A murder. A hack. A bombing. All it takes to plunge the solar system into war – unless you do something about it. Help CDI agent Neil Conrad make a string of increasingly difficult decisions in this modern dialog-driven adventure set in a gorgeous 2D sci-fi noir universe.
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Nice small detective game, three interwoven cases. Not too hard, but I did miss some clues so also not impossible to make mistakes. Immediately made me interested in what else this developer will release.
I can save you the time of reading this review by saying one thing: there is only one thing truly "wrong" with Lacuna -- it's only a few hours long. While I love the #shortgame culture, this game made me want to spend hundreds of hours in it's realized world.
Now the real review:
Lacuna is a pixel noir detective game that was made by a humble team of developers that have created something that rivals most of the AAA titles in the genre.
The pixel art is absolutely stunning. I found myself marveling at the attention to detail. I wanted more areas to explore, more backgrounds to interact with, more chairs to just sit in and witness the world the team created.
The story is exactly what a noir game deserves - just enough intrigue and twists to keep you hooked while the character drama gives the world substance and detail. The world-building that this title does in a few short hours should make any writer blush. Each character feels multi-faceted and full of secrets of a life we will never get to see. There's also plenty of world-building hidden into the UI, with news articles and emails that are totally optional.
Speaking of the UI, it's equally exceptional and pleasing to work with. Everything about this experience is polished and comfortable.
If you enjoy the detective genre, then this is one for you. If you appreciate indie titles, then this is one you shouldn't sleep on. If you enjoy pixel art, then you could just look at this one and savor the artwork.
Oh wait - I thought of another thing that's wrong with Lacuna... nowhere near enough people have played it. Do yourself the favor and enjoy this pulp noir gem.
Now the real review:
Lacuna is a pixel noir detective game that was made by a humble team of developers that have created something that rivals most of the AAA titles in the genre.
The pixel art is absolutely stunning. I found myself marveling at the attention to detail. I wanted more areas to explore, more backgrounds to interact with, more chairs to just sit in and witness the world the team created.
The story is exactly what a noir game deserves - just enough intrigue and twists to keep you hooked while the character drama gives the world substance and detail. The world-building that this title does in a few short hours should make any writer blush. Each character feels multi-faceted and full of secrets of a life we will never get to see. There's also plenty of world-building hidden into the UI, with news articles and emails that are totally optional.
Speaking of the UI, it's equally exceptional and pleasing to work with. Everything about this experience is polished and comfortable.
If you enjoy the detective genre, then this is one for you. If you appreciate indie titles, then this is one you shouldn't sleep on. If you enjoy pixel art, then you could just look at this one and savor the artwork.
Oh wait - I thought of another thing that's wrong with Lacuna... nowhere near enough people have played it. Do yourself the favor and enjoy this pulp noir gem.
A noir/sci-fi/point-and-click game hits so many of my favorite genres. Good story, good puzzles, satisfying ending.
Sights & Sounds
- Lovingly crafted pixel art all around. The characters lack a bit of detail, but the backgrounds look pretty great
- The music is quite good in that laid back somewhat lo-fi way. Lots of muted synth with pronounced piano and percussion
- The only real knock on the music is the final song, a vocal track. The vocals are meh and the lyrics are pretty terrible
- There isn't much voice acting, but the little bit that exists is fairly well-performed
Story & Vibes
- At this point, the cyberpunk noir mystery adventure game market is pretty saturated (weird to say for such a specific niche), so a game in that category needs a good hook to stand out. Lacuna does this by giving player decisions more story and gameplay impact
- It's hard to offer a plot synopsis without spoiling the mystery. Briefly, you're a special agent with hangups about your ex who is charged with protecting a political dissident leader who is visiting your planet. Things predictably turn south, and it's up to you to solve the mystery and try to ease the tensions that could boil over into interplanetary war
- As you might expect, there's multiple possible endings. Your adeptness as mystery solving and dialogue choices can be very important in determining which one you get
- Overall, it's a pretty good mystery. Lots of intrigue and twists to the narrative to keep you guessing. The romantic/family subplot (should you choose to pursue it) feels a little throwaway, though
Playability & Replayability
- If you've played any investigation and narrative focused adventure game in the past decade, this will feel immediately familiar to you. If you haven't, you walk around, talk to people, and look at things to gather info to help you further the game's central mystery and solve puzzles
- Narrative and gameplay are closely intertwined in a game like Lacuna. It's pretty cool how your choices and mistakes affect things like puzzle solutions. The game will actually punish you for making the wrong choices by making future puzzles more difficult or removing some of your options
- Given the multiple endings, there's probably some replay value in here for completionists. My only gripe is that there's an achievement for seeing them all, which is a tough sell in a mystery game where you already know what's going to happen
Overall Impressions & Performance
- Lacuna does a lot of things well. The story is a pretty motivating mystery that kept me interested and invested. The fact that there were actual consequences (positive or negative) to your choices and actions was also great
- It also does some things pretty poorly. The great mystery (even if you get what is presumably the good ending) ends in a somewhat unsatisfying manner. All the loose ends are tied up, but not in any interesting way. Even the good ending for the subplot involving your ex-wife and kid is kinda understated in such a way that it doesn't emotionally register at all. After you get let down by the game's mediocre conclusion, you're then serenaded by the worst ending credits song I've heard in a long time
- It ran well on Steam Deck, at least
Final Verdict
- 7/10. Playing this game is like eating a delicious, satisfying meal, putting the last bite in your mouth, and finding a bug in it. It was a wonderful experience that unfortunately doesn't stick the landing
- Lovingly crafted pixel art all around. The characters lack a bit of detail, but the backgrounds look pretty great
- The music is quite good in that laid back somewhat lo-fi way. Lots of muted synth with pronounced piano and percussion
- The only real knock on the music is the final song, a vocal track. The vocals are meh and the lyrics are pretty terrible
- There isn't much voice acting, but the little bit that exists is fairly well-performed
Story & Vibes
- At this point, the cyberpunk noir mystery adventure game market is pretty saturated (weird to say for such a specific niche), so a game in that category needs a good hook to stand out. Lacuna does this by giving player decisions more story and gameplay impact
- It's hard to offer a plot synopsis without spoiling the mystery. Briefly, you're a special agent with hangups about your ex who is charged with protecting a political dissident leader who is visiting your planet. Things predictably turn south, and it's up to you to solve the mystery and try to ease the tensions that could boil over into interplanetary war
- As you might expect, there's multiple possible endings. Your adeptness as mystery solving and dialogue choices can be very important in determining which one you get
- Overall, it's a pretty good mystery. Lots of intrigue and twists to the narrative to keep you guessing. The romantic/family subplot (should you choose to pursue it) feels a little throwaway, though
Playability & Replayability
- If you've played any investigation and narrative focused adventure game in the past decade, this will feel immediately familiar to you. If you haven't, you walk around, talk to people, and look at things to gather info to help you further the game's central mystery and solve puzzles
- Narrative and gameplay are closely intertwined in a game like Lacuna. It's pretty cool how your choices and mistakes affect things like puzzle solutions. The game will actually punish you for making the wrong choices by making future puzzles more difficult or removing some of your options
- Given the multiple endings, there's probably some replay value in here for completionists. My only gripe is that there's an achievement for seeing them all, which is a tough sell in a mystery game where you already know what's going to happen
Overall Impressions & Performance
- Lacuna does a lot of things well. The story is a pretty motivating mystery that kept me interested and invested. The fact that there were actual consequences (positive or negative) to your choices and actions was also great
- It also does some things pretty poorly. The great mystery (even if you get what is presumably the good ending) ends in a somewhat unsatisfying manner. All the loose ends are tied up, but not in any interesting way. Even the good ending for the subplot involving your ex-wife and kid is kinda understated in such a way that it doesn't emotionally register at all. After you get let down by the game's mediocre conclusion, you're then serenaded by the worst ending credits song I've heard in a long time
- It ran well on Steam Deck, at least
Final Verdict
- 7/10. Playing this game is like eating a delicious, satisfying meal, putting the last bite in your mouth, and finding a bug in it. It was a wonderful experience that unfortunately doesn't stick the landing
This was pretty good. Despite its short length, Lacuna created an intriguing world with a surprising amount of depth and crafted a good detective noir story that allowed you to make decisions that altered the outcome of it. The art and music are also pretty good and help the setting feel much more authentic. I'd say it's worth checking out if you can catch it on a sale.
Aventura narrativa lineal con toma de decisiones y distintos desenlaces. Lacuna nos cuenta -a través de su ambientación sci-fi noir- una historia inmersiva (y corta) sobre un asesinato y los intereses ocultos tras este. Me ha gustado mucho 👍🏻