Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (2013):

Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (2013):

“Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara is an enhanced re-release of Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom and Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow over Mystara. Besides the obvious differences like gamepad support, leaderboards or internet multiplayer, the most important enhancement is the addition of house rules: after beating the game once, players can activate optional rules like items with infinite durability, the player character heals when killing an enemy or a time attack mode. After solving challenges like killing a certain number of enemies, the player unlocks bonus items like concept drawings. This version also introduces infinite continues and a few additional video modes which simulate things like scanlines or CRT monitors.”

- IMDB Summary

For what it is, Chronicles of Mystara is pretty good. It's a DnD-based beat-em-up. It combines two arcade games. Tower of Doom (1993) and Shadow Over Mystara (1996). There is no real character creation to speak of, only some pre-made characters. Tower of Doom only had Cleric, Fighter, Elf, and Dwarf. Shadow Over Mystara adds Thief and Magic-User (Who, for DnD, should be a given! But, it's a beat-em-up first. Maybe they couldn't decide what spells to put in.)

The Magic-User can use spells, which are basically clear-screen attacks. There's fireball. Acid Cloud, Ice Storm, Magic Missile, among others. Otherwise, it's a pretty basic beat-em-up arcade game with neat ways to use items that sort of resemble classic DnD. Because Elf / Dwarf are classes, and there are no real armor/weapon mechanics, it's sort of a weird mix of 1st Edition and 2nd Edition DnD.

Characters that don't have spells can use items like healing potions, arrows, hammers, burning oil flasks (which create fire walls, which you need for monsters weak against fire.) You need keys to unlock some chests. Sometimes, if your character is strong enough, you can break them open. You can also buy items in shops after some quests. The game also has special loot that can only be collected in-game, and Chronicles of Mystara tracks what items you've found.

Additionally, Chronicles of Mystara has challenges apart from its 2 main games. So, along with keeping track of your items, it can also track unique achievements unlocked. They start simple and get harder, in classic arcade fashion. Everything from play through a game to kill a specific monster 300+ times.

The monster designs are pretty cool. Some look straight out of the Monster Manual. You've got your basic goblins, harpies, kobolds, and gnolls. But, then you've got really specific monsters like Displacer Beasts, Ice Salamanders, and Owlbears, Dark Elves, etc. You need to keep oil on you if you don't have fire spells to defeat Ice Salamanders and trolls (who can only be killed by fire.)

All in all, it's a pretty good DnD-type experience, combining what's great about DnD fantasy with Capcom beat-em-up mechanics. Plus, you get two games in one. Sure, it's not going to replace pen-and-paper 5th or 6th Edition anytime soon. But, it's nice for a classic DnD fix, if you like beat-em-ups. And it's perfect for multi-player! I say check it out.

Stupid Zombies (2013):

Stupid Zombies (2013):

“A man, a shotgun and a bunch of zombies. You're humanity's last hope, and it's your job to keep them in line. Adjust your shots and angles, and watch your bullets bounce from wall to wall, elegantly cutting off the arms and limbs of each zombie.”

Stupid Zombies is one of those time-waster puzzle games where you clear each stage by aiming and shooting until all the enemies are gone. Each puzzle gets harder as you progress. It's like Angry Birds, but with zombies and monsters. The main character is stationery, and you take out all the enemies as best you can.

You have different ammo, different obstacles, and different monsters as you continue. For example, one level you might have bomb ammo, bouncing ammo, or there might be boxes or glass in the way of the monsters. Some levels have traps you can activate like exploding barrels or crates that can eliminate zombies. But, no good Angry Birds-clone is complete without microtransactions (a.k.a. pay-to-win.) and star rankings.

Each Stage has 360 levels. You can unlock 4 stages. You unlock stages by getting a certain score (Up to 3 stars each.) on each level depending on how good you did. Each has their own unique settings and traps, but are essentially difficulty settings. So, Stage 1 is relatively Easy, Stage 2 is Normal, Stage 3 is Hard, and Stage 4 is Expert.

You can, of course, just pay for airstrikes that automatically clear a level. A pay-to-clear attack is a grand tradition of Free-To-Play Angry Birds clones. But, I'm not doing that. I like my Free-To-Play games to actually be free. So, in conclusion, it's Angry Birds with zombies. It won't win awards, but it's a fun, mostly free way to waste time. Check it out!

Everlasting Summer (2013):

Everlasting Summer (2013):

“Everlasting Summer is a visual novel that tells the story of a man living in modern Russia who finds himself mysteriously transported to a summer camp somewhere in the Soviet Union.”

A lonely modern Russian kid named Seymon goes to the bus station one day. When he wakes up, he finds himself mysteriously transported to the Soviet Union in a pioneer camp. Think Soviet Scouts! Within the pioneer camp, there's a number of different girls you can pursue, including Alisa, Lena, Ulyana (the party animal.), Miku, (A Japanese girl.) and Slavya. Each girl has 2 endings good and bad. There are also “secret endings” I've heard about where you can discover a nuclear shelter in the camp, or discover evil clones.

There's even an ending where you make a robot cat girl, who will be available to pursue next game. I've never gotten that far. As far as I know, each girl has 2 endings. One where you stay in the USSR and lead a good life. Or one where you find your way back, but something bad happens! (Lena's version has Seymon kill himself.) It's a unique game. Heavy on sci-fi, and alternate realities. I'd say give it a try, if you can stomach the sappy USSR nostalgia! The game was originally released in Russia only in 2006. The 2013 version is the English release.