Let Bions Be Bygones

This is a somewhat janky camouflaged visual novel/choose-your-own-adventure. There are no character stats, no meaningful puzzles, no combat, and essentially no gameplay. It's a story on rails, but with different flavors of rail depending on your choices. The devs tried to make things variable enough to resemble an investigation (it's unapologetically, deliberately neo-noir), but they didn't quite succeed; lengthy repeat unskippable conversations, raising questions about clues you haven't actually found yet, and other smallish errors abound. I got through two acts in 3 hours. Bowed out because the end of act 2 was jarringly unexpected and extremely confusing. There's a lot of stuff that gets dropped in that the characters in the universe all understand the implications of, but you don't and it's never explained and there's no encyclopedia, so you just end up being dragged along by a narrative you don't really understand. Lost interest. I'm afraid I don't play video games to be a passenger in someone else's confusing story. Valiant effort, but failed.

I can positively say that its nice to see a game fully voiced with multiple options of dialog to choose from. However, the game doesn't really take itself too seriously, the game world is more a satire of science fiction clearly inspired by things like Blade Runner and other detective stories and novels. The game drops you in a lengthy monolog from your main character who is feeling bad about himself with the typical comedy being forced upon you. The game is trying to be funny only to create a boring narrative you quickly lose interest in. A shame really, because the game could've been good had it taken itself more seriously. Would not recommend.

First the good: This game is very stylish. I liked the visuals, the setting, and the characters. Most of the voice acting was enjoyable, and a lot of the writing was pretty solid. Now the bad: This game is a buggy mess. There were many times where I had access to conversation points I should have had zero knowledge about. Heck I am pretty sure I missed a whole section of Act 2 because of logic issues, which lead to an Act 3 where the final conflict was with someone I had never met, but that also wasn't who I was chasing. And then there was a person talking on screen that... wasn't on screen. Oh, and the journal seems unfinished/broken.

Can recommend only if you get it really cheap and you know what you are getting. It is a short game (~4h) that ends abruptly, and left me with a feeling of an unpolished game that needed more work before release. Excels on dialogues being voiced over, as well as having an adult atmosphere and noir like descriptions that enhance the mood. There are some nice characters and designs, but it is not a game of many emotions, nor there is any twist or epic scenes like chases, shotings etc. Gameplay wise is quite straight forward, a point and click without inventory or puzzles. The story changes a bit based on the dialogues you choose, but that's it. Graphics are nice on the little screen, but when played on fullscreen flaws are evident. It is neon-lights, light sprites and colors what adds most to it. Unfortunately, animations are poor, resolution could be way higher for textures and scenes much more interesting if they took advantage of the 3d environment. There are some nice scenes, but also some buggy rushed ones that lower the bar. I've found non-breaking bugs like dialogues being repeated or not marked as seen; scenes gone pitch black; dialogues and scenes that shouldn't be available or repeated (like throwing a bomb twice); a buggy unclear shooting scene where everything becomes fast flashes with a total lack of animations and bad sprites all over. Felt rushed and unpolished. I didn't get what I was looking for, and the ending was so rushed and buggy that left me with a bad taste. Too bad it was rushed and the ending underdevolped, it had real potential.

玩完另一个像素题材赛博朋克风格侦探游戏后突然有了重写评测的兴致，总体来说本作是一部短小精悍的甜品，原价购买略亏，即使我一周目有所卡关也在2小时以内就能完成，相应的本作更鼓励多周目游玩，虽然熟练后飞速完成一个结局恐怕也只要一个小时，更何况可以读档。 制作组尝试在第一章构建了一个网状任务链，由主角在序章所展现的性格特点影响他与其他角色的关系，并提供了至少3种通往第二章的不同途径。但可惜的是，第二章和第三章却由于篇幅限制和制作组精力问题无法继续这么做，可选的路线也少了不少，希望下一作中能继续深挖。 世界观的构筑上，虽然世界观的构造也并无太多新意，也没有提供任何如百科的功能供玩家查找，但大部分对世界观的描述也都被运用在了故事之中，而不是成为对故事毫无影响的背景板，主角做出的选择在影响剧情的同时也会影响自己的属性，影响后续的关键判定来扭转局势，最后终极悬念也尚可让人接受，各种结局的选择也给出了一定的自由度让玩家对这个世界造成影响，总体来说是一个合格的世界观构筑。 案件与推理上，本作最好的推理也在第一章，在制作组的弱引导下，一开始玩家或许会有些摸不着头脑，但多调查几个地方后就能有感觉到一些线索似乎串联上了，进而在引导下找到进入第二章的途径，此时我的成就感达到了最高，但由于前面提到的原因，后续的推理质量明显下滑，最后只能说差强人意，令人惋惜。 人设上本作选择了一个比较取巧的做法，给了主角一个标准的硬汉侦探的外壳，但由玩家选择注入其中的性格，同一个角色面对不同性格的主角时也会有不同的反应，但依然仅限第一章。不过整体来说角色的塑造水平还在平均水平之上，也依然有几个npc能让我在半年后还对他们印象深刻，女性角色的类型丰富度也足以令我接受，并未拘泥于胸大无脑的花瓶形象。 本作的美术也很有特点，独特的布景，迷幻的打光和恰到好处的像素精细度打造了一个令人惊喜的赛博朋克风格场景，角色的美术也正好能在精细的前一步停下，留出一线用想象力去补全的空间，女性角色的设计即使流俗也不廉价。 总的来说，本作依然是一部值得推荐的侦探游戏，第一章的体验就是整个游戏的最佳部分，但可惜后劲不足，篇幅也不长，即使追求全成就恐怕也只需要5，6个小时，建议至少在7折及以下购买。同时本作也没有太多会让女性玩家感到不快的元素。如果你不满意另一个同题材作品的表现，那你当然可以来试试本作。

I wanted to replay this game immediately after I finished it.

加起来2.4小时。。。卖这么贵

This is an odd game. I love the look and feel of it. Not a hard game to play, just read and pay attention. What makes this game so good, is the matter of fact way of interacting with everyone. It is not a game for kids as the words used are more adult. This is a game you play to relax but not to pass out. You need a clear mind to grasp the case you're solving. Buy this game on sale for a Great deal. It is worth it at retail. I am on my 2nd play through. You will come back to this game again as well. If you like it, you're already hooked. It is that good at making you feel the story. every step you take, with Smoke from your Cigarette trailing behind you, is worth it.

I like the vibes, but it's surprisingly easy to run into bugs.

I really like the story, but the game clearly isn't finished. There are a lot of glitches, even at important moments like the end of Act 2. I actually had to watch a YouTube video just to understand what happened there. ​ The UI is also really bad and kind of confusing. It's not always clear where your next lead is or where you're supposed to go, and some of the choices feel unfair rather than interesting. Act 3 had real potential, but it needed way more story content to live up to it. Right now, it just feels underdeveloped. Honestly, I want to give it a dislike, but I won't because I believe these problems will get fixed. The devs seem active and responsive on Discord, which gives me some hope. So right now, I'd suggest waiting until the game is finished and more polished before playing it. One of the dumbest moments and biggest frustration was the end of Act 1. How the hell was I supposed to guess he'd just smash it, instantly ending the whole act? There needs to be a clear warning or hint before a choice like that locks you in and screws everything up.