS1 games that ended up on PC as well back in those days. Anyway, this is a big ol collection of demos presented through kinda a virtual museum where you can read a bit about each game before diving in. Most of these are relatively short, ~30min or so, and a lot of them really feel like playing some forgotten late-90's gem you never knew existed. I've been digging through them over the last few days and lemme tell you what I think.
Must-plays:Agony of a Dying MMO - this one is front and center when you enter the first floor of demos, so I sauntered right into it. And man... it is a bleak fucking story that plays out from multiple players' perspectives during the last few hours before a long-running MMO gets shut down. Very impressive produciton values, with a huge voice-acting cast. Unlike every other game I played, this one is a full game, not just a demo. Tho it's still quite short. It's really something.
That Which Gave Chase - I've been wanting a dog-sledding adventure game. That recent The Red Lantern game was too gamey, and Arctico is too rough-around the edges. But here, all of a sudden, is something that's a lot more like what I've wanted. This game, just like Agony employs a lot of Blendo Games-style cuts to skip around in its story, and I'm finding myself really drawn into the narrative. It's very short tho, just a brief demo, but I'm looking forward to the full release.
Echostasis - First person exploration/story-heavy thing. Looks gorgeous and does the PSX+bad VHS aesthetic better than any other game I've seen. Wonderful use of color.
Lorn's Lure - First person climbing/platforming/exploration. Not very scary, but plays great.
Good:Janitor Bleeds - You're trapped in a haunted arcade and the only game that works begins interacting with the real world as you play it. Some nice meta stuff and all around a fun horror game.
The Lunar Effect - Looks like it's heavily influenced by early Alone In The Dark games. It's a fun one.
Chasing Static - Some nice storytelling, but the demo is over way too soon!
Kinda interesting:Mummy Sandbox - Probably the weirdest game here, and that's saying something. You play a mummy rebuilding himself and his skillz by digging around in a sandbox for parts.
Risu - Adventure game where you play as a Japanese schoolgirl trapped in a haunted school. Nice ambiance.
Pathogen-X - looks like MGS or Syphon Filter but plays like a mid-00 survival horror game(RE4 or Dead Space). Kinda neat!
The Chameleon - 3rd person stealth, plays like an early 2000's stealth game, so kinda wonky, but still fun.
Fiend's Isle - Action-RPG. A King's Field kinda thing I guess.
But yeah, this whole collection is fun to explore, and a lot of love has clearly gone into crafting the museum itself from which you explore these different titles. Worth a play!
