The Gap

The Gap is a walking simulator / puzzle game where you explore an apartment and various other rooms clicking on items to collect memories. Certain times as you click on items you will be transported to another reality where you are in a small area and have to solve a small puzzle, such as crack a password to a phone or computer. As you collect all your memories, eventually you will solve and crack the main password to your computer and find out the ultimate secret to your existance. The game time to complete is highly dependent on how fast you solve the game's puzzles. It took me 2.5 hours to finish the game. + At times, the atmosphere of the game is quite beautiful. The game world is well made in general. + The core gameplay idea is original. +/- The story is very interesting and well thought out, but you will have to deep dive and research on forums to figure out most of what is going on. During the game the story isn't explained well to the player. It is difficult to piece together the story when you are constantly diving into different timelines receiving small 1-3 minute snippets of various conversations. +/- The voice acting is pretty well done, although at times it seems a bit forced and the actors are reading off of cue cards. The conversations do not feel real or organic. Also the writing for the characters does not do justice to the interesting deep story at hand. The writing for the dialog feels very amateurish at times. - The game is short for the high asking price, although the game does regularly go on sale for a huge discount, like 70% off. - The first hour of the game is a convoluted mess with no real instructions, you are basically clicking on everything room after room trying to figure out what is going on. - The sense of exploration is totally lost in this game, as you are constantly confined to small little rooms or areas. - Several of the password puzzles are an irritating guessing game, putting in random things you see around on the apartment, or something you read on the back of someone's shirt at a concert venue... - The characters in the game look cheap. They are designed as washed out ghost figures, very bland and boring to stand there and listen to them talk, with huge blotches of text thrown around in random places. This gets tiresome and feels cheap especially during the last 30 minute end game sequence. For those that want to experience an interesting Sci-Fi story, you will probably enjoy it. However I found the actual gameplay interface sorely lacking and bland. I feel this game would highly benefit from a big budget total remake. If interested, wait for a deep discount. Overall: 5/10

[b] رحلة في دهاليز الذاكرة [/b] يحاول يجمع شتات ذكرياته المبعثرة في عوالم وأزمنة مختلفة الفكرة إنك ما تمشي في خط مستقيم .. كأنك تقرأ كتاب صفحاته مو مرقمة عشان تفهم وش اللي صار التصميم البصري كان جذاب و طرحهم للمواضيع الطبية و النفسية كان عكس المتوقع و ناضج بالعاده الالعاب تتناولها بسطحية اذ كنت تفضل السرد الواضح او التوجيه ممكن تحس نفسك تايه ⭐3\5 | Arabize It مع العلم فيه فريق معرب اللعبة

《The Gap》（心隙）是一款带一点解谜玩法，但主要还是在叙事的“步行模拟”游戏。 整个游戏起于“Amber”和“Joshua”两个人的一场争吵，而之后我们才知道，我们以第一人称视角观察的主角是Joshua，并且由于某种原因陷在了某种虚实相间的空间之中。除此之外，还有一些神秘的纸条，说什么可以通过特定的物品触发“既视感”，还提到“记忆”和“平行现实”之类的东西。 如果你是和我一样，连商店页都没有仔细读就直接开始了游戏，那么看到上面这些之后，你可能也会和我一样感到一头雾水。在到处点点看看之后，我才开始对本作的大致玩法有一点概念：主角正在试图通过记忆刺激的方式，进入不同时间的“平行现实”，从而寻找某种“解药”。每个“平行现实”是一个大场景，里面不仅包含叙事信息。而某些物品则能够让主角进入更小的“记忆”场景，有些记忆中单纯包含对话等叙事信息，而有些记忆中则包含一个小谜题或者其它轻量级的玩法，需要正确执行某些操作才算“完成”，比如准确选定记忆中出现的某样东西等。 本作主要就是靠各个不同时间点的“平行现实”内的物品（文字资料、聊天记录等等）和记忆进行[b]碎片化叙事[/b]，而且时间点也不是按顺序排列的，所以一开始乱是正常的。 最近刚玩了一个以“填补记忆空洞”为核心玩法的游戏《[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2259330/Mind_Diver/]潜意者[/url]》，有几位好友就把我往这个游戏引。在我看来，本作的解谜成分相比叙事成分还是比较少，谜题设计也较为简单浅显。还有一些玩家提到本作比较像《[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/501300/What_Remains_of_Edith_Finch/]艾迪芬奇的记忆[/url]》，我个人认为玩法“步行模拟”确实比较相似，但叙事的内核还是不一样的。 还有玩家将本作和《[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/206440/To_the_Moon/]去月球[/url]》作对比，但其实我觉得本作和与《去月球》同系列的《[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1182620/Impostor_Factory/]影子工厂[/url]》有更多共同点，都是以碎片化，甚至有点莫名其妙的方式去叙事。最后我玩完本作的反应，也比较不幸地和我刚玩完《影子工厂》的反应类似：有点懵，而且不是因为剧情很震撼所以懵，而是因为没太理解。 首先我要说的是，本作虽然叙事顺序很乱，但是表层故事应该还是足够清晰的，我基本上还是理解了这一部分：[spoiler]Joshua和Amber两人在大学认识并相爱，但在2029年，Amber被确诊出不治之症：神经疾病“亨廷顿病”，只剩下大约10到15年的寿命。但巧合的是，Joshua正好是神经科学领域的科学家，为了给Amber寻找“解药”，他从研究脑科学，到志愿给自己注射可能可以控制记忆相关神经，但具有极高风险的纳米机器人，最后直接开始研究“量子跃迁”、“平行世界”和“时间穿越”。然而最后，这种执念和纳米机器人带来的副作用让其无暇陪伴Amber最后的时光，也没有能力抚养自己的女儿Mia。[/spoiler] 不过让我个人不太理解的还是本作的结局： [spoiler]显然对于Joshua看到的场景，有很多解释的方式，我能想到的就有三种：第一种解释是Joshua在注射了纳米机器人之后，除了失忆症状之外，还让自己看到了来自过去记忆的逼真“现实”，并将其误解为所谓的“平行世界”，于是愈加“走火入魔”；第二种解释是Joshua的理论有一部分正确，他最终也成功找到了“解药”——“control nanobots”，控制纳米机器人，但为时已晚；第三种解释是Joshua的理论甚至到“平行宇宙”和“时空穿越”的那一块都是对的，他通过某种方式真的实现了意识的跃迁，挽救了自己在某些平行宇宙内的家庭。 虽然我也没有仔细研究本作的文本和暗示，但我感觉本作可能并没有给出一个准确的答案。最终结局有两个，但前面有一段是共同的：有另一个“Joshua”声称，只要主角选择留在记忆空间中，他就可以去拯救自己的家庭。 如果选择留下，那么“Joshua”会感谢主角，并称主角为“Jay”，而这也是在2045年电脑上联系现在这个主角的存在，之后主角则在“出口”关闭后，在看起来像是展示了无限平行宇宙的面板中，选择了一个“Joshua”进行联系，似乎预示着某种“循环”。有文字显示，Joshua在Amber死后，将自己的脑图（应该可以算是“意识”）上传到了某个服务器中，难道我们在操纵的主角就是这一份意识吗？这个结局看上去符合“Joshua一切的努力终有成效”的解释，但为什么Jay需要留在记忆空间/平行宇宙中，才能完成这样的计划呢？会不会就连这些也只是Joshua幻想的一部分呢？ 如果选择离开，“Joshua”会大骂主角，随后主角会在家里醒来，看起来是从昏迷中醒来的。此时Amber刚刚离世，可能是忏悔于自己一直以来对Amber和女儿Mia的忽视，Joshua想要去联系女儿，继续生活，但在他找到电话之前，在女儿打来的电话铃声中，黑暗再次席卷了他，而女儿带着哭腔的询问最终无人应答。这个结局的篇幅感觉比上一个结局要长，不知道是不是暗指这更接近“真结局”，至于具体发生了什么，解释就更多了，Joshua可能终于意识到自己所做的都是无用功，摆脱了“脑内空间”，但却又昏迷或是死了，或者他干脆就是在自己的记忆或者幻想中死去的。[/spoiler] 在这种“虚实交错”的叙事当中，最引人讨论，但是也最难看出来的，自然就是[spoiler]哪些是真实，哪些是虚幻[/spoiler]了，这也是上面几种解释最核心的差别。《影子工厂》也是因为这样，所以相对《去月球》和《寻找天堂》这两部作品要更加晦涩一些。如果编剧是想暗示其中某一种解释是对的，那我承认我确实是没有看懂，而我个人感觉更可能的是[spoiler]编剧实际上确实就没打算写一个明确的解释，搞留白，搞开放式结局[/spoiler]，这也......可以吧，毕竟本来就是一个很“意识流”的作品，但如果是这样的话，我这种没有啥文学鉴赏能力的人就不发表自己的拙见了。 总之确实是一次很独特的体验，欢迎在评论区找我讨论，能给我答疑解惑一下更好。

This totally went under my radar. Think of Ether One, Tacoma, Dear Esther more or less as gameplay. Wonderful narration and mysterious story, close to perfect voice acting, fresh visuals and good graphics. Interesting story. Attention to detail (handwriting, texts, items). Recommend

[h1][b] TLDR: The Gap is close to greatness, but the way the plot is presented leaves a lot to be desired. It does have a good message and gameplay elements. [/b] [/h1] [h1]PROS: [/h1] ➕Good message - spending time with those you love ➕Interesting multiverse concept ➕Clever and subtle puzzles [h1]CONS: [/h1] ➖Story is a bit far-fetched and the climax is not great ➖Voice acting doesn’t feel…. ”Natural” [h1] [b] Content (Game world/Narrative) – [6/10] [/b] [/h1] The game world is presented in a first-person view, in various different locations, but mostly takes place through smaller enclosed areas as you explore memories. There is some decent interaction within the world, but unfortunately, much of it is deliberately jumbled. I get the concepts of steering the player to only relevant items and also from the loss of memory plot device, but the game world does have some issues if you crave deep exploration. Still good though. The plot I found to be decent…but a bit far-fetched. It’s just contingent on too many seemingly impossible factors that have to occur for it to make sense, namely [spoiler]quantum computers and parallel universes[/spoiler]. The game does impart a good message upon the player once you reach the endings - how spending time with your loved ones is precious and finite. I do like how this is shown in a subtle way through the trials of the protagonist, but the plot itself I found to be lacking. [h1][b] Gameplay (Mechanics/Difficulty) – [7/10] [/b] [/h1] The mechanics are fairly involved considering this is a walking simulator. The levels, which I love how it's organized, are displayed in a sort of “Case board” a la Alan Wake 2, where you can freely move between areas, and you can see points of interest and puzzles you should be solving. Also, rather unique to walking sim games is the depth of gameplay. There are some solid puzzles here that fit well within the story. I liked how you have to use hints and clues to choose the right memories, or how you have to cook food in the right order during a memory. This is very well done. As for the difficulty, like most walking sims, this is a very easy game. If you end up failing a memory, you simply examine the item again and retry. [h1] [b] Graphics (Quality/Technical) – [7/10] [/b] [/h1] Looks good, I would say this is a current generation (PS5) game. There are options for ray tracing, but I don’t remember any DLSS. Even with ray tracing, the nothing looks mind-blowing. The draw distance on memories is disappointing, though I can understand why from a narrative point-of-view, but the draw distance in reality leaves a lot to be desired. I played fully maxed and got a solid 120 FPS, with the noticeable dip upon loading into a new area or turning quickly, compliments of RTX’s demand. I did not notice any bugs. i9-13900KF | RTX 4090 | 64GB RAM | 1440p @ 240hz | Windows 11 installed on SSD [h1] [b] Audio – [6/10] [/b] [/h1] Seems decent. There isn’t much music worth noting. There is lots of voice acting, but I found the actors to be a bit…flat. It just didn’t sound like an organic conversation. [h1] [b] Replay Factor (Longevity) – [2/10] [/b] [/h1] Very poor. This is a linear game and both endings can be achieved at once. [h1] [b] Final Verdict – [6/10] [/b] [/h1] The Gap is a walking simulator that focuses heavily on the narrative, with some light puzzle elements. I found The Gap to have some great parts, but it largely failed to present it’s topic in a way that I felt was meaningful. With walking sims you don’t have much gameplay to go on so the story has to be very strong. In The Gap, the story I felt was [i]intended[/i] to be strong, but presented in a way that deflated itself. A great example of a similar type of story that really nails a similar topic is To The Moon. I did not feel anywhere close to the emotions or level of interest here as I did in To The Moon. I rather liked the structure of the levels and how the passage of time was shown, but the plot really failed to hook me and also present an interesting bread crumb to the player. You just kind of stumble around at the start without knowing why you’re doing what you are doing until you get to the end. This badly needed a hard look at developing a more engaging climax. But, despite its mediocre presentation, I felt that the messaging of the game was good and shown well, and the gameplay was actually pretty good for a walking sim. The big message of “Spending time with your loved ones” is shown as a man who loses himself in his work in an attempt to [spoiler]save the life[/spoiler] of his wife. This in turn makes him miss the important moments as he attempts to complete his goal. Overall, I do recommend The Gap. I think it has a cool presentation of the future, levels, and puzzles, but a mediocre presentation of its world and especially the plot kind of damper the experience. [h1] [b] Recommend? (Price) [Y/N] [/b] [/h1] [h1]Yes[/h1] This is a very short game - only around 3 hours. At the full price of $20, I cannot recommend it. The sale price of $6, is much more respectable. You can find my curator page here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Synik_GR

被简中评测骗了哈哈哈，是精品不是神作，相对普通，有点无聊，贵在完整 整个游戏我最喜欢的是DOPE棒球帽，这么简陋的建模真的太有人味了，完全就是我大学四年糊弄作业的模样——透过屏幕我看到了你，男主的故事我只能叹息，但和你才是真的感同身受❤

A nice game that leaves us questioning the balance between work and family.

Strange and tragic, kind of an interesting premise and world but I wasn't captured by the story front to back. The art, music and vibes are cool, and since its pretty short it doesn't overstay its welcome. I'm leaving it the thumbs up because it's really well polished and voice acted and wasn't just like a book or a corridor like walking sims can sometimes be reduced to. It's definitely original and I found it worthwhile, but I would recommend waiting for a sale if it does sound compelling to you since it's pretty small.

太好玩了，无论是题材，美术，音乐，都太棒了，好像《人生复本》，我太喜欢了，为什么这么冷门啊！！！

me deixou muito triste, muito bom jogaço