TL;DR: While not a perfect game by any means, TRON: Identity is a must-play for any hardcore TRON fan, and also a formidable visual novel in its own right. While the story progression itself may lack in depth of gameplay, it makes up for it in sheer visual spectacle and the interesting puzzles.
Pros:
+ Absolutely phenomenal visuals, music and overall presentation
+ Really good writing for both the characters and the general narration
+ A few really intriguing characters that represent the different perspectives of differing kinds of programs in the Grid, with standouts like an administrator who idolizes the Users, and a young nonbinary program who cleverly challenges the binary concepts of the world
+ The puzzle gameplay is well-built into the gameplay story-wise, and is also fun in itself, which is why it's good that they've included a standalone mode for playing it with great customizability
+ The game's story (and lore specifically) has some huge and exciting ramifications for the future of the Grid, which I genuinely hope is utilized or at least hinted at in future movies and other media
+ Title screen is great (TRON fans will understand why)
+ In general, definitely a worthy addition to the TRON mythos
Cons:
- I don't know how long visual novels are usually supposed to be, but this one sure feels like it's way too short. It really feels like Bithell might've bitten more than they could chew with this one, so they had to squeeze their existing budget to a relatively breezy experience.
- While the single tower - where the entire game takes place - does have some fairly diverse and unique locales inside of it, it feels quite restrictive with there only being like 6 major rooms to go into.
- Very little replayability for a few reasons:
• First, the only two things you can "collect" are clickable lore nodes during dialogue boxes, all of which are very easy to get on your first playthrough, as well as the different fates for each character. At least you're forced to get those during multiple playthroughs - which isn't really an issue since the characters are so fun - but when some only have two different narrow paths to follow, it doesn't really add much more depth.
• Second, you get basically no rewards for playing through the game, and none after replaying it. You're just playing for fun at that point, something which the standalone puzzle mode is much better for.
Pros:
+ Absolutely phenomenal visuals, music and overall presentation
+ Really good writing for both the characters and the general narration
+ A few really intriguing characters that represent the different perspectives of differing kinds of programs in the Grid, with standouts like an administrator who idolizes the Users, and a young nonbinary program who cleverly challenges the binary concepts of the world
+ The puzzle gameplay is well-built into the gameplay story-wise, and is also fun in itself, which is why it's good that they've included a standalone mode for playing it with great customizability
+ The game's story (and lore specifically) has some huge and exciting ramifications for the future of the Grid, which I genuinely hope is utilized or at least hinted at in future movies and other media
+ Title screen is great (TRON fans will understand why)
+ In general, definitely a worthy addition to the TRON mythos
Cons:
- I don't know how long visual novels are usually supposed to be, but this one sure feels like it's way too short. It really feels like Bithell might've bitten more than they could chew with this one, so they had to squeeze their existing budget to a relatively breezy experience.
- While the single tower - where the entire game takes place - does have some fairly diverse and unique locales inside of it, it feels quite restrictive with there only being like 6 major rooms to go into.
- Very little replayability for a few reasons:
• First, the only two things you can "collect" are clickable lore nodes during dialogue boxes, all of which are very easy to get on your first playthrough, as well as the different fates for each character. At least you're forced to get those during multiple playthroughs - which isn't really an issue since the characters are so fun - but when some only have two different narrow paths to follow, it doesn't really add much more depth.
• Second, you get basically no rewards for playing through the game, and none after replaying it. You're just playing for fun at that point, something which the standalone puzzle mode is much better for.