This is SO AWESOME! The style and presentation is so well crafted and imaginative, and it worked effortlessly to place me into this alt-history USSR aesthetic. The world itself feels so rich with history and detail all of which is really compelling and feels frustratingly realistic to how these governments actually think and act. The psychic twist to the world-building is just the coolest thing and the details regarding the mechanics of those abilities, how they train to use them with that game, and the effects these abilities have had on the world and the story is so awesome. I would for sure read more stories in this world.
The two characters we really get to see are wonderfully written and nuanced and it really did feel like banter from a spy thriller. I love their full names! (dolphinpussy is a peak name too) The pov of Angie is filled with stimulating concrete details many of which were quite uncomfortable and visceral, and when you add on her wild ideologies and monologs, she becomes a fascinating lens for the story.
I got all of the endings and each one was wild, I highly recommend players try them all out, each route is completely unique. I think there are really interesting details about the world and the situation in each one, that almost help paint a fuller picture for the other endings too. My favorite of the endings was the “clot” one but after learning about the “5 o-clock” one, it almost makes it even more tragic AHH!!
I adored the various mix of art styles this game uses, the intro with that graphic look felts like an old history movie or mission debrief. The blindfolded segment was beautiful, the scenes from the past and the pivotal cgs being hand drawn felt to intimate and emotional and the compositions for those were so lovely. The user-interface is so clever and fits so perfectly with the tone and theme. And the pre-rendered scenes in the interrogation room were so awesome and stylish, keeping the perspective to a wall mounted camera makes a lot of sense but I almost wish we got to see more of them like we did with some of the ending shots, the 3d art is so awesome!
The music is so freaking awesome too! I was a fan of Henni’s music before this project but it’s such a departure from her normal style but she hits the mark perfectly, if I was told these tracks were from a big budget spy thriller movie I would have believed it with no questions. The font is so awesome as well!!
It’s so impressive to me that you all made this in the time frame, I seriously wonder if any of you actually slept lol. Y’all should be proud this game it is so freaking cool.