EMPORIUM

[h1] A Little Too Simple [/h1] Emporium is the perfect example in my opinion of why Steam needs a middle ground option for reviews. It has some fantastic ideas and moments of execution, yet is too simple and bare bones in other areas in order to fulfill its potential and reach the greatness that it could so easily be at. The story being told is dark and tragic but told in a way that makes it difficult to fully comprehend what is happening, and not always in a good way. While the visuals can be great, the gameplay is far too simple to fully keep your attention, despite the short length. The two dollar price tag is the reason I'm willing to give the game a recommendation though, as unlike many games similar to it, the price matches the content. [h2] Gameplay [/h2] Emporium's biggest weakness is the simplicity in the gameplay. The only thing you can do is to walk around, yet the areas you're placed in are so short and linear that 90% of the time you'll simply be walking forward. There's some items that you're able to interact with, but all this does is put some text up describing what said item (mostly plaques) say, or it will bring up some text that is associated with the item. In some instances, you will be able to choose between 2 choices in dialogue and while these do have an affect on the story, there are only two options each time. I found myself just doing two playthroughs, one with all the first options, and another with all the second options. I really would've liked to see some more interactivity, perhaps being able to inspect some items closer up in order to have some environmental story telling to flesh the narrative out more. You are already presented with set pieces, and items relating to the story that are given descriptions so being able to zoom in and inspect them closer doesn't seem like it would've been too hard and would've done a lot in keeping the player engaged, because as it is now, it's too easy to lose interest with the very limited and linear gameplay. [h2] Story [/h2] There's no doubt that the main focus of Emporium is the story, and the story is overall okay. Let me rephrase that, the story is very good. Unfortunately it's held back by a case of being too clever for itself. In a playthough, there are probably only 30 lines of dialogue, and some visuals to accompany them. The visuals take you to different settings such as a pier or an office. Unfortunately every line of dialogue is written like it was ripped out of a poem where every word is a metaphor. The game refuses to tell you exactly what it wants you to know. There's nothing wrong with poetic story telling, or being metaphoric about the story you're telling, but you have to have parts that are grounded and straight forward, especially when there's so little dialogue to begin with. There were times where I had no idea what I was supposed to be learning about the characters. Things became a little clearer my second playthrough and I'm sure with a few more things would've continued to get better, but I shouldn't have to play a game 3-4 times to understand what it's trying to explain to me. I love when a story has parts that you can figure out on your own, and this is why I think including some more interactive objects or set pieces would've enhanced the experience. What I was able to piece together was great though, and it made me wish I knew the whole picture better. There are some serious themes covered, and they're handled in a way respects the subject matter and is able to go to some interesting places with the themes at hand. [h2] Conclusion [/h2] If Emporium was priced much higher, I would not be recommending it due to the boring gameplay and vague story telling, but it has some really unique ideas, so if you're into story driven games with darker themes, then I think it's worth a shot. The game is short enough, and cheap enough to not waste your time or money if you don't love it. For more reviews, follow my [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40795588/] curator page. [/url]

A dark game that fills you with dread while playing it, touching upon the subject of a bad childhood. Not much gameplay to speak of, but that's not the main point of the game. For the price, it's definitely worth to try out.

I really liked this games, the melancholy and the art style reminded me of one of my favourites games Sanatorium. Well worth the price in my opinion, but if slow paced, contemplative walking sims are not your thing then it may not be for you.

I usually love games like this, but this one falls short. Interesting little art piece about depression, but the only gameplay is running in a straight line and making some arbitrary choices that only exist so you'll have to go through the game more than once to get 100%

Pretty depressing game. Avoid it if you have the blues.

A darker, empty, pointless ripoff of Kentucky Route Zero’s aesthetic trappings, with no substance and little appeal. It’s unfortunate, because the premise is solid and intriguing, and clearly some amount of thought has been put into the scenes and some of its imagery- but even though it is very short it’s a slog to get through and a job to finish. Like other reviewers I usually like games in this vein but didn’t enjoy it. Positives: It’s very cheap.

We're cast in the role of a young boy, wandering through a strange set of abstract environments as we keep running into and conversing with an older man who may or may not in fact be ourselves. Aesthetically, [i] EMPORIUM[/i] is certainly striking, what with its unusual isometric perspective and starkly muted colour palette: unfortunately, I found myself bouncing off this one without being entirely sure of why. I think it's the writing style as much as anything, really - everything comes across as so cold and abstract in a way that definitely feels intentional, but also makes it difficult not to feel emotionally detached from everything going on, and well, if your game is so hinged upon its story over everything else then what do you have without that connection? This extends to the choices we get in the dialogues, which I again found overly cryptic and obtuse, even if I still managed to get a vague sense of meaning from them (there are actually two endings depending on what choices you make - hell if I could tell you what I thought the difference between them actually MEANT, though). I'm tempted to recommend this one regardless, considering how well the art style is pulled off (the sound design is also very good, with the reverberating clock ticks that come back again and again being particularly effective) - unfortunately, looks just weren't enough for me to get past the distance the game seemed so determined to create between us. ★★___

I liked it. Interesting isometric set pieces. Poetic dialogue. Almost a tilt-shifted feeling to the visuals. Obviously, it's not for everyone. But if you enjoyed Kentucky Route Zero, the visuals in Below, the Blendo games, Hart Island, or any other art-house obscurity, then I would give this a try. I think we need more instances of games that challenge our collective expectations of what a game is or what a game could be. Emporium is definitely part of that conversation. Thanks, Tom!