A Normal Lost Phone is a very nice, pleasant little experience that does a good job telling its story using its basic yet very natural-feeling interface. It's a pretty simple story — it's quite predictable at times and certainly isn't groundbreaking — but it gets across what it wants to decently enough to be a positive and unique experience.
Very clean and smooth user interface, very much felt like navigating around an actual phone. The soundtrack is a vibe, but I had it turned down or completely off most of the time since it's hard for me to read with music that has lyrics. This is something that can easily be toggled to your liking from the start of the game however so I would not consider it an issue. I think the game has some decent and realistic representation which is always nice. A lot of the end game content however read as being more of an educational moment which in some cases could be great depending on the audience playing the game. I think even despite being fairly educated on what is discussed it was still a nice read. I've talked very vaguely about everything thus far to avoid spoilers, so story wise overall I think it's thoughtful and a nice dip into someone else's perspective. The puzzles throughout weren't that challenging but I did cave and look some of them up because I didn't want to spend the time to put in random numbers after exhausting what I thought was logical but the hints are all completely there and nothing is too unsolvable. I really loved how the ending paints a full picture and brings all the bits you've learned about together into a more cohesive narrative.
(trying to keep spoiler-free as possible) Sweet and hopeful game that illustrates a pretty real example of how young people in marginalized groups struggle with growing into the person they want to be in less-than-supportive environments. It's sort of a point-and-click/visual novel hybrid through lots of text, so give this a pass if you want something with active gameplay.The one detriment is that some of the passwords are a little odd to figure out, but i wouldn't say impossible. The best part is how all the things you see develop in significance as you go on!
Short game with a sweet story. Playing this in portrait mode on the Switch, or even as a mobile game, would be the ideal way to play as it does a good job of telling the story as if you were actually snooping in someone's phone.
Some of the answers to puzzles don't make much sense until afterwards, found myself using a walkthrough for one part.
Feel as though the stories main topic could've been explored a bit deeper but I can't complain for a short game.
Some of the answers to puzzles don't make much sense until afterwards, found myself using a walkthrough for one part.
Feel as though the stories main topic could've been explored a bit deeper but I can't complain for a short game.
Além de ser uma gracinha, tem uma mensagem muito importante. A Normal Lost Phone é um jogo simples e curto, mas tem um mistério e uma história interessantes, além de um elenco cativante (mesmo com um tempo curto de campanha). Hoje em dia já existe uma conscientização maior sobre os tópicos abordados no jogo, mas na época deve ter sido muito edificante para todos que jogaram (e ainda deve ser hoje em dia). Achei fofo!
This review contains spoilers
Text messages were written quite clunkily (and sometimes made me laugh out loud) but the forum posts felt more true to life. However I felt that the actual trans talking points were VERY outdated as of 2024, and a lot of it felt like infodumping at the player.
Fun idea but the execution was mid at best. I agree with other reviewers that the phone could've had more set dressing to up the believability (open tabs, accidental screenshots, social media posts)
Fun idea but the execution was mid at best. I agree with other reviewers that the phone could've had more set dressing to up the believability (open tabs, accidental screenshots, social media posts)
Let's start with this: This game is dealing with an incredibly important subject matter and it handles it with great care and gentleness. I did really appreciate it for just that, there's so much empathy and love stored in this one.
Unfortunately, it is extremely underdeveloped. A predicable, shallow plot mixed with a short playtime. Interesting gameplay that is never really utilized, simple puzzles that left me unsatisfied.
All in all, A Normal Lost Phone is the very example of a game with so much potential and little payoff. It doesn't concern itself with details at all, instead focuses on just the basics of its own narrative.
I've read that it still means so much to many people and I get why. I'm sad to say that it didn't really leave any profound impression on me, even though I might have a lot in common with the protagonist.
Unfortunately, it is extremely underdeveloped. A predicable, shallow plot mixed with a short playtime. Interesting gameplay that is never really utilized, simple puzzles that left me unsatisfied.
All in all, A Normal Lost Phone is the very example of a game with so much potential and little payoff. It doesn't concern itself with details at all, instead focuses on just the basics of its own narrative.
I've read that it still means so much to many people and I get why. I'm sad to say that it didn't really leave any profound impression on me, even though I might have a lot in common with the protagonist.
It turned out the game was not originally developed in English, which explains why the dialogue feels unnatural at times. I feel like I've seen quite a few games like this over the past decade. It takes a lot more to standout among games with similar theme in these days. The name of the developer gave out the mystery of the game.
This was a very short and simple game, about a normal lost phone, which uncovers secrets of a trans girl named Samira! I really enjoyed it, the soundtrack was fantastic, the art was beautiful and it was fairly easy to go through the game.
Sadly there is hardly any guidance in the game on where to go and what to do next, so I was mainly just clicking aimlessly lol.
Sadly there is hardly any guidance in the game on where to go and what to do next, so I was mainly just clicking aimlessly lol.