Sara is Missing is a shorter game compared to SIMULACRA but it felt more realistic.
Story
You found a girl's phone and you are suddenly getting messages from an AI called Iris, she's guiding you through the game but you have to solve minor puzzles so you can unlock apps and later on find out what happened. Then you find from a friend of Sara about a satanic cult and you know that she was kidnapped and tortured alongside her friend Faith. Then you are talking with James that tries to help Sara but he fails and then you talk with a member of the satanic cult giving you a link to red tube to share, if you share it Sara dies and you get the bad ending but if you wait a couple of minutes a guy by the name of Irizu will message you and will let you choose between Faith and Sara, if you want to do the right thing you gotta choose Faith so you can rescue Sara.
Bonus
Personally it felt more realistic than Simulacra, they really made some of the characters wear make up to look bloody and realistic, and overall the vibe of the game is very different even this is more of a prototype for the next games.
Story
You found a girl's phone and you are suddenly getting messages from an AI called Iris, she's guiding you through the game but you have to solve minor puzzles so you can unlock apps and later on find out what happened. Then you find from a friend of Sara about a satanic cult and you know that she was kidnapped and tortured alongside her friend Faith. Then you are talking with James that tries to help Sara but he fails and then you talk with a member of the satanic cult giving you a link to red tube to share, if you share it Sara dies and you get the bad ending but if you wait a couple of minutes a guy by the name of Irizu will message you and will let you choose between Faith and Sara, if you want to do the right thing you gotta choose Faith so you can rescue Sara.
Bonus
Personally it felt more realistic than Simulacra, they really made some of the characters wear make up to look bloody and realistic, and overall the vibe of the game is very different even this is more of a prototype for the next games.
concept intéressant, surtout quand on joue sur téléphone c'est super immersif donc beaucoup de potentiel, mais exécution nullos y a zéro mystère c'est trop rapide et c'est juste en mode bouh vidéos un peu creepy voilà décevant
this gave me the creeps back in the day
Just alright.
SARA IS MISSING (SIM) REVIEW
Sara is Missing is an absolute letdown in every capacity. It's honestly sad, because there's such an interesting concept at the surface. That's why it got so much attention following its release, after all. It's a gimmick game through and through - perfect for YouTubers to make clickbait with. And just like most titles that get popular off of a 'novelty' + 'YouTuber' combination, there's nothing that actually makes it worthwhile.
Anything good SiM might have had going on with its unique presentation is immediately ruined by the awful writing, incoherent story, and cheesy attempts at horror. It's like they closed their eyes, opened a book of bad genre tropes, and pointed randomly - then tried to make one ongoing plot out of them.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 2/5
Sound: 1/5
Story: .5/5
Gameplay: .5/5
Worldbuilding: 1/5
Overall game score: 1/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The execution here is fine, but nothing special by any means. The phone has a pretty realistic layout and decent-looking apps. I like the variety in pictures for the gallery. It's cool to see the characters in candid situations.
I do wish there were more scary things to uncover though. It would have been cool to see pictures where Sara was being stalked in the background leading up to her disappearance.
Overall, 2/5.
Sound:
Not much to say here, given that most of the sound design is just phone noises.
There is ONE song you can play from the music app. I thought that was a neat inclusion at first, but a singular track will get pretty old after the first few times.
Overall, 1/5.
Story:
As I mentioned in the introduction, SiM's story is a Frankenstein's monster of cheesy, tired horror tropes. [SPOILERS] There's a satanic murder cult; there's a mysterious Wiccan gathering; there's a cursed deepweb video; there's a sentient phone A.I. that watches you through your camera; there's a guy in a mask. [SPOILER END] All of this familiar territory is thrown into the same pot, and SiM is too lazy to tie any of it together. Important elements are often left completely unexplained. Nothing has any relation to anything else. And still, the game plods along as if it all makes perfect sense.
[SPOILERS] I think the cult is selecting victims and/or recruits through the death curse video? And that the guy in the mask (who appears once) might be Irizu, the cult's leader? And there are theories that Irizu is somehow controlling Sara's phone, since his name is similar to the A.I.'s (Iris.) But that comes with its own plot holes and inconsistencies. And if he's NOT controlling it, then Iris is an extremely intelligent artificial being - way more intelligent than I can suspend my disbelief for. You are given dialogue early on that acknowledges how strangely human Iris is... But that doesn't fix the fact that it's bad writing. It's just a built-in excuse.
[SPOILERS STILL] Let's quickly explore the other route, and say that the Irizu/Iris thing was intended to be true. Then Iris was MEANT to be overly-human, fine. But the game does an awful job of connecting the dots beyond that. There's no further subtext or events that hint toward it. It's just," Oh, this A.I. is weirdly humanlike in its behaviors. Also, it has a similar name to Irizu." I have no idea if the theory is accurate or not, or if the developers themselves even know one way or another. But it's equally bad writing no matter what. [SPOILER END]
The pacing is all over the place, too. I didn't expect a slowburn plot, given how short SiM is, but the shortness isn't really an excuse; a game can be an hour long and still do well here. This one just... Doesn't. The answer to the big 'mystery' (" What happened to Sara?") is made obvious in the first five minutes. And then there's the fact that it goes from light horror elements to throwing everything at you all at once. And it isn't done in a good way, like, say, The VVitch. It's not purposeful or built up to smartly. It's just one weird plot point after another, all in rapid succession - and before any of it is properly explained, it ends.
Another thing, there are so many plot holes, inconsistencies, and errors that I couldn't list all of them out if I tried. There ARE two glaring ones that I'll briefly discuss though (thanks to Night Mind for pointing these out in his video on SiM.) [SPOILERS] Firstly, Sara gives a different, untrue story to two separate people (her mom and a friend, Buddy) about her breakup. It's made apparent through her texts with Derek (her ex) that she broke up with him. Yet she tells her mom that they mutually decided to end things, and she tells Buddy that Derek dumped her.
[SPOILERS STILL] Secondly, there's a point in time where Sara is having multiple text conversations at once. One is very intense, and she's obviously scared. The other is a conversation with her friend James where she is acting totally normal while he tells her about scary things. I suspect this was an oversight by the devs, and that these were supposed to take place on different days. Generally, there are multiple issues with dates like this. Another example is that one conversation takes place on February 30. [SPOILER END]
There's also multiple typos - excusable at times if it's trying to simulate how people actually type, but even the 'prim and proper' cult leader makes two typos nearly back to back. It feels like they didn't proofread at all.
Lastly, the writing is absolutely egregious. I was cringing nearly the entire game because of how bad it was. The protagonist very rarely, if ever, reads like a realistic person. Your dialogue options almost never make sense or sound like something someone would actually say. [SPOILERS] I think a prime example of this is the line," I feel like god now." I had to pause to process that when I saw it. And there's lots of other lines that are just as shamefully bad.
[SPOILERS STILL] Another small note, but I really, really hate the 'proper sounding character who speaks with fancy words' archetype. They're very rarely written well, and this one certainly isn't. [SPOILER END]
There's only two kind-of positive things I can say here. First off, I like the IDEA behind the choices presented to you. Even if they're not executed much better than anything else, they (and their setup) are interesting. Secondly, I like that there are small plot threads going on beneath the surface - [SPOILERS] Sara's breakup, her strained relationship with her mom, things like that. [SPOILER END] But even then, most of the extra stuff available is completely pointless and not even entertaining. It all feels like it's only there to possibly pad out time.
Overall, .5/5.
Gameplay:
While the game advertises itself as being all about clue-finding and puzzle-solving, SiM largely lacks either of those things. The 'strange happenings' are very easy to find, as they're out of place amongst all of the completely normal things. There's literally one puzzle and it's incredibly easy. Also, the keyboard that it advertises as its entire own feature is completely useless and nearly nonfunctional.
It would have been so cool to see good gameplay for this. I would have loved to play a detective-horror type thing. Unfortunately, it completely fails. Realistically you're not doing much of anything, least of all detective work.
Overall, .5/5.
Worldbuilding:
I do like the inclusion of the extra random pictures and videos, the notes app, and the emails. It all builds up Sara's personal life slightly more. There's a few side characters for you to get to know through her messages, too.
I feel like looking through this extra stuff would help with immersion a lot... If it was even slightly fun to do so. The writing is so bad that it's just embarrassing most of the time. I can't give too much credit for something being there, when it's executed awfully.
Overall, 1/5.
Overall game score: 1/5. Aside from its gimmick, Sara is Missing lacks pretty much any real positives. The writing is bad, the plot makes no sense, and the gameplay is boring. Even though it's free and short, it is absolutely not worth your time. I highly recommend skipping it and finding something else to play.
Sara is Missing is an absolute letdown in every capacity. It's honestly sad, because there's such an interesting concept at the surface. That's why it got so much attention following its release, after all. It's a gimmick game through and through - perfect for YouTubers to make clickbait with. And just like most titles that get popular off of a 'novelty' + 'YouTuber' combination, there's nothing that actually makes it worthwhile.
Anything good SiM might have had going on with its unique presentation is immediately ruined by the awful writing, incoherent story, and cheesy attempts at horror. It's like they closed their eyes, opened a book of bad genre tropes, and pointed randomly - then tried to make one ongoing plot out of them.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 2/5
Sound: 1/5
Story: .5/5
Gameplay: .5/5
Worldbuilding: 1/5
Overall game score: 1/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The execution here is fine, but nothing special by any means. The phone has a pretty realistic layout and decent-looking apps. I like the variety in pictures for the gallery. It's cool to see the characters in candid situations.
I do wish there were more scary things to uncover though. It would have been cool to see pictures where Sara was being stalked in the background leading up to her disappearance.
Overall, 2/5.
Sound:
Not much to say here, given that most of the sound design is just phone noises.
There is ONE song you can play from the music app. I thought that was a neat inclusion at first, but a singular track will get pretty old after the first few times.
Overall, 1/5.
Story:
As I mentioned in the introduction, SiM's story is a Frankenstein's monster of cheesy, tired horror tropes. [SPOILERS] There's a satanic murder cult; there's a mysterious Wiccan gathering; there's a cursed deepweb video; there's a sentient phone A.I. that watches you through your camera; there's a guy in a mask. [SPOILER END] All of this familiar territory is thrown into the same pot, and SiM is too lazy to tie any of it together. Important elements are often left completely unexplained. Nothing has any relation to anything else. And still, the game plods along as if it all makes perfect sense.
[SPOILERS] I think the cult is selecting victims and/or recruits through the death curse video? And that the guy in the mask (who appears once) might be Irizu, the cult's leader? And there are theories that Irizu is somehow controlling Sara's phone, since his name is similar to the A.I.'s (Iris.) But that comes with its own plot holes and inconsistencies. And if he's NOT controlling it, then Iris is an extremely intelligent artificial being - way more intelligent than I can suspend my disbelief for. You are given dialogue early on that acknowledges how strangely human Iris is... But that doesn't fix the fact that it's bad writing. It's just a built-in excuse.
[SPOILERS STILL] Let's quickly explore the other route, and say that the Irizu/Iris thing was intended to be true. Then Iris was MEANT to be overly-human, fine. But the game does an awful job of connecting the dots beyond that. There's no further subtext or events that hint toward it. It's just," Oh, this A.I. is weirdly humanlike in its behaviors. Also, it has a similar name to Irizu." I have no idea if the theory is accurate or not, or if the developers themselves even know one way or another. But it's equally bad writing no matter what. [SPOILER END]
The pacing is all over the place, too. I didn't expect a slowburn plot, given how short SiM is, but the shortness isn't really an excuse; a game can be an hour long and still do well here. This one just... Doesn't. The answer to the big 'mystery' (" What happened to Sara?") is made obvious in the first five minutes. And then there's the fact that it goes from light horror elements to throwing everything at you all at once. And it isn't done in a good way, like, say, The VVitch. It's not purposeful or built up to smartly. It's just one weird plot point after another, all in rapid succession - and before any of it is properly explained, it ends.
Another thing, there are so many plot holes, inconsistencies, and errors that I couldn't list all of them out if I tried. There ARE two glaring ones that I'll briefly discuss though (thanks to Night Mind for pointing these out in his video on SiM.) [SPOILERS] Firstly, Sara gives a different, untrue story to two separate people (her mom and a friend, Buddy) about her breakup. It's made apparent through her texts with Derek (her ex) that she broke up with him. Yet she tells her mom that they mutually decided to end things, and she tells Buddy that Derek dumped her.
[SPOILERS STILL] Secondly, there's a point in time where Sara is having multiple text conversations at once. One is very intense, and she's obviously scared. The other is a conversation with her friend James where she is acting totally normal while he tells her about scary things. I suspect this was an oversight by the devs, and that these were supposed to take place on different days. Generally, there are multiple issues with dates like this. Another example is that one conversation takes place on February 30. [SPOILER END]
There's also multiple typos - excusable at times if it's trying to simulate how people actually type, but even the 'prim and proper' cult leader makes two typos nearly back to back. It feels like they didn't proofread at all.
Lastly, the writing is absolutely egregious. I was cringing nearly the entire game because of how bad it was. The protagonist very rarely, if ever, reads like a realistic person. Your dialogue options almost never make sense or sound like something someone would actually say. [SPOILERS] I think a prime example of this is the line," I feel like god now." I had to pause to process that when I saw it. And there's lots of other lines that are just as shamefully bad.
[SPOILERS STILL] Another small note, but I really, really hate the 'proper sounding character who speaks with fancy words' archetype. They're very rarely written well, and this one certainly isn't. [SPOILER END]
There's only two kind-of positive things I can say here. First off, I like the IDEA behind the choices presented to you. Even if they're not executed much better than anything else, they (and their setup) are interesting. Secondly, I like that there are small plot threads going on beneath the surface - [SPOILERS] Sara's breakup, her strained relationship with her mom, things like that. [SPOILER END] But even then, most of the extra stuff available is completely pointless and not even entertaining. It all feels like it's only there to possibly pad out time.
Overall, .5/5.
Gameplay:
While the game advertises itself as being all about clue-finding and puzzle-solving, SiM largely lacks either of those things. The 'strange happenings' are very easy to find, as they're out of place amongst all of the completely normal things. There's literally one puzzle and it's incredibly easy. Also, the keyboard that it advertises as its entire own feature is completely useless and nearly nonfunctional.
It would have been so cool to see good gameplay for this. I would have loved to play a detective-horror type thing. Unfortunately, it completely fails. Realistically you're not doing much of anything, least of all detective work.
Overall, .5/5.
Worldbuilding:
I do like the inclusion of the extra random pictures and videos, the notes app, and the emails. It all builds up Sara's personal life slightly more. There's a few side characters for you to get to know through her messages, too.
I feel like looking through this extra stuff would help with immersion a lot... If it was even slightly fun to do so. The writing is so bad that it's just embarrassing most of the time. I can't give too much credit for something being there, when it's executed awfully.
Overall, 1/5.
Overall game score: 1/5. Aside from its gimmick, Sara is Missing lacks pretty much any real positives. The writing is bad, the plot makes no sense, and the gameplay is boring. Even though it's free and short, it is absolutely not worth your time. I highly recommend skipping it and finding something else to play.
This got boring insanely quick 💀
𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝟏𝟕# 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠
Awwww good old 2016 youtube fodder content.
I wanted to go back at this game out of a curiosity to see if it still held any value as game rather than a short footnote in the history of shock indie game fodder for content hungry youtubers, and while I think the concept is genuinely interesting and a spooky concept, it’s bogged down by a very liner structure, not taking full use of it’s concept only scratching the surface of it’s own potential, and a very lame story that stretches its concept way too far past the realm of believability. (looks like I’ll be adding this game to the list of media where an interesting idea is ruined by the “oh it was a cult the whole time” trop.)
I know there's other versions of this game and I might try them out later to see if they ironed out the issues I have but that’s for another day, as for Sara is Missing; it’s a neat concept game.
(maybe the Doctor Who version will be better………..what you think I’m joking no theres a version of this game but it’s set in the Doctor Who universe, I don’t know if it’s good or bad I just think it’s really interesting that some obscure indie devs were able to work on an officially licensed Doctor Who game just because their demo concept game got popular. That’s like the shit dreams are made of.)
𝟏𝟕# 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠
Awwww good old 2016 youtube fodder content.
I wanted to go back at this game out of a curiosity to see if it still held any value as game rather than a short footnote in the history of shock indie game fodder for content hungry youtubers, and while I think the concept is genuinely interesting and a spooky concept, it’s bogged down by a very liner structure, not taking full use of it’s concept only scratching the surface of it’s own potential, and a very lame story that stretches its concept way too far past the realm of believability. (looks like I’ll be adding this game to the list of media where an interesting idea is ruined by the “oh it was a cult the whole time” trop.)
I know there's other versions of this game and I might try them out later to see if they ironed out the issues I have but that’s for another day, as for Sara is Missing; it’s a neat concept game.
(maybe the Doctor Who version will be better………..what you think I’m joking no theres a version of this game but it’s set in the Doctor Who universe, I don’t know if it’s good or bad I just think it’s really interesting that some obscure indie devs were able to work on an officially licensed Doctor Who game just because their demo concept game got popular. That’s like the shit dreams are made of.)
criativo, final merda
interesting concept with ridiculously cheesy execution
Very original idea for a game and I kind of dig it, but I wished the concepts are explored deeper and the game was longer because this felt a bit like wasted potential.