I will admit to a taste for games, movies, tv shows, and even books and comics that screw with you and try to do something that really gives you something to chew on. So the very concept of this game put it on my radar. I'm not so sure it succeeded though so much as it was just a descent story with little else to back it.
Story: Well you've certainly done it, haven't you? Well, have you? The answer is not so straight forward, I'm afraid. You haven't done it... yet, but you will. In the future you will commit a severe crime and that is why you are here... to talk to this future self and convince them what they did was wrong. And in doing so, alter your future to prevent this crime in the first place. Sound confusing? Time travel tends to get a little convoluted, and this game's story is no exception. That is not to say it doesn't make sense in it's own way, but it is not one that is easy to explain beyond this starting premise; especially as the game relies on a few specific twists which explaining would actually ruin the high point the game offers. As such I really can't bring myself to do more then say it is very well written and will keep you intrigued from beginning to end... even if I can not claim to be a fan of that ending in this case.
7/10
Graphics: Reviewing the graphics of this game about as difficult as the story, but for the absolutely reverse reason: there isn't much to review. You will spend the entire game looking at Text-based CRT monitor with little else but the text and some glitchyness to look at. Even the background is a basic black like an old CRT monitor, at least for the most part. The only real graphics outside of this is coloration and clouds, depending on the conversation.
And yet this minimalist view does the job to convey everything in the story and what's going on in the game. It is very basic looking, and yet there is little that could be done different for the style the developer chose. Although those clouds definitely are the weakspot, While they are the only thing with a real image and by default the most interesting you will see, the glitches that are set with it are far more then just distracting. Color distortions and flashing lights combine to not only make this one of the most seizurific games I have ever played, but even if you were to pause without the flashing the garishness actually hurt my eyes trying to read the text from time to time. I understand the effect was to make the system/situation look unstable, but it only made me have to squint and bear the inevitable headache or just zone out until they passed and made the text of the conversation readable again.
5/10
Sound: Much like the visuals, there is little in the audio department here too. There are a few sound effects that sound pretty good to be honest, starting with the stark sound of an old vaccume tube CRT display turning on when the game starts and ending with things that again, would spoil the game if I explained. But unfortunately these sound effects are EXTREMELY limited. With the game primarily being about your interactions with a monitor, you will basically heard sounds for 3 things most of the time: The monitor turning on, the monitor turning off, and text scrolling across he screen.
Nor is there much music to go with this game either. There are a few 8-bit tunes that sound alright, but it will get repetitive quickly due to the nature of the game itself. I would expect to ignore this before getting too far into the game. And don't ask about voice acting... it doesn't exist.
6/10
Gameplay: In essence, you are playing a recursive time-loop, which will have you repeating the same conversation with your future self and trying to select the best way to reply at each step in your goals of finding out what they did and convince them how wrong it was. Each time you choose what to say, you are not given your response, but how you will respond: being either rational, empathetic, or assertive. To decide which action is best you will have three pieces of information to assist you: your stats for each, your future counterpart's stats for each, and just how receptive they are feeling to each approach. Your goal is to figure out when best to respond with each type of response to get through to your counterpart and gain insight. If you succeed, you will gain a point in the stat you used and if you get enough, you will be given the chance to progress to the next section or repeat the one you are in. It's a simple loop which allows the story to be told excellently.
But at the same time, the redundancy will also show the biggest weakness in this gametype before it's done as what seems open ended really isn't... it has a few things that can happen, but you will see all of the section you are in before you finish. Thankfully you can click through it to hurry the text along once this happens so you wont be board to tears once you've been in a point for too long, avoiding the worst case scenario this could cause.
5/10
Bugs: No bugs to report here. The game ran flawlessly from start to finish.
Score: This is arguably the most minimal game I have ever played and can still call an experience. There is no real art, little sound effects, and just as little music. But the story is actually really interesting and will likely keep you around to see it through. Just a shame it has to do this without any support outside the gameplay... and even that shows how limited it is before you are done playing. And with a game that is only a few hours long, that doesn't speak well for that either.
5/10
System Requirements:
- 1.7 Ghz Dual core processor
- 2 GB RAM
- Geforce GTX 260/AMD Radeon 4870 HD (512MB VRam requied)
- 150 MB hard drive space
- Windows 7 SP1
System Specs:
- Ryzen 7 (2700) 3.2 Ghz
- 16 GB RAM
- Nvidia Geforce 1660 (6GB VRAM)
- Windows 10 (64 Bit)
Source: Steam
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