J.U.L.I.A.: Among the Stars vs The Room 3
J.U.L.I.A.: Among the Stars
J.U.L.I.A.: Among the Stars is truly a game that's very unique. Despite its apparent appearance - it does look like "just another space sim", doesn't it? - the game is a fun and innovative, story-driven adventure game with a heavy dose of mystery added for good measure. In this game, you'll get to step into the spacesuit of Rachel Manners, a 35-year-old astrobiologist who initially embarked on a critical mission to explore and collect data on potentially habitable planets with a crew of of other elite and hand-picked scientists, but somehow, things went awry, and she found herself alone with J.U.L.I.A., the space probe's rather tempermental AI and Mobot, the reconnaissance robot.Driven by a need to know, you'll need to help Rachel search for clues which might potentially explain the mission's failure and the missing crew. You'll also get to travel to six widely varied planets where you can then get to work trying to reveal their secrets. There will be plenty of puzzles and mini-games in your journey as well just to give your brain some intense workout from time to time.
That said, the puzzles in the game can be a tad bit frustrating to solve, mainly because it's the sort of "trial and error" puzzle-type. So, unless you have a thing or two against this specific game mechanism, J.U.L.I.A.: Among the Stars is a really nice puzzle-adventure game to buy and play.
The Room 3
The Room 3 is the second highly acclaimed sequel to an highly acclaimed puzzle adventure game series. This time around, the game sets you in a remote island that is filled with trials devised by the sadistic and mysterious figure known as "The Craftsman". Like the previous games, you'll need to figure out how to solve the game's many puzzles by examining and fixing various artifacts and devices. The game now has better hints, cloud saving and alternate endings. You are given an eyepiece to magnify the smaller parts of the puzzle as well.The Room 3 is perhaps the best game in the series yet and if the developers are working on another sequel, they have an incredibly high bar to reach. That said, it's best if you start with the first two games first, especially if you actually care about the storyline.