There were some interesting and creative narrative moments but I found the game mostly slow and tedious to play, it was difficult to absorb the story, you do a lot of reading, and yet it's almost like you are not told much of anything. I can't say that I really understood the plot, something about looking for meaning and purpose, maybe dreaming about having real connection with people (one girl in particular), perhaps overcoming your personal negative perspective, but honestly I am not really sure, there are some spiritual/religious undertones, but I felt it more like a personal introspective thing, with the God perhaps being more of a scapegoat and imaginary solution to achieve your personal needs.
It's like a walking simulator, but you are often stuck in the dialogue or cutscenes, and there are some mind games you have to endure, but the game is mostly linear with a few optional things to read. It will usually alternate between Atari graphics and first person navigation, you could treat it as a narrative experience more or less. Roughly 80 minutes or so, I have replayed the first half of the game again just to try a get a better idea of what is happening.
On a second playthrough my opinion of the game slightly improved, I like how some of the plot points in the narrative transition into those movie cuts, which I thought was the best part of the game. I mean I can tell that you trying to do something different, and the game has some neat tricks to it, but overall, it was difficult to stay motivated and actually read everything. The few times I was paying attention to the narrative was that casual talk and references to the girl, I think the game could have used more grounded dialogue, you keep giving me a lot of ideas and details, but I don't know what to do with them mentally.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) The game has some unusual arthouse ideas and there are a few interesting moments in the narrative and how it transitions from an idea to visual feedback for those philosophical concepts, but I feel like you would need to be very patient to absorb it.
(+) I kinda liked how you used those movie cuts, I wish more devs would do it. Some first person segments were nicely designed.
[h1] Feedback: [/h1]
- honestly the game kinda went over my head, I didn't like the pacing, you are given so many conceptual ideas without really rooting the story into something you can stand on, it was difficult for me to care. I think you needed to focus more on those conversations with (Penny?), I wish there were more simple heart to heart moments like the one next to the door, it's a bit too complicated, all the time.
- The text was a bit hard to read sometimes, not sure if it was the filter or the coloring
- Something I would suggest personally, don’t force the player into narrative segments too often, focus more on visual navigation and brief interactions in the environment, and have important narrative points in specific spots if needed. The story is important but the actual experience of playing a game comes first, and it often feels like another text wall, another text wall, another text wall.
[b] Overall Thoughts: 5/10 [/b]
There is something to the game, but I didn't really like it, it has some cool ideas, if you have the patience to digest them. Personally I think you should have focused more on the relatable qualities of the character because I liked that moment where he hesitated talking to the girl, having more simple dialogue, I just felt the story was bit too heavy for me. I assume it was the goal to sorta having a broad narrative about salvation and finding yourself, I just don't find it too relatable in itself, I need to actually like the characters for that to work.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
