You Can Save Everyone

[h1]Supposedly “You Can Save Everyone”, but you and this game cannot save my sanity.[/h1] This game is absolutely the most frustrating game that I have ever played. [h2]Intro[/h2] You take control of a person who is suddenly (supposedly?) in some unknown facility room with only a computer terminal and some weird unlocking mechanism puzzle. On the terminal you are contacted by someone named Noire who talks about helping them get out of there by unlocking the doors that are blocking them from getting out. You are then asked to use the mechanism in a puzzle-like way to do the unlocking. [h2]Gameplay[/h2] As the player, you have to match the symbols(?) to complete one of the steps to unlock. You use your keyboard (WASD) or controller (D-pad or left thumb-stick) to match. This was the most infuriating part of the game that I just couldn’t get used to. Especially with the amount of times you have to do so. It was not as smooth and simple as it looks like on the Steam store page. I don’t know if it’s just a skill issue on my end or what, but I struggled so much with getting the ball to move around the area. If the ball wouldn’t automatically go back to the middle, I think this would be much easier to accomplish. Trying to move it to the left, and then down and then right, while trying to hold on to multiple ways so it doesn’t snap back to the middle was just too difficult for me. It made me feel like I was doing something wrong, but nothing I did would change. There’s a similar mechanic for unlocking info on the computer. You have to move the cursor around to input letters/numbers and then press a button to input and I couldn’t get it to input 8 even though I was doing it the correct way. I had quit the game in frustration the first time when playing with the keyboard, thinking I needed a controller to make it easier. I charged my controller for a day, came back the next day with the controller and still struggled. It was then that I learned that it doesn’t save in the middle of the level. You can only start from the beginning of the level, so that was extremely frustrating as well as I had to go through the annoying bits that I had the previous day. The controls are also extremely weird and there’s nowhere that really states what those are. On my Xbox controller, to press enter, it’s “x” and not “a” with the other buttons being the 2 middle buttons. The game also starts on “Extreme” settings, even if you last closed it on a different setting. This does not run smoothly on a Microsoft Surface, even on super low settings. [h2]Final Thoughts[/h2] It seems with the story that essentially each level is just passing the puzzles to help the person stuck there get out and get an energy core to you that lights up the room you’re in some more. The next level has a new person and you help them and so forth. At least that’s what it appears like after you help Noire on the first level and then meet Joy on the second. I wish I could at least comment on the story, but the game-play is just not worth my time to see if the story is even interesting. I barely got anywhere with the story, as I only finished the first level and made it to the next and after spending some time trying to get through the puzzles, I just quit (both times in the same spot). If there was a way to either make the puzzles more manageable with controls or even to skip them to see the story, I’d probably do so. There’s a button that says you can skip the current level as well, but it didn’t work when I tried it. I will be putting this game on my “abandoned” list and won’t be touching it again, unless something is done in regards to the game-play, because even putting my keyboard to the side for a controller (which is recommended by the way), it’s just not possible for me. Key was provided by the developer to Otome Lovers for review purposes. [quote]Please follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4680120/]Otome Lovers[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one! [/quote]

Game is basically completely unplayable without an octagon or square-gated fight stick. Probably some of the worst controls of a video game I've ever played without one This game needs a big red ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ label saying 'VERY BAD CONTROLS DO NOT BUY UNLESS YOU HAVE A FIGHT STICK SURROUNDED BY A SHAPE. It's real bad. IF you have one, the story and gameplay might be pretty good- I like the premise and I love room-style games like this but I feel like they should emphasize that it was designed FOR an arcade stick and not gontroller.

I first wrote nearly 2,000 words about this game and my thoughts on it. But honestly, reading that would take nearly as long as just playing the game itself, so let me just cut right to why I think this game unfortunately fails. 1. It's designed to be played with a fight stick, something most puzzle fans aren't likely to have. 1a. The non-fight stick control options have lots of unsolvable issues and break immersion. 2. The meta puzzles generally get worse as they go, and further limit what controllers properly function. 3. The characters really don't have all that much going on. I didn't find any of them interesting. 3a. The villain character who tried to kill 2 others has a random change of heart and everyone forgives him. 4. The lore feels unfinished. Things like time-travel happen without any justification. 5. The mystery isn't that interesting. 6. The game's inspiration (no-one has to die) is too obvious, and invites unfavorable comparisons. 6a. A sizable amount of the game's story is just lifted from that game (time-travel, importance of parrots/cockatiels, the facility caused the death of a character's family member but they didn't really die, etc.), but here most of them feel tacked on and half-baked. 7. The game's ending is a sudden "power of friendship" type beat that's impossible to take seriously. 8. It's all a clumsy metaphor for depression that gets weaker the more you think about it. 9. In trying to be meta, it breaks its own story. The player's existence is never explained in favor of a fourth-wall break. I hate being so negative, because it's clear there was a lot of heart behind this game. But it feels derivative of a flash game from 2013, and all of its unique ideas wind up being negatives. Meta puzzles and narratives are both VERY easy to mess up, and this game serves as a perfect example of that.

I found this game through Khanlusa's channel and was playing it 2 mins later (keyboard). I now finished it and am really amazed at the experience, while yes this is a great little game in itself, I also think it's an interesting tech demo. More games should come up with unique ways of playing the game. [spoiler] Also some critique, the title of the game is great and nicely acts as a reminder of what the goal is. And as I saw the surface for the first time, I was like "bet" and was ready to save the sister. But then the game over multiple dialogues (I think mainly from login) made it painfully obvious that I was able to save her, and it even restarted the run for me and nudged me into doing it. I would have preferred for is to be a bit more subtle and maybe leave me at the main menu from where I could jump back in from. That way it would have been more of a "let's see if I can do it" and not a "ok the game wants me to get the other ending". One other funny thing I wanted to mention, was that I was so terrified up until the leviathan was revealed the first time, the build up to that moment was great, from what was said, to the stuff written on the wall and the small sounds, I was really on the edge of my seat. Obviously, as soon as I saw the thing, all fear was gone. But I think making the leviathan's appearance more scary and unpredictable would have probably prevented a fair share of people from finishing the game. Although I would appreciate a from start to end scary game as well, it really seems like this dev has a feel for things like atmosphere, I'll be keeping an eye on anything new that releases from them. [/spoiler] Thank you for this experience 💜

i don't usually leave reviews but damn... that last music track had me really feeling like a superhero.

I wish I could leave a 'neutral' review, because I did genuinely enjoy what of this game I was able to play. The story was interesting and the gameplay mechanic was conceptually interesting. HOWEVER. Playing with an xbox or other controller is NOT ideal, even though the game says that it is an okay alternative to the arcade stick. The game was designed for the arcade stick, even though this is hidden under the 'read more' section of the description, and I am sure it would be fantastic played on one. I do not own one. The fact that I can see this has been echoed in other reviews, and the devs have replied to at least one of those, shows that they are aware that people are buying the game without reading the full description and realising that the game is designed for an arcade stick, and are choosing to not make this prerequisite clearer. I understand that reading comprehension is a thing, but I don't think I should have to carefully read every part of a game description to know there is a controller requirement. This should be extremely clear, or listed in the System Requirements section. That's the main reason I am leaving this review as negative instead of positive, because I feel deliberately misled into buying a game I don't own the correct hardware for. The game itself is good! I enjoyed what I played! But without an arcade stick it's not worth buying imo.

Got this key from Keymailer and it was one of my favorite keys received yet! The aesthetics of the game, the story, the sound design, the music (oh the music), the mechanics of using a controller or joystick to do PHYSICAL puzzles in a video game... just all of it felt so fresh and well crafted. This is my first time playing a game from this Dev, easy follow. For those looking to purchase, 6 USD is a great price for nearly 3.5 hours of gameplay. Cannot recommend enough!

It has the subtlety level of a brick wall, and unfortunately unless you specifically have a hardwired arcade stick you are [i]going[/i] to run into some issues somewhere; like the precision to hold directions on my PS4 controller was too sensitive for the audio puzzle, and frankly some of the button combinations requested were uncomfortable. And I [i]don't[/i] have any physical disabilities that might get in the way. Fortunately the game [b]does[/b] have a "skip this bit of gameplay" option available for all of its segments. Having said that, it's neat, has a very distinctive central gimmick, and only takes about an hour. I've spent worse hours in gaming, for sure.

Truly an experience of hopes and dreams~! The inverse puzzle is frustrating though

Absolutely loved this game - the premise and storyline is well-executed, especially when you take into consideration that this is the first release from a solo developer. Would definitely recommend this!