The Newton Mystery

Good short fun game, like the stories too https://youtu.be/JpggjvKextI?si=s7w16nDV9Exq-RWM

I worked on this game since it's inception. It has a really cute art style based on cartoons from my childhood. The dialogue is really funny and gives the player a reason to explore. If you enjoy cozy games and reading dialogue this is worth a pickup.

Prefacing this; I was a kickstarter backer for this game. The Newton Mystery is a short, fun game full of funny moments and a story told well enough, but what it has in charm it lacks in substance. a full playthrough of the story, with interacting with every NPC you come across ran me about 5 and a half hours, not counting any time investment into the in-game card game. Pros: the controls felt fine for the most part, switching between teammates felt intuitive and the execution of most abilities work swell, including the guest party member in Chapter 5. The art style is where most of the charm comes from, even with the lower frame rate and few frame idles. The bits of the story we see are set up cohesively enough to understand. The in game card game is really quite fun in its execution, although I wish that it waited until the attack notes lined up to the beat of the song, considering it being a rhythm game is the selling point. Cons: There's a distinct lack of challenge in the game, During the game there are 3 changes of gameplay; a top down shooter, an autorunner dodging game, and a bullet heck. only the top down shooter felt to a level of difficulty that kept it right where it should be, the autorunner wasn't difficult nor fast enough for the amount of time it consumed, and the bullet hell only hit me once because I had my cannon shoved up their nostrils the whole time, both of these simply felt boring, as though they didn't contribute anything more than to continue the plot. Then there's the story to address, don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoyed it but some things felt like they lacked explanation or were only on screen for a moment because the story needed a reason for it. Yes we know Newton is haunted, Zoop has been having nightmares, why? what's the source? What happened with the lovers from the 1800s after the mayor's daughter got punished? it just cuts from that to "oh friends are missing lets look at the amusement par- HOLY MOLY A LAB". there's an election plot setup if you talk to NPCs, but we just take down the big bad lab and suddenly it's all cleaned up just like that? What about Zoop's Mom? there's no narrative payoff because we snuck into somewhere and decked a few guys in suits, who quite literally just appeared and, aside from the last 3rd of the game, don't show much of a reason to even be hated. The focus of the story is on the group of friends and their issues, which is not a bad thing by any means, but it leaves the rest of the plot hungering for more. I hope a sequel or DLC comes out that may answer some of the lingering plot points. 7/10. The game's price is worth it's value in hours.