itch.io

- Spoilers within -

Heyyy this was AAMAZING! I only finished one go through but I'll be up all night and the next year or so playing with the different options. This is everything I could want in an IF game I swear-..

- One aspect I'm enjoying so far is that our avatar isn't necessarily the automatic head of the group? All responsibilities aren't immediately pushed on them and you have to actively choose to clash or show assertiveness if you want some semblance of control over the group. 

I'm reminded of Loren The Amazon Princess a bit? Our avatar exists but there are other characters with their own goals and major conflicts that the player won't always be in the spotlight for.

Like, I'm just trying to escape here but on my left is Sublime confronting the an army solo and on my right Three who's doing the protag work for me.

On that note, Three's character is really refreshing to watch in action, being the character who has the most moxie and drive to try to keep order and make progress. As Five I almost feel a weight lifted off me being allowed to what appears to be a more deuteragonist role in the group. As much as I love the franchises, the thing that bothered me in games like Dragon Age or anything Telltale makes was the sudden thrust into positions of authority with negligible backlash. I really love seeing a companion character actively wanting to take the role of what is usually a song and dance expected of the player.

- And this is done while still allowing us to make some tough decisions. The remarks the characters made for the syringe scene had me going back and forth on whether or not I did things "right," and the consequences of them were still present throughout the rest of the demo.

But what got me more were the little things, like One remembering if you help him navigate, or Two bringing up if he accidentally hurt you, and the context or existence of those things varying depending on if they even like you and what decisions you've made so far. 

I don't even remember what it was that I chose to say or do one time but I remember letting out an audible "Huh?" when a character didn't forget and brought it up again. It caught me off guard that the interaction hadn't been lost to time. The decisions we have very grounded and the story doesn't feel like it's just going through the motions.

That's only addressing player-companion interactions and not even getting into the companions with each other, the world, and themselves. my god.

- The art style, GUI, environments, CGs, and quick-time events are also all very lovely. Everything feels so dynamic and alive, as if the world itself has always existed and I'm being flung in a story that has a palpable future and past regardless of the player's narrative.

If I don't stop here I'll write a novel of jumbled gushing.  This demo was so good!