"Well, that was okay, I guess" was my immediate thought upon finishing this game. It’s definitely not a terrible game by any means, but it’s also not really anything too special.
First, I didn’t quite understand the look/aesthetic they were trying to go for, as many elements of the game clash quite a bit with each other. It seemingly takes place in this authoritative, almost Soviet-inspired country, but then it also looks a lot like Western America and has very American-inspired elections? It also claims to take place in the year 1996, but outside of the designs of the vehicles and SOME of the music (I’ll get to that later), it doesn’t really lean into that aesthetic THAT much, and when it does, it’s not really very good-looking.
On that note, the graphics, animations, and character designs are certainly of indie game quality, and not in a very good way. I kept trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this is the best they could do, as, like I said, it’s an indie game, but there were many points where the animations really took me out of some moments of the game, especially more sad or tense moments. I even joked while playing that the graphics, character designs, and animations were ugly enough that it felt like this game could be in the same universe as Hello Neighbor.
Speaking of things like this, there’s one song in the soundtrack that, without spoiling it, plays most often when meeting with this girl you occasionally tag along with named Zoe. This song is genuinely terrible in my opinion and does not fit the aesthetic or time period that the game was seemingly going for at all. I joked with a friend while playing this that the track sounded like the stereotypical “millennial burger place” music.
Outside of these issues, the game is relatively decent, though. The characters themselves all have their own individual stories that all come together into a good, albeit short, plot. I also like how this story unfolds gameplay-wise, with each individual player character you get to make choices for.
Despite the issues I mentioned before, SOME of the aesthetic did land with me though. I enjoyed quite a bit of the “synthwave” style songs in the soundtrack, and while there weren’t really any true standouts, they were still good songs. I also quite liked the specific environment design for the border crossing area.
I don’t regret playing the game (especially considering I got it for something like $3), but I just feel as though the game’s presentation really held it back from being something that I probably could’ve really enjoyed.
