Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher

This is a short, unique visual novel and a very good Ace Attorney-like. While it does offer some education about certain philosophers, it's more about breaking down arguments than philosophy. Considering it is free I'd like to give it a 10/10. However, the intense disrespect and misunderstanding of accountants and what they actually do is incendiary and so I will instead give this a 9/10. Nobody would say "there are infinite numbers between 0 and 1" and claim they know that because they're an accountant.

Worth your time.

I'm a philosophy undergraduate. When they introduced Kant, I said, out loud and to myself: "Oh, god. You're joking. No." I have an exam on Kant in a week and you bet I know more about his categorical imperatives than three weeks of lectures have taught me. Thank you Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher for helping me study

Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher is a game about debates that doesn't hide its Ace Attorney inspirations. I liked it. It looks very amateur, and the writing isn't the best, but it's entertaining enough and it doesn't outstay its welcome. I like the core concept of arguing with distilled dumbed-down versions of great philosophers. I'd say it's totally worth your time for the low price of free, and also this made me interested in the sequel which differs by not having extremely horrendous art.

This could really use more language versions. A great short game that everyone will have a real life benefit playing. Not only teaches you the basics of spotting fallacies in an argument, but is also a fine review of some of the most impactful philosophers. There is not much "gameplay" in it tho - more like an interactive story, still enjoyable. Hard recommend.

[b]TLDR[/b] A clever (and free) but very short philosophy debate game with interesting yet shallow argument mechanics and a thin story. [13/20⭐, 3h🏅, 2/5💡] [b]Context[/b] Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher is a philosophy-centered debate game in which you argue with great thinkers in search of the meaning of morality. This is a (free) Steam re-release of a 2013 Flash game. I appreciate the effort to build a game around philosophical debate, and I generally enjoy the mechanics, but there’s not enough content to make it truly satisfying (I’ll have to check out Ace Attorney at some point). [b]Writing[/b] You play as a father — the non-subtle, eponymous “Socrates” — who after a car accident involving his daughter, finds himself in a kind of limbo. To return both of them to the land of the living, he must debate famous philosophers about the nature of morality. But don’t let the (apparently) heavy premise scare you, the tone is lighthearted; death is treated casually, and no one seems particularly troubled by the situation. Unfortunately, the overarching plot is rather weak, and the conversations with the daughter often veer into cringeworthy territory. Since rhetoric and logical structure are central to the mechanics, the game adopts a more serious tone during the debates. These sections are generally clear, well-written, and do a decent job of presenting simplified versions of philosophical positions without completely misrepresenting them. [b]Aesthetics[/b] The visuals are simple, hand-drawn, and in line with early-2010s Flash aesthetics. The soundtrack is pretty decent, energetic with light “battle” themes accompanying debates, though these could become repetitive in longer sessions. There is no voice acting. [b]Gameplay[/b] The core mechanics revolves around winning debates by identifying weaknesses in your opponent’s claims and presenting counter-arguments. It is an interesting approach (apparently inspired by Ace Attorney-style confrontations, though I haven’t played those), but the available options are so limited that the challenge is never substantial. As a result, complex philosophical issues are reduced into a small set of predefined arguments and rebuttals, although I understand this is needed to make the game accessible. You can lose debates by accumulating too many mistakes, but failure simply restarts the encounter without consequences. The game auto-saves, and you can also manually save. [b]Value[/b] This is a short game, it took me less than 3h to beat the 6 levels/debates. There is a single progress slot, but you can revisit previous chapters. Achievements are solely tied to game progression. This is a free game, so well worth checking out. [quote][i]For more puzzle-game reviews and curated lists check out the [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43326007-The-Clueless-Adventurer-Puzzle-Trove/]Puzzle Trove[/url].[/i][/quote]

I do like it! Very nice game to play if you like the Ace Attorney games, or are overall a visual novel enthusiast. The only thing I can find it in myself to comment on is to say that this game portrays John Stuart Mill as a much better person according to current-day moral standards than he probably would be lmao (and I say this because I think that is what they're evaluating him on). Otherwise I enjoyed the 4-ish hours it took to complete (I left it on for an extra hour or so because yeah I had to do things. Live Laugh Love) !

It's basically Ace Attorney but with Philosophy instead of Law, and without the investigations: just the debates. I mean that greatly as a compliment, but there is also the signature feeling of being 2 steps ahead and screaming because the argument you presented DOES prove your point, but the player-character doesn't see it. Also, there is an AA reference in the game, and I felt so validated in my comparison!