Could have been good. Is not.
The game start with really good premise : it's a murder mystery BEFORE the murder ; everyone is on zoom, for a quizz cut in round, so the weird almagation of dialog feel less akward, and the lack of gameplay action you can do is more legitimate in universe.
But the FMV fail very hard for 3 reasons :
- the character.
If the actor are not that bad (in FMV standard I would say, the overacting is not really a problem) it's the writing who is. Each character is mean to be an archetype or caricatural af, but they end up just uninspired and destroy the "emotional part" of the game. Even the relation web between each member of the family feel hollow.
- the replaybility :
The game is made to be played again and again, to gather clue. You cannot beat the game in any other way. So, they think of allowing you to skip part you already see. But if one part of a three part section is new, they will make you see the whole section, including the two part you've already seen. And this happen A LOT. So, it's get tedious very quickly.
Plus, you have to make different choice each time, but it's hard to keep track of every one you made. The game is not too complex, but when you have to look for the right clue to accuse one character, it's get really annoying.
- the final :
For a murder mystery, it's a shame that's part is bad. It should be the cumulation of everything you discover thus far, justifying other aspect of the game, or at least, making rewatching the game a new experience with your new knowledge. But neh, in this game, it's just solve two random sentence says in very particular and specific section. And it didn't feel compeling at all ! (ok, the way it's film, with the final part after the discovery, is compeling, but way too cheap).
Finally : they're many ending, and on them, only 2 are so bad to make you laugh. Disapointing for a FMV.
The game start with really good premise : it's a murder mystery BEFORE the murder ; everyone is on zoom, for a quizz cut in round, so the weird almagation of dialog feel less akward, and the lack of gameplay action you can do is more legitimate in universe.
But the FMV fail very hard for 3 reasons :
- the character.
If the actor are not that bad (in FMV standard I would say, the overacting is not really a problem) it's the writing who is. Each character is mean to be an archetype or caricatural af, but they end up just uninspired and destroy the "emotional part" of the game. Even the relation web between each member of the family feel hollow.
- the replaybility :
The game is made to be played again and again, to gather clue. You cannot beat the game in any other way. So, they think of allowing you to skip part you already see. But if one part of a three part section is new, they will make you see the whole section, including the two part you've already seen. And this happen A LOT. So, it's get tedious very quickly.
Plus, you have to make different choice each time, but it's hard to keep track of every one you made. The game is not too complex, but when you have to look for the right clue to accuse one character, it's get really annoying.
- the final :
For a murder mystery, it's a shame that's part is bad. It should be the cumulation of everything you discover thus far, justifying other aspect of the game, or at least, making rewatching the game a new experience with your new knowledge. But neh, in this game, it's just solve two random sentence says in very particular and specific section. And it didn't feel compeling at all ! (ok, the way it's film, with the final part after the discovery, is compeling, but way too cheap).
Finally : they're many ending, and on them, only 2 are so bad to make you laugh. Disapointing for a FMV.