Spirits of Xanadu

An atmospheric exploration game that really stayed with me. The puzzles can be quite obscure and don’t follow typical game logic, which can be frustrating, but also fits the overall design. It’s closer to a walking sim than an action game—the combat is there, but it’s not the focus. What makes it work is the atmosphere. The ship feels small but believable, and the story told through logs and notes is engaging, even if it never gives clear answers. It’s a minimalist experience, both in mechanics and scope, but for its short length the atmosphere carries it all the way through. Not for everyone, but definitely worth it if you enjoy slow, mysterious exploration.

Eerie cosmic horror that meshes well with the retro/minimalist aesthetic.

If Dead Space is System Shock 2 meets RE4 then this is SS2 meets Echo Night. Too bad the graphics suck.

4.4 It's an okay game, it has a fair amount of neat little interactables and it certainly doesn't overstay it's welcome. The 'best' ending is a little obtuse to get along with some of the achievements being secrets and also things nobody would likely do. The narratively (along with the game as a whole) is very small and rather limited. It's fine if you want to spend maybe an hour on a short little sci-fi im-sim super-lite.

yep

To be completely honest, I bought this because bundled with Filcher, it was cheaper than buying Filcher alone. I'm glad I did, though, this was surprisingly engrossing. The System Shock / Deus Ex / immersive sim influence is obvious, but it's stripped down and compact, but still manages to pack a good punch, partly because it does a good job removing what's extraneous for its length. There's no ammo, or inventory - it's mechanically barebones, but with well fleshed out exploration and a good narrative to unpack. Scratches that itch without devoting 40+ hours. Worth trying out for sure, even at $5. The characterization of the 3 crew members was a major highlight. I'd say it's worth trying to find as many of the hidden details as you can - I got all the achievements and while that's not strictly necessary (some were for managing gameplay feats), a completionist approach is rewarded.