Interregnum Chronicles: Signal

This is ostensibly a game. It is not. This is a visual novel. You have no agency but to follow the single path the narration takes you in.

Needs a lot more to do early in the game sure it was fun but as I explored everything and tried to get to the end it was a real grind, like painful grind. As a player you can see all these things that need fixing but you can't fix any of them additional things to do while waiting for upgrades would have really made this game better but as it is you could have fooled me if it wasn't early access.

This game is one that very heavily relies on the story and worldbuilding, and it does it very well. The station feels lived in, there's glimpses into the wider world both through the random detritus floating around and random small notes and books you can find, and the impact of your actions is actually given some weight narratively. Gameplay-wise, the game is sort of a walking simulator mixed with an idle game, which as it turns out is a good combination since each side sort of balances out the other. The idle game mechanics themselves are closer to being optimization puzzles than traditional "wait until the number gets big enough", and they're also in service of the story. It all ties together really well, and the story got its hooks in me and kept me wondering what was going on, which is why the ending is a little disappointing as it feels limited. Fitting for the story, yes, but still kind of limited. I'd personally say it's the best walking simulator or idle game I've played and I quite enjoyed my time with it, but I'm also aware that particular combination of factors probably physically repulses some people on mention.

The game is a buggy mess: On my first playthrough after buying an upgrade to the mainframe the amount of data went into negative numbers and got stuck there, making it impossible to buy the next upgrade and thus blocking the advancement in the game. I had to restart the game, not fun. On my second playthrough I got ejected into space and survived just fine floating around, with no suit or oxygen, but could still move somehow, I made my way back to the space station, which btw you can see through its walls from outside and there're missing parts and floating doors, so it clearly isn't intended to be looked at from outside. Managed to get in through some kind of invisible wall, after upgrading the mainframe again the tutorials showed up again and AIRE told me the same Hello World! message from the begining of the game, as if the game was restarted, but after that the the doors remain locked and it's impossible to continue.

(Mild Spoilers) I honestly enjoyed it and the 15$ was worth it for me. It had a good story, and the incremental mechanics were fun, but people are right with the statement that you are playing a character who plays on screens. The game is kind of tedious. I wish there was more to the story and interactions with the AI beyond the "Hey come let us text you after each upgrade". The hidden messages were a nice touch and I wished there was more. Maybe something you could see out the window, changes in the station, using the power outage to get around the cameras.

Game breaking bug that autosaved and ruined my save. It was good up until that point, but I don't want to go through the grindy parts again just to see if I can get past the bugged part.

I really liked the game in terms of the looks. Graphics are of a high standard, great overall feel. Although the whole gameplay only takes a few hours, I think it's worth it. And for a symbolic price. I personally recommend.

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4.5 hours and it's over... it's not that bad... but 10€/12,50€ to much for a short game like that... -,-

Прикольная игрушка с отличной графикой. Очень хороший результат, как для показательной игры! За свои деньги топ!!!