REPLACED

TL;DR: Not enough story or world-building to keep me invested through the rather bland gameplay. I really wanted to like this game. Ever since the first trailer for its never-released spiritual successor, The Last Night, I've been looking forward to a game that blends 2D '80s aesthetics with modern 3D lighting in this way. From a stylistic perspective, the game has a lot going for it, but that's also where most of the positives begin and end. The overall narrative and world have a campy '80s vibe that I genuinely enjoyed, but it's only skin-deep. Even after around nine hours, the story never really gets going, and the characters remain largely underdeveloped. I don't mind the lack of voice acting—I'm used to reading large amounts of text from classic JRPGs—but the writing feels generic, and most characters never evolve beyond being quest givers. They're not outright clichés, but they're never given enough depth to become memorable. The world itself also feels surprisingly shallow. While the game makes occasional use of environmental storytelling, it never capitalizes on those ideas in a meaningful or coherent way. It constantly hints at a richer setting than it actually delivers. Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn't make up for it. The platforming feels stiff and underdeveloped, while the combat is equally basic. There are some genuinely good ideas throughout, but none of them feel particularly polished. As a result, the combat lacks the depth to stand on its own, the platforming quickly becomes repetitive, and the world simply isn't engaging enough to keep me invested. I genuinely hope the developers get the opportunity to make a sequel, because I think the foundation is there. With more time, a larger budget, and a stronger focus on gameplay depth and world-building, a second installment could be something special. As it stands, this is by no means a bad game—it's simply not compelling enough for me to want to spend more time with it.