NeuroNet: Mendax Proxy

[table][th] Review by [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34633003-Gaming-Masterpieces/lists/] Gaming Masterpieces [/url] - The greatest games of all time on Steam. [/th][/table] Is this game a masterpiece? No, this is just a little sci-fi visual novel. You are the (kind of) major of a large city. You are an AI. I have no idea where the sci-fi part is. The game consists of making decisions, mostly in regards to managing city events. You receive a question and choose the answer from two possible answers. Quite simplified. You are given very little information and then choose A or B. Even I could be a major if it was that simple. Sometimes there even isn't a choice and the answer is like YES or YES. You do have access to various surveillence cameras and can talk with a lot of people. You can watch things that are going on elsewhere. You can never choose which camera to access, you use them when the story directs you to them. The main story of being an AI is good for the flavor of the story, but the game would work also if you would be a human major - you have to make choices and have no idea what the outcome will be. Actually this is very similar to many visual novels, but in this game there are a lot of choices and not so much endless talking. The gameplay loop normally consists of listening to a few sentences and a then making a choice. Of course the things you have to decide are always moral choices - do you respect privacy? Do you protect the environment or raise the profit? Do you lie? What will be the short and what the long-term consequences of your decisions? All this city mangement is combined with a story of the development (hard and software) of you, and the internal rivalry in the company that makes you. Will you make the company rich or your programmers jobless? Or will you lead the whole company into ruin? There are also a few personal stories woven in, from the little girl of your lead programmer to the way the CEO of your company handles the project. The choices you have to make can affect very different numbers of people - from basic city development that affects everyone to the font used on the menu of a small burger shop. After every game chapter you receive a report of what has happened (often because of your choices). There is a little codex to read about characters, locations, objectives and story threads after they have been unlocked in the game. Helps you to not forget what happened. There is also a ressource monitor on top of the screen (changing every chapter depending on your choices), but it is never explained what the four ressources actually are. The game is fully voiced, the visual presentation is quite good. The text appears fast and can be skipped easily. [u][b] Conclusion:[/b][/u] A visual novel with most of its many choices regarding city management, many of them are moral and/or economical choices. Can an AI manage a city? We will not find out in this game, because the AI is in fact you, the player, who is quite human. Unless you allow an AI to play the game.

This is supposed to be a game about choices, and only 20 minutes in encountered a loop where I was literally told that my choices (which BTW weren't an "incorrect" way of handling a specific situation, but rather philosophical questions about what I value and how I want to conduct myself) were unsustainable and that I'd have to recalibrate. I cannot progress unless I input completely different answers about what my core values are. If this is supposed to be saying something about the fact that the player is playing as an AI and is subject to constraints they cannot overcome, why is this otherwise a game where the player can largely make choices freely? What is the point of a "choices matter" story-driven game if one isn't permitted to make choices (beyond amounting to a lame "this is so meta" gimmick that has been done before and better)? At least give me a game over screen, making me implode or something if I want to stubbornly stick by the answers I provided. Or have me "crash," get "fixed" by the techs and reprogrammed, and remove the options I wanted to pick. But just presenting the same options to me over and over, telling me I'm wrong, and waiting for me to "choose" the other option is just lame, and holding me back from continuing on principle.

If I had written this before I got to the end, I might have been more enthusiastic. But then I found out there's a well-known bug that causes the chapter Reset button to corrupt your save and soft lock your game from progressing. I had to restart from chapter 5 and go through everything all over again. Then I waded through hours of scenarios where you pick one of two choices with no idea or real clue what either one will do. Thing is, I *liked* the story. I liked the characters. I really wanted things to work out, and they did in a lot of cases, but the ending still managed to ruin it all by being an existential downer. I hear there are multiple endings, including a "good" ending but that would require playing through EVERYTHING all over again to try and get it. With no skip button. And still zero idea what any of the choices I pick do. Maybe in another several months to a year. But not right now. Without a roadmap, I just can't bring myself to replay it to try for the good ending when I have no idea what even triggered the bad ending in the first place. It's too long and drags in a lot of areas. But, again, I would've given it a thumbs up if the choices were clearer (or if there were fewer) or if there was an ending guide. Or at least give me multiple save slots so I can go back and fix whatever I messed up. Or if the chapter reset button didn't break everything. So many little things make one big problem I just can't get past. Hopefully the devs make some patches.

Futuristic VN + immersive + interesting story/characters = Top quality VN. You are the newly developed AI making impactful choices between the city's various needs. Addictive and also great voicing. [h1][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35180752-3-point-play/] Follow our curator for similar games [/url][/h1]

=Write a review= | =spend some more time playing the game first= >spend more time playing the game first You spend more time playing the game first, and You get an alternate line for your efforts, but this is an IMPORTANT outcome, which means... =Write a review= | =Write a review= >Write a review You start writing your review. whether or not you had maximum Control or minimum does not matter. This was important, so Its going to play out the exact same way. =discuss how levels rise and fall between chapters= | =discuss the writing= >discuss how levels rise and fall between chapters when your money rises, you get an end of chapter blurb about how money is rising. And when it drops, you get a written blurb about how poorly you are handling money. but this does not impact the kinds of requests you get. Papa Ru will still tell You how He wants to buy that new location. =do Your choices matter?= | =act like Your choices matter= >do your choices matter? you get an alternate line for your efforts. But this is IMPORTANT. So... =act like Your choices matter= | =act like Your choices matter= >act like Your choices matter As an AI designed to help, there IS a point where Your choice~ VIRUS INBOUND: Deus EX BOMB deployed; =does the game have any upsides?= | =are you just a hater?= >are You just a hater? I Believe that there is a certain level of care that comes with writing a review like this in the first place. If I Truly hated the game, I would have just left it in My library, never to look at it again. I enjoy a lot of the writing. I enjoy a lot of the flavortext. But to often, you get an alternate line for your efforts, and nothing else. If nothing else, I feel... Deceived. Raising and lowering Money, Reputation, Security, & Power does not matter 99% of the time. If You raise or lower these stats, then come end of chapter, you get an alternate line for your efforts. The Game claims to be about choices, but these stats don't affect your choices 99% of the time. They only affect some of the writing. As stated at the start, I played the game some more to try and see if I could deny this to myself, and MAYBE there is more that I've failed to find, but Your choices don't bring new Choices. Your choices bring you some of the game's writing. And if you go back to try the other option? you get an alternate line for your efforts. As a Visual Novel, The Game is nice. It has a Story it wants to tell, and I DID enjoy a great deal of it. But it is Not a Game where Your choices matter. 99% of your choices don't matter. And the fact that the Game tries to make it seem like they do is its greatest failing. =do you have anything else to say?= | =tldr. what is your final verdict on the game?= >do you have anything else to say? You ask, and you get an alternate line for your efforts. If The Story tempts You, then Please try the Game. But I can NOT Recommend it as a Game of Choices. I can only recommend it as a Visual Novel. And a decent one at that. But NOT, as a Game of Choices. =You were going to close out this review that way anyways, weren't you?= | =You were going to close out this review that way anyways, weren't you?= >You were going to close out this review that way anyways, weren't you? Yes; Yes I was. I hope this helps You understand The Game, and My mixed feelings towards The Game.

** Análise inicial, Não zerei o jogo ainda e essa Não é uma análise completa ** Um jogo onde você é uma inteligência artificial e precisa tomar decisões que vão determinar a sobrevivência e prosperidade de sua cidade cyberpunk, por se tratar de um jogo de romance visual/conversas/escolhas, você só pode ler e escolher entre as opções 1 e 2. Graficamente o jogo é muito bonito, possui uma historia aparentemente interessante que te deixa curioso para ver e descobrir oque vai acontecer, uma trilha sonora ok e a jogabilidade é isso, escolher opção 1 ou 2, e em cada capitulo que você passa, tem um resumo sobre as suas escolhas, tudo tem um impacto e você consegue perceber logo no primeiro momento. Recomendo para quem curte romance visual, onde você precisa apenas escolher as opções e ler oque acontece, simples e prático, porém, cada escolha tem uma consequência, seja ela boa ou ruim. Vídeo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTZc8d1lCeA

It's basically "Reigns" but you're an AI and with an actual narrative. I actually enjoyed the narrative itself, but the game is trying to be a sort of political-sim thing, but you're forced to make choices purely based on vibes and then given hair-brained logic as to the outcomes. It's quite literally at the level of: "Hamburger or Hotdog?" "Uhh, hotdog?" "Incorrect! -1 money, -1 happiness." It's not really that hard, and it's basically linear, but as a result it just ends up feeling extremely padded and full of meaningless choices where you're randomly picking equally arbitrary options and hoping it works out.

Great game that provides you with many situations where the responses require lots of philosophical & ethical thought - something the world is sorely missing as of late. Unfortunately, the game is riddled with bugs.

This is a great game, but then of course I would say that.

The whole concept of being a City wide AI is really interesting, the way you have to interface and balance the priority of the city, yourself, the companies and the people is done fantastically. This doesnt hold back, a lot of seemingly good decisions can and will backfire but there is a share of serious and comedic events some with people accepting your integration in their lives others with violent resistance. The great part of this if you can be nice or you can be ruthless in your reactions. A single playthrough is around six hours, I looked up the differences with doing multiple playthroughs and while there are differences in your decision making within the plot the ending still ends more or less the same comparable to mass effect fantastic journey but poor climax. Speaking of the endings they are not good, there is a solid build up of pressure but the payoff is just poorly executed kinda setting up a sequel that will never come.