Recent reviews by brandbaard

I thought this was a really solid puzzle game.

It channelled Portal 2 in all the right ways (except one, which I'll get to) and I thought it had a really interesting story told in a really adept manner.

My only gripe is that for a dedicated puzzle game, the puzzles were too damn easy. I guess it is a limitation of the concept of the game, but I just found most of the puzzles to be a bit of a cakewalk. There were maybe two puzzles in the whole game that had me stumped for more than a few minutes, and those were nearer to the start of the game than the end. The ending puzzles barely require any thinking.

Still, despite that, I really enjoyed my time in this game. The atmosphere is great, the story is interesting, well written and masterfully told. The characters are fun. The environment is interesting. Just don't go in expecting a magnum opus of puzzle solving.

What a game! A love letter to classic LucasArts adventure games, but with some modern sensibilities to fix some annoyances from those past games.

Puzzles that for the most part make a lot of sense and I only had to check a walkthrough one time!

And a beautiful story and ending that damn near made me shed a tear! Any game that can do that is a winner in my book!

Length: Short and sweet. Doesn't overstay its welcome certainly, could maybe have done with an hour extra (if only to flesh out the story a bit more and not make the ending seem so rushed.

World/Lore/Story: Certainly an interesting world, with a pseudo-techno-religion kind of thing where logic is the only important thing, contrasted by various factions that....don't agree with that. Lots of cool history and worldbuilding can be found in notes and books. Love this world and would like more adventures in it to learn more.

Main game story: Pretty cool, artistic, delivers a message about not having to be like your parents or how the world expects you to be. The ending is a bit rushed and....uhm...idk what even happened at the end there.

Gameplay: Controls are honestly a bit jank, but nothing you can't get around. Very mild puzzle solving, nothing that you would get stuck on, this is mostly a linear adventure game, think a very much smaller and jankier version of Uncharted if you remove the combat. I enjoyed it well enough.

Verdict: Look it won't be for everyone, but I enjoyed it well enough. The worldbuilding alone is compelling enough to give this a play, if you're into that kind of thing. If you don't have an appetite for a little bit of jank, you should probably avoid. Otherwise, worth a play.

Did you like Obra Dinn?
If yes:
Just play this game. Stop reading about it and just go play it. You will enjoy it.

If no:
Probably won't like this one either but try the demo at least.

The good: Great, very well written noir story, just the kind of thing you'll love if you love detective stories. The characters are compelling and quite well designed. The ending is satisfying.

The bad: The controls are actual ass. Both on controller and mouse and keyboard, everything is fiddly and hard to get stuff right. The QTEs are incredibly obnoxious, and failing them sets you back to the start of the whole QTE segment. Some scenes drag on for way too long and move way too slowly.

Summary: Good story and great character design, mired by possibly the worst control scheme in this kind of game I've ever encountered, sloooooooooooow pacing and just bad QTEs.

The good: Very enjoyable game. It is short (about 4 hours) but the time it spends with you is very good. Narrative is great and presented in a fun way, gameplay is varied enough to stay interesting throughout. Looks pretty despite not being a technological marvel.

The bad: Not the most technically advanced game you've ever played. Some segments are less fun than others (looking at you, stealth segment and ONLY QTE IN ENTIRE GAME).

TLDR: Short, sweet, enjoyable. Can recommend.

I don't often write a negative review...but this game is incredibly tedious. Everything moves slowly, everyone talks slowly and it is just a slog to get through. I played just under 5 hours, but it felt like 20 hours. I would not recommend anyone play this game, rather read the classic novel if you don't know the story yet, it will be more enjoyable.

So as not to leave on a completely bad note, there are some redeeming features. One redeeming thing in the game is the puzzles. A few times you are presented with puzzles that come in the form of a "escape box" type thing, and these are quite fun and satisfying to solve. I wish there was a game of just those kinds of puzzles. Another note is that I did quite like the art style and the characters, they were quite enjoyable.

Quite a fun management sim for a while, and then it becomes something quite different, a bit of an introspection of the role of technology in our lives.

Note: Got this game as a gift from a friend.

Look past the initially surprising (but still good in its own way) art style and you will find the same writing we loved in the 90s, slightly simplified puzzling and a conclusion we've been waiting for for a very long time (and one you might appreciate the most IF you did indeed wait for a very long time), all wrapped up in a neat modern package. Short and sweet and a quick injection of nostalgia. RG's still got it.

It's a very nice narrative adventure game with some replayability and a nice concept. If you like story games with low to medium interactivity (more than a Telltale game, less than an RPG) you will probably find some joy in this game.

Don't go in expecting a revolution in video game storytelling, just a fun lil story game.