Glorious realization of aesthetic and narrative in the point and click format.

This game evokes the spirit of "NOLAish" (it's more about the folks who are in the surrounding areas) in a way that is pitch perfect to me. (I lived in New Orleans for seven years so I might be wrong!)

The characters are the right type of weird and disgusting to already make the narrative one worth indulging in. Add in a genuinely unique cyberpunk story and some batshit direction and you have an excellent and compelling story.

The story works well enough on its own but it is painted with perfect visuals and audio. The dreary synths capture the mood of the game perfectly and the pixel art captures the Southern Louisiana ageless look in a way that perfectly and subtlety suggest we are several decades in the future.

The puzzles in the gameplay are many steps down from dumb old adventure game logic but also a step up from "I just need to click this thing". They're maybe modern Resident Evil in difficulty if that makes sense. Which felt good to me! I feel like adventure games (and I think this is JRPGs as well) are mostly memorable for their worlds and vibes and this level of puzzle allows you to exist in the world and interact with it interestingly, without resorting to clicking on every nook and cranny.

I got the platinum trophy on PS5 and as an added extra amazing thing this game does there is a "Chapter Select" feature which gives you bookmarks for every 30 minutes of gameplay or so. So you can go back and get all the achievements/ see alternate scenes with ease.

Just a marvelous media product with a genuinely great cyberpunk story and untouchable visuals and audio.

Reviewed on Sep 19, 2023


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