Road 96 🛣️

-Tyrak, Sonya... -Çav Bella çaldım diye ev sahibi kovdu. -Polis lastik değiştirtirdi. -Suça sürüklendim. -Çöp Karıştırdım. -"Terör" örgütüne katıldım. -Tek bir kanal var. -Bütün gençlik ülkeden kaçmaya çalışıyor. Aşırı gerçekçi bir Türkiye simülasyonu tavsiye ederim.

For the record I had some extremely funny moments playing this, but I think unless you're willing to approach this game with some light-heartedness you're going to be disappointed. I think I would compare this game to be a little like Detroit Become Human where there's a lot of joy to be had being told a story, even if you know how it ends, and that storytelling can feel really awkward and frustrating if you the listener feel as though you're putting in more effort than the speaker. At the time of writing this review Route 96 is rated as "Very Positive" and whilst im not writing this to be the 10th dentist, I do really think you will get out of this game whatever you put into it, but Route 96 will do absolutely zero work to meet you anywhere except its own sophomoric terms. I think Route 96 is able to create and sustain a strong sense of mood and you can easily pick up on that from the trailers and screenshots but the game absolutely throws the baby out with the bathwater and expects you to be there dressed and ready, mop and bucket in hand, ready to clean the mess up. Whilst there are definitely certain specifics on what I found poorly done, what's probably the most disappointing about Route 96 is that it just simply isn't a game about choices or consequences, no matter how many times I ran the timer out on whatever tedious mini-game it had me do, I would always be given another 90 seconds to finish it. No matter how many times I tried to do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, Route 96 won't let you leave the stage until you've said your lines. This all honestly wouldn't be so bad, mind you, if the writing also had any thought put into it at all. I'd love to be able to discuss it here like it made any sense beyond the vague and barebones presentation of "Cops bad but sometimes good" and "Protest good but sometimes bad" Similarly, "Authoritarianism bad" and "Democracy good" These are simple and sensible statements that Route 96 decided it doesn't want to explore or think about, it just wants to yell them at you whilst the big door with "Go Vote!" spray painted on it hits you on the way out. The characters are painfully simple that they seriously distract from some of the nicer moments when the game manages to be charmingly scenic, that the games writing so often poor is one thing, but that the dialogue is also voiced I spent so much time wishing the game would shut up. And that was the crux of my time with Route 96, I felt I was so insistent for the game to interact with me I was willing to act like a child and misbehave in front of it hoping if I pouted hard and long enough it would maybe speak to me rather than at me. I had fun with Route 96, though more like having fun at it than with it. For a game that's meant to be about those we meet along the way, this is definitely not a game I want to be stuck in the car with.