i was really excited for this game to come out ever since i played the dev's other games, Poolscape and Gore, but this game REALLY fell flat for me, which really sucks because not only am i a sucker for the megalophobia of the games in this genre, but i also love sci-fi horror.
the narrative was extremely predictable and generic, from start to finish. every line of dialogue was by-the-books, no risks were taken in the story and everything played out exactly how you expect it would. it was a very bland, very predictable, very derivative story. there are scenes in the story that play out like you, the player, are an absolute idiot. i can't believe the narrative actually attempts the, [spoiler] "your coworker / partner was dead the whole time and you've been talking to the eldritch being," [/spoiler] twist, when not only have we seen that story a thousand times, but this game unfortunately does not approach the trope with any nuance or understanding of what makes that storyline intriguing either. it is quite literally made apparent through monologued observations that THE PLAYER MAKES IN THE FIRST TEN SECONDS OF THE GAME what has happened to your partner, but the game continues to treat you like you have no idea of what's about to come. like you're in for a real treat when the story comes to a head, but you get to the end of the game, and it explains the plot to you like you haven't been paying attention the entire time. the plot is so predictable and bare bones that it really felt insulting for the game to insinuate that i didn't already understand what was going on. seriously dude, the end of the game has dialogue that is JUST there to explain everything you've already seen up until that point.
(they literally have the eldritch being tell the player how small they feel in the cosmos and how afraid and helpless they are. you are literally telling me what i feel right now, there is very little artistry in this approach. show don't tell, etc.)
the gameplay is unchanged from Poolscape which i didn't mind, but the experience from the previous games does not show in this game. the creepy character sliding awkwardly with no animation behind a wall worked fine for the flower creature from Poolrooms, but when you put a guy in a space suit in that position, and then yank him behind a wall with no animation whatsoever, i can't help but laugh. he hits the Virtual Insanity and just slides away from you every time you look at him, and it looks ridiculous. it also detracted from the tension i might have felt finding that secret corner, because it not only looks really silly, but it also spoils the (already obvious) ending of the game. also, needless to say, in a walking sim, things will often be unclear to encourage exploration. this game is FULL of invisible walls that are placed in the most conspicuous places, you will encounter them so often it will grow tiring. this does not stop you from escaping the bounds of the map, however, as in the City section of the game, you can find many opportunities to walk behind the rubble and in between the massive, "buildings," where you can then jump off the map. once you've jumped, which i did NOT do, you would then be respawned at the BEGINNING OF THE LEVEL. YES. THE BEGINNING OF THE CITY. you will have to walk back about 5 minutes worth of distance, which, in a game already slow-paced and massive, becomes tiring as well. checkpoints are placed at the beginning of the level so if you have somewhere to be halfway through a level, say goodbye to your progress bud cause you'll be speedrunning back to where you were when you last played. the easter eggs were loud and obnoxious, each plushie picked up would scream in your ear which was great. it also had that really bizarre unity game thing where the corner of the screen would have a further view distance than the center. so, when you would come upon something that the game tied a scripted event to, if you used the edge of your screen, you'd see it coming. the flashlight is useless, and there's some weird lights placed around the map for no reason, where darkness would have sufficed instead.
after Poolscape i was really excited to give this game a go, but i gave it two days' worth of an honest try and after playing the ending of the game, i feel insulted. i feel like the game saw me as a bumbling idiot that it couldn't trust to understand anything, so it held my hand with invisible walls and VERY expository dialogue that felt so out of place it may as well have been VO narration. and the worst part is, by the end, nothing felt worth it.
i'll be replaying Poolscape if you need me. now THAT'S a brilliant game.
