Eldarya vs Greak: Memories of Azur
Eldarya
Eldarya is a free-to-play fantasy romance and adventure game where you'll get to play as a heroine in your own anime-themed story. By happenstance, you found yourself trapped in the magical and gorgeous world of Eldarya, and by being the newest addition to the world, it's up to you to explore the world, make new friends (or enemies), and maybe find a way back to your homeworld. Being a story-driven game, Eldarya features dialogue-based choices that you can select from, but every choice you make will come with consequences - they can be either good (helps you gain favor with a certain individual which may eventually lead to a date) or bad (offends the person instead).Eldarya may not look like much, though its anime graphics are simply superb, but it has tons of plotlines for you to discover, characters to meet, and a fun community to play the game with. So, if you're up for a romantic adventure through a magical world, Eldarya should definitely on your list of games to pick!
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!