itch.io

Phenomenal styling and gameplay that are both visually appealing and understandable. Very impressive and very interesting. Reminds me a lot of papers please. The story is also nice and effective in tying into the gameplay. Makes perfect sense why the protagonist would be searching through redacted segments to learn more while risking punishment from corporate.

I did have a glitch when I first tried to play where I could not edit anything but restarting seemed to fix it for some reason. I also wish that I could tell how suspicious I was getting with the company as some attempts had me assume I was doing fine only to get a bad ending suddenly.

The whole lockpicking minigame is very impressively made, including sounds. I also liked the touch of a guard being able to find you if you stand around for a little too long. The story and writing are pretty good and does what it needs while making the choices feel connected to the character. It's fitting for a rouge to have the thoughts they do.

I did encounter a couple of bugs while playing. Sometimes the lockpicking would just never give me a click and let me progress anyway while after getting an ending, replaying would just randomly make me detected by a guard despite being at the start of the game. Also, the colored lines at the beginning were a little random and didn't continue through the game which felt a little odd.

I instantly enjoyed seeing some text change or get added between deaths. It's a very cool touch that made my many deaths less upsetting, though I got a little confused on where there was occult like writings to begin with? May be explained in the ending which I didn't get. I also liked the intro sequence's humor with the protagonist's thoughts. Overall great writing.

I found the game very difficult, however. I could not beat it and I am unsure how to even after reading the entire manual repeatedly. While I think unlocking options by being forced to read the manual is neat, the options would not unlock if I did not progress by one link before reading through which meant I instantly failed the run because of time loss. The timer is a great concept and impressive coding, but the maintenance felt a little unbalanced.

Positives:

The styling is very pretty and fits the environment. I appreciate the effort!

The humor was also great and made my chuckle on repeat.

Negatives:

Would have been nice if there was some more to the gambling but the scope is understandable.

I also found some of the text difficult to read in such large boxes. That's just me being picky though.

Positives:

The styling is excellent. Without even reading anything, it's an obvious sci-fi setting and the font and colors work very well in conveying that.

I also so the memory puzzle addition. I would not have thought of adding that sort of challenge into a Twine game and that is very creative, though I did have one problem.

Negatives:

It could have just been me, but I could not get the good ending because of the puzzle. I wrote it down every time and checked back at the phone for more tasks, but I just could not get it to work.

Another thing I could say if I was being picky was that some of text seems long? With the context of being in a rush, the intro and some bits feel a little much to read through in one big text block. Again, I'm just being picky there and I actually quite enjoy the writing style!

Positives:

I am immediately appreciative of the option to skip ahead. Even on a smaller game, I love me some quality of life.

I also appreciate the attention to detail with the characters feeling fleshed out despite never actually interacting with them.

Negatives:

The bouncy transitions at the start are a bit much on the eyes. That could just be me though.

I noticed that sometimes when I get to the terminal, the options would logically disappear after clicking on them but other times they stay. Just a small inconsistency I noticed.

Positives:

I like the maze being the central part of the game. Exploring and getting your bearings first is a clever way to use Twine's mechanics.

The style was also very nice. Having the sliding and ominous red screen show up after hurling myself off the edge was a neat touch. Also, the secret monster killing you if you run around repeatedly is fun.

Negatives.

It would have been nice if there was a reset button. Just good for convenience.

I did find an error when playing during the jump off the edge ending. Says the text color isn't attached to a hook.

Okay, just want to instantly say this was awesome and unexpected.

Positives:

Great twist that I didn't see coming. I fully expected a simple medieval fight so getting to shit talk the dev was a very unexpected yet funny turn.

The detail and style were also great. Seeing all the other comments, that I presume are fake, was a neat visual and lots of the text was colored or moving in fitting ways.

Negatives:

I wish there was a restart button on the ending pages. Would have just been a bit more convienent.

If I had to say something else, I would bring up that replaying is a bit stale since each of the classes have very similar dialogue. Not much of an issue since the shortness of the moment is the point but figured I should mention it.

Positives:

Enjoyed the concept and the tension of managing your limited money. Reminds me a lot of Don't Escape 1 if you know it. Good mechanics and use of variables.

Also liked the style. The red highlights and background colors changing is very thematic and sets the scene greatly.

Negatives:

I encountered a couple of bugs where I couldn't go to the other store, or the ending would break and just become a solid red screen.

Could be misunderstanding on my part but why does the amount on money you have change each playthrough? It confuses me and restrains me when I'm going for a better ending but suddenly have less money this time.

Overall, still very much enjoyed the game and how it told its story! Great work!