Greak: Memories of Azur vs Until Dawn
Greak: Memories of Azur
Greak: Memories of Azur is a gorgeous action-adventure game featuring a young boy in search of his sister in a world engulfed in turmoil, no thanks to the bloodthirsty Uglars. Playing as the boy Greak, you’ll venture across various regions in Azur, exploring every inch of it for hidden stashes, completing quests, and battling enemies along the way.The game starts off like a relatively regular action platformer, where you’ll get to jump, swing your sword around, and solve relatively simple puzzles by switching characters once you manage to reunite him with his sister. This part is actually pretty similar to the gameplay in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, a favorite of mine.
In fact, you’ll get to control both characters at the same time, which is interesting, though it does complicate things a bit during combat especially considering that the sister is a magic user and deals damage from afar while the brother is a sword-wielder and does best dealing damage from a much closer range.
In a way, Greak: Memories of Azur also feels a bit like a Metroidvania in the sense that the game hides secret chests and rare flowers in places that you, if you don’t pay too much attention, might miss. Even if you spotted the items, you will still need to figure out a way to get to them, which usually involves some creative and sometimes very precise jumping. Expect to get frustrated… a lot!
The gorgeous hand-drawn art in Greak is definitely one of the highlights of the game as well. The out-of-focus background in the distance matches well with the stuff at the front too.
In a nutshell, not only is Greak: Memories of Azur a gorgeous action-adventure game with a heartwarming story about a brother trying to reunite with his sister in a world embroiled in war and infested with dangerous creatures, it also comes with a fun gameplay that's perfectly "midcore". So, if you're into story-driven platformers, you'll want to check out this one!
Until Dawn
Until Dawn is a story-rich and an intense horror-thriller game where you play as one of eight friends who are trapped in a remote mountain retreat and apparently, they are not alone. With fear gnawing at the edges of their very sanity, they will need to last the night until dawn (and salvation) arrives. Being story-driven, the game provides you with many dialogue choices to choose from, each of which has its own consequences and outcomes. Sometimes, that very outcome may mean life or death for a character. Not to mention, the game is complete with realistic graphics and an atmospheric (and perfectly creepy) music and sound effects that will keep you glued to the screen as you follow the storyline.Until Dawn is definitely not the sort of game for the weak-hearted. The horror element in the game can be pretty intense at times, but the storytelling from its pacing to the clincher is simply superb although, personally, I'm not a huge fan of scary stories. Until Dawn is available on Playstation consoles.