The Quiet Things

Way too expensive for a too long walking simulator. The story is interesting but the game is full of bugs, bad graphics and really not worth its full price.

The Quiet Things is the perfect example of games as an art form and medium that can impact audiences, change perceptions and break stigma in the most meaningful ways. I've spent a lot of time in the past couple days since finishing it thinking of the 'right' words to use to describe it, as a lot of what I'd usually use don't feel quite right or can't quite encompass how I feel knowing the reality of the game's events. But I suppose that's it, at its core, it's real. I know that's the point of an autobiographical game, but the brilliant world-building, design, dialogue and acting are so grounded in reality that even if you haven’t personally experienced every or any part of Alice's story, anyone who grew up at a similar time can find themselves relating to the setting, spotting small pieces of their own childhood* and understanding how someone else experienced that time differently. Whilst I haven't been through many of the things Alice has, I do relate to and have experienced a good chunk of the things explored in the game. And whilst it was emotional and often devastating to see those things play out knowing what would happen next, it was also healing to play this and realise how not alone I was when at the time I felt completely by myself. It's also the perfect example of why survivors of trauma should always be in charge of telling their own stories. With Alyx at the helm The Quiet Things says it exactly how it is, and the events of the game aren't sensationalised for the audience's benefit like what can sometimes happen when trauma is explored in media, and the story is taken out of the hands of the person it belongs to. The game speaks directly to other survivors and lets them know their story is theirs, and it deserves to be told and maybe even turned into something beautiful if they like. Adding to the feel of being in control, the thing about The Quiet Things' gameplay is that you don't feel like you're watching someone else's story unfold in front of you, you feel like you're experiencing it yourself. This is fantastic for spreading awareness and garnering empathy and understanding from players, but is also definitely a thing to keep in mind if you've experienced anything explored in the game. I really recommend taking note of the content warnings at the start, and playing in short sessions or making sure you take regular breaks if you need it. There are a few bugs here and there and some graphical glitches in places, along with small objects being fiddly to interact with and subtitles sometimes corresponding to the wrong voice line or triggering at the wrong time. And whilst I'd love to see the last two improved for accessibility reasons, none of the other things were game-breaking for me and didn't dampen the experience at all. It remains a really impressive feat and an impactful and gorgeous game for a tiny studio who have had so many challenges thrown at them throughout development and release. I definitely won't be forgetting this one any time soon, and I really hope the team are so proud of themselves for what they've created. *the best/most specific of which for me being the mention of Twilight Princess on the Wii, many Ikea Kallax units and that one specific black TV stand amongst others

A mix between Gone Home and Mouthwashing, which is a wild experience. It's Gone Home in presentation and Mouthwashing in gut churningness. Slow boil horror but absolutely grounded in reality. It's a good idea to take the warning at the front at face value and take breaks. Do not try to rush through the game to get to the "happy ending" and then stay up all night mad at what happens. I still haven't finished it, and it seems increasingly unlikely that there is a happy outcome anyway. I did put it off a bit because the warnings about content are so up front and blatant, but it's also a character study and intensely personal so it's gripping as hell. I understand why those warnings are there and why they're so prominent, clearly the people who made the game don't want anyone who has been through something similar to be *surprised* by what is in it, but it does serve as a bit of a wall and makes it seem like you're signing up for a 5 hour PSA on sexual abuse. That is not what this is, so if you think you're up for it I'd definitely recommend giving it a go. There are some small technical things that I hope get ironed out. At its heart it's a walking simulator and I got stuck at a few points not being able to figure out where the next story trigger was and wandering around the environments trying to figure out where to go. There are also some issues with the subtitles and audio triggering at the wrong times, but nothing game breaking for me.

Eine intensive Geschichte über Missbrauch und Trauma. Man macht nicht viel außer den nächsten Interaktionspunkt zu suchen. Teilweise sorgt das für sehr viel Hin- und Herlaufen und vielleicht auch Frust. Aber das passt auf eine gewisse Weise zur erzählten Geschichte. Ich möchte diese Erfahrung nicht missen

A game like this feels impossible to place and write a typical review for. All the adjectives feel misplaced, knowing how raw and real the events of the game are, but over the two days I've spent playing this it's felt impossible to not want to press on and work it through. The team did a phenomenal job in all aspects, the dialogue and writing especially heavy hitting. It's insane the meaning that can go into so few words to tell a story so vast, that even just a single sentence can have me in tears. It takes a special kind of game to do that, and this is exactly it. The power The Quiet Things holds, even with a couple rough edges here and there, is so potent and so important to talk about and truly feel all the way through. I really really won't be forgetting this experience, and I hope the team are all so proud of themselves.

The Quiet Things touches on incredibly important messages that young people find themselves navigating, through the perspective of Alice. This story/game is a rollercoaster of emotions and the storytelling is thoughtfully planned out. It's worth taking the journey with Alice. I have so much respect for the developer, it's not an easy story to tell, but it has been told so well. The voice acting is fantastic, as is the soundtrack. I was initially worried about the impact on my mental state by plunging into the immersion of this game, but once I started, I couldn't stop playing it. From my experience, there are some moments that feel familiar, but rather than leaving me feeling worse, I came away with a lot of empathy for the story as a whole. It's made me pause and reflect, and its impact lingers long after you finish the game. However, if the themes explored in this game are particularly close to your own experiences, I'd recommend approaching it with care and taking breaks. Overall, this game is daring, brave and vulnerable, and while it has some quirks that I'm sure will get fixed, it's worth every penny. Congrats to the whole team who brought this story to life.

it is never too late

Absolutely harrowing, if occasionally flawed. [Note: It is worth mentioning that the game feels very work-in-progress as of the writing of this review, and has lots of issues; I will be removing this note once they're addressed."

A harrowing but wonderfully told story. When I heard about the BAFTA BS i wishlisted it and bought it the moment it was released. The VAs are amazing. I related to a lot of Alice's experiences - those content warnings aren't there for no reason. Do take time and care when playing through this. I wish I could give it a neutral rating for now, because in terms of optimization, assets and experience - it feels like it's unfinished and it took a lot out of the experience as much as I tried to ignore it. Despite being a game with minimal, low-poly assets and taking place most of the time in limited space interiors - it ran at the resources an open world hi-fi game would ( running "nasa computer" here with Epic settings, so it didn't lag the game but it's still odd it runs as such. I tried running it on my wife's laptop w lower spec, and it was unplayable even on low. We're devs who built together projects that had way more tris per scene and higher res PBR textures that ran just fine on said laptop ages ago.). I suspect it is as such due to the engine rendering objects that are not in view and/or the lights being real-time instead of baked. Which, let's be frank, most of the lighting here could be baked as it is static. A lot of the lights' intensity was also cranked up way too high, and I had to squint and even put my hand over my eyes sometimes. The exterior environments had at the same time very low, muddy lighting while the shadows were extremely harsh. Foliage was flat and awkwardly shaded, looking like it's untextured aside from a simple colored albedo, and some textures/images are crisp while others seem like they were chucked through a posterize filter - it looks out of style for the rest of the environment's design and just flat out bad. I'd recommend sticking to one viz style, and going with it across all assets. Assets are also missing (mostly textures) and parts of buildings wouldn't render at all and would be see-through. At times, looking out the window I could only see the skybox. Either populate the outside of the windows with textures and/or models, or give up completely on it and make a simple roughness texture + noise. Either would've been fine with me. Mirrors also seemed to smoothen models and mess with colors and lights, making it look extremely odd and even bothersome to the eye. The (i assume) real time interior lighting also messes up a lot, making weird noise and artefacts over the objects it shines upon. Gameplay-wise...as a simple walk, point and click, I spent ages trying to find what i'm supposed to do especially past the very early game. Highlights would often not show up, so i'd have to go back and forth and click every single object I could find and go back and forth through rooms until the non-object events would trigger. A 4-6 hr game turned into 15. It was beyond frustrating. I really wish I could recommend it, these stories need to be heard. Especially for people like me who felt seen. I wouldn't have been ripped out of the experience if there were a few visual issues here and there, but as it is right now it is the case... and for the price, I don't think that's worth it. If these issues get fixed, i'd gladly recommend it. (I already did to my friends, but they couldn't play it with how badly it's optimized at the moment.) I will edit my review once fixes are out. My wife is excited to play it too, once that is the case. I still have just one diary page missing, hope she can find it ;)

Vorweg ... die Triggerwarnung am Anfang des Spieles ist unbedingt ernst zu nehmen. Dass das Spiel hier ab 16 Jahren angeboten wird, finde ich ehrlich gesagt fragwürdig. Auf anderen Plattformen kann man das Spiel erst ab 18 Jahren kaufen - und das ist definitiv angemessener. Das hier ist kein Cozygame, wo man irgendeine Vergangenheit erkundet und überall fliegen Seifenblasen und Schmetterlinge. Das hier ist harter Tobak, der an die Substanz geht und dich an das Gute im Menschen zweifeln lässt. Die Story möchte ich nicht wirklich kommentieren ... hier werden Traumata beschrieben, erlebt und aufgearbeitet und das verdient Respekt. Die Tagebucheinträge haben mich immer wieder schlucken lassen, mehrfach saß ich sprachlos vor dem Bildschirm, mehrfach aber auch einfach angewidert. Nicht wegen der Protagonistin, sondern wegen dem Umfeld, in welchem sie aufwächst. Ihr Weg ist hart, doch sie geht ihn. Zum Spiel ansich ... man läuft durch die Gegend und sucht nach interaktiven Punkten um die Story und Dialoge voranzutreiben. Das ist die meiste Zeit äußerst mühselig, da die Punkte oft nicht wirklich sichtbar sind. Dadurch läuft man immer und immer wieder von Zimmer zu Zimmer, bevor man endlich den nächsten Punkt gefunden hat, der das Spiel vorantreibt. Dadurch hatte zumindest ich immer weniger Lust das Spiel fortzuführen. Die Spielwelt ist leer, lieblos, grafisch kaum aufgearbeitet und unglaublich still. Ja, sowas ist ein stilistisches Mittel. Aber es wirkt hier einfach nicht so. Die Untertitel sind verbuggt, laufen teilweise rasend schnell vorwärts und sind nicht synchron zum Gesagten und dann plötzlich funktionieren sie gar nicht und sind eingefroren. Die Pfeile, die auf die Punkte hinweisen, die die Story vorantreiben, sind teilweise an Stellen, die nicht relevant sind. Am Ende habe ich mich nur noch durch die Story gequält ... nicht weil sie schlecht war (das ist einfach nichts, was man bewerten kann), sondern weil der Playstyle absolut mühselig war... Nach Beendigung des Spiels fehlen mir zwei Tagebucheinträge ... das Spiel bietet aber scheinbar keine Möglichkeit von vorn anzufangen oder in alte Kapitel zurückzuspringen. Reloade ich meinen Spielstand falle ich endlos durch den Boden. Noch einmal werde ich das Spiel dafür nicht durchspielen ... vielleicht finde ich ja noch eine Lösung dafür. Fazit: Ich würde das Spiel nicht empfehlen und auch nicht den Preis, den es gekostet hat, erneut zahlen ... schade.