[h1]A clever and inventive detective mystery, with a plot and reveals that will keep you hooked from plot point 1 to the end[/h1]
[i]Very much in the vein of The Roottrees are Dead, but with unique spins in the story telling and player interaction, as well as updated presentation. A great game for anyone interested in a mystery, who doesn't mind getting stuck every once in a while- for the reward of connecting the dots you had once overlooked.[/i]
[h3]Pros:[/h3]
• A great and compelling narrative with twists and turns you can piece together before the game reveals them to you
• Great voice acting
• A unique system of discovering scenes that mostly ensures you're getting there through genuine comprehension and not just brute force
• A hint system readily available for use in game, that gives tiered hints for when you get reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllyyyy stuck, and doesn't punish you in in any way for using them.
[h3]Cons:[/h3]
• Towards the end of the game, some of the games rules/mechanics that it's set up and have been consistent for 75% of the game seem to fall apart, for the sake of shaking up the narrative
• Some of the connections in the last section of the game are really unclear
• The final puzzle also works around some rules that are unclear in their operation
[h3]Quality of Life:[/h3]
• After beating the game, from checking the trophies I found out [spoiler] that apparently there's a mechanic for marking when people die on the timeline, which I never knew or saw pointed out in the playthrough. [/spoiler] Having something that indicates this is a mechanic would have been helpful to keep track.
[h3]Summary:[/h3]
I beat this game in one sitting. That wasn't the plan for the day, but it sucked me in so strongly that the rest of the world needed to go on hold for a while. There's a few points that could be smoothed out, but I would really be nitpicking to pretend that they brought down what a wonderful experience this one. A good kick in the pants that the mystery video game genre has needed for a long time for rewarding actual puzzle solving, and not just putting the square peg in the square hole.
