It's definitely a unique experience in that I never played a "horror" game in the form of a text-parser adventure game that's messing with the 4th. wall the way Stories Untold does. There are some spooky scenes that really got to me and I did appreciate the underlying creepyness in everything. However, the story, although presented in an interesting way, doesn't really do anything too special or original.

Also, the gameplay is rather simplistic and even tedious at times (Episode 3 was a slog to get through). I can't be too mad or disappointed as the game definitely tries to do something different on a gameplay level but I did expect something more engaging in terms of story. As for how I feel about Silent Hill Townfall at this point? Hhhmm.... I'm not so sure the devs know how to handle the Silent Hill license but at this point, who does? :D

This is one of those games that remind me why indie games are so cool and why we need more of them. In no AAA or even AA game could I imagine the basic gameplay being to collect plants, identify them correctly and then sell them to various quirky characters in a gritty English town. That's basically what Strange Horticulture is all about. You take over a plant store full of strange plant varieties whose significance is only revealed as the game progresses. Day after day you are visited by the inhabitants of Undermere, the town in which the store is located, and have to deal with their personal problems by helping them with the right plant (and later elixirs). This may mean finding and offering a cure for a headache. But it can also mean that you are given the task of brewing a remedy to defend against demonic influences. Because, and this becomes clear rather quickly, there is an underlying mystical darkness that terrifies the inhabitants of Undermere. There are rumors of a shadow roaming the woods and wreaking havoc. A murder case, signs of a bloody ritual and a whole series of inexplicable incidents. The story remains quite linear. However, at certain key points in the game, you have an influence on the course of the story and the fate of individual characters. After all, as a horticulturist you have access to one or two poisons and the rude capitalist who wants to close down the store is rather unpleasant ;)

In terms of gameplay, there is hardly anything more to say. When you are not attending to the needs of your customers, you have to solve more puzzles in the vicinity of Undermere. To do this, you are given a new puzzle every day, which you must solve to identify a specific location on the world map. There you will then find more puzzles, more plants or new entries for the herbarium. I should mention here that the game's protagonist never actually leaves the store. The game only shows you the new locations as 2D drawings. However, the entire action of the game takes place exclusively in the plant store. This makes it clear that this is a small indie game with a tight budget. I have to say though that this didn't bother me in any way. The drawings of the scenes are very well done and are absolutely sufficient to give me the feeling of actually visiting those places. Otherwise, as I said, it's all about finding, labeling and watering plants and occasionally stroking the store's cat :)

Overall, I had a very relaxed and good time with this game. The story was quite exciting and sometimes even spooky, but it didn't blow me away. It remains too traditional for that and doesn't really offer anything that I haven't already experienced countless times in other games, films or books. What also bothered me a little was the fact that the basic game loop becomes quite monotonous. Looking up plants based on the descriptions in the herbarium, selecting them and then labeling them accordingly is not necessarily exciting. But it's not supposed to be. It's more of a game to sit back and relax. It's not quite my kind of game, but I can definitely see the appeal.

Oh man, Square Enix, why have you forsaken this IP and won't give us a port, a remaster or even a remake of this amazing game :D Xenogears, even if it's obviously unfinished, is a fucking masterpiece. The themes addressed here are simply not found in current JRPGs which is super unfortunate. Among other things, it deals with the abuse of religion and power, human experimentation, racism, metaphysics and much more. The soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard (Mitsuda at his best), the combat system (or rather combat systemS) is innovative and fun, the characters are almost all very well written and the story is the big highlight of this game. Unfortunately disc 2 really isn't finished but also not as bad as its reputation and yes, the story is completed and finished, only some passages aren't playable and are presented as a slide show.

The game is phenomenal, it's amazing that Square was capable of producing something like this in the past.