I tried so hard to like this after seeing all the good reviews but there were just a few big things that were deal breakers for me and I got increasingly frustrated with the game as it went on. First off the things I loved about the game:
Style: A mystery game set on an abandoned boat is an awesome premise and the idea of a modern game with "old school computer graphics" is interesting. The music fits well and it's fun when it syncs up with stuff that's happening.
Mechanics: The idea of a power that let's you travel back to a static point in the past and walk around in it is awesome. Probably the best application of time travel in any media imo.
The deal breakers:
Graphics: While I loved the idea of this, unfortunately this game is the first game I've ever played to make me physically sick because of the graphics. It's hard to explain exactly why and I'm probably quite unique in this case since it seems from other reviews that most people didn't have a problem. Also the graphics really made it hard to tell what was going on. For example, there were several sections where it was important for progression for me to know that something was fire but to me it just looked like light or fog or something.
Inconvenient mechanics: You have to wait x seconds to enter a memory. You're only allowed x seconds in a memory the first time you visit (but you also can't leave earlier than that). You can't teleport back to a memory from the journal so you have to memorize where all the bodies are and which memory they correspond to. Every time you get 3 fates correct you have to wait like 2 minutes for it to go through and confirm all the info you just input. Just lots of random junk that had me twiddling my thumbs.
Sleuthing is tedious for basically no reward: So this is once again probably just me but the most interesting thing about the game was finding all the death scene memories. These taught me everything I wanted to know about what happened on the ship. Why in the world should I be motivated to find out all these people's names? I know its because I'm an "insurance agent" but that's just a made up thing for the game to work. I don't gain any interesting lore or insights from finding out any of their names. I don't get any more information on the monsters (which were the only thing that really interested me) besides who they killed and how they were killed. It's just not worth it to me to scour over and over through 3d scenes that give me a headache just to identify someone by their shoes when I don't get anything for it besides the chance to check off a box.
Unless you count the bonus chapter? I got fed up after about 12 fates that I went online to look up a guide just because I wanted to see if I could get something interesting from the bonus chapter and it was extremely underwhelming and even annoying since it forced me to sit through minutes of me just looking at a really basic scene.
I think that about sums up my experience though. I usually don't review games on steam but with this one having so so many positive reviews I felt compelled to share my very different experience on the off chance that someone is able to relate and/or benefit from it. Many of the positive reviews also list some of the cons that made this a bad experience for me but still recommend the game anyways. For me this was an experience I regret ever starting and I regret even more that I tried to power through the flaws to just find more disappointment.
What I would've done differently:
Add the ability to teleport to memories I've already seen
Let me skip all the forced waiting sections (when you get 3 fates, when you visit a memory the first time)
Let me choose when to end a memory the first time
Unlock some kind of lore upon each set of fates I unlock (as opposed to just eliminating these people from future guesses)
Some other graphics mode for accessibility
If these changes were made I think I would have actually enjoyed and loved the game, because the premise and mechanics really are great and I usually enjoy mystery/sleuthing games, but this one just didn't motivate me.
Style: A mystery game set on an abandoned boat is an awesome premise and the idea of a modern game with "old school computer graphics" is interesting. The music fits well and it's fun when it syncs up with stuff that's happening.
Mechanics: The idea of a power that let's you travel back to a static point in the past and walk around in it is awesome. Probably the best application of time travel in any media imo.
The deal breakers:
Graphics: While I loved the idea of this, unfortunately this game is the first game I've ever played to make me physically sick because of the graphics. It's hard to explain exactly why and I'm probably quite unique in this case since it seems from other reviews that most people didn't have a problem. Also the graphics really made it hard to tell what was going on. For example, there were several sections where it was important for progression for me to know that something was fire but to me it just looked like light or fog or something.
Inconvenient mechanics: You have to wait x seconds to enter a memory. You're only allowed x seconds in a memory the first time you visit (but you also can't leave earlier than that). You can't teleport back to a memory from the journal so you have to memorize where all the bodies are and which memory they correspond to. Every time you get 3 fates correct you have to wait like 2 minutes for it to go through and confirm all the info you just input. Just lots of random junk that had me twiddling my thumbs.
Sleuthing is tedious for basically no reward: So this is once again probably just me but the most interesting thing about the game was finding all the death scene memories. These taught me everything I wanted to know about what happened on the ship. Why in the world should I be motivated to find out all these people's names? I know its because I'm an "insurance agent" but that's just a made up thing for the game to work. I don't gain any interesting lore or insights from finding out any of their names. I don't get any more information on the monsters (which were the only thing that really interested me) besides who they killed and how they were killed. It's just not worth it to me to scour over and over through 3d scenes that give me a headache just to identify someone by their shoes when I don't get anything for it besides the chance to check off a box.
Unless you count the bonus chapter? I got fed up after about 12 fates that I went online to look up a guide just because I wanted to see if I could get something interesting from the bonus chapter and it was extremely underwhelming and even annoying since it forced me to sit through minutes of me just looking at a really basic scene.
I think that about sums up my experience though. I usually don't review games on steam but with this one having so so many positive reviews I felt compelled to share my very different experience on the off chance that someone is able to relate and/or benefit from it. Many of the positive reviews also list some of the cons that made this a bad experience for me but still recommend the game anyways. For me this was an experience I regret ever starting and I regret even more that I tried to power through the flaws to just find more disappointment.
What I would've done differently:
Add the ability to teleport to memories I've already seen
Let me skip all the forced waiting sections (when you get 3 fates, when you visit a memory the first time)
Let me choose when to end a memory the first time
Unlock some kind of lore upon each set of fates I unlock (as opposed to just eliminating these people from future guesses)
Some other graphics mode for accessibility
If these changes were made I think I would have actually enjoyed and loved the game, because the premise and mechanics really are great and I usually enjoy mystery/sleuthing games, but this one just didn't motivate me.