Hi everyone, and welcome back to My Week Unwrapped, where I discuss all the games I’ve been playing over the last seven days. This week hasn’t been too busy, but there was a big Genshin Impact update, so that’s eating up more of my time again. Exploration is my favorite part of the game, so understandably new areas always get my attention. Still, I found time for some other games, and was especially impressed with the new game NovaSoft released. There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s begin.

Aurora Hills: Chapter 1

NovaSoft Interactive is best known for the Meridian 157 series, which felt very inspired by Glitch Games when I first played the Prologue. I confess I didn’t play all three chapters of Meridian 157, but I was still curious about this new game they’re working on, Aurora Hills. The first chapter is currently available and is completely free, so I played through it. I have to say, they’ve really come a long way. The game looks and feels great, very slick. Even though they did incorporate a camera the way Glitch Games does, everything is so polished and has its own character, that I wouldn’t dare call it a clone in any sense of the word. A lot of first-person point-and-click adventures use the same kind of art and layout we saw ten years ago, but you can see NovaSoft really evolved their style. I found a puzzle here or there to be a little annoying or obtuse, but overall I enjoyed it and look forward to the other chapters. I’m also working on a walkthrough guide if you need help.

Atomic Escape

MediaCity Games is another first-person point-and-click adventure developer who’s not been afraid to experiment. Their games started with all 2D photorealistic art but they’ve since branched off into 3D. I had some issues with their last game, Escape from Crimson Manor, but it’s still nice to see them trying new things. Thankfully, their latest, Atomic Escape, uses 3D art but is not navigated in a 3D space, so it didn’t give me motion sickness. The puzzles were also mostly logical and I had minimal issues with it. The art style seemed inspired by Agent A, though the quality is not on quite on par. I wouldn’t say I was blown away by the game, but it’s not a bad way to spend a couple of hours if you’re looking for a new point-and-click adventure that won’t break the bank. I also have a walkthrough here if you need help.

Underground Blossom

Rusty Lake have got to be the craziest games studios out there. I’m continually amazed by everything they keep putting out, be it new Cube Escape games or insane ARG’s (alternate reality games) that the community comes together to solve. You can tell they love what they do and they’re damn good at it. The latest is a completely free addition to Underground Blossom called The Lab. It’s a new station that you unlock by calling a specific phone number inside the game. You’ll get a bonus achievement for it and the information you get at the end can be used to unlock a mini game in The Past Within. Again, all this was added at no extra cost to celebrate their 9th anniversary as a studio. And they just announced a new game they’re working on, which looks very interesting. Anyway, if you haven’t played Underground Blossom or The Past Within yet, you should. And if you have, play this bonus chapter. I have a walkthrough if you get stuck.

Eyka

Eyka is a puzzle game that’s basically a 3D Lights Out. Each level presents you with a floating shape that’s made up of small cubes. The goal is to turn all the cubes yellow. But the catch is that when you change the color of one, all the cubes touching it also change. It’s meant to be a relaxing game and, to a point it is. But I can’t understand why a game like this needs a timer. Thankfully, it only shows after you complete a level and not while you’re solving it. But it seems wholly unnecessary to me. There’s also a move counter, but unless I’m missing something there’s no way to tell if you’ve completed it in the least number of moves possible. I’m not about to replay levels without knowing if there’s even any way to do better. The difficulty curve also seems off, as I was finding some puzzles got easier as I progressed. I only played through the two free chapters, but I’m not sold on it enough to want to buy the rest of the game. I still recommend checking it out for yourself since the first 24 levels are free.

Algorithmo

Algorithmo is a puzzle game that aims to teach you programming. Basically, you control a little arrow by inserting functions to tell it how to move along the path and pick up all the gems. I like the idea of it, but I think it needs some polishing before I consider giving it another try. First off, there’s no sound effects or music whatsoever. That makes it feel unfinished. So does the lack of iPad support. And last, the tutorial left me to my own devices right before introducing F2 and I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working for me. I was able to complete the level somehow by picking up a hidden gem (according to the developer) but still couldn’t get both functions to work. It would have helped to have a tutorial for multiple functions so I know if I’m using them correctly. But as is, I just didn’t feel like continuing with it. I think there’s something worthwhile here if it can be polished up. But it’s completely free to play, so try it for yourself.

Genshin Impact

And last, the 4.6 version of Genshin Impact finally arrived. It brought with it a new character, Arlecchino, who I probably won’t try to get since she can’t heal by normal means. But we also got a whole new underwater area to explore, called Sea of Bygone Eras. I’ve been enjoying it as I follow the world quest. I also have Arlecchino’s story quest to look forward to. It’s always nice to have new stuff to explore in Genshin.

And that’s everything I’ve been up to this week. I’m now on the very final season of The X-Files, season 11. I have to say, I like the reboot more than season 9, even if the overarching story feels weak. I’ll see if I can track down the movies once I’m done. And speaking of movies, I finally watched Idiocracy and was surprised how well it holds up. I guess it might hold up for another 500 years? Anyway, let me know in the comments section which games you’re playing and I’ll see you back here next time with more of My Week Unwrapped!