Betweenside

So I wanna start this review off by saying that this game is gonna need some work in order to be worth the money. I don't think that this game has shown to be worth the money at this time. I'm also sorry to say that it equally was not a fun ride from the time I've spent with it. That being said, I'm giving it a recommendation because I feel as though the developer(s) will be receptive to feedback. First and foremost the immediate problems are very obvious to me. It is very eerily quiet, uncomfortably so. It doesn't give you any ambiance or sense of foreboding, because there isn't any sound effects that accompany it. We desperately need music to be in the background, since the game mainly takes place in the same location and most of the objects are entirely static. The next problem is, there is far far far, too much reading. Now don't get me wrong I adore games that require a significant amount of reading, but normally the reading is often accompanied by music, interesting visuals, or something different. But the reading had basically nothing accompany it, other than *spoilers* floating text. Developers, I strongly suggest you look into games that play like stories (such as what became of Edith finch) for some inspiration into proper story and reading driven games. Lastly, I think having more interaction with the *spoilers* ghostly children, would be more interesting. My score right now is a 4.5/10. But can be updated if you guys take my feedback. Here's my gameplay for anyone who is interested https://youtu.be/bIbcASf6nlE

5.5/10 Although I recall writing a paper on "Gothic" literature in college, I can't recall any hallmarks of the genre. I thought the idea of "rewriting the story" was a neat one, and was amused by the way that some of my revisions were then featured in the game's environments (on a trophy or on posters). The game involves moving from object to object revealing brief vignettes, choosing whether to rewrite this part of the history and which of Victor's family members to bequeath the item to. However, I had difficulty figuring out who was speaking during the game's vignettes, and therefore had difficulty choosing exactly how I might want to rewrite the situation. In addition, the game did not communicate exactly how much of each story I would be rewriting. I might want to alter one line, but upon choosing the rewrite option, almost the entire vignette was erased. Lastly, I just didn't like the personality of the family lawyer that I was playing. His views on the importance of a military career and the incompetence of a more sedentary career clashed somewhat violently with my own. From time to time, the room will go dark and you'll find yourself holding a lighter. As stated in the game's description, the lighter is "fickle." Therefore, between each sustained flame you'll need to click the lighter 5-6 times. In addition, the light will go out after a few moments. I found these sections pretty excruciating. Once you actually get some illumination from the lighter, you'll follow white dots around the room. These dots are awkward to follow, sometimes doubling back the way they came or moving through an object that you then need to navigate around. The dots seem to lead to the more "supernatural" objects present in the room. The other game "section" has the player placed outside of the room, looking in. You'll navigate around the outside until you find a "bug," at which point you're teleported back into the room to resume your perusal of objects. During these sections, you'll see random combinations of the words you've added to the stories appearing in the air around you. Although you can sort of "cover" the mistakes you make while rewriting the stories, the words appear in their entire typed form during these sections. Therefore, I was surrounded by words like "beautifful" and "weakk," just constantly reminding me of my typing ineptitude.

This game is awesome! Explore a richly detailed environment and enjoy well-written gothic stories. Write them yourself and watch your words come to life. I experienced a couple of visual bugs but nothing game breaking. Super creepy, super well-done. I love it. https://youtu.be/EWz44ehOt1U

So far, so good! A chilling and intriguing little Gothic tale with some innovative ideas on interactive storytelling. I will update this review as I keep playing and have more things to say.