izigame.me

I'm going to be honest. I really really wanted to like this game. I had incredibly high expectations for it since 2064 set the bar really high. I don't think this game lives up to that standard or even what some may have come to expect from Midboss. Here's why.

- The story is a bit of a mess. Its lead in is compelling enough with some promise to have interesting mechanics as the runtime pans out. Yet that isn't really maintained throughout. As soon as the third chapter hits, things really begin taking a downhill turn into a rushed pacing that affected my enjoyment of the game.
- Unfortunately, the sound design comes through as sloppy and had me racking my head as to why things sounded poorly mixed. If you want to pick this up for yourself to give it a fair shake, turn the music down and expect the dialogue to vary in volume and adherence to the subtitles. It's not constant, but it's frequent enough that I knew it was a problem.
- I think the part of this that took the most out of me was the point-and-click aspect of this game. Trying to figure out solutions, or even noticing important clues, often was an exercise in frustration. The train level and the check before the final boss were in particular very aggravating. I've honestly wanted to go back to try ever single combination I possibly can for the Neurodiver puzzles; just to see how many of them feel particularly pertinent to the dialogue or the plot being set up. Those sections often devolved into plug in everything you haven't tried yet and then hope for the best.

Before I get to the thing that really hurt me the most, I want to underline some of the things that this game does well. I don't want to only poke holes in Neurodiver because it does have some things going for it.
- If you're at all familiar with 2064: ROM and its suite of beautiful pixel art then you'll feel right at home here with the designs of Neurodiver. While maybe not as expansive as 2064, there's still plenty to adore and appreciate in the art for this game.
- The other thing worth enjoying in this game is probably its music. I must confess that I really wanted 2mello to come back and work on the soundtrack for this game. Instead Ken Snyder does the work on the soundtrack and I gotta give them props because the feel of old PC-98 era hardware/software was really bleeding through. I know I won't frequent this soundtrack as much as 2064's, but I'm not going to leave it to gather dust either.

Alright. I think the aspect of this game that hurt the most has to be its characters. Luna and Gate are fine enough in their roles as well as the new supporting cast, but the returning faces of 2064 all feel like shadows of their former selves. Lexi and Jess are arguably the least changed, but both lack a sense of gumption and fiery disposition that I felt were inherent to their 2064 characters. TOMCAT, while feeling more at home in their non-binary identity, feels like a doppelganger without the drawl of their accent. I know that was a front, but the connecting tissue between their role in 2064 and now feels weirdly lost. Lastly, I felt Turing was such a wasted opportunity. Their inclusion really only feels like a cameo and stands at odds against the gravitas that 2064 left off with. I think the timeline is accelerated nearly ten years, but the fact Turing is just in TOMCAT's guest room working on paintings feels like a piece is missing in their story. My little brobot deserves better.

TL;DR I think if you're coming into this with expectations from 2064, you'd better have an open mind or adjust those expectations. If you're coming into this fresh, you might like it more, but I can't vouch for this game as a great piece of storytelling like I can the first.