Celestial Return

It makes you think about why you do what you do in game

I didn't like it. The game is so unbalanced that buying most items feels like a loss, the storyline is extremely linear, and there's no closure. (Unless, of course, you consider the "Well, things happen" ending closure. I won't spoil it, but every ending I've seen felt pretty similar.) Also, while this is subjective, I felt like the visual novel, cutscenes, and map gameplay didn't mesh well stylistically.

Brings the "punk" back into "cyberpunk". A lot of newer cyberpunk media gets criticised for forgetting the genre's anti-authoritarian roots, but Celestial Return is not shy about pointing out the oppression and exploitation being snuck in under the corporate veneer of selling you the newest product (or ideology). The atmosphere and aesthetics are spot on: The game serves you up a gritty, world-weary noir detective story with Shadowrun-esque science-fantasy dressing, The characters are compelling, and all of them are hostile, a product of their hostile world. This makes the player's options for acting with kindness that much more impactful. The gameplay is in essence a text-based "Choose Your Own Adventure" book with dice-based event checks, where your stats and inventory determine which paths become open to you. I stumbled over a a couple of spots where the scripting (i.e. how every event is tied together - the writing itself is great) became wonky, but they're things that can be fixed with targeted feedback. That's why I recommend you play it, 'cause other than enjoying it, you might find a thing that warrants fixing or improving and tell the dev about it (and the dev seems to actively take a personal interest in bug reports in the Discussions forum) and then *I'll* get a smoother run next time I play through the game again.

It pains me to write this. I was really excited about this game- the aesthetic, the premise, and the gameplay all were really compelling to me, and I'd been keeping an eye on it so I could snatch it on release. Unfortunately, the game is riddled with graphical bugs and errors (including one where the game simply doesn't render in full-screen). But perhaps more unforgivably, much of the writing seems to have been handled by a large language model (AI). As other reviewers have noted, it's full of "not this, but that" and overwrought similes and metaphors that I would consider to be low quality prose even if it is written by a human being. For a game that's supposed to be carried by its writing and story, that's a no-go on launch for me. I could barely make it through the first level before calling it quits.

Celestial Return is a very thoughtful game with a story that I cannot stop reading. It questions society, reality, and personal motives with an art style and music that are an integral part of it all. The story is an investigative gem that progresses like real life in that you do not know everything or see every aspect of an event and your choices really do matter. If you choose to do one thing versus another when offered options, you later learn that certain things you would like to know are now unattainable because of your earlier choices. The dice system is a major part of your making choices. It honestly does make the game more fun. There are just actual dialog choices but the options with more depth and a greater chance of learning things you need to know require a roll. You have to choose your dice as each type has strengths and weaknesses built into them and your supply is limited at times as the ones you roll are then gone. You have to pay attention to dialog and parse out the nuances to reach conclusions about what is really being said by characters. Characters are individuals with their own problems and relationships and backstories, which you pick up along the way. Howard is a very relatable protagonist and I like him a lot, even with his flaws. You can put some of your own character into him by the choices you make for him. Rose as his companion is very interesting and there is a lot about her that I don't understand yet but it is good to have mystery in your mystery. The "side" characters are very well developed, too. I have followed Celestial Return from its earliest days and I am a Kickstarter backer. I've played the demos and watched it change and grow into what I think is a real masterpiece. I have to admit that even I was surprised at just how amazing it turned out. The people at Metaphor Games have really put their hearts into this game. I highly recommend Celestial Return!

So, not really someone who plays these types of games, but I was hooked by the art. A little less than an hour into it, I feel like this is going to be a very slow burn to the end. The pacing is fine generally no complaints but just the way it's going I can see why these types of games can turn people off. That said if you like the slow progression of character development as you yoursellf explore this world, and the minor seeming inconsequential actions that play into the bigger pictuer type games, then this could fit the bill. I can feel myself slowly getting invested, and just need something to take me over the deep end

This is a masterpiece i feel guilty for paying so little for. The writing , presentation, music and soundtrack are all sublime. its been a little rough around the egde's from a launch day perspective but the dev has also been very fast to patch any issues and bugs that have come up. its a 9/10, add some things like font sizes and font choices (open dyslexic would be a huge asset) and a few accessibility options and it would be perfect, it still is well worth your time regardless and im kinda splitting hairs and been and unexpected gem of the year for me.