Very ambitious continuation of the mechanics introduced in Her Story (I haven't played Telling Lies). The zooming in on stuff to move through the archive is more thematic and less contrived than searching for keywords, but it is also less controllable. What is generously free and loose when you first plunge into the maze, becomes more frustratingly limiting once you start looking for specific things. Still though, figuring things out and making the right connections is interesting.
What keeps this from greatness is the banality of the plot and its numerous twists. Once you have figured it out, it all just lays there as a murky puddle of disconnected symbols. The gameplay mechanics are sophisticated but the story is not. The acting is a strange beast in its own right, stuck somewhere between fmv camp and a dead serious indie drama / A24 elevated horror snooze fest.
For similar ideas in cinema (with better execution), I'd recommend Portabella's Vampir Cuadecuc and Rivette's Duelle. Immortality, just like its predecessor, remains at a level of "fun game that hints at the greater potential of future games".
What keeps this from greatness is the banality of the plot and its numerous twists. Once you have figured it out, it all just lays there as a murky puddle of disconnected symbols. The gameplay mechanics are sophisticated but the story is not. The acting is a strange beast in its own right, stuck somewhere between fmv camp and a dead serious indie drama / A24 elevated horror snooze fest.
For similar ideas in cinema (with better execution), I'd recommend Portabella's Vampir Cuadecuc and Rivette's Duelle. Immortality, just like its predecessor, remains at a level of "fun game that hints at the greater potential of future games".