With The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Epic gives you a former graphics board with a cool mystery story. In Rogue Legacy, on the other hand, you’ll burn up an entire dynasty of heroes in a cursed castle.
Epic is giving away two really cool titles this time: In The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, you take on the role of a detective in the sleepy Red Creek Valley who has to find out why the eponymous Ethan disappeared after a mysterious murder.
Rogue Legacy, on the other hand, is an entertaining roguelike (or -lite) that could also be described as a hero tornado. If your current hero dies while exploring the cursed castle, a random descendant takes over. He could then be afraid of heights or have one of many other quirks.
How long are the games free? From 07 to 14 April at 5pm, you can get The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Rogue Legacy on your account forever. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one for free too.
What’s in it? You’ll get the full game in each case, as there are no paid DLCs for these two titles anyway. For Ethan Carter, the Unreal Engine 4 remastered Redux version will automatically appear as an additional entry in your game collection.
Is this something for you? In the rest of the article, as usual, we rank who this week’s free game is for
What to expect in The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is first and foremost an exploration game that wants to let you investigate a mysterious murder case with its environment and experience a tragic family story. It was inspired by the mystery thrillers of the last century and also mixes the occult into its multi-layered story.
In terms of gameplay, there are certainly more interactive walking simulators out there, but with its unique storytelling and protagonist Paul Prospero’s supernatural abilities that let him talk to dead people, among other things, this one is still a recommendable experience.
How Rogue Legacy plays
In the roguelike with the cuddly pixel look, you slip into the skin of an intrepid knight who has to free a cursed castle from monsters. The highlight: when you die, one of your descendants inherits this duty and all the gold that his predecessor has accumulated.
You can then use it to expand your family’s home and give the following generations a better chance of surviving the trap-laden corridors, deadly enemies and dangerous four bosses.
At first, the lifespan of your warriors should be in the low-digit minute range. The respective children then have their very own character traits, which always bring a breath of fresh air into the approximately 20-hour-long death spiral.
In addition, you choose one of nine classes with which to fight the 60 different enemy types. The castle itself is procedurally generated and also changes with each new attempt. In terms of gameplay, Rogue Legacy is pleasantly reminiscent of the old Castlevanias.
For whom are the free games suitable?
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is aimed at anyone looking for a (relaxing) experience first and foremost. There are no masses of enemies or bosses to fight, instead you have to scrutinise the beautiful landscapes and use your brain at times to progress. The best way to find out whether the story and the way it is told will click with you is to find out for yourself!
It’s a different story in Rogue Legacy, which tests your skill and adaptability non-stop. Just because you’ve devised a winning tactic with one hero doesn’t mean the next warrior will. If you’re the type of gamer who likes to dig into game systems and enjoys progressing a little further with each death rather than fretting about dying, then you’ll have hours of fun with Rogue Legacy.
Something interesting for you? For free downloads, go this way:
(Click here for the free downloads!)
Which of the two contrasting games attracts you more? Feel free to share your opinion with us in the comments!
