
Magic and science. Past and future. But what of the present?
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Languages: English**languages with full audio support
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[i]Snapshot[/i] is a kinetic visual novel developed and published by Studio Madeleine Chai. You take on the role of an unnamed heiress of an ancient magical family who uses a special camera to take instant pictures to uncover the past. Having fallen in love with science and all its wonders, you have mostly abandoned magic and run away from your parents and the responsibilities of being the only heir to pursue a scientific study. Thus, you travel to places where famous people of science, such as Newton and Einstein, once frequented and you use your camera to capture moments of their past. You could say the camera is a combination of both technology and science. I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that. As [i]Snapshot[/i] is a kinetic novel, you just play through the story. However, there is a bit of gameplay involved. At certain locations, you'll be prompted to take a snapshot of it, getting a glimpse into the past. Other than that, the entire cast is English voice acted and you can view some of the snapshots you take. There is a bit of a soundtrack, too. Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my critique. I found out about [i]Snapshot[/i] going through my Twitter feed and following indie devs and all. Then, I looked at the Steam store page and figured why not give it a go? Right away, I found myself really interested in the story. It begins with a description about science, but the story doesn't get too bogged down with it. Once I got into playing as the MC, I found it interesting when she would interact with various NPCs, such as the fellow Cambridge student or the Canadian father of two who would talk about how his children want to pursue science but yet, he feels that history is just as important. I feel like these interactions ended up opening the MC's eyes about science, and I found it interesting how she would reflect upon her past, of how she abandoned her magical family to pursue science, mainly due to her godfather's influence. Especially, I really loved how the story ended, as it brought the MC's issues to a close although for spoiler purposes, I won't reveal what it is. XD As for the writing, I felt it was well paced and I didn't find any typos or anything of the sort. On the art, I really liked the background art. The devs went for more of a watercolor style, which I felt was really suitable for this particular visual novel, as it delves into the past, science and magic. There were one or two tracks throughout the novel, I believe. Yes, this may come as a bit of a surprise, but personally, I felt it was fine, especially since this is a short visual novel and there wasn't a lot of mood variety. To me, I felt like the story was meant more for being in a reflective, somber state of mind, which I enjoyed. [i]Snapshot[/i] stood out for me because it felt very different from other visual novels that I've read. Overall, would I recommend [i]Snapshot[/i]? If you're looking to read a short story (literally, a short story) that will make you think and you like the whole science vs. magic discussion, then yes, I would. For its first visual novel on Steam, Studio Madeleine Chai has really come out with a wonderful story and I look forward to any future works. Also, [i]Snapshot[/i] is a free visual novel with a Steam achievement, so there really is no reason not to give it a try. ^^
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Hours played at review time, across 34 reviews with recorded playtime.
my play through here (Reading out the non-voice acted portions): https://youtu.be/W7iDIgv5_dc This is such a bittersweet game and as someone approaching the cusp of 30 myself, the midlife crisis tones are definitely understandable and very real. The voice acting is pretty well done and even though there's not much dialogue the creators do a great job of telling the story. I'll avoid any spoilers, but if you don't like things that might make you sad this might not be for you, but it's a very well done introspective tale of memories and aging. The importance of cherishing the present is real. There's also a free achievement if you complete the game.
What a bunch of blablabla bla bla BLA. I don't care about any of this! Pretentious bullshittery taken to the max! Please don't make another game. Worst visual novel I've ever played other than Moe Era (which was the only one I had to skip through cause it was so utterly boring and irrelevant to my life.) Oh and of all things to namedrop you choose Narnia, Harry Potter and Bill Nye... makes me PUKE PS: HE OR SHE, NOT THEY! LEARN ENGLISH FFS!
Great game overall! I'd recommend to anyone who's a fan of visual novels. Keep in mind, though, that this is not so much a game as it is a novel. Since it is a novel, the story is (arguably) the most important component. I won't spoil anything, and just say that it's really good! The writing is beautiful :) Snapshot's environment is also very well done. Scene transitions, music choices, sound effects and the interactive component are done in a way that makes the story immersive and enjoyable. Great job devs!
A FREE Kinetic Novel, but is it Visually Impaired friendly? Text to Speech? Press V and there you go. Full controller support? Yes indeed. Can get 100% Achievements? Just finish the novel. Did I mention it was FREE? Might have done.
I just couldn't get myself focus on the story or enjoy it. I am sure there might be some people liking this of course and I hope to see more games from this studio but I can't say I liked this, sorry.
Got bored after 10 minutes and the voice acting didn't help
This is a nice visual novel if you're looking for some more perfect games in your library, but the plot was just too boring. It's more than an okay work for a game jam (I suppose novels for it are developed at a very quick pace) although I couldn't bring myself to enjoy it. I'm hoping the team will play around with this concept and later will write something more entertaining. Anyway, I'm not going to discourage you from playing — the novel is free and so short, you can read it in less than an hour. [quote]🌟 If you want to see more reviews by me, check out my curator page → [b][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45309733/]Anna's Misadventures[/url][/b] 💛[/quote]
This game was the longest thing I've read in the past year. The plot was okay and the voice acting was fine, except for the first dude. He sounded like he was high.
5/10 Бесплатная визуальная новелла, предлагающая интересный вызов - историю, в которой переплетены магия и наука. Так, по крайней мере, казалось. Удивительное. Эта история может доставить вам удовольствие, но целевая аудитория у нее довольно специфичная. Вас, помимо, собственно, игрового жанра, должна интересовать наука. Причем не какая-то конкретная, а скорее философия науки. Картина мира, которая по кусочкам собирается из научных принципов. Не стоит обманываться персонажами на скриншотах. Героиня у игры всего одна, и весь сюжет, умещающийся в 40 минут, - это ее одинокое и задумчивое паломничество в наш мир, где доминирует научная картина мира. И лица на скриншотах - случайные прохожие на этом пути. Да что там, половина игры - внутренние монологи, просто с симпатичной фоновой картинкой, без всякой динамики. Противоположный мир - мир магии - в игре показан крайне условно, за ним не формируется никакой альтернативной системы. Я бы даже сказал, что это сюжетный прием, и магический мир - это просто метафора беззаботного детства, когда вокруг происходит постоянное волшебство, чудеса. И, к сожалению, героиня не смогла открыть новые, взрослые чудеса в мире научном, найдя там только меланхолию и безысходность. Плюсы. - Самое классное в игре - это то, как научные законы и принципы трактуются в повседневном мировосприятии. Например, можно жить, следуя трем законам Ньютона. - Визуальный и музыкальный ряд создают соответствующую атмосферу, с одной стороны тягучую и депрессивную, с другой - способствующую восприятию тез метафор и концепций, что предлагает игра. - Хороший повод подкачать английский - местами лексика непростая и, очевидно, включает специальные термины. Минусы. - Главный минус - коротко и максимально статично. Всех второстепенных персонажей из игры можно убрать без всякой потери смысла, ведь стержневой конфликт этой истории внутри самой героини. - Магия в игре условна, с таким же успехом героиня могла прийти из мира искусства, творчества, правого полушария, в общем. Бесплатность и быстротечность игры компенсирует ее специфичность, но не говорите, что я вас не предупреждал. У игры половина отзывов негативная, потому что рецензенты ее просто не поняли - сама концепция игры плохо подходит для жанра визуальной новеллы и его поклонников. А если вам интересна философия науки, и вы не готовы погружаться в депрессию, почитайте лучше "Логикомикс" - его главный герой является во всех смыслах позитивистом.
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Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.