Really incredible, loved this a lot <3 will eventually get around to writing more thoughts down about this but this is an all-time favorite. One of my favorite pieces of fiction
Reviewed for The Big Issue in 2020:
Newly hired by a mysterious firm, architect Carmen is sent to photograph and review a luxury home. But instead of an indulgent working holiday, Carmen’s job takes a nightmarish turn for the surreal, threatening her friendships, family and sanity. Part hidden object puzzle, part social media simulator, HoloVista tasks players with taking photographs, then posting them on Carmen’s social media feed. Each 3D scene is cluttered with gorgeous neon, glitchy visuals, and an electronic soundtrack to match. No matter how long it takes to find an object, environments never grow stale – though extensive accessibility options and a hint system means there’s little chance of actually getting stuck.
The writing is sharp, with ruthless satire of online influencer culture met by thoughtful discussion of trauma, identity and forgiveness. It’s a combination made easier through humour, particularly in messages from Carmen’s friends.
HoloVista is a brief, rewarding adventure in digital dystopia. If you feel like you’ve spent too much time on Instagram lately, HoloVista might help you kick the habit – if only for a little while.
Newly hired by a mysterious firm, architect Carmen is sent to photograph and review a luxury home. But instead of an indulgent working holiday, Carmen’s job takes a nightmarish turn for the surreal, threatening her friendships, family and sanity. Part hidden object puzzle, part social media simulator, HoloVista tasks players with taking photographs, then posting them on Carmen’s social media feed. Each 3D scene is cluttered with gorgeous neon, glitchy visuals, and an electronic soundtrack to match. No matter how long it takes to find an object, environments never grow stale – though extensive accessibility options and a hint system means there’s little chance of actually getting stuck.
The writing is sharp, with ruthless satire of online influencer culture met by thoughtful discussion of trauma, identity and forgiveness. It’s a combination made easier through humour, particularly in messages from Carmen’s friends.
HoloVista is a brief, rewarding adventure in digital dystopia. If you feel like you’ve spent too much time on Instagram lately, HoloVista might help you kick the habit – if only for a little while.
Just remembered this was one of my favorite games from 2020 and instantly had to reinstall it. It’s got a strange style for the character faces, but the architecture and design as a sorta AR game is incredible.
Helped make it baby!
A nice fusion of hidden object puzzles with a visual novel, and both aspects felt very developed. The selling point is the art though, this is GORGEOUS.
this is probably one of my favorite mobile games, and one of the few I've felt the urge to come back to - and I found it to be just as good as when I first played it in 2020.
the design is so vivid and interesting, with several scenes making wish I could see more concept art, and the story makes use of its time perfectly. it's short, but in a perfect length for the story it's telling kind of way. it spends the time where it needs to immersing you in the mood of the environment and fleshing out characters, while conveying Carmen's feelings of guilt and jealousy. obviously on a replay you wouldn't get anything new with regards to plot or characters, but I loved doing it just to experience the atmosphere again.
the design is so vivid and interesting, with several scenes making wish I could see more concept art, and the story makes use of its time perfectly. it's short, but in a perfect length for the story it's telling kind of way. it spends the time where it needs to immersing you in the mood of the environment and fleshing out characters, while conveying Carmen's feelings of guilt and jealousy. obviously on a replay you wouldn't get anything new with regards to plot or characters, but I loved doing it just to experience the atmosphere again.