Celestial Return

[h1] Детектив и роза [/h1] Бывший коп Говард расследует серию самоубийств в городе Незервейл. Мало того, что одна из жертв – отец его бывшей девушки, так ещё и в качестве главных подозреваемых, паранормальные сущности. Celestial Return – это текстовая игра с парой ситуационных исключений, рпг-элементами и несколькими интересными игровыми механиками. Основной упор в игре сделан на сюжет и персонажей. Игра разделена на три «книги» – сюжетные арки, которые перетекают одна в другую; каждая проходит на одной большой локации и вернуться в предыдущие нельзя. И, в целом, это ещё одна игра которая заслуживает нейтрального отзыва, так как достоинств в ней очень много, но и недостатков навалом; в том числе и тех, что не исправить патчами и обновлениями. Первые две книги – это бОльшая половина игры. И она прекрасна! История в ней создана и развивается по правилам классического сюжета нуара. У нас есть детектив, который в нелюбимом городе нашёл спокойное местечко и заливает там горе; а потом получает большое дело для расследования. У Говарда есть старый друг, чуть ли не единственный честный коп в городе, которому пара дней до пенсии. А в напарниках у главного героя молодой новичок с исключительным даром и колким языком. Есть и парочка famme fatal, и жестокий психопат, и куча прочих приятных, такому старому зануде как я, моментов. В игре также и море юмора и остроумных диалогов. Расследуя серию самоубийств, Говард с напарником бродят по городу, посещая доступные места в поисках зацепок и встречают местных жителей. Незервейл представлен в виде карты, а наши герои – фигурки. Перемещаться мы можем только от одной локации к другой. На одних можно посетить магазины; на других – продвинуться по основному расследованию; на третьих– найти и выполнить дополнительные задания; есть и те, где можно познакомиться с историей Незервейла. Каждую игровую главу список доступных локаций будет меняться, так что не стоит торопиться с расследованием, если хотите узнать о Незервейле больше. А третья книга уже проходит в другом районе города и там совершенно другая атмосфера. Более того, большая часть персонажей и дополнительных историй останутся не только без развития, но и без логических концовок - про них просто забывают. Мы так и не получим ответов на львиную долю вопросов. Я прошёл игру два раза, на разные концовки. Тут много бардака и упущенных возможностей. Да, подобный фатализм характерен для жанра «нуар», но хоть какие-то ответы надо давать. Я вижу, что с обновлениями появляются новые диалоги, так что, надеюсь, нечто достойное мы получим. Вообще проблема с сюжетом этой игры – это классическая ошибка начинающего писателя. У него появляется неплохая идея, он создаёт интересных персонажей, быстро придумывает множество отличных диалогов, но постепенно теряет интерес к собственному творению, логику происходящего и просто забывает, ради чего придумывал эту историю изначально. В итоге ограничивается довольно слабой отпиской в финале. Игровая механика, в том числе за которую игра заслужила сравнения с Disco Elysium, система внутренних голосов, с которыми Говард будет постоянно болтать, искать у них совета и иногда давать одному из них контроль над телом. Изначально их у главного героя пять: добродетель, глупость, ум, злость, восприятие. В различных диалогах мы можем открыть секретные «голоса». За выполнение заданий мы получаем опыт, набрав достаточно – дадут очко прокачки, за счёт которого можно купить новый, улучшенный голос первой пятёрки. Секретные дадут лишь несколько уникальных строчек диалогов и ачивки в стиме; а те, что мы прокачиваем откроют особые возможности в решении сложных ситуаций. Практически все игровые ситуации решаются с помощью системы костей. Когда подходит время проверки, мы должны кинуть кости и выбить нужное число. Некоторые кости также имеют бонус к броску. Также мы можем найти предметы с постоянным пассивным бонусом или одноразовые предметы, позволяющие получить такой бонус или перебросить кости. В магазинах также используются кости. Эти броски часто совершенно случайны и добиться нужного результата с помощью загрузки сохранений можно без проблем. Для текстовой, в основном, игры, багов оказалось немало. Во-первых, не засчитывалось прохождение второстепенных заданий из второй и третьей книги. В журнале заданий висит уведомление, что оно пройдено, но игра не помечает его соответствующим образом, так что и награды мы не получим. Во-вторых, порой пропадало последнее, сделанное перед выходом из игры, сохранение. Я с подобным сталкивался несколько раз и приходилось переигрывать. Чего у игры точно не отнять – это стильного визуального ряда и потрясающей музыки. Да, карта города – это просто декорация, по которой передвигается только наш герой, но помимо неё у нас есть красочные арты персонажей и локаций. Также имеются короткие ролики и гифки для каждой главы. В третьей главе они редко совпадают с тем, что происходит в сюжете, правда. А ещё Говарду иногда снятся сны, где мы можем от первого лица гулять по небольшим локациям и слушать внутренние голоса. Чертовски стильно! В общем, у меня рука не поднимается поставить отрицательный отзыв на Celestial Return. Безумно стильный визуальный ряд, волшебная музыка, отличное начало и развитие истории, харизматичные персонажи - это меня подкупило. Концовки и отсутствие ответов на многие вопросы, конечно, портят впечатление, но в целом я игрой доволен. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/11769719/]Заглядывайте в группу кураторов, если понравился обзор. [/url]

[h1]A True IndieGem[/h1] Alright. [i]Celestial Return[/i] is done and dusted. I played the demo for this a few years ago, before their KS campaign, and now I've played through the full game. Twice. And have seen two endgame endings (and three total variations of them (there are actually five variations of these two endings, tmk)), plus a pair of early game premature death/arrest endings. This game is a fascinating and evocative exposé on how the elite manipulate public opinion to galvanize 'we the people' to work against our own best interests. It's also low-key a megastructure game, where we get to explore a dystopian cyberpunk megastructure city sealed off from the rest of the world for undisclosed reasons. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3786011065 Celestial Return fits into the category of a Disco-like quite neatly, although I would think it directly has more in common with Esoteric Ebb in several ways. This is a dice driven narrative adventure where we follow Howard, an ex-PID officer turned private detective as he attempts to discover the cause of a sudden rash of high-profile suicides in Netherveil City. Howard's traits all have their own personality and dialogue of course. Perception, Virtue, Anger Issues, etc... [b]My wife asked me why I carry a gun around the house. "To fight the Mimics," I said. She laughed. I laughed. The coffee mug laughed. I shot the coffee mug.[/b] We're introduced to Howard initially during his time in the PID, a law enforcement agency tasked with hunting down Abstracts; anomalous beings that take can either take the form of common items or in rarer instances, possess or emulate humans. During the events of that mission, we also learn that not all Abstracts are born equal, and some are actually of benefit to society. From there, we fast forward several years. Howard is now down on his luck, retired from PID, and mostly drinking his life away. But, he also has a reputation for solving the unsolvable, and as such, the actual police department tracks him down to help with the mysterious suicides case. From that point forward, the game takes you on a pretty wild rollercoaster ride where nothing is quite what it seems. The lore in this world is actually a seamless blend of Cyberpunk and Cosmic Horror, and is very definitely inspired by Disco Elysium, Prey, TTRPGs, etc... Not to mention, there is a definite focus on the interaction of music and Ed Wood style FMV imagery to tie everything together while also creating even more chaos. And really, chaos is the order of the day. In some ways, this game plays out like a blockbuster action movie, but in other ways, it's hard-boiled grit and neon-soaked intrigue. It is also very much Pulp inspired writing. So, in this world, dice function as both currency and the RNG resolution of all uncertainty. You are given four-sided dice, numbered 0-3, with a top and bottom roll for each die. Which is to say that each roll can end in a number between zero and six, if that makes sense. Each die is a single use item. Many have buffs or debuffs, such as -2 to perception or +4 to anger issues; or a static roll (such as a straight four rather than a RNG result). In order to actually complete the game, one thing you will need to do is be selective in how you use your dice. Hoarding as many as you can while still using whatever dice you actually need to resolve each situation. There are also other single use items that can give you rerolls or buffs to rolls, and there are a few constant passive buff/debuff items as well, that you will find, buy, or be rewarded with throughout the adventure. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3786011099 As mentioned, this is a narrative experience and so dice rolls resolve both combat and dialogue in a choose your own adventure style. Your actual narrative decisions do also shape the adventure and can offer you new ways to resolve future situations or lock you out of some solutions. Including one of the endings, which requires one specific decision at a specific moment. If you miss it, which you probably will, you're SOL unless you're willing to play through the game again. With that in mind, I would personally recommend playing through the game the first time blind to see where it leads with the choices you would naturally make based on your personality or what have you. And then check the game's forum to see the solution to get the secret ending. :) The character development in this game is fantastic, and the writing in general is engaging throughout. Which is really important for a narrative driven game. This world truly comes to life as you play through it. Add to that the fantastic soundtrack and amazing, almost comic book-esque visuals which never stop offering a feast for the eyes, and what you get here is a truly unique and vibrant world that keeps on giving as you progress. The only real negative to this game IMO is that there are definitely seemingly innocuous ways to lock you out of story arcs. To combat this, it's advisable to fully explore every point of interest offered, truly think through your decisions, and try as much as possible to complete every quest offered. It's worth it anyway for the additional world building and storytelling. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3786011036 This is definitely a game you should play at least twice. My first playthrough took around six hours. My second playthrough took about four, since I was able to skip through dialogue I was already familiar with via my first playthrough. There is definitely a third playthrough to be had here as well, although I'm going to take a little break before playing it a third time. This game really surprised me with its depth and creativity, and I enjoyed every minute of it. That $14.99 asking price is completely fair, and honestly, kind of a huge bargain in my estimation. I do think the devs missed an opportunity to get the game in more people's hands by skipping the recent Isometric game sale on Steam, but there will be more opportunities to highlight their game in the future. And I definitely hope the devs continue with this IP. It's deserving of that. [b]I received this license via our IndieGems Curator program.[/b] [code]If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32549618/]Robilar's Reviews[/url], it would be appreciated. Cheers.[/code] [code]Also follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/code]

Most reviews are clearly written before their authors reached the endings. I just did. First the mechanics. I played after the balance patches so I maybe that’s why I felt like the game was easy. Most items except for the one that give you a passives bonuses don’t really matter. Why would I need rerolls if I have saves? And I never was short on dices. The world feels like a draft, relying heavily on just being just "a cyberpunk" with some additional elements like Abstracts (local ghost/monsters). We know almost nothing about the world outside of the city and very little about the city itself. Our MC’s story also never reviled to us fully, we only get the gist of it. Characters generally leave a lot to be desired. It’s like we constantly don’t get the information that is known to the characters. We didn’t speak with our ex for three years? One event when we save her girlfriend (that we never hear of again) and suddenly we are the best friends, almost family and kissing at the end. No discussion about what happened, how we separated and why we were together at all. Nothing. And she doesn’t even mention her father until the very end, despite it being supposed big part of her motivation. Like what should I care about our ex’s sister when we know almost nothing about her and what relationship we should had? What happened to “the” Bartender and our former colleague after we last see them? Our main character doesn’t even ask. Our “cop friend” also almost entirely disappears after first five minutes of the game. The rest of the characters are no better, including our supposed best friend Rose, we almost always discuss politics with her (nothing interesting there, just typical "cyberpunk government bad" stuff, no “why”, no “I disagree”, don't even hope for Disco Elysium’s level of politics), we almost never discuss something personal. Including how we became friends after we save her. Unironically the old salesman at the lower town is the character that fleshed out better than the main characters. But I still didn’t get to ask him about the key for the cabin (despite Rose telling MC about this), probably another “secret” option that you don’t get because the developer didn’t like your choices (I don't know because the game never actually tells you what you did "wrong" and why you can't pick some options). And this part is the worst of all in my opinion. "True" endings aren’t tied to you being thorough (I cleared everything on the maps) or having a lot of dices (I had lots of it because I was saving for the ending), no. It is tied to you being nice to one specific entity that's not even the part of the main story. I’m not joking. I guess I should have suspected something when one of your skills was unironically being called “morally correct”. There is no warning, nothing. If you didn’t play how the developers wants you to then you won’t see any actual conclusion. Bye-bye, go back to the main menu. And you don’t even have another chance because that decision is half a game before the ending and the saves slots are very limited. Game warns about railroads at the beginning but this is not just a railroad, it’s punishing the player that made ONE decision that the developer doesn't like. Your other choices don’t matter, your skills don’t matter, your dices don’t matter. I hate this. Even meta games like Pathologic give you another chance or at least warn you. The gift from the entity should be “I win” button without rolling the dices, not the only solution. I thought I actually liked the game despite its many shortcomings before I reached the ending. But I can’t excuse this. If you still want to play this then google how to get an actual ending. Or you will very likely be disappointed. Just like I was.

Absolute. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Cinema. I know I've got some games in my library that I'll never play, because I wasted my money on the promise of a good game. It happens. Far too often. Well, this game ain't that. It's even better than the demo. Very happy to have contributed to this game's development via Kickstarter. The art work, the vibe, the gameplay it's all great. Do I wish there was voice acting, yeah, but I'll manage. I still have a relatively in-tact imagination. What I love most about the game so far is the tension. Do I use my dice or do I hold on to them? Am I making the right move? What's going to happen? That uncomfortable uncertainty that is endemic to RPGs is ever present and I just love it. I'm bracing myself for that moment where I make a bad decision and have to live with the consequences, but man when you take that chance and it works out, it's really satisfying. There's a definite Disco Elysium vibe for sure. I see the inspiration and I like the paranormal investigation twist. The writing could use a little work. I believe they're going for something neo-noir-esque and that's not an easy cadence to pull off without it feeling like you're trying too hard. The overall aesthetics make up for it though. The game has endless style and the gameplay feels good. Controller support is a little iffy here and there. I find myself losing my curser in the UI every so often. Navigating the UI takes some getting used to, but it's not like super annoying. I hope there is some replayability. I can't quite tell at this early stage if there will be multiple endings, but I hope so. I donated like...what...$20 USD on Kickstarter? I paid almost twice as much as what they're asking on release. $10 USD is criminal for this game. Money absolutely well spent. I look forward to seeing what else these developers can do. Great job!

I don't understand why some of the reviews are harsh. It's a really good game. Yes, there's some bugs but it only JUST came out. This is an Indie game, sometimes you're gonna encounter bugs. It happens. It's going to get fixed. The writing IS fine. We're not expecting classic literature here. A few people said they didn't like what they were reading without even spending more than an hour on it. It's like finishing the first chapter of a book, don't liking it and saying it's the worst volume ever written. Not everything is AI just because you don't like the phrasing. The narrative in his entirety is really strong. Please, if you're not sure because of this type of comments, just play the demo and make you're own opinion. It's free. It has gorgeous artwork, a catchy and on point B.O, the personalities are really staying in their lines. Interesting cutscenes between chapters. I also really like the idea of different type of timeline interwinding, merging even. Making me question what's real or not. What pieces am I missing in the story? Am I supposed to know it yet? Or did a just walked past it without noticing. It's worth the try. And for the amounts of content, the game being less than 10€ is worth the price.

NPC asks for 2 dice for soup, I roll to haggle which cost me 1 dice, Success the soup now costs 1 dice.... except i just spent 1 to haggle and now have to pay 1 for the soup... so whether I paid the 2 or haggled, I still pay 2... good game design.

I’ve seen a lot of comments on this game that were kind of negative or at least divisive. I kind of understand it: this is a "choose your own adventure" game with some resource management mechanics reminiscent of Citizen Sleeper, so the narrative has to be tight and deliver some punch. And in this sense, Celestial Return might seem lacking something—much like "Backbone," which endured similar criticism. The game starts strong with a very weird cyberpunk setting where paranormal entities exist and a spec ops unit deals with them. In your first "X-cops" mission, things go sour. Later, semi-retired, trouble finds your cyberpunk-noir character and an investigation unfolds. The first two chapters are very interesting, surreal, and puzzling. The third one is the one people seem to like less. But I would like to say that I disagree. The way we consume media nowadays (at least since "Lost" and internet forums of yore) is mediated by a lot of thoughts on poetics: how a story must develop itself, how the characters should act, whether it has verisimilitude or not. Thinking like that gives us Nolan’s Odyssey: plot-hole-free narratives, very soft around the edges, cerebral and well adjusted. And Celestial Return is none of these things. Au contraire, it is more reminiscent of narratives like a John Carpenter or Lucio Fulci flick: a lot of weird stuff happens, much of it doesn’t seem to make much sense, but you get a distinct feeling that there is something visceral, meaningful, and exciting going on if you just fill the gaps. That is it—Celestial Return has a lot of gaps, a lot of things that go unanswered. Maybe, just like your character, you need closure and will feel something is off. But Celestial Return dares not to give closure to the world it creates. And maybe, because of that, it will stay longer with us, if you just give it a shot.

I feel like my time was wasted. Endings provide no closure and no resolution. Sequence of events, cause and effect, character motivations and behavior make no sense. Characters pop up and disappear without getting any development. Main cast are cardboard cutouts, Jet is an insufferable c--t, every major character except MC is a girlboss (men are extinct in this setting, I guess). The game is essentially an extremely linear visual novel with dice mechanics that add absolutely nothing of value, instead they actively make the game worse by making it theoretically possible to softlock yourself (which is not good game design). Even if it doesn't happen to you or if you feel that "well, if you just spend your dice wisely, it won't be an issue, duh", it doesn't justify the existence of that mechanic in that form and in this story. The presentation is pure style over substance with transitions between chapters that are outright pretentious. Despite the amount of pretentiousness the writing has very few redeeming qualities. Despite not having a high opinion on the game, I played through the game a couple of times (did some restarts). I tried to enjoy it in a way someone might enjoy a senseless pop-corn flick and still wanted to see where the story goes. I saw 5 endings (3+2). Neither of them made the journey feel like it was worth it. I know the game is not particularly expensive, but I don't recommend it even if it was free, because it isn't worth the time.