Recent reviews by rawdge

For those wondering exactly what this is, be aware, this is not a *game.* There isn't anything to play, or do, nor are there any challenges or lose conditions. In fact, it's barely interactive. You stroll serenely, and you listen. As you stroll, the varied voices of the narrators envelop you, one particular voice occasionally rising above the simultaneous susurration of the others, before gently melding back into the stream of others. You are exploring a forest, dappled in sunlight and shadow. There are no specific points of interest, in a game sense. But you will find lovely clearings where the rays of the sun break through the canopy, and land among the bushes swaying in the breeze, as leaves sometimes slowly flutter past you.

In all, this is something to be experienced, not "played." I would describe it as a "visual audio book," as opposed to a "visual novel." Perhaps even "visual poetry."

It is beautiful.

Obviously, I'm years behind the curve on playing this. I wanted to try and play some catch up on my backlog with this, but I've tried to play the game half a dozen times now, and it keeps catastrophically crashing. I'll be in the middle of playing the game, and it just.... stops and crashes to desktop without any error message or warning. The (fullscreen) game crashes to desktop without any indication of what the issue is, or what may have caused it.
For reference, my specs are:
Windows 10
32GBs RAM
AMD Ryzen 7 2700x 8core
ASrock x470 Taichi AM4
GeForce 1080Ti 2460x1440 144Hz
Install Drive: Samsung 850 500GB EVO SSD

I've got 650+ other games on Steam (and another couple hundred across GOG, etc, including 52 other installed games) and I don't have any other problems with other games crashing.

Given the nature of the AC franchise, I don't doubt that the games are great (though I've not played them, I'm simply assuming here), but there are clear problems with this particular game. If you're the sort of person that doesn't like to play a franchise by starting in the middle, then expect to have multiple frustrations with simply trying to play through this original entry.

Aside from some *very* notable camera problems, AC1 does play rather well. When it's not crashing. If you're even remotely capable of skipping the early parts of a franchise, then I'd (sadly) recommend doing so with this one.

Maybe the game is great. Maybe the story is great. But I can't speak to that. After playing the game for a total of 6 hours - which includes an easy 7-8 crashes, and having to replay more of the game than should ever be necessary, then I guess more power to you, brave soul. But I've reached my limit on this one.

The game may potentially be wonderful, but the clear technical problems have driven me away from ever being willing to try this initial entry in the franchise ever again. I'm done with repeating my gameplay over and over. I'm off to the next entry in the series. Best of luck to you, intrepid players, if you wish to try this one from beginning to end.

The following review isn't necessarily criticisms, more like observations of my own personal experience within the game. Additionally, understand that this is less of a traditional "gamey" type game, and more of an "evocative experience." The impression I get is that it's not meant to provide entertainment, but to communicate and convey something the Developer wanted to express. So, just know what you're getting into in that regard.

Also, the game is very, very short. It may take you 30 minutes, if you're taking your time. More likely, it'll be even less than that. My playtime shows more than that, as I was alt-tabbed out for a little while while my focus was elsewhere. Consider my playtime to be the *most* a single playthrough could take.

Game works fine for me. On two or three occasions, my character got stuck briefly in some of the furniture in various levels in the game, but I was able to jump using the space bar, and that got me unstuck just fine. That said, the controls are a little "squishy," but I feel like there's a good chance that may be by design given the nature of the game. In which case, that feels like a subtle masterstroke right there.

I felt like the first two levels really did a good job of communicating a feeling of unease. I didn't exactly know what I was supposed to be doing, so I was experimenting and exploring at first. The game provided prompts, giving limited information, but not quite enough to know exactly what to do. Actually, to be more precise, I knew what I should be doing, but didn't quite know how to accomplish it. Again, I suspect that was by design, and again, good job in conveying a sense of unease. Well done there.

The remaining levels went by very quickly. They didn't connect with me quite as strongly as the first two did.

I practically completed Comfort Zone by accident, before even really getting to explore very much. The very first thing I tried whisked my away to the second part of it, and by then, there didn't seem much else to do, but leave. I suppose that could have also been by design as well. After all, if someone is struggling, they may not have the opportunity to remain in their comfort zone for very long.

I didn't get much from the Paranoia level. I feel like I missed the message it was trying to communicate. It seemed like there was more going on than I was aware of. Heh, but then.... maybe I'm just being paranoid? Overall though, I feel like the level was a message for someone else, that I simply overheard. I understand the message, but I wasn't able to connect with it, if that makes sense.

I felt like the Sinking level had more going on with it, and felt a little closer to the mark, but still didn't quite hit the same bullseye that the first two levels did for me. Much like living in a dysfunctional household, you learn the patterns, and you know when and where you'll be safe. So I feel like I was able to "get" the message a bit more than on some of the other levels, in that sense. But aside from connecting with that particular mechanic, I wasn't really able to "feel" it on any other level, and again, I feel like there was something more to it that went over my head, or otherwise missed the mark for me.

Unfortunately, I don't feel like I was able to connect with the final level at all. I understand the final reveal, but to me it felt disconnected from the rest of the level's setting and mechanics. I don't understand how they were meant to mesh together, so again, I feel like I was overhearing a message intended for someone else that would have gotten from it than I did.

Even though I wasn't able to quite "get" what I think was the full impact of the game, I think that has more to do with me, than with the game itself. Everyone is different, and has different experiences, and as such, certain things will hit closer to home than others. So I think there's a solid chance other folks may connect with it even more than I did. All in all though, I feel like the few dollars it cost were well and happily spent, especially considering they're going towards a good cause. I look forward to seeing what this promising young developer can come up with in the future! Cheers!

This is actually a lot of fun. It's entertaining for what it is, and it doesn't try to be more than that. I got quite a bit of enjoyment out of it.