Norman's Great Illusion

«Я могу составить меню, исходя из тех магазинов, которые посещаю, со скидками, и вы поймете, что жить можно! Сбалансированное (питание), но диетическое! Вы станете моложе, красивее и стройнее! Макарошки всегда стоят одинаково!» Наталья Соколова (с)

Before reaching the first ending, I tried to explore the game as much as I could. However, almost the whole room is not related with the game. So why did the developer put the apartment structure draft here? Only the chairs and TV can be interacted with the character. The mini-game sucks. The developer has explained, “…mini-game "On the work" reflects the stress that many people experience in their workplaces”. Excuse me, but games are not supposed to impress players by literally torturing people! Actually, the two mini games are the mandatory and indispensable parts of gameplay. From function point of view, they are not mini at all. It is said that there are seven endings. I tried two of them and couldn’t continue anymore. Your endings depend on the choices you make in the game. But at the same time, you must endure the mini games again and again. Unfortunately, even I made different choices, most of the dialogues remained same, which left no impulse for other endings. I like the theme of game, and its arts design as well. But it played like a just sketch which should be expanded greatly. You can’t call it a political or social game by just putting some pollical slogans in the game.

The dialogue is atrocious. It's supposed to be simulating the monotony of the daily grind in capitalism but it's so cartoonish and off-scale that none of it translates. Who is this guy spending $90 a day? Game makes a lot more sense if you imagine he has a coke addiction or a gambling problem. What is the point of making us go to the closet every morning and every night? Are jobs more interesting and meaningful under communism, or do they just not have engineering firms? This guy's wife is a poorly designed robot and his child feels sorry for him and is a mole for the government.

I originally posted a negative review of this game, however I went back to play it some more and have changed my mind on it. My main gripe when I first played was that the working mini-game was too unforgiving. The game entails solving advanced maths sums while under a strict time limit and I really struggled with it. Upon replaying, I've realised that the point of the mini-game is to basically be impossible. You're supposed to barely be able to scrape by in it because that's what it's like working a gruelling job in a society that doesn't value you. The only way to "beat" the mini-game is by cheating and pausing the game to work out the sum in your own time. Just like in real life, the only way to succeed in capitalism is by cheating. Looking at the game as something that is to be "won" will ensure that you don't enjoy it. You're not supposed to succeed in the mini-game, you're supposed to lose continuously. I'm actually quite a fan of this game. I really agree with the political stance it holds and I appreciate seeing it in a video game, which is a medium I generally associate with deluded right wingers. It essentially proves the point that capitalism, as it is, only benefits the 1% and that middle-income earners are complicit in the exploitation of the working class by their complacency. "Sure I might only be middle class, but at least I'm not working class!" The player character and his wife in reminded me of my parents. It's a cool viewpoint to have and I like to see it represented in video games. I also quite like the music. I still feel like the game is quite imperfect and I think that the maths mini-game isn't fun enough to encourage playing the game for an extended period but I feel like the developers had a clear vision of how they wanted the game to play out and I respect that. I completely understand why it's so divisive but for the price I would argue that it's an experience worth trying if you have an open mind.

Не рекомендую т.к. мне не понравилось управление и миниигры. [spoiler] Первые две мини игры убили всё желание играть. Ладно там машина, но когда я обнаружил что нужно стрелочками выбирать цифры. Это меня добило. Не того я ожидал увидеть. Видя теги симулятор и политическая. И визуальная новелла в описании. Нет желания нарабатывать навык выбирания цифр стрелочками, у меня и так уже есть аналогичный навык набирания на клавиатуре. [/spoiler]

There are not many games that communicate that kind of social message. While picturing life in a cartoonish way, it also shows its real aspects. Just look around and you'll see it: Norman's great illusion is the great illusion of the majority of people in the developed countries, and actually almost anywhere. Some of the gameplay aspects, animation and a few other things may be frustrating sometimes (just like real life lol), but all of that is not so important in comparison with the game's message

Hatte es schon einmal installiert, kurz angespielt und war nicht gerade begeistert von dem Spiel. Jetzt erneut rausgekramt und das selbe Feeling kam wieder. Träge Dialoge, frustrierende 2 Minigames und ein stetig gleicher Spielablauf. Umsonst wäre es in Ordnung, aber für 2,49€ ist es nicht zu empfehlen.

Вообще от игры ничего не ждал, но очень хорошо зашло на несколько часов. Есть дом (завтракаем, ужинаем, одеваемся, раздеваемся), семья (общаемся за завтраком и ужином), работа (решаем простенькие математические задачки), машина (мини-игра успей кликнуть), сюжетный выбор и случайные события. И в целом, затянуло на отлично. Жаль только что с домом взаимодействовать нельзя, с членами семьи тоже, линейка выборов за лоялиста горааааааздо сложнее, чем за революционера. По итогу, могу сказать что в этой игре разработчики продемонстрировали больше потенциал задумки. А задумка хороша. Жду второй части или чего нибудь по мотивам от этих же разработчиков. И да, это тру инди. Определенно рекомендую к покупке.

Türkiye de hayatta nasıl kalınır simülasyonu ev okul çocuklar her türlü giderle mücadele etme ay sonunu getirme stratejileri sevdim

Sinceramente, este juego esta demasiado verde, es casi injugable, no tiene sentido los minijuegos, lo único que tiene bueno son los cromos. No puedo recomendarlo, ni aun que estuviera en rebajas. Nota 0,5/10 No recomendado. Precio no recomendado.