it's not as unplayable and awful as the 2000's angry reviewers made out to be honest, flying through the hoops feels fine and I worked out what I was meant to do without much trouble. I feel like they were trying to cling onto stuff to do funny screams to because it's just very bland and empty, feels like an early prototype but not in any cool atmospheric way, just in a "there are no mechanics" way.

I played it until I got to a lazer door I couldn't open and then gave up, it's not really interesting, just kind of nothing-y.

I love the way the game looks, it feels like it's throwing together tons of different aesthetics but they all link together and make something that feels it's own despite coming from a lot of unoriginal places.
It hits this space where it feels very stylish and neat through the effective art direction but also rough and messy through how that art is directed. You'll have this crooked, oddly shaped world but it's all illustrated in such a fine and caring way.

I feel like the era it was created in adds to this as well. The boxy models and low-res textures make it feel sketchy and man-made. Madness Returns looks neat and I haven't played it but I don't think the smoother, more modern models that game uses has this same feeling and I doubt many games will have it because it's such an element of its time.

I just wish I like playing it more. The game for some reason uses one ammo pool for every weapon but some of the weapons are super janky and apart from explosives being good for crowds, certain weapons aren't better against certain enemies or anything like that. So it's very easy to just fall into a kind of repetitive rhythym of using the same weapon against the same enemies over and over. When you do force yourself to use all the weapons it's just 'ok' as well, nothing all that interesting.

Cool game though, would love it if it was also a fun game.

Suprisingly the game's not that focused on the photography with it being more of a vehicle to show you these little busy worlds. Reminds me of Where's Wally books in the way that it's these big complicated places with tons of things going on but looking into it you can see all these small, individual scenarios with individual people and being able to explore an environment like that is really cool. The game's also genuinely sweet and endearing, it's funny and has a subtle relatability that keeps the cuteness from feeling insincere.

Really enjoyed it, gg