After playing Paratopic and Fatum Betula I went looking for games that looked similar or had a similar feeling to them. In this search, I stumbled on Sagebrush. And while its not nearly as weird as the previously mentioned games, its Lo-Fi aesthetic created a similar feeling and almost creepy atmosphere.
Sagebrush is essentially a walking sim in the same vein as Firewatch or What Remains of Edith Finch. At the start of the game, we have just arrived at this compound that looks to be entirely abandoned. Walking through this place you find little hints about a cult that used to live here, who they are, how they lived, and what eventually happened to them.
While everything looks open to explore, you'll soon realize this game is rather linear. You'll enter a building, find some bits and pieces of the story, find a key or something similar, go to the next building that you now can enter with the key, and do the whole thing again. I personally didn't mind this 'gameplay loop' since it worked in favor of the story. You constantly find things that give you information (whether it are letters, books, or audio logs) to unravel the mysteries surrounding the cult. It grabbed my attention all the way through its 2-hour-ish runtime. The Lo-Fi style of the game works perfectly with its themes and the story it's trying to tell. It does go in some disturbing directions with the story and it sometimes felt unsettling to me.
I played the game on Nintendo Switch, it's rather cheap on there and goes on sale a lot (I bought it for 1,79 euro), it runs great but the cursor to interact with things feels a bit wonky sometimes.
TL:DR: Sagebrush is a walking sim with some dark themes. The story made this a fulfilling experience, while its short runtime in combination with the simple gameplay left me wanting (a bit) more in the end.
I would suggest playing this game if you're a fan of walking sims and looking for a short interesting story, but not without a trigger warning (minor spoiler): the story has some suicide-related themes, so be aware if that's not something you want to be confronted with.
Sagebrush is essentially a walking sim in the same vein as Firewatch or What Remains of Edith Finch. At the start of the game, we have just arrived at this compound that looks to be entirely abandoned. Walking through this place you find little hints about a cult that used to live here, who they are, how they lived, and what eventually happened to them.
While everything looks open to explore, you'll soon realize this game is rather linear. You'll enter a building, find some bits and pieces of the story, find a key or something similar, go to the next building that you now can enter with the key, and do the whole thing again. I personally didn't mind this 'gameplay loop' since it worked in favor of the story. You constantly find things that give you information (whether it are letters, books, or audio logs) to unravel the mysteries surrounding the cult. It grabbed my attention all the way through its 2-hour-ish runtime. The Lo-Fi style of the game works perfectly with its themes and the story it's trying to tell. It does go in some disturbing directions with the story and it sometimes felt unsettling to me.
I played the game on Nintendo Switch, it's rather cheap on there and goes on sale a lot (I bought it for 1,79 euro), it runs great but the cursor to interact with things feels a bit wonky sometimes.
TL:DR: Sagebrush is a walking sim with some dark themes. The story made this a fulfilling experience, while its short runtime in combination with the simple gameplay left me wanting (a bit) more in the end.
I would suggest playing this game if you're a fan of walking sims and looking for a short interesting story, but not without a trigger warning (minor spoiler): the story has some suicide-related themes, so be aware if that's not something you want to be confronted with.