This next game was one that almost slipped through the cracks. I played it on a whim, not really expecting it to be that good, but I was blown away by how solid an experience it was. It’s not life-changing. It didn’t conjure “I will obsess over this game” vibes like Doki Doki or Silent Hill 2 did (or the last game on my list). But it did make me sit up and go, “okay, now this is a good game”. I can’t think of anything else this game could have done differently, and unless my imagination and game design faculties have just decided to shut down, I’m pretty sure that makes this one damn good game.

2) Crow Country | SFB Games
“My name is Mara. Special Agent Forest. Don’t mess it up.”

It feels like I played this game years ago. So much has happened in my mind since then, so much of it positive – but I keep thinking back to Crow Country really fondly. Crow Country is a top-down retro horror game in the vein of classics in the genre. It is a game with tense shooting, resource management, and a healthy dose of secrets to find. Messing around with the environment or looking around carefully always seems to give you something, whether it be a box of ammo, a key, or just a note about the weird eponymous amusement park you find yourself in.

I don’t know if Crow Country does anything particularly revolutionary, but everything it does is polished to an insane degree. Every puzzle makes sense and is tons of fun to solve. Every line of dialogue adds depth to the wider story that surrounds purple-haired special agent Mara Forest. The Resident Evil stylings only make it more impressive that the game finds its own quirky identity. It is funny, with every environment never once threatening to overstay its welcome. The park is divided into distinct themes, a clever idea in itself. You can explore a water-themed world, where you can go into an arcade, explore a sea-creature diner for kids, and do a shooting gallery populated by sharks and dolphins. You can explore a Halloween world, the campiness of which is juxtaposed by the actual threats you find wandering around the park. There’s also a forest environment, which has mushroom people, geese, and water nymphs to deal with. Then there’s the back areas of the park, where all the magic fades away, and stacks of equipment and sterile white halls make the whole enterprise feel distinctly wrong.

The layers of Crow Country’s environment contribute to a growing sense of dismay. As the story progresses, the park gets more and more dangerous, and the enemies you are facing become more and more deformed. The sterile white halls become booby-trapped and splattered with blood as you blast enemies with your guns. The shooting is so tight and responsive that I wish every game felt like this. You can use a pistol, a shotgun, and a flamethrower (as well as an unlockable grenade launcher) to carve your way through the park. Each weapon controls so delightfully, with changing them being a snappy process as well. As you move through the park, you have to make every shot count (particularly on higher difficulties).

Crow Country is not just a good survival horror game. It is a stellar example of how a short, polished experience can be leagues better than a large, bloated one. I would rather play twenty games like Crow Country than dream of playing one game that wastes my time. I would hate to be prevented from playing twenty Crow Country-likes. This is a game that looks relatively innocuous but demands your time. If you haven’t already played it, please do, seriously – it is a brilliant survival horror experience, especially if you’ve never played a survival horror game before. For those who have, it is a love letter to the genre with so many moments of “oh, how cool”, you’ll kick yourself for not playing it sooner.