When The Past Was Around - Prologue

免费序章 没中文 没成就 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣤⡶⢶⣦⡀ ⠀⠀⠀⣴⡿⠟⠷⠆⣠⠋⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿ ⠀⠀⠀⣿⡄⠀⠀⠀⠈⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣾⡿ ⠀⠀⠀⠹⣿⣦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣾⣿ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠻⣿⣷⣦⣀⣠⣾⡿ ㅤ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠻⢿⡿⠟ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡟⠀⠀⠀⢠⠏⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣀⣤⣤⣤⣀⡀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡟⢦⡀⠇⠀⠀⣀⠞⠀⠀⠘⡀⢀⡠⠚⣉⠤⠂⠀⠀⠀⠈⠙⢦⡀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡇⠀⠉⠒⠊⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⢧⠔⣉⠤⠒⠒⠉⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠹⣆ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢰⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢻⠀⠀⣤⠶⠶⢶⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⢹⡆ ⠀⣀⠤⠒⠒⢺⠒⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠤⠊⠀⢸⠀⡿⠀⡀⠀⣀⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⡇ ⠈⠀⠀⣠⠴⠚⢯⡀⠐⠒⠚⠉⠀⢶⠂⠀⣀⠜⠀⢿⡀⠉⠚⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⣠⠟ ⠀⠠⠊⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠂⣴⠒⠒⣲⢔⠉⠉⣹⣞⣉⣈⠿⢦⣀⣀⣀⣠⡴⠟

I'm sorry, I really wanted to enjoy this (indie) puzzle game, but I just can't. Also, clickbait much ? what is the connection with Rusty Lake Mr. Owl? The music is super loud and you cannot disable or turn it down, so I had to take off my headphones, to still hear when I interact with things, but not hear that annoying music. Also, the game is very very basic, the puzzles are not really puzzles, is more like click on everything and see what happens. Everything happens so sloooow, even scrolling from one side of the image to the left or right. For Rusty Lake, is there some copyright stuff we should talk about ?

以爱为大调、以前进为音符、以放手为和弦，演奏属于你和我两个人的一首的 《when the past was around 往室》 你是我隔世的温柔，枕畔的芳华，在琴音里飘洒一脉馨香，温暖我一生的眷恋。一泓秋水在我眸中流转，思念落满我的眉睫。朗月下，我还是梦一样的女子，长发飘飘，霓裳翩翩，起舞弄影。而千里外，你能否在抚剑长吟，白衣胜雪，笑容清绝。

[h1]5/10[/h1]

"When The Past Was Around - Prologue" is not a game. It's an advertisement for a product called "When The Past Was Around". When The Past Was Around is effectively a browser/Flash game that's somehow on Steam instead of, you know, Chrome or Firefox. And as always, if it can be done by a web browser, it doesn't belong in your library. The product this is advertising is a simple and trite point and click puzzle game about the developers relationship problems or something... look, it's a bad game and not worth anyone's time. But this isn't completely relevant because this is not When The Past Was Around, it's just an advertisment for it, so it's not correct to try to review that completely distinct product. We must instead review this for what it is... an advertisement. If you enjoy advertisements, you can consume them for free on the web or on Youtube without needing to add them to your game library, download them, and then launch the advertising. It's impossible in a general sense to recommend people should do that over playing real, full games on Steam, and that applies here with "When The Past Was Around - Prologue" too. The purpose of this advertisement is to get you to shell out a whopping $8 USD on buying When The Past Was Around, and I don't recommend you do that either. But on top of that the developer is also asking for a [b]ten dollar donation!!![/b]. That's right... he wants you to give him TEN BUCKS because he polluted Steam with an advert/demo and directly avoided following the correct process. For profit. This is not okay... it's apalling disrespect for Steam and for gamers. But it makes one thing clear... this guy cares about nothing but getting your money any way he can. So this is only free in the same way that adverts on Youtube and banner ads in your browser are. This is a game demo that's been dumped on Steam to advertise another Steam store page in the hopes of raking in some cash. Just because advertisements are free, doesn't mean they're worth your time. It's important to understand there's a formal process to create a demo/page for a game which hasn't been followed here: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/application/demos While it might seem like an inocuous mistake, publishing demos and advertisements as if they are full games is misleading and in some ways harmful. This advertisement is taking up marketing space and visibility that would be better made available to a developer that's done the right thing and created a full game. Instead, that visibility is given over to a demo/advert that's been published incorrectly and is polluting the marketplace. It's unclear if this mistake was made through incompetence or a deliberate intent to mislead gamers. Often developers may choose to incorrectly publish demo/advertisements as separate games as a cheap way to bypass paying Valve for marketing presence on the Steam front page, which may seem clever to them, but it's harmful behaviour and it's not good for gamers. Despite having no up-front cost, this failed to appeal to the 120 million+ gamers on Steam. SteamDB showed the game peaked at only 14 concurrent players... this is a dismal public reception. This was so bad they couldn't even give it away. Advertisements and incorrectly published demos don't add +1 to your game collector count, they aren't full games. It's impossible for me to recommend this incorrectly published advertising spam to gamers, you deserve better than adverts.

豪看的画风和豪听的音乐

Voices from the Sea is a short visual novel that I think works best when I treat it as a small relaxing story rather than a game with lots of things to do. I follow Cantus, a young boy who meets Maris, a mysterious girl by the sea, and their meeting slowly turns into something much more personal and supernatural. The story has a simple slice of life feeling at first, but there is a quiet mystery underneath it that gives me a reason to keep reading. It is a very gentle experience and does not try to overwhelm me with complicated choices or gameplay systems. The atmosphere is probably what I like most. The seaside setting gives the whole thing a calm feeling, and the animated backgrounds make the scenes feel a little more alive than a completely static visual novel. I also like the contrast between the cute character designs and the more emotional parts of the story. There is some comedy mixed into the supernatural elements, so it does not stay completely serious from beginning to end. The story is also short enough that I can finish it without feeling like I have committed myself to a huge visual novel. There are a few small things to do outside of simply reading. I can collect seashells as I go and use them to unlock extra material such as wallpapers, theaters and side stories. I like this because it gives me a reason to pay attention while going through the story rather than simply clicking through every scene. It is not a deep gameplay system, but it suits the type of experience this is. The free version also gives me the main story and animated backgrounds without asking me to spend anything, which makes it easy to appreciate as a small indie project. The biggest weakness for me is that the actual gameplay is extremely limited. This is mainly a visual novel, so most of my time is spent reading and moving through the story. There are not complicated puzzles, combat or a large number of meaningful decisions to keep me involved. That is not necessarily a problem because the story is clearly the focus, but it does mean I have to be interested in the characters and atmosphere for the game to work. If I am not invested in the story, there is not much else here to keep me playing. I also think the free version leaves me wanting a little more. The Plus version adds full voice acting, character, image and music galleries, along with extra wallpapers, theaters and side stories. I understand why those extras are separate because the main experience is already available for free, but the additional material would have been nice to have included. The presentation is also fairly simple by modern standards, although I think that actually suits the gentle style better than a heavily polished presentation would. What makes Voices from the Sea work for me is that it knows exactly what it wants to be. It is not trying to turn a small supernatural story into a massive adventure. It gives me a quiet setting, a simple relationship between the main characters, some comedy and a little mystery, then lets the story carry the experience. I especially like how the seaside setting gives the game its own identity, because the atmosphere is much more memorable to me than the basic visual novel mechanics. Overall, Voices from the Sea is a sweet and relaxing visual novel that I think is worth checking out when I want something short and story focused. I like the atmosphere, animated backgrounds, characters and gentle supernatural story, while the limited interaction and short length keep it from reaching the higher ratings I give to games with much more depth. The fact that the main version is free makes the experience even easier to recommend. It is not a game I would play for the gameplay itself, but as a small story with a calm atmosphere and a little mystery, I think it does what it needs to do. Rating: 7.6/10