Played the demo and got really hooked, so I bought the game the next day full price.
AFTER the demo I expected it to be very similar to Orville and Cyber Manhunt, with the primary focus on using the game's mechanics to solve multiple criminal cases, most unrelated or maybe filler and some interconnected into a bigger picture.
It was... kinda like that? But instead of a focus on multiple cases and the solving mechanics, it focuses solely on one storyline.
Which to me was actually really sad I guess because the gameplay mechanics were really well implemented and would have made for a super nice gameplay loop but instead got used once to advance the plot and then got discarded (e.g. the lab analysis or manually unlocking files).
Also, the game is probably 75% dialogue, in which you are given choices that lead nowhere. You feel like your choices should matter, maybe in resulting in different endings but there is only one ending implemented. It actually made me compare it more to a visual novel than a detective game.
The lack of "filler cases" is also more of a negative in this particular storyline. I've read that the developer wanted to focus more on the main story instead of filler but I think some filler would've helped the player to immerse themselves better into their role, made better usage of the well-implemented mechanics and would've allowed the player to connect with the characters better, settle mentally on the twists and turns of the main story and process them before the next thing gets thrown at them. It felt very fast-paced with no breathing time from basically the get-go and if I'm not mistaken the story takes place within only a couple of days in-game which also does not seem realistic.
Conclusion:
+ well-made from a technical point of view
+ well implemented mechanics
+ good soundtrack
- poor use of mechanics
- unclear advertisement (detective game vs. very story-driven, more of a visual novel)
- no actual choices made by the player even though it feels like they should have mattered
- lack of cases with a rather short gameplay time as a result
- lots of dialogue with comparatively little gameplay
If you're looking for somethin akin to Orville, Cyber Manhunt or even Her Story, this is not it.
I considered requesting a refund but I believe that if I buy a product, receive it and use it, there is no reason in refunding it, even if it was not what I expected
izigame.me
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