Open Roads is a game that has had a very rough development history. Back in 2021, Fullbright's Co-founder and Open Roads' creative director stepped down from his role on the game following allegations of mistreating employees and fostering a toxic work environment. Many employees ended up leaving the project due to the co-founder's terrible actions/behavior. The remaining employees ended up restructuring the project, and last year, the dev team and the game itself ended up splitting from Fullbright entirely! As someone who was interested in the game following its initial reveal back in 2020, I wondered how the game would turn out or if it would even see the light of day. Now the game has finally released and there's a lot to talk about.
The game is centered around 16-year-old Tess and her divorced mom, Opel, as they set out on a road trip across Michigan to uncover the mystery behind Tess's recently deceased grandmother, Helen. While the mystery serves as the driving force for the journey, the game puts a lot of focus on Tess and Opel’s relationship and how they handle Helen’s passing, and their current circumstances. The voice acting is amazing and helps both these characters feel authentic. I liked the game's portrayal of generational trauma and familial bonds but it could’ve been executed better.
It’s very short, I clocked in at around 3 hours and the game really doesn’t make the best use of its runtime, especially in the later part of the game. There are a few moments that just don't go anywhere and it just felt very abrupt near the end. It definitely would've benefitted from a slightly longer runtime.
For most of the game, you're walking around an area, interacting with the environment, and picking up objects, leading to dialogue between Tess and Opel. This is very usual walking simulator stuff, but what makes it stand out is how the game blends a 2D hand-drawn art style for the characters and a realistic 3D style for the environment around them. It works very well in the game's favor and helps make the world more immersive and the characters very expressive. This is one of the things this game did best and a main highlight for sure.
Despite my issues with how some parts of the story were handled, I enjoyed it. It's short and on Game Pass, so it wouldn't hurt to give it a try!
The game is centered around 16-year-old Tess and her divorced mom, Opel, as they set out on a road trip across Michigan to uncover the mystery behind Tess's recently deceased grandmother, Helen. While the mystery serves as the driving force for the journey, the game puts a lot of focus on Tess and Opel’s relationship and how they handle Helen’s passing, and their current circumstances. The voice acting is amazing and helps both these characters feel authentic. I liked the game's portrayal of generational trauma and familial bonds but it could’ve been executed better.
It’s very short, I clocked in at around 3 hours and the game really doesn’t make the best use of its runtime, especially in the later part of the game. There are a few moments that just don't go anywhere and it just felt very abrupt near the end. It definitely would've benefitted from a slightly longer runtime.
For most of the game, you're walking around an area, interacting with the environment, and picking up objects, leading to dialogue between Tess and Opel. This is very usual walking simulator stuff, but what makes it stand out is how the game blends a 2D hand-drawn art style for the characters and a realistic 3D style for the environment around them. It works very well in the game's favor and helps make the world more immersive and the characters very expressive. This is one of the things this game did best and a main highlight for sure.
Despite my issues with how some parts of the story were handled, I enjoyed it. It's short and on Game Pass, so it wouldn't hurt to give it a try!
4 Comments
@RedBackLoggd Yea, I’m really curious on what was changed about the game after it was restructured and in what ways it differed from what they were originally going for.
Indeed, well, glad you at least liked the final version.
I also didnt know about the troubled development, thanks for the interesting read
RedBackLoggd
1 month ago
I enjoyed Gone Home, but that was because of the 90s nostalgia. The unfortunate truth is that the walking sim genre has evolved beyond the limited scope that Fullbright conceives.