[C64] Halls of Death (1983)

How:
Searched for other C64 rpg's on CRPGAddict master game list after enjoying Sword of Fargoal.
How to play:
"/" : down
":" : left
";" : right
"@" : up
"+" : use stairs
"p": spells
Movement can be made faster with F1.
Spells: Sleep (1), Teleportation (2), Lightning (3), Fireball (4).
Levels:
I was proclaimed: Apprentice Bumpkin, Yokel, Trainee Warrior, Warrior, Swashbuckler, Seasoned Adventurer, Hero, Dragon Slayer, Champion, Necromancer, Sorcerer, Superhero, Guardian.
Pros:
- Cool first-person view animation on the lower right
- Spells can be used to destroy walls in the dungeon
- The game forces you to take careful choices, because:
   1) a successful game sees you going back to the surface (i.e. you need to backtrack or teleport)
   2) stats grow with items found in the dungeons, and decrease with enemy encounters, traps and magic spells
   3) game ends when any of the three stats (Strength, Psionics, Constitution) falls below zero
   4) using spells consumes both Strength and Psionics, is not always successful and becomes mandatory at the deeper levels (vs wraiths)
   5) Strength and Psionics points can be transferred to each other with a 1:3 ratio
- Gameplay can get addictive and very tense especially during the ascent phase
- Successful ascents are very rewarding
Cons:
- Fight success only depends on the strength and magic levels of the PC
- Grinding is possible only to a limited extent, as it depends on what items you find in the dungeons and the outcome of encounters
- There is no use for the collected treasure
- No sound
- The time you can spend in the dungeon is only dictated by luck, since Constitution depletes as you fight and it can only be recovered by finding Stamina, which is rare

This is as far as I got. Getting the Lord of Light rating is a matter of grinding for treasure, perhaps one day I'll do it.

[PC98] Venus - ヴィーナス (1994)

How:
Read about the game from the True Love review on Hardcoregaming101.
Ending:
I finished the game with 3 out of 4 girls without walkthrough in one go.
Pros:
- Very nice character pixel graphics, fitting very well with the backgrounds
- Generally fitting music
- Many endings (each ending is an AV recorded by the main character for his almost bankrupt company)
Cons:
- Gameplay is very simplistic, just set a date and go there
- Very few places to visit
- Very few events
- House items have descriptions but no use at all

[C64] The Sword of Fargoal (1982)

How:
Read about it on CRPGaddict, bought C64 Forever and played it right away.
Note:
Apparently this is the first game ever with random dungeons.
Pros:
- Simple, yet addictive quasi-roguelike gameplay
- Some interesting game mechanics (proximity sounds, pit traps usable as stairs) and magic spells (beacons, teleport)
Cons:
- Dungeons are quite repetitive
- The game gets almost unplayable from level 15 down
- Very few types of monsters
- Waiting at the temple to heal the character can take a lot of time

Actually, of those 8:54 hours several were spent regenerating health while doing something else.

[Android] Detective Grimoire: Secret of the Swamp (2014)

How:
Found on Adventuregamers.com after looking for some nice Android games. Bought from the Play Store.
Pros:
- Outstanding voice acting and soundtrack
- Amazing artwork with fluid, cartoonish animations and high quality cut-scenes that are just a pleasure to look at
- Very likable characters with funny, smart dialogues
- Nice spooky setting
- A lot of attention to detail (e.g. different voice recordings for the same sentences, animated buttons, each character has some small peculiarity)
- Different puzzle mechanisms (e.g. construct deductions from sentence fragments) bring some change to the usual inventory-based puzzles
Cons:
- Too many interface gimmicks that do not get used in the end (e.g. count of suspicious facts for each character, notes, etc.)
- Rather short
- Very easy
- The liquid mini-game has always the same solution (i.e. green)

[Android] ラピスと不思議なラビリンス (2013)

How:
Found by looking for nice Japanese 脱出 games on Google Play.
Note:
Could not finish the game due to a bug (shaking the mobile does not work as expected), nevertheless this happened a couple of puzzles before the ending.
Pros:
- Very nice pixel art
- Some clever puzzles involving the motion sensors of the mobile
Cons:
- The game feels like a random mix-up of fantasy elements and unrelated puzzles
- Item descriptions appear on the bottom-right, which is usually covered by the hand during play
- Some items are only needed for the sake of collection

[Android] The Lost City (2012)

How:
Read some review on Adventuregamers after explicitly looking for more Android games to play.
Pros:
- Beautiful graphics and very fitting animations
- Nice, well-balanced puzzles
- Fitting music
- Immersive atmosphere
- Nice game for some relaxed, light-hearted adventuring
Cons:
- Music is a bit repetitive, could be much better with a different theme per season
- Underwhelming, almost non-existing finale
- The overlaid text is too much in the way
- Essentially a back-tracking game, can get tedious
- Some mechanical puzzles can be solved before the PC has a way to find the solution, but the game does not accept the solution even if correct (e.g. combinatorial puzzles)

[PC] Gemini Rue (2011)

How:
Got with the Bundle-in-a-Box Adventure bundle.
Pros:
- Excellent graphics and music, reminiscent of Beneath a Steel Sky and Blade Runner
- Rather lengthy (took me about one day from start to end)
- Very nice puzzles, including terminal-based investigation
- Memorable setting and writing
- Addictive gameplay, amazing story and turn of events
- Very likable characters
- A lot of cool scripted cutscenes
Cons:
- A few interface glitches
- The action sequences can be frustrating (very akin to the first Tex Murphy games)

Comparisons:

Tex Murphy: Mean Streets (1989)

Gemini Rue (2011)

[PC] Jurassic Heart (2013)

How:
Read about it somewhere, possibly some indie gaming site.
Endings:
Got the good, normal and terrible endings (all endings).
Cool tip:
Play with "Iqtu - Dinosaur Document" looping in the background! Download here. You can listen below.
Pros:
- Very nice, smooth graphics
- Cool, humorous idea and setting
Cons:
- Too short
- No music

[PC] Quantumnauts (2010)

How:
Bought both Quantumnauts games from the official website after playing Oz Orwell.
Note:
Played the Italian version.
Pros:
- Nice puzzles
- Nice story and setting
- Cut-scenes have good quality
- I have a weak spot for this graphical style
- Some cool situations (e.g. the talking statues near the end)
- Gameplay never gets boring or monotonous
- Some red herrings
- The game actually manages to get funny once the player realizes it is meant to be a comedy
Cons:
- Many typos and grammatical errors even in the original language (Italian)
- Text is too small and difficult to read
- The main character often stands in front of interactive objects, must move him away all the time
- Animations are not smooth at all
- No sound effects
- Some annoying pixel hunting (e.g. the crack in the cave)
- Very slow navigation
- Missing descriptions with most actions
- Humor is sometimes out of place

[Browser] Worldgate Ep.1-3 (2012-2013)

How:
Covered in the monthly freeware section on adventuregamers.com.
Pros:
- Immersive world
- Simple and neat graphics, music and sound effects
- Nice puzzles, some of them moderately challenging
- Intriguing twist at the end (chapter 2)
- Cool to meet the ancient beings (chapter 3)
- Cool wrap-up explanations of the puzzles and devices met in the previous episodes (chapter 3)
Cons:
- Some interface problems (e.g. to analyze an inventory item, you click on its bottom-right corner, which can also happen accidentally)
- Small continuity problems (the journal is updated in the middle pages if the player does thing in a different order)
- The inventory can grow out of the allowed space if the player has more items than expected