This review contains spoilers
I have a lot of thoughts about Fahrenheit, and they constantly changed as I played the game. At first, I was sure it was the best experience Quantic Dream put out, due to several memorable factors like unique atmosphere and gameplay. As time went on, I realized it's a game that relied heavily on the two mechanics it sets forth and completely refused to improve them.
In the beginning, the story is a psychological murder mystery with ritualistic supernatural elements, and the chapters consist of a good balance between exploration, dialogue, environment interaction, race against time, and QTEs. You think "hey these QTEs are annoying and they certainly prevent me from following the story since I'm more focused on following the 'Fisher Price, my baby's first QTEs' but they're not unbearable."
You also enjoy juggling different narratives, evading the police AND chasing yourself in the meantime, being on the edge all the time, and uncovering the same mystery on both sides of the story.
Then somehow the lore sinks deeper in the Ancient Mayan Rituals territory, which is a personal pet peeve of mine. The gameplay also becomes a continuous mess of boring QTEs that prevent you from following the story as they flash in the middle of your screen. Seriously Cage, why do I need a series of QTEs to have a dream, or observe an autopsy?
The whole thing takes a full nosedive after the "Matrix chapter" and your only highlights are the new gameplay mechanics introduced in Carla's chapters, which are short-lived.
I think I would've preferred if the story remained much less supernatural and maybe had a mix with scientific/psychological elements. And the Fisher Price QTEs need to be removed from certain sections entirely. These two seemingly small aspects of the game causes the first half to be the best thing Quantic Dream produced, and the second half to be the worst. Yes, worse than Heavy Rain.
As if the game underdeveloping the winter apocalypse plot wasn't enough, the final act hits you with all the random stuff like Orange Clan who are a race of Artificial Intelligence, Chroma (which is exactly the same as The Force), and The Invisibles.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Quantic Dream game without a weak, out-of-nowhere romantic pairing and a weird sex scene between a murderer & an investigator.
In the end I heavily dislike the direction this game took, but I would really enjoy a remake of this with better mechanics and carefully developed plot. It just feels like there are a lot of disconnected points in how the mystery unfolds, but a good story lies underneath all that. If it didn't go from mystery thriller to a telekinetic kung-fu action in a matter of seconds, that is. The whole thing is like The X-Files on crack!
In the beginning, the story is a psychological murder mystery with ritualistic supernatural elements, and the chapters consist of a good balance between exploration, dialogue, environment interaction, race against time, and QTEs. You think "hey these QTEs are annoying and they certainly prevent me from following the story since I'm more focused on following the 'Fisher Price, my baby's first QTEs' but they're not unbearable."
You also enjoy juggling different narratives, evading the police AND chasing yourself in the meantime, being on the edge all the time, and uncovering the same mystery on both sides of the story.
Then somehow the lore sinks deeper in the Ancient Mayan Rituals territory, which is a personal pet peeve of mine. The gameplay also becomes a continuous mess of boring QTEs that prevent you from following the story as they flash in the middle of your screen. Seriously Cage, why do I need a series of QTEs to have a dream, or observe an autopsy?
The whole thing takes a full nosedive after the "Matrix chapter" and your only highlights are the new gameplay mechanics introduced in Carla's chapters, which are short-lived.
I think I would've preferred if the story remained much less supernatural and maybe had a mix with scientific/psychological elements. And the Fisher Price QTEs need to be removed from certain sections entirely. These two seemingly small aspects of the game causes the first half to be the best thing Quantic Dream produced, and the second half to be the worst. Yes, worse than Heavy Rain.
As if the game underdeveloping the winter apocalypse plot wasn't enough, the final act hits you with all the random stuff like Orange Clan who are a race of Artificial Intelligence, Chroma (which is exactly the same as The Force), and The Invisibles.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Quantic Dream game without a weak, out-of-nowhere romantic pairing and a weird sex scene between a murderer & an investigator.
In the end I heavily dislike the direction this game took, but I would really enjoy a remake of this with better mechanics and carefully developed plot. It just feels like there are a lot of disconnected points in how the mystery unfolds, but a good story lies underneath all that. If it didn't go from mystery thriller to a telekinetic kung-fu action in a matter of seconds, that is. The whole thing is like The X-Files on crack!