i love a good walking sim, but something about this didn't hit quite right. i'd mark this for spoiler warnings but I don't know how much I even could spoil, given the circumstances. stop reading here if you care
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i think the core issue is the detachment between the protagonist and the player. i'm not saying every game needs to have a blank canvas stand-in for the player to inhabit, but it creates a conflict between the two kinds of storytelling the game is attempting.
your character is supposed to be a professor, recently burned by a massive academic blunder, investigating seemingly mystical activity below a very old English university. in theory, the developers want you to be curious about whether these phenomena are authentic, or an elaborate hoax perpetrated by the movie-maker who invited you.
the problem is that every single thing you discover seems to indicate that you're being fucked with. you repeatedly find what seems like totally irrefutable evidence that nothing happening is real. even the pro-magic evidence is extremely weak (like an ancient stone in England with weathered engraved Chinese characters, or extremely inconsistent timelines between the collage of ancient writing).
But the protagonist, despite being the one to discover all these clear hoaxes, remains a true believer until the end credits, following along blindly with zero regard to every inconsistency and anachronism you, and therefore he, have uncovered.
You spend the back half of this game feeling like you're puppeteering the most gullible man alive on a quest to prove that he is, indeed, the most gullible man alive, and it really doesn't feel intentionally written that way. the dramatic tone leaves it feeling less like an interesting characterization, and more like a narrative obstinance that the player can't overcome.
it's a frustrating disconnect, especially in a mystery context, and even more so in a game that continually offers dialogue choices that provide the illusion of influencing the story, with a side-character actively voicing this exact skepticism the whole time.
the game is a poor realization of a good premise, and I wish I left it feeling more intrigued and curious by its mysteries than bored with them.
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i think the core issue is the detachment between the protagonist and the player. i'm not saying every game needs to have a blank canvas stand-in for the player to inhabit, but it creates a conflict between the two kinds of storytelling the game is attempting.
your character is supposed to be a professor, recently burned by a massive academic blunder, investigating seemingly mystical activity below a very old English university. in theory, the developers want you to be curious about whether these phenomena are authentic, or an elaborate hoax perpetrated by the movie-maker who invited you.
the problem is that every single thing you discover seems to indicate that you're being fucked with. you repeatedly find what seems like totally irrefutable evidence that nothing happening is real. even the pro-magic evidence is extremely weak (like an ancient stone in England with weathered engraved Chinese characters, or extremely inconsistent timelines between the collage of ancient writing).
But the protagonist, despite being the one to discover all these clear hoaxes, remains a true believer until the end credits, following along blindly with zero regard to every inconsistency and anachronism you, and therefore he, have uncovered.
You spend the back half of this game feeling like you're puppeteering the most gullible man alive on a quest to prove that he is, indeed, the most gullible man alive, and it really doesn't feel intentionally written that way. the dramatic tone leaves it feeling less like an interesting characterization, and more like a narrative obstinance that the player can't overcome.
it's a frustrating disconnect, especially in a mystery context, and even more so in a game that continually offers dialogue choices that provide the illusion of influencing the story, with a side-character actively voicing this exact skepticism the whole time.
the game is a poor realization of a good premise, and I wish I left it feeling more intrigued and curious by its mysteries than bored with them.