It would be a fallacy to pretend fantasy RPGs are in short supply. Now that RPGs have clawed their way back to the top of the pecking order, the genre is at risk of stagnating due to overuse. As such, it's understandable to be concerned that Avowed won’t offer anything innovative or fresh. I won’t claim Obsidian has reinvented the wheel, for it’s stuck to what it knows well and does best. Still, it’s easy to tell a finely crafted RPG apart from a mediocre one. Avowed solidifies Obsidian's mastery of bringing intoxicating worlds to life and tangibly close. All you need to do is reach out and touch it to be transported to The Living Lands.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has fortune and glory in spades. In the words of Indy, “If you wanna be a good archaeologist, you gotta get out of the library!” This homage, lovingly crafted by MachineGames, takes you on the adventure of a lifetime, not as a casual viewer but as the intrepid explorer himself.
Legend of Keepers is a delight to play. It has such character, both in its looks and humour, that it feels unique when compared to other games out there. For those who want to work hard to create undefeatable monsters and dungeons, there's plenty of scope to carve out your success. It's definitely a title to try out for yourself, even if you're not usually one for this type of turn-based indie RPG.
Overall, I really like where my successive adventures into Curious Expedition 2 took me. There's a few minor bugs to iron out, but I found that the game was mostly a smooth ride from beginning to end (by which I mean when an expedition failed and I quit the game). There's enough depth here that you feel invested in the fate of your character, and even once I finished playing, I kept thinking back to my latest run and what I could do differently.
Tohu is a mixed bag. It delivers such beauty and curious treasures, but it loses some of its shine thanks to tediously hard puzzles and a hint system that proves to be a greater hindrance than the actual puzzles. For those who love a challenge, Tohu will tick all the right boxes for you. However, I found it to be lacking in depth for a game that showed such promise; the trailer, imagery, and story all hold the potential to deliver more and it just falls short, or at least it did for me.