DRAGON'S LAIR

Before Dragon's Lair a truly cinematic gaming experience could have only taken place in the imagination if the player while they were mentally traversing magical kingdoms inside the confines of textual adventures.The game appeared almost a decade before interactive movies would become a thing  (and would fall from grace soon afterwards) and heralded the genre in the best way possible . I'm not really sure what kind of processing power a laser disc could have provided an arcade cabinet with , but my personal impression at the time was one of sheer awe. In the years when cheap animation reigned supreme on TV (MOTU,Tarzan etc). the emergence of a game that was visually even more appealing than the series was a huge thing. At that time the animated series wasn't being broadcast anywhere in Yugoslavia, so imagine my surprise when I first laid eyes on the game. Who could resist playing out a cartoon, being at the same time entertained and annoyed with a myriad of excellent ways to die. Nowadays people say the game is nothing more than a series of movie sequences you become an able director of after spending a fortune on your trial-and-error learning curve. Memorising steps to  victory wasn't something that was unknown to 80s gaming anyway (one can easily evoke  memories of titles that taunt the player in a number of largely similar  ways). so a credit should be given where it's due , and this game surely deserves the credit and pomp it got.  Whining about coins lost in the local arcade isn't the way to go about writing a  game review.

FAÇADE

This game recreates the feel of a dinner invitation you unwillingly accept only to find yourself amidst serious marital quarrels and ugliness that a stale relationship gives birth to at times. Nobody wants you to be a marriage councellor, but you  have to simply turn into one for the sake of your own mental well-being. Fake it through  uncomfortable theatrics and jabs at topics like parents, money, careers, personal traits etc  and steer the couple towards a reconcilliation of some kind. Or pick a road more frequently travelled nowadays and  ruin the dinner even further with insults and bad words, budding in  and neglecting your guests' feelings, all leading to Trip and Grace seeing you out and continuing their quarrel behind closed doors. Either way, you clearly see the effect of your comportment.
 This game is a beacon of light for all the wannabe interactive dramas that put too much emphasis on  graphics and too little emphasis on the story and the way it unfolds. And yes, the visual side reminds me of "Waking Life" and "Scanner Darkly"

BOTANICULA

Czech animation schools would always come up with the most mysterious ,wonderful ,intriguing and heavy animated  features of all the European studios. Europe's animation world is simply blessed by having amazing animators from this country. So to have such an extraordinary visual experience in a form of a game  coming from this country comes as no surprise. The visual aspect of the game is so otherworldly, refined, honest and delicate that you see life in all its glory unravel in front of you. A world worth living for and dying for, a world that  awakens your inner-child and makes you grateful for having somebody else out there realizing how precious life is.

The visual component and the exquisite audio accompaniment do overshadow everything else in this game, even though the playability is high. I heard a number of  people speaking about its low replay value, but I do think they're not being fair. After all, what other click-and-point adventure has ever had high replay value? It's about immersing yourself into this wonderful world, leading 5 botanical creatures trying to keep the last uninfected seed of their tree from parasites taking over their home, solving puzzles that  might border on  hard or illogical (just like life itself), collecting items and chosing what step to take at every point. Being directly involved in a changing world we are usually either unaware or oblivious of  makes us wonder what kind of  contribution we're making living inside those as oblivious giants. It's the same horrible feeling that  made me cringe at seeing other kids trying to destroy an ant colony or stretching rainworms.

We need titles like this , titles that spark  the immagination and deliver truths.