Infinite Game Works Episode 1

Well, this “early access” VN has been abandoned for sure (at least on the day I last played it, 11/09/2016). Missing sprites (right in the beginning of the game), uninteresting and barely developed characters, wasted concept. Like Infinite Game Works Ep 0, it had a certain potential, but the execution of this project failed. It’s sad, the art style is lovely and the BGM is much better than the first game, and when things start to get somewhat interesting, it ends. Just like that. I don’t know if the developers still read reviews (probably not), but I really hope that they can start working on this project again. At least add just a bit more of content and finish the story. Leaving it in EA for almost a year without any news is a really mean thing to do to the players. 2/10. Avoid these two games, even on sale.

This is a very promising game that is VERY unfinished as of now (2/2/16). I searched the dev's website for updates but didn't see any from the past couple of months, so I'm kind of thinking this game is abandoned. If they continue to update this game, it really could be great.

I will admit I haven put much time into the game, and for visual novels this early reiew could be an even greater mistake. The game really doesn't give you goals. You've got this dev sim side of he game which is clunky and sometimes doesn't make senese. We aren't told how our decision with the modules and systems presented to us will affect the game in the future. The interface here is farely clunky and will require a lot of clicking. The reward for this work is the games currency, which as of now can't be channeled into things that make my characters or products "better". Maybe I'm an impatient reader, but the story as far as I made it was not really engaging. Neither are the characters either, not that you seem to get the chance to know them. You've got Alex, a redheaded tomboy, Elise the shy one, and Risa, the Shinji of the group. So far the only choices I've been given seem to have no immediate impact and feel devoid of meaning. Sure, I know visual and kinetic novels can go forever without choice, but at least ithey don't pretend to give me options. Arbitrary is how I would define the game. There is freedom with how you "build" games, but it feels meaningless. It's just guessing, and you can't even see the results until turns later. Results that have no meaning when you have nothing to compare them to. If you want a sim play GameDev Tycoon. If you want a visual novel; there are better visual novels, like Clannad or something. This is the waffle taco where it should have been Filipino food truck fusion.

UPDATE: Does not look like its being worked on at all anymore, so dont bother. When the Dev works on it more, then I'll update this. Not until then though. Early Access Review: Rough around the edges with work that needs to be done, but keep in mind this is early access, so that is to be expected. In general, YES, I would recommend this to others IF YOU ARE WILLING TO GIVE FEEDBACK. If you are looking for a fully created game, then come back in a few months. It does a lot of cool things and hints at even cooler stuff, so if you want to have a say in what you want this game to look like, then buy it now. Pros: -Involved Developer: This is a developer that genuinely wants to make a good game. They actively seek responses from their audience and are very engaging. Based on my interactiong with them, I have a great deal of hope they will make good on their promises. -Unique Management system: I have never seen something anything like the game building mechanics before and it is really exciting to figure out. You build each little element of the game you are developing: genre, music, subplots, character, monsters, and more. Being able to name each element also gets your imagination working. I got attatched to the itty bitty tiny platformer that was my first game. A little confusing at first, but I will give it a passing grade based on how unique it is. There is a tutorial in the works that will hopefully clear up some of the confusion. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the developer has stated that fact. -Cute Art: Maybe a little basic, but it's cute and the girls ARE NOT bad walking sterotypes. Cons: -Unfinished: What do you expect from an early access game? -Blandish story: So far it hints at a fascinating larger story arc and something I would love to explore, but as of right now its mostly a managment game with a few lines of dialogue here and there, which is fine, but in a VN like format, they need to give us a story to care about. -Character development: They are cute and hint at having really interesting personalities, but all seem a little bland because of how little you interact with them. Also... all of the team are girls and you are a guy. This is not a bad thing, but if they aren't careful then they could be dealing with a bad harem trope style game. -Lunch Time and Shopping: Unless you have played it at the state the game is in now, you wont really understand just how underwhelming this is. This is something that needs a lot of work, I want to be able to buy cool things and software and gifts and visit with my friends/dev team, but I can't really. I WANT THIS SO BADLY!!!