Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace vs Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace
Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace is a story-driven, party-based adventure RPG complete with unique gridless turn-based combat, and a creepy Lovecraftian theme. In this game, you get to control a ragtag team of investigators with varying experiences and talents. The goal here is to track down the mysterious cultists who are involved in the murder of Professor Tillinghast during what seems to be a sacrificial ritual. Will you be able to find out what’s really going on and who’s to blame for the murder?As someone who has not played the board game version of Arkham Horror before, this turn-based adventure RPG is a pretty great introduction. I absolutely love the horror-themed storytelling here and the voice acting is simply brilliant. Since I’m an avid fan of turn-based RPGs, the gridless gameplay here is unique enough to help it stand out. That said, the game is unfortunately marred by several glitches, especially the annoying camera glitch which can only be fixed by reloading a previous checkpoint.
So, to sum up, Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace may not be triple-A level, but it’s a solidly fun game in spite of its bugs and is still worth the purchase.
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is a story-driven, “choose your own adventure”-like, adventure-RPG where you get to attend the renowned School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Featuring a whole new storyline but with many familiar characters, you'll get to learn how to cast spells and brew potions, make new friends (and rivals) along the way, and get drawn to the many mysteries that the ancient school hides within its depths. The game even backs up your own adventures with an intriguing story about your missing brother who apparently was expelled as he had broken school rules when he was searching for the fabled Cursed Vaults.The gameplay is pretty casual and straightforward for the most part - as long as you have enough energy points, you can complete actions, tasks, and subsequently quests. However, it's unfortunate that the game doesn't use a more reflex-based gameplay during intense scenes that obviously call for more rapid actions. This is the only thing that truly breaks the immersion of the game.
Nevertheless, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is still a very well-made game and it is worth playing for the visuals, the experience of being an "actual" Hogwarts student, and the mystery-infused storyline. The game is free to play and is available on both Android and iOS.