The Time Machine

Cool experience with about a hour of gameplay, interactivity wise it's mostly just switching the lever to change time & location, pressing reset button in case of issues, (also up & down buttons of the elevator which seem to do nothing) and in the end also connecting two cables [strike](which does not seem to be much seated mode friendly)[/strike] and inputting custom dates (which probably works just for the dates visited in the game, dates written in the environment, and maybe some easter eggs.) Best part for me was visiting the parts of real history, like seeing the WTC just couple hours before the events of 9/11 unfold, the elephants foot under Chernobyl NPP, [spoiler]the cut off arm of Aron Ralston trapped under a boulder, or the Epstein cell.[/spoiler] Those are moments worth witnessing in VR. Tho I think its a pity the game relies on player's prior knowledge of the events and dates. I suspect there is couple more of historical events that I just did not recognize. Most of the time the elevator door just opens, you see just some landscapes, and you are like wtf? Did anything happen here on this date? And where the hell am I? [spoiler] There are also 2 rooms directly referencing The Utility Room, bit of a cool fan-service. Some art references like Duchamp's Fountain, bit of futuristic retrospective thru museum text on Youtube Adpocalypse, or a reference to Blade Runner. [/spoiler] Lot of it also feels like just some cheap filler content, like white void, black void, sometimes occupied by some weird entities, bit like in The Utility Room, just less interesting, and with less detail, some glitches, fractals, quite raw photogrammetries and G-splatts, The order of locations seems to be partially random on each playthrough. Looking up the dates reveals: [spoiler]some tornados in USA; murders by John Cooper on some cliff path, tho the June 89 was so significant in world events its quite contrasty looking just on some peaceful coastal rocks, with the disregard nature gives to time; the desert scene probably refers to the start of Great Emu War in Australia; 21.7.1304 - I m clueless, 11.1.1996 - maybe heavy winter storm USA, causings some roof collapses?; The Millenium dome from the River Thames on start of the new Millenium is probably one of the weirdest featured moment, like its featured like 3 times, first from some boat, then in flat video, and then also in one of the glitches, but what happened there? just some fireworks starting of the new Millenium, and what? It shows the significance humanity attributes to time...; 29.2.2003 - door opening just partially to show some photogrammetry is cool easter egg, since this date did not exist since 2003 wasn't a leap year (cool to find out, but just a weird wtf moment when experiencing the game and lacking that info); Some nuclear testing; red sunrise next to a distant cityscape of skyscrappers - accompanied by the date of start of the financial crisis of 2008; 25.2.1986 - jets on tropical airfield, maybe Egyptian conscripts riot?; The quarry is day before the coal mine explosion in Berguedà, Spain killing 30 miners; Cabin in the woods probably refers to the Zodiac killer; 31.12.2017 forest with yellow bag, and some picture that looks bit like landmine - Logan Paul reference maybe?; the censored date & place 7.10.2023; 28.3.2006 the elevator fall, no clue about events or the place; the rock floating in air seems to be another reference Aron Ralston as the rock that trapped him; the projection of a guy shooting chairs with fingers is probably Alec Baldain reference; 8.4.2005 pulsating rock near color sampling texture, casting dark and light shadow - solar eclipse; 25.11.2023 low poly kitchen - zero clue; 8.6.2019 some backyard with garden chairs G-splatt, and hanging boxing bag - probably reference to boxing fight of Gennadiy Golovkin vs. Steve Rolls in Madison Square Garden; The quick run-thru bunch of photogrammetries, with I-Ching hexamrams in the center is a nice touch, tho I wish I knew what it means. The date on the table which I completely miss on my first run - 31.7.1997 with the Paris as location - thats the death of princess Diana; And the graffiti 2.9.1967 I recognized the Seeland, but the history of its occupation and independence escaped me; 16.8.1977 bedroom & death of Elvis; 23.3.1910 zero clue... Also the starting and ending destination - the photogrammetry of surroundings of Imperial Works, Fountmayne rd, London, looks like it might be significant location where I miss the meaning[/spoiler] And one issue I noticed with the settings - meaning of dominant hand switches when movement type is set to continuous After searching up the events from the dates I must say, that when the locations/times were unknown to me, lot of it just seemed underwhelming, and quite lacking in terms of meaning, when I find out the meaning, I realized I would have probably much more enjoy the experience if I knew the meaning. So I have to question the design decision to not disclose the meaning of the location, times, and events to player, as it kinda robs player of having the full experience. Yeah I could jump it again and experience it once more, with new, bit more knowing eyes, and probably enjoy it way more knowing the meaning, but it just doesn't seem as interesting when I have already been thru it, and bunch of the content seems like a filler, and the experience is quite linear. But still its worth it to experience it at least one.