The game is gorgeous, features strong writing, and does some really interesting things with fonts. The problem is there's just too much wandering around from location to location to find if anyone has anything to say, absolutely murdering the pacing. It's a visual novel which adds a movement mechanic that serves to do little but pad the runtime.

The game features a murder mystery set over decades, which suggest important choice & consequence, and while both are present, consequence ultimately end up feeling shallow. Rather than consequence being an outcome you are interested to see, it's treated more as something for self-reflection, and I was left wondering why they chose the murder mystery format of all things. When it's focused instead on examining the period of history it's set in it's a much better game.

The third act also didn't land. Over decades you build up social connections and learn the social dynamics, then this is thrown away and you have to do it all over again at a time when it feels like the story should be racing towards its conclusion.

An interesting effort to be sure, but one for me that overstayed its welcome and didn't deliver on its promise. While the subject matter is refreshing, the implementation feels like a lesser work of the type of game Telltale excelled at.

The game is gorgeous, features strong writing, and does some really interesting things with fonts. The problem is there's just too much wandering around from location to location to find if anyone has anything to say, absolutely murdering the pacing. It's a visual novel which adds a movement mechanic that serves to do little but pad the runtime. The game features a murder mystery set over decades, which suggest important choice & consequence, and while both are present, consequence ultimately end up feeling shallow. Rather than consequence being an outcome you are interested to see, it's treated more as something for self-reflection, and I was left wondering why they chose the murder mystery format of all things. When it's focused instead on examining the period of history it's set in it's a much better game. The third act also didn't land. Over decades you build up social connections and learn the social dynamics, then this is thrown away and you have to do it all over again at a time when it feels like the story should be racing towards its conclusion. An interesting effort to be sure, but one for me that overstayed its welcome and didn't deliver on its promise. While the subject matter is refreshing, the implementation feels like a lesser work of the type of game Telltale excelled at.