Betrayer

Disclamer: For some reason this game was removed from the store. But you can still buy it from GOG.
I'm enjoying it to a point I think I'll carry on. Very bold game that isn't afraid to do its own thing. Right straight out the gate the art style is very strong and impactful, transmiting an eerie sense of dread. The gameplay itself is your standard FPS, however there are some interesting mechanics that almost feels like a rogue-like game, also borrowing some inspiration from Dark Souls in how you can recover your loot after you die.
Sound design is top notch and an actual important part of exploration. Story seems to be intriguing, at least for now.
I'll update this if I play it further. But first impressions are positive.

Only recommending this game because it is free on GOG.
Betrayer has an interesting setting, an engaging mystery, and an incredible ambience. Some elements feel like they were designed by expert developers who know what they are doing; other aspects of the game feel so basic and unrefined even for the standards of a junior game developer. For example, the way in which exploration is handled in the game is awful. Having to run circles around boring forests to "discover" clues takes a lot out of a person. I would argue that this is what will turn most players off initially. I know that is what did it for me when I first tried this game back in 2016 thinking I would get Bethesda-like exploration and world design. However, sticking with the game really does pay off eventually. In my eyes, the second-half vindicates and justifies the slow-starting and supremely boring first-half.
There is something enchanting about the girl in red, the spirit world, the enemies you fight, and the clues you gather along your journey. I was anticipating this loop to become boring towards the latter-half of the game, but the progression system succeeds in making the game interesting all the way to the end. Eventually, you'll backtrack to areas where you got wiped by enemies previously and find it much easier to mow through them with all your new shiny upgrades.
I cannot praise enough how much the game succeeds in capturing the early-colonial/new world spirit. It really does feel like you are treading new and uncharted land in an attempt to tame it. The game is also surprisingly elegant in how it handles depictions of Natives and other factions that were attempting to colonize the Americas during the early 1600s; a rarity for games to be sure.
I will mention that this is by far the most crash-heavy game I ever played, even above modded Skyrim. I'm not sure if the free GOG version comes with any patches, or if the game even received the same patch treatment as other titles such as Dues Ex, but my personal experience with performance has been abysmal. The game crashes even when running everything on minimum. If your game crashes, you will always begin at the central hub of whichever map you were in prior to the crash, meaning that if you were close to your objective and the game decided to "run out of memory," you'll have to restart your trek and run back to your objective again. While tedious, I would not say it's particularly detrimental to the overall experience. The maps are small in size and getting from point A to point B takes like 1 to 2 minutes maximum.
I'm glad I finally got to experience Betrayer. It didn't necessarily exceed my expectations, but I walked out with a fondness of the world crafted here, even if the execution is not the greatest.

A hidden gem. Seek this game out for a very unique experience in storytelling and solve the mystery of the Lady in Red

Original indie horror game set in colonial America from ex devs of F.E.A.R.

Betrayer caught me completely off guard — the stark black-and-white visuals and oppressive atmosphere pulled me in immediately, and the sound design is genuinely some of the best I've experienced in a game, with wind noise and enemy audio doing more heavy lifting than most AAA titles manage with full orchestras. The colonial setting is refreshingly underused in gaming, and piecing together the dark fates of the colonists through scattered clues scratches a satisfying mystery itch. That said, the formula does wear thin by the midgame — each new area boils down to the same loop of ringing bells, collecting evidence, and clearing corrupted totems, and the enemy variety runs out of steam faster than the story does. For five bucks, though, this is an easy recommendation: it's a flawed but genuinely memorable indie that sticks with you long after the credits roll.

Graphics are a nice touch. I like the feel they bring to the game. The game is interesting and fun. I also like the wind.

A dark, spooky, atmospheric adventure is what awaits you in Betrayer. There's this uncomfortable stillness that hangs in the air. Untold tragedies that lurk beneath the surface with their pieces scattered about.
Essentially the game is one big scavenger hunt but you're better off waiting until the late game when you get all the tools needed to uncover everything one area at a time; it'll save you some time in the long run. In the mean time you have monstrous conquistadors roaming all over the place to worry about. You're encouraged to the use stealth but as long as not too many enemies are aware of you at once you can usually get away with a direct approach. Long and short bows are the most reliable weapons but sometimes they lack the punch you need so that's where the guns come in. But those have a long reload so my main strategy in combat was to lead with a Musket shot, and if that didn't kill it then follow up with the pistol and then just pelt it with arrows as needed.
There are definitely rough edges but I consider it to be interesting enough for a playthrough. A shame the dev team isn't really around anymore. Even though it's not on Steam anymore, It's on GOG for free so check it out.