While Kojima has a habit of constantly reminding us of which movies, books, and other media have inspired his games, Snatcher feels like his most derivative. Two-thirds in and it stops just short of being an unlicensed Blade Runner-adaption. A trenchcoat-clad gumshoe with an identity crisis, trying to sniff out murderous androids masquerading as humans. Honestly, I'm surprised that the main character isn't named Harrison or Philip.
Plagiarized or not, Snatcher delivers big on detailed world-building and atmosphere with great pixel art and a moody soundtrack that makes the RF5 chip hum and purr. If you're a fan of the Genesis/Mega Drive's chunky rolling basslines you'll definitely get your fill.
It’s more of an interactive novel/short story, though. So anyone expecting a captivating gameplay experience will probably come out disappointed. Now, I'm old enough to have experienced the era of "slap some mouse clicks in between FMV sequences and call it an adventure game" first-hand. Even in that light Snatcher feels bare bones, though.
Basically, you're left with exhausting all prompts on every static screen, unlocking new ones when you've clicked on the correct sequence of previous prompts. Before moving onto the next static screen and repeating the process. I'm well versed in '80s-'90s point-and-click games and know all-to-well the frustration when you've hit a brick wall in your adventuring. But this is next-level tedious.
It doesn't help that the two main commands at your disposal, "look" and "investigate", feel like they're functionally the same. Adding to that confusion is the fact that you're constantly supposed to use the same command on the same object/character several times in a row because of… reasons. Simply put the game's puzzles, if you can call them that, leave much to be desired.
Then there are the lightgun sequences sprinkled throughout which are a fun idea, but frustratingly difficult with a joypad. Maybe they worked better when experienced as intended, I guess I'll never know.
So, moody and atmospheric. Just don't expect to be dazzled by great gameplay and tricky problem-solving.
Plagiarized or not, Snatcher delivers big on detailed world-building and atmosphere with great pixel art and a moody soundtrack that makes the RF5 chip hum and purr. If you're a fan of the Genesis/Mega Drive's chunky rolling basslines you'll definitely get your fill.
It’s more of an interactive novel/short story, though. So anyone expecting a captivating gameplay experience will probably come out disappointed. Now, I'm old enough to have experienced the era of "slap some mouse clicks in between FMV sequences and call it an adventure game" first-hand. Even in that light Snatcher feels bare bones, though.
Basically, you're left with exhausting all prompts on every static screen, unlocking new ones when you've clicked on the correct sequence of previous prompts. Before moving onto the next static screen and repeating the process. I'm well versed in '80s-'90s point-and-click games and know all-to-well the frustration when you've hit a brick wall in your adventuring. But this is next-level tedious.
It doesn't help that the two main commands at your disposal, "look" and "investigate", feel like they're functionally the same. Adding to that confusion is the fact that you're constantly supposed to use the same command on the same object/character several times in a row because of… reasons. Simply put the game's puzzles, if you can call them that, leave much to be desired.
Then there are the lightgun sequences sprinkled throughout which are a fun idea, but frustratingly difficult with a joypad. Maybe they worked better when experienced as intended, I guess I'll never know.
So, moody and atmospheric. Just don't expect to be dazzled by great gameplay and tricky problem-solving.