stylistic and intentional, inscryption does what it sets out to do wonderfully. i went in blind, and am glad i did, because it benefits greatly from the player beginning with nothing but their own preconceived notions of what its genres espouse.

that being said, it is impossible to divorce the gargantuan expectation i had placed on the game as a result of the near-universal praise it received. that muddied my experience somewhat (and is no fault of the game, im just penning it down for future reference).

ive also read that this is a common problem with daniel mullins games-- the fact that resolution is rarely granted. while this doesnt bother me excessively, the story's ending did feel rather abrupt, and not in a way that encouraged me to search out theories or interpretations of the game's goings-on.

regardless, the game blends genres (including AR which often threatens to be too corny to be enjoyed) beautifully. the game is nothing short of an experience, and should be played by anyone even remotely intrigued by its premise or metafiction.

this is way better than i remember the mod being. i suppose thats what happens when you arent limited by the base game and having little to no external help.

games honestly pretty enjoyable, and considering the limitations of the staff and that this is the studio's debut, its a fine game. because of the utter ambition of the game, however, coupled with the small team and difficulty of providing a player with an appropriately broad array of solutions, certain parts of the game feel contrived/not fully explored. it would also have been nice not to have to be bludgeoned with references-- it made me feel less rewarded for paying attention to dialogue or references through its overtness.

nonetheless, its certainly a game worth playing, not only for its innovation, but because it is a good game in of itself. far from perfect but certainly great. ambition probably has to be covered one game at a time. im excited to see the next game from the studio.

great game emotionally cathartic and epic-style storytelling with a few annoying mechanics like helicopters and shit

despite the insane amount of driving necessitated by essentially every mission, there was enough variety (superficially or not) to keep it decently fresh. its like there was some newness even in the repetition, which did a great service to the game generally.

i wish we got to see more of franklin and get a better look into his personal character arc but trevor and michael had a sufficiently engaging set of circumstances.