Who is Abby

I should start by saying that I'm a huge fan of this type of games, and play whatever I can find as a general rule. That being said, Who is Abby must be one of the worst (if not *the worst*) of this genre I've ever played. I don't want to be mean to the creators but it's just so badly made... From the terrible voice acting (even while screaming of pain, the main actor sounds as if he was trying to "loudly whisper"), the assets, countless technical solutions (I absolutely cannot move past these 3 carboard boxes! Or this plant that is barely knee-heigh - its invisible force field is making me stop in my tracks!) to, unfortunately, the story. Yes, my biggest issue is with the story itself. First of all, it gets spoiled around 1/7th of the game - and it's a choice made by the creators consciously because it required some work. Why they'd do this, I have no idea. I lost almost all my ethusiasm at that point, and the only thing that kept me going was the hope that maybe I had been wrong. Spoiler: I hadn't. Secondly, there are some plot holes that feel like it might have been a drunken idea written down on a post-it during one weekend. I'm pretty sure I know at least one book and one movie that are *exactly* this story - but executed better. Last, but not least: some parts of the story don't make any sense, and never get explained. Oh, and don't even get me started on the saving mechanics. You go past a bridge or staircase before checking out everything behind you? Well, tough luck because now there is no way back, and because you've reached a checkpoint just now, you cannot go there anymore. If you choose the "load last checkpoint" option in the menu, it'll just reload the one *after* the bridge/staircase collapsed. So if you've missed a memory piece or a collectible, all you can do is to replay the *whole* chapter, from the beginning. I also found a couple of awful bugs - e.g. disappearing walls, ceilings and floors together with most of the assets of a whole fragment of the map. I also got stuck in a corridor I wasn't supposed to be in, apparently. Anyway, there are so many games that are so much more pleasant, executed so well and simply engaging that I cannot recommed this one. Not when it's just so unpolished and badly written.

The visuals are gorgeous (especially if you have a raytracing-capable GPU)! The 3d models, the levels, everything is very high-end. Some people might not like the voice acting, but I personnaly really like it. It sounds a little "off" like good old school games. I've clicked on every banana I've found just to hear what the narrator had to say. I would not call this game a walking simulator that much, for me it's more a 3d point and click adventure game. You have to find objects to access the next level, and sometimes they are very well hidden. I've honestly used the guide to find some of the objects needed. It's a very nice game made with love!

This game's story is breathtaking. Its handling of grief is beautiful and feels so real. I didn't find the puzzle aspects too difficult and the story is very easy to follow. It's crazy that this game isn't more well known as I found it compelling and true to its intent and story. The devs should be very proud of the story and game they put out - it is hauntingly beautiful.

[h3]Get it on the Sale[/h3] As games go, it's about 8 hours, more if you hunt for the optional items which are quite a clever part of the story tapestry. You can tell I'm not raving about the game, but that's because similar games with bigger pricetags do exist and tell it better. So here goes. [h3]Where is Abby?[/h3] Should have been the title of this game, in many more ways than one, after a while you do get a good idea of who Abby is, and all is revealed in an ending that I am not going to spoil. It's an ending that is relief, that is love and tragedy and gently delivered all at once. The mind can play tricks on you, is my big takeaway. This is a game about a journey "of sorts". All the places you go and things you collect get put into a museum; which is a damn impressive thing in a game sometimes. Tom's museum is really nice. But the museum is not really "part" of the game, it's part of the finale and holds no clues. Once you complete the game, the museum will make far more sense too. [h3]Mechanics Frustrate[/h3] Not only is the game long, but it gets boring easily especially if you get a touch of motion sickness. Turn off motion blur and drop the framerate. My GPU was kicking out enough heat to keep the whole room warm for the 8 hours it takes to play it. There are not quite enough save points, and so I suggest taking breaks after hitting chapter starts. That's because each save-point will confusingly reset some things just to make sure you do not get stuck. Simple game mechanics, no real running, I mean you get to walk fast and have hold SHIFT down hard to escape a madman at one point, but thankfully no jumping. [h3]Characters[/h3] I found Tom to be very relatable, although his dialog line voice-overs are a bit stilted at times, Tom is very relatable. I also liked that the 2 object finding components to the game (there are 2 optional collections to build) is very well tied into the story plotline. Tom is fun, he jokes about it if you inspect mundane things for example, and Tom has a phobia. I'll leave you to find out what that is, and not it's not spiders or snakes. Tom is on Abbys trail all the time, from the places she has been we slowly learn "who" Abby is. She is someone that a lot of people want to be, and as the story progresses you also come to admire her. You will get to fool at least one policeman, commit a string of minor felonies and meet one other character at the end who seems to be hiding away all the while. Very interesting, but slow to deliver story. As I said, get it on the specials. If, however you already liked the game, check out one of these from 2 curated lists https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41773079-EmpathyGames/list/91358/ and https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41773079-EmpathyGames/list/91748/

Great game! Beautiful graphics. Highly immersive and atmospheric. Pretty detailed with lots to explore and check out. Story is interesting. Puzzles aren't hard but not super easy. Enough to feel gratified upon completion. Game runs well even though my specs don't quite add up. I'm even playing in VR using UEVR. Which I highly recommend. Definitely one of the better games I've played lately. One of the few games I didn't mind paying full price for lol. SPECS: Ryzen 9, 32gb, 3060ti, ssd, Pico 4 Virtual Desktop UEVR

This is a game that tries to be simultaneously tongue-in-cheek while covering a serious topic; both end up clashing horribly and negatively impacting what could have been an otherwise riveting storyline. I bought this game at a heavy discount, which is the only reason I didn't simply refund it after watching the first (of what turned out to be far too many) outlandishly silly cutscenes involving cars in this game. The optimization for this game is horrible. Running the game makes my PC (i9-13900K with 4070 ti Super) blast like a furnace with fans on max. I can run games with much larger, more graphically impressive worlds at high or epic settings with far less strain on my PC - examples Ark Survival Ascended, Control, Expedition 33, Cyberpunk, RDR2. I greatly enjoy walking sims because they normally have rich stories and experiences they provide. Games like Firewatch, Gone Home, Dear Esther, and What Remains of Edith Finch are all games I would recommend. This one, however, is not.

I like this game. Not scary at all and pretty much follows the structure of every other walking simulators. The story is what this game is all about. Forget about exploration as there isn't much of it, with the world pretty much fixed on a path. 7.5/10

It's not a complete horrible game. Honestly worth maybe $5. It's definitely not a "AAA" game. Issues listed below 1) Character animation (when your character is shown) are horrible. 2) The story was a nice idea, but executed badly. 3) Extremely slow pace. 4) The hit boxes for opening or grabbing small items were horrible. Opening door were ok. The major issues were the cabinets. The hit boxes were big and if there was an item in the cabinets it was a fight between the hit boxes. 5) The hit boxes for small or medium items. You have to be right on top of them to be acknowledge. 6) No emotions of any kind, especially at the end of the game. At full price do not waste your time, maybe under $5

I wanted to like this but the performance is horrendous even on 1440p. When first loaded up the game told me I don't have a compatible card when in fact I have a RTX 3080. I turned off ray-tracing regardless and even set the overall quality to medium and there were still moments when the frame rate had a fit. It took a while for most textures to load and some of them were popping in as I was moving. There was also flickering lighting issues with were super distracting. It's a shame because I think there's an OK game here.

Excellent game. I am playing a third time for items that I missed.