Time Loop games still work for me. Its a genre that's maybe been overused, but it works because the very act of a video game is a loop. Building information, gaining knowledge, determining your pathway. For that narrative to remain entertaining, the gameplay has to remain compelling enough to keep player retention.

I'm wary of Start Again expanding into a larger release, because the two hour "prologue" tells me so much already. There's a sense of a vast history we aren't privy to, a whole life to these characters that's locked off to us. They've finished their arcs and are off to fight the final boss. Sif's narration even notes this idea. "This is where the hero has their darkest moment and doubts themselves. You know that's what you're going through. But if you can't keep the smile on your face, that proves you're not supposed to be the Hero at all."

I think more than the time loop narrative, I'm interested in the recovery narrative it suggests. Sif is already broken by the loop, most memories outside this dungeon lost to time. What life waits for them if they can even escape this nightmare? How can they explain to their friends that the 30 minutes was a thousand years? Its that emotional complexity that pulls me in, that makes me willing to wait for the devs' full game.

As long as there's a good emotional core, these kinds of stories can still work. Making each moment of the loop mean something is where the spark comes in.