STONE

I really wanted to like this game, it looked quite promising at the beginning but it's just not a good game. I mean the story and artistic style is awesome and all but that just doesn't cut the mustard. Also I was surprised that there is a cinema with actual early 1900s silent films and good amount of decent songs in the record store. I don't understand why would you make a semi-open world game and not give the player any initiative to explore it. Other than that, the overall gameplay is like a walking simulator that's 80% cutscenes and dialogues. Overall, the game feels unfinished, maybe if there were more things to do it could be a good experience.

Usually, I sit and write about games that fuel me enough that I don’t need to think about what I’m writing down. So, I’ll either hate it or, more often than not, I’ll love it. It’s neither for STONE. But I’m writing this because I’d like it to have more reviews and interaction. STONE is clearly made and designed by people who are educated in and understand the various branches of art and art direction. Visually, it’s slightly barren compared to the gorgeous concept artwork provided in Extras. But it’s also incredibly indie. The hot pink really scarred my eyes, but it needed to be there. The pacing and progression are great despite the gameplay being non-existent like it’s a tech demo. The most stellar part of the game is the selection of licensed tracks that are on average a complete bop. Unlike the average indie adventure game, STONE’s plot is engaging and satisfying. The twists and turns in it are classy and subtle in the best way even though the dialogue is comparatively lacking. I can still pick out at least two distinct lines that were awesome (again, this is two more than the average indie). The supporting characters are well-developed, fleshy little things and yet this isn’t elevated within the game’s narrative or gameplay. My favourites were Smiley and Les. The public domain classic cinema available for players to sit down and watch (some at home, some in town) was a very cool and creative touch. The tagline “a hip hop stoner noir” would get some people pretty excited. It doesn’t feel like any of those things, or those components combined. I think that would let some people down. For video games, you can’t really use taglines to hook people like that unless it’s actually going to happen. Yet it’s impossible to deny that STONE is an art-aware game. But then again, it constantly feels like you’re walking through a bare-bones house, in a bare-bones town, and going through bare-bones dialogue. This is a personal issue, but as a boring old pom, I have needlessly high standards for Australian humour, and this did not scratch that itch. Outside of Stone, the voice acting is mediocre the way truly indie projects tend to be, and it’s like how an artsy but bland school project might be. I did appreciate the clear and relevant achievements. I’d recommend trying out the Developer Tour in Extras and checking out the aforementioned art as well. I love that all the social links and Steam link pop up on your PC browser, not the Steam overlay browser. Sadly, the glossary page is very misaligned on my laptop screen. All in all, well executed for an indie, but somewhat void of personality in-game compared to the amount of potential it showed behind the scenes. It made me feel slightly uncomfortable that I’m a sucker for polished indie games that have hilariously well-written dialogue and art direction such as the Frog Detective series. Because despite that series having barely any real viable plot, it still is enjoyed more widely. It’s unfortunate that even with an interesting and deep plot with so much potential, and great music, STONE must suffer from the lack of everything else.

[b]My Playtime:[/b] 1.4h (100% achievement, finished the game) [b]Grindy Achievement(s):[/b] No. [b]Optional Achievement(s):[/b] Yes (5 achievements). [b]Difficult Achievement(s):[/b] No. [h1]Intro[/h1] Rather than a game, [b]STONE[/b] feels more like a movie where you have to listen to people talking with minimal movements. It's a short game where you have to talk and move between places, with a lot of optional content to make up for its short playtime. [b]Pros:[/b] - Optional contents - Chapter selection for those who missed some achievements [b]Cons:[/b] - Boring story - It can be hard to find where to go next since some objects are only interactable once you are close to it [b]Specs[/b] Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 [h1]Should you buy this game?[/h1] [b]No.[/b] [i]It's too expensive and boring to buy.[/i] [hr][/hr] [h1]In-Depth Review[/h1] [h3]Visuals[/h3] [b]STONE[/b] is displayed in a simplistic 3D world where most characters are animals. The textures in the 3D models and objects are mostly simplified, with lighting that helps to create the atmosphere in some areas. It ends up giving a cute look to the game. [h3]Story[/h3] As a game that is focused on the story, dialogues are mostly bland and empty. The story is about Stone, a koala that is trying to find his lover. It was spread over several days where he tries to do an investigation by talking to several people. The problem is, this koala is only going back and forth to the same place every day after finding a flash of inspiration at night. Moreover, most dialogues don't seem to add new information to the investigation, making everything feels empty. The twist at the end might help to spice up the story a bit, but with how short and dragged out it has been, it ends up losing its charm. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1905839507 [h3]The Game[/h3] [b]Gameplay[/b] As I said before, the gameplay only revolves around walking around and talking to people. Stone walks very slowly, and you might even have to go to the far back to find the person that you are looking for. Combine it with the lack of identifiers that help you to figure out who to talk to next unless you are close to that person, and you'll be walking around the map just to find your target. Oh, and did I mention that you need to talk to them several times just to progress the story? You might think that you have finished talking to that person and head straight to the exit to speed up the gameplay, but it turns out that you still need to talk to that person again and have to turn back. You can't skip dialogues and the characters are talking slowly for their own good. I'm glad that there is a subtitle for those who have a hard time listening without it like me, but not being able to skip the dialogues after I finished reading the subtitle is too much, especially for a slow and boring story like this. I almost got asleep several times while playing because of it. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1905839479 [b]Additional Contents[/b] Strangely, the game seems to give a lot of additional content. It doesn't help to give more depth to the story, though, since the contents are only limited to some short, boring movies and a spa scene. There is also other content about a music store, but since I wasn't impressed with what I have been presented, I ended up ditching it and focused on the main story. To be honest, I think that they are useless and it would be better if it was integrated into the main story instead. [b]Length and Replayability[/b] I finished the game in 1.4h. You'll be offered some choices at times that will affect several dialogues afterward, but I don't find it's worth seeing it in another playthrough. The story itself is straightforward with some minor details from those choices. If you are an achievement hunter and missed some of the easily obtained achievements, there is a chapter select that spreads over several acts that last for several minutes. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] I don't know what to say about [b]STONE[/b]. From the price tag, I expected it to be a high-quality game, but it seems that the only good to note is its visuals, which only appeal to some people. The story is boring, and there isn't much to do apart from talking and moving around. Moreover, some gameplay decisions, such as the need to talk to people several times to advance the story, don't sit right with me, making me feel like I'm wasting my time with it. I ended up not liking it and thus couldn't recommend this game.

[h1] Disappointment [/h1] I really really wanted to like this game, I really did. Unfortunately despite the charm and obvious passion put into this project it just falls short in nearly every single aspect. STONE is basically a movie that you play through, with very light influence on the story and with very little to explore. Despite being less than 2 hour long, it was a legitimate struggle to get through at times because the story was just so uninteresting and the writing ranged from bad to average at best. The voice acting was not good and the way in which conversations played out seemed very unnatural and stiff most of the time. The graphics were bland and boring with absolutely nothing going for them which just added to the bland story and gameplay. I'm a big fan of walking sims and story based games but unfortunately this one just didn't do it for me. There were some positives to it though, mainly being the soundtrack and fact that you can watch a couple full length Australian classic movies in the theater which I thought was very cool. While full of passion, STONE falls flat and just isn't worth a play through, however with some fine tuning, I definitely think the developers can create a quality game in the future. For more reviews, follow my [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40795588/] curator page. [/url]

可步行的小品視覺小說 簡單的故事 明確的目標 選項只有對話不同並不會影響結局 且可單獨選擇小章節解特定成就 100%非常容易 聲音的部分令人驚艷 可以[b] 聽聲辨位!!! [/b] 章節完結的音樂也很好聽 竟然沒出原聲帶

Stone is a chill and enjoyable game that's perfect for a laid-back gaming session. The graphics are cool, and the story, especially the mystery surrounding Alex, adds an intriguing element. Controlling Stone is a breeze, and the soundtrack adds a nice vibe to the whole experience. It's like hanging out with a friend and going on a low-key adventure. If you're into relaxed gaming with a touch of mystery, Stone is worth checking out.

[h1] Genre [/h1] Ein kurzes Story Driven Adventure [h1] Story [/h1] Wir spielen einen Stoner Koala mit Flip Flops und Hawaii Hemd namens "Stone". Wir wachen eines Morgens auf und unser Freund Alex ist Spurlos verschwunden. Nach einem Anruf von einem Unbekannten, gehen wir davon aus das dieser Entführt wurde. Wir machen uns nun auf die Suche nach Alex [h1] Gameplay [/h1] Es gibt insgesamt 5 Kapitel + Epilog. Die Einzelnen Kapitel sind wiederrum in mehrere kleinere Teile aufgeteilt, diese sind alle sehr kurz gehalten. Im Prinzip gehen wir von Ort zu Ort und reden mit einer bestimmten Person oder untersuchen einen Gegenstand. In den Gesprächen haben wir immer jeweils 2 Antwort Möglichkeiten, diese ändern das Spiel aber nicht. Nach gut 1,5 - 2 Stunden ist man dann auch schon durch. Zwischendurch können wir auf der Map auch andere Orte besuchen um dort zu erkunden wie z.B. ins Kino gehen um dort einen Film anzuschauen (u.a. Night of the Living Dead) Die Musik & das Vocie Acting sind sehr gut gelungen [h1] Achievement Schwierigkeit 2/10 [/h1] Es gibt insgesamt 13 Erfolge. Die Erfolge sind sehr einfach zu bekommen. Die meisten bekommt man Automatisch beim durchspielen. Den Rest kann man durch Auswahl der Kapitel sehr schnell nachholen, falls man eines vergessen hat. Man muss im Prinzip einfach nur alle Akte + Epilog beenden. Zudem muss man in Akt 1 am Anfang in der Bar 2 bestimmte Dialog Optionen wählen und einen bestimmten Drink bestellen. Im Epilog muss man dann nochmal einen Drink in der Bar bestellen [h1] Pro/Contra [/h1] + Gute Story + Gute Musik + Gutes Voice Acting + Achievements + XBox 360 Controller Support - Preis ist etwas zu Hoch (die Hälfte hätte gereicht) [h1] Fazit [/h1] Ein doch recht nett gemachtes wenn auch sehr kurzes Story Driven Adventure mit gutem Voice Acting und guter Musik. Wer solche Story Spiele gerne mag, kann hier ruhig zuschlagen aber ich würde auf einen Sale warten 👑 Powered by HoI 4 Deu Curators group in German / English 👑⠀⠀⠀[list][*][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/30388691/] Follow Main group [/url][*][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40282064/] Follow Second group [/url][/list]

This is a very simplistic walking sim-ish mystery story which I was willing to cut some slack due to its obvious indie origins, but its just not any...good. I gave it a shot due to the Aussie angle and some The Big Lebowski dude wibes, but the story isn't interesting and while the humour isn't exactly terrible, it isn't chuckle inducing either. And the voice acting...the main character isn't bad IMO, but in general...it leaves something to be desired and the Alex character is downright bad (why does games/media insist on having characters named Alex or Sam??) And yeah; I finished it in less than 2 hours... Plus for Aussie slang, some Dude references and really easy achievements, if you're into that kind of thing. Its got some heart, and I'd like to be generous, but its a simple question: "Do you recommend this game?" No, I can't say that I do.

초반부 느낌 : 중년 남성의 하드보일드 탐정물 중반부에 접어들고 : 중년게이의 구차한 일상 초반은 조금 기대를 했지만 중반으로 가서 애인이 남자라는 사실을 알고 팍 식어버림....(우정이 아니고 사랑임) 짧은 시간에 엔딩 및 도전과제 100%를 딸 수 있다는게 그나마 위안거리 퍼리나 게이물을 좋아하거나 도전과제 수집목적이 아니면 비추, 외국어는 대사가 짧고 내용도 길지 않아 어느 정도 기본만 되면 플레이 지장은 없긴 하다만.....

2/10 this isnt a detective game, its a walking simulator with story also why does this game want to get past my internet firewall?