LudoNarraCon 2025 was an online convention that took place from May 1 - 5 on Steam and elsewhere on the internet.
At the beginning of the month I promised reviews of some of the LudoNarraCon featured games. While life got in the way for me for much of May, I did play several of the games featured this year and they did not disappoint!
First off, since I had already written a glowing review of Wanderstop, go here to read that review.
HERALD: THE INTERACTIVE PERIOD DRAMA
Developed in The Netherlands, Herald is a choice-driven adventure game set during an alternate 19th century in which the West is united as a colonial superpower: the Protectorate. Help tell the story of Devan Rensburg, a man of mixed heritage who became steward on board of the HLV Herald, a merchant ship set for his country of birth. As Devan it is your job to keep the peace among the crew and passengers by resolving their daily squabbles. Set during a time of widespread inequality and injustice, you are challenged to uncover a great mystery that surrounds the Herald's perilous voyage.
I didn't have the highest expectations for this game simply because I had never heard of it before and it seems to have flown way under the radar, but I was pleasantly surprised by the dramatic narration and twisty storytelling in this game. The "historical" events in the game are, of course, fictionalized, since this is an alternate history story, but much of the history that is shared feels accurate in terms of vibes, if that makes any sense. The horrors of colonialism are fully realized and the game will leave you feeling like you learned something about history. I love how the story didn't pull its punches. My only gripes are with accessibility and gameplay. The brief moments when you have to move your character are beyond sluggish and oh so tedious. Accessibility is also a major issue in that there just aren't a lot of accessibility options for any type of disability that may be impacted while playing this game. The fact that you are expected to read letters that are written in cursive is not only inaccessible for people with vision impairments, but it is likely inaccessible for a majority of young people who haven't even been taught to read cursive in school. I hope that these problems will be addressed soon in patches and updates to the game. Overall I did very much enjoy this game and I believe it's a solid purchase for the price of $20.
From the creator of Coffee Talk comes a slice-of-life adventure set in modern Jakarta about love, loss and finding your own way forward.
I have not yet finished Afterlove EP, so please be aware that I don't know how it ends yet. From what I have played, I think the story is engaging, the artwork is cute even if it is seemingly low effort, and the characters are fairly realistic. I would strongly compare Afterlove EP to the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series. Both stories seem to be about young adults in their early twenties who don't really know what to do with their lives. Where Scott Pilgrim is trying to date a new girlfriend, however, Rama of Afterlove EP is trying to deal with grief because his girlfriend died. This is where we get to the part of the story that just doesn't do it for me. Rama's girlfriend, Cinta, dies of a mysterious coughing disease (meaning the writers never explain in detail how or why she died -- just that she was coughing one day, dead the next). As a disabled person, this feels like lazy writing to me. I feel like a character as important as Cinta deserves to have an actual diagnosis, and a real cause of death, and the mysterious coughing disease feels like a cop-out that a lot of lazy writers use when they don't care to make their characters three-dimensional. Cinta also seems to be treated as disposable, even though she is very important to the entire story. Cinta isn't really given her own personality, though -- she only exists to move Rama forward in his life and his story. I will continue to play this game to the end and if my opinion changes, I will update this review.
ETA: I don't know how much of this story was created before Fahmi, the game's creator, died, or how much of the game's narrative and dialogue he actually wrote. Fahmi died in 2022 and his cause of death has not been shared (much like Cinta's cause of death is basically unknown in Afterlife EP). I adored his first game, Coffee Talk. If I'm being brutally honest, Afterlife EP isn't nearly as good as Coffee Talk, but that's okay. It's still a story worth experiencing.
Keep Driving is a road trip management RPG set in the early 2000s. You're young, you have time, keep driving. The story elements of the game are minimal and there is little narration, but the random hitchhikers and friends you make along your road trip each have their own stories that you can learn over time as you drive from town to town, gas station to gas station, and attempt to reach a concert on time (or get distracted by other tasks along the way). The gameplay is wholly unique and unlike anything else I've ever played, and I was entertained for about six hours, in which time I got two of multiple possible game endings.
TINY BOOKSHOP (Demo)
Leave everything behind and open a tiny bookshop by the sea in this ambient narrative management game.
While I only played the demo for this game, I am delighted that there is a game where you can sell and recommend books and genres to virtual customers! Many of the books you sell are real book titles with real descriptions and your knowledge of real-life books can certainly help you play this game. I'm so excited to play the full game when it releases later this year!
Thank you to Fellow Traveller and LudoNarraCon for sending me review copies of these and more games.
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