NUTS

GOOD: Fans of Firewatch will love it! Much like Firewatch, it is absolutely stunning (in a different way, but man do those colors pop), a heavy emphasis is placed on how it feels to exist in nature, far away from bustling human civilization, you have a single point of contact (Nina, over the phone), and a dark mystery that makes the isolation feel frightening at times (though I can report there are no jump scares). I enjoyed the camera monitoring gameplay; it did feel repetitive at a couple of points, but things were kept fresh by, for example, needing pictures at certain timestamps, or having to use the camera in your pocket. I did wish the cameras had a slightly wider angle or that the squirrel routes weren't quite so long, but it's a short game, so the repetitiveness didn't bother me too much - and at times, the squirrels themselves wowed me with the jumps they made and the paths they took. The puzzle aspects were very easy; I only got stuck once, in the last level, because I couldn't find [spoiler]the gas can[/spoiler]. BAD: There's a bit less to explore than Firewatch, and while this game is slightly less cynical, as a result, Nina has less personality and charisma than Firewatch's Delilah, though hilariously enough she does inadvertently imply a few times that the safety of the forest is more important than your life. Also, much like Firewatch, the advertising for this game is just a little bit deceptive (you're not solving a mystery so much as listening to Nina complain about one) and the story leaves something to be desired near the end; without spoiling any details, I'll just say that I had to work hard to suspend my disbelief during the final chapter, and the game ends on a massive cliffhanger. It seems like a single cutscene where Nina tells you how things turned out could have fixed it, but there's just nothing, and without this cutscene, what happens next is up to interpretation, though in my opinion it is strongly implied that [spoiler]Nina and Simon were both killed by the company that wants to build the dam, and any victory won by the player character taking the journal back to the Viago Institute, [i]if[/i] they make it back alive, will be rendered hollow as the flood has destroyed the forest we were fighting so hard to protect.[/spoiler] Kind of ruins the whole experience. There's a lot to love about this game, but for a 3-4 hour playtime and a story that cuts off right as it's getting good, $25 is just ridiculous. Happily, I got my copy for $3 when it was on sale, so I don't feel nearly as cheated as I would have had I paid full price. If it seems interesting to you, wait for a price drop, and keep your expectations low.

Paid to be a squirrel stalker, almost die on several occasions and Noah's ark your way out of a thunderstorm. This is way above my pay, and all Nina cares about are the photos. I will be suing her next week.

Jogo com mensagem pró-ambiental e misteriozinho gostoso de jogar. Curtinho, mas tempo bem gasto. Esquilo.

A good game. I like the concept, it could work great with other investigative settings too.

Хорошее недолгое приключение. Игра где-то посередине между медитативностью и дикой одержимостью к белкам. Прошел за пару вечеров. По духу немного напомнило Firewatch. Проходить было приятно. Геймплей простой и понятный, но несмотря на это каждая глава ощущается по новому, бросая новый вызов игроку. Нет чувства рутины, а если и появляется то потому что скорее всего игрок делает кое что не так. По крайней мере я на одну из глав потратил слишком много времени из-за своей невнимательности, которая у меня накопилась на 3-м часу прохождения игры. Когда надо было уже отправиться спать, а я нет я слежу за белками)) Непродолжительность игры это явно ее плюс. Очень лаконичное и понятное приключение. Сделать на одну главу больше или меньше и уже будет не так хорошо. Игру советую если любите необычные тематики. В данной игре мы наблюдаем за белками, какая игра еще может это предложить? Так же подойдет тем, кто ищет игру на пару вечеров. Пройти и на следующий день уже погрузится во что-то другое.

Смешанный обзор. Игра конечно на любителя - расставил камеры, посмотрел записи и по новой. Но тут не в этом главная проблема - игру можно пройти за 2 часа, а геймплея в ней практически нет. Вишенкой является отсутствие адекватной концовки. Сколько нагнали саспенса ради такого пука. Ну и цена - это вообще облака. Я рад, что купил именно с 90% скидкой - больше она точно не стоит.

really great and fun game, but it's a bit too easy to hit one button and lose an entire save file :< still a beautiful game with cool mechanics and a few surprising twists!

A short, evocative experience. Very much a game that knows exactly what it wants to do and uses every element in its design to achieve it.