This game is rather strange to quantify, because, on the one hand, I found Broken Reality to be a rather mesmerizing experience, chock full of abstract beauty while wallowing within the deepest pits of irony that Vaporwave is synonymous with, but on the other hand, it's a deeply frustrating experience of meaningless checklists stretched out far past its welcome.
To note, I reached the final level of Broken Reality before I decided to just shelf the game. I spent around 7 hours in the game, going about the multitude of quests and scavenger hunts for "likes" and so forth, but I was soft-locked at the very end of the game, requiring me to go through what would seem to be another several hours of backtracking to see the end credits; frankly, I didn't have the patience to do that. Out of my own impatience, I just went ahead and looked up the ending online, gathered the story bits from that, and called my experience with this game finished. Ultimately, I find it a shame I called it quits with the game, but it helms a multitude of pacing issues that severely hamper the experience.
Broken Reality is ultimately a simple game mashing up first-person exploration titles with a general Metroid-Vania flavor, all doused within the ugly yet extremely charming aesthetics of Vaporwave, and if that sales pitch sounds like something you'd be interested in, then you'll definitely find something enjoyable about the game. I know I found my fair share of fun with it in uncovering the strange, twisted secrets of this virtual space gone mostly abandoned/corrupt, but the overall pacing of the game didn't keep me invested throughout the experience; several moments of the game drag on for far longer than they should, and that's a shame considering the talent put into this project, however, an hour or two shaved off the game would've greatly impacted the game for the better.
I'm torn on Broken Reality; ultimately, I'd recommend it, especially for those fascinated by internet culture, but I'd just be aware of the sluggish pace come the final hours of the game; if you can handle that, you'll probably have a blast.
This game deserves a much greater analysis in the future, one I'll have to do soon.
To note, I reached the final level of Broken Reality before I decided to just shelf the game. I spent around 7 hours in the game, going about the multitude of quests and scavenger hunts for "likes" and so forth, but I was soft-locked at the very end of the game, requiring me to go through what would seem to be another several hours of backtracking to see the end credits; frankly, I didn't have the patience to do that. Out of my own impatience, I just went ahead and looked up the ending online, gathered the story bits from that, and called my experience with this game finished. Ultimately, I find it a shame I called it quits with the game, but it helms a multitude of pacing issues that severely hamper the experience.
Broken Reality is ultimately a simple game mashing up first-person exploration titles with a general Metroid-Vania flavor, all doused within the ugly yet extremely charming aesthetics of Vaporwave, and if that sales pitch sounds like something you'd be interested in, then you'll definitely find something enjoyable about the game. I know I found my fair share of fun with it in uncovering the strange, twisted secrets of this virtual space gone mostly abandoned/corrupt, but the overall pacing of the game didn't keep me invested throughout the experience; several moments of the game drag on for far longer than they should, and that's a shame considering the talent put into this project, however, an hour or two shaved off the game would've greatly impacted the game for the better.
I'm torn on Broken Reality; ultimately, I'd recommend it, especially for those fascinated by internet culture, but I'd just be aware of the sluggish pace come the final hours of the game; if you can handle that, you'll probably have a blast.
This game deserves a much greater analysis in the future, one I'll have to do soon.