Rylai
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Played in 2024
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This is a really strong game with a compelling narrative that can be compared to something in the Zero Escape series.
The gameplay is fun to begin with -- if you've ever played mafia or werewolf, you know the setup. It's classic and it works better than you'd think with AI -- you get to set and build up stats like Intuition that let you figure out when others are lying, or Performance to hide your own lies easier. Different characters have different mixes of these stats, too, so you get interesting games with an ensemble of characters that each have their own strengths and weaknesses.
The gameplay is fun on its own, but over the course of the full game sometimes frustrating and repetitive -- I've run through the game multiple times and it took me each time about 100 loops to reach the ending. A lot of these loops end up being spent quickly running through dialogue because I'm very familiar with how the gameplay plays out, and so much is repeated between games.
This is balanced out because the gameplay is at its core fun -- it's classic werewolf gameplay, and even though it's exclusively against AI, I could see myself going back to this to play rounds and bask in how much I love the characters -- as well as how fun it feels to either find out the traitors or deceive the town.
Another complaint is that the events that drive the story forward can sometimes be frustrating -- for instance, one event might require that you keep a specific character alive over the course of a game -- sometimes, fate seems to conspire against you. The Gnosia might eliminate the target -- if you have the ability to defend them, the Gnosia might instead get you, or the AI might randomly latch onto your protective target as a suspect. Sometimes, you have to attempt an event repeatedly just to get the resolution you want.
All this being said, the events drive forward a really beautiful story. As many little problems as I have with little frustrations of the game's execution, the story itself is amazing. Whatever issues I have with the gameplay are well worth getting over to see the story that this game tells.
The gameplay is fun to begin with -- if you've ever played mafia or werewolf, you know the setup. It's classic and it works better than you'd think with AI -- you get to set and build up stats like Intuition that let you figure out when others are lying, or Performance to hide your own lies easier. Different characters have different mixes of these stats, too, so you get interesting games with an ensemble of characters that each have their own strengths and weaknesses.
The gameplay is fun on its own, but over the course of the full game sometimes frustrating and repetitive -- I've run through the game multiple times and it took me each time about 100 loops to reach the ending. A lot of these loops end up being spent quickly running through dialogue because I'm very familiar with how the gameplay plays out, and so much is repeated between games.
This is balanced out because the gameplay is at its core fun -- it's classic werewolf gameplay, and even though it's exclusively against AI, I could see myself going back to this to play rounds and bask in how much I love the characters -- as well as how fun it feels to either find out the traitors or deceive the town.
Another complaint is that the events that drive the story forward can sometimes be frustrating -- for instance, one event might require that you keep a specific character alive over the course of a game -- sometimes, fate seems to conspire against you. The Gnosia might eliminate the target -- if you have the ability to defend them, the Gnosia might instead get you, or the AI might randomly latch onto your protective target as a suspect. Sometimes, you have to attempt an event repeatedly just to get the resolution you want.
All this being said, the events drive forward a really beautiful story. As many little problems as I have with little frustrations of the game's execution, the story itself is amazing. Whatever issues I have with the gameplay are well worth getting over to see the story that this game tells.
This game was really amazing from start to finish. I wasn't really sure what to expect getting into this -- I knew that it had some exploratory aspects, I thought there might be a time loop involved. I didn't know anything else beyond that.
And every moment of this game was a pleasure to explore. The game throws intriguing mysteries at you one after the other and they tie together incredibly well in the long term. The game feels meaty, too -- I spent two or three super long sessions on this game.
In the second session, I thought I was approaching the end of the game, but this was only the summit of one of the game's major mysteries -- the real ending lay beyond the edge of another.
And the real ending had... an incredible emotional impact. I won't forget this experience for a long time.
And every moment of this game was a pleasure to explore. The game throws intriguing mysteries at you one after the other and they tie together incredibly well in the long term. The game feels meaty, too -- I spent two or three super long sessions on this game.
In the second session, I thought I was approaching the end of the game, but this was only the summit of one of the game's major mysteries -- the real ending lay beyond the edge of another.
And the real ending had... an incredible emotional impact. I won't forget this experience for a long time.
This review contains spoilers
This was an amazing experience overall that had me (and my partner) hooked shortly after starting. Aesthetically and 'vibe'-wise it's very impressive and it communicates it all to you very well up front.
The open world investigation style is refreshing and interesting compared to other games like this where investigations tend to lead you by the nose in specific ways. Being let loose into the world to just form theories as you uncover new mysteries is exciting.
The characters are generally well-designed and interesting, -- Crimson Acid in particular was a favorite -- and getting to know them is itself intriguing. Some are sympathetic enough to make you want to ignore whatever part they may or may not have played in a grand conspiracy, even.
The game has a few weaknesses:
First, there are some minor grammar issues like the use of apostrophes in possessive pronouns that stand out in a game that's generally well-written. Sometimes, the dialogue itself feels a little choppy -- the characters are likable and fun, but the setting-building writing is better than the dialogue writing itself.
Second, while the open world nature of the game is really fun, there are some clues that make themselves a pain to hunt for -- by the end of the game, we had exactly two major clues to find, and they were both hidden in out-of-the-way locations and felt relatively "pixel hunt"-y, especially when compared to the rest of the game having pretty tight design.
Lastly, the game culminates in a trial that you can start at any time, to accuse individuals of the many crimes involved in a grand conspiracy that makes up the overarching plot -- the setup is great, and the presentation of the trial is rather nice. It feels like you're going into a brand new section of the game.
However, the trial is at the same time a bit underwhelming -- gameplay-wise, you're simply presenting whatever evidence already exists in your inventory through dialogue. At no point are you asked to point to a specific piece of evidence -- the game drags them out and displays them as your character does all the talking for you. Aside from picking who you want to finger for each crime, the endgame is surprisingly uninteractive.
And that leads into a final complaint, which is that the ending feels... in some sense, underwhelming. We've hit up a few endings, but very little changes about the dialogue or the expected outcome from the game's end. As an example, we went through one ending where several characters, about 6~ or so characters are left alive, unaccused of being involved in conspiracy. You can have your brief dialogue with each of them, and then leave the island to see the credits roll.
In another ending where we involved almost everybody in the conspiracy accusations, we had two characters left to do dialogue with -- they said the same things, and we had the same options. There was no change to the outcome except for how many characters you get to execute at the end of the trial, and getting less dialogue for accusing more folks.
I really liked the game overall, and I don't think the complaints I have with it scuff it enough to make it a bad experience -- it's still overall fun and enjoyable, though I do have complaints I'd like to see ironed out.
The open world investigation style is refreshing and interesting compared to other games like this where investigations tend to lead you by the nose in specific ways. Being let loose into the world to just form theories as you uncover new mysteries is exciting.
The characters are generally well-designed and interesting, -- Crimson Acid in particular was a favorite -- and getting to know them is itself intriguing. Some are sympathetic enough to make you want to ignore whatever part they may or may not have played in a grand conspiracy, even.
The game has a few weaknesses:
First, there are some minor grammar issues like the use of apostrophes in possessive pronouns that stand out in a game that's generally well-written. Sometimes, the dialogue itself feels a little choppy -- the characters are likable and fun, but the setting-building writing is better than the dialogue writing itself.
Second, while the open world nature of the game is really fun, there are some clues that make themselves a pain to hunt for -- by the end of the game, we had exactly two major clues to find, and they were both hidden in out-of-the-way locations and felt relatively "pixel hunt"-y, especially when compared to the rest of the game having pretty tight design.
Lastly, the game culminates in a trial that you can start at any time, to accuse individuals of the many crimes involved in a grand conspiracy that makes up the overarching plot -- the setup is great, and the presentation of the trial is rather nice. It feels like you're going into a brand new section of the game.
However, the trial is at the same time a bit underwhelming -- gameplay-wise, you're simply presenting whatever evidence already exists in your inventory through dialogue. At no point are you asked to point to a specific piece of evidence -- the game drags them out and displays them as your character does all the talking for you. Aside from picking who you want to finger for each crime, the endgame is surprisingly uninteractive.
And that leads into a final complaint, which is that the ending feels... in some sense, underwhelming. We've hit up a few endings, but very little changes about the dialogue or the expected outcome from the game's end. As an example, we went through one ending where several characters, about 6~ or so characters are left alive, unaccused of being involved in conspiracy. You can have your brief dialogue with each of them, and then leave the island to see the credits roll.
In another ending where we involved almost everybody in the conspiracy accusations, we had two characters left to do dialogue with -- they said the same things, and we had the same options. There was no change to the outcome except for how many characters you get to execute at the end of the trial, and getting less dialogue for accusing more folks.
I really liked the game overall, and I don't think the complaints I have with it scuff it enough to make it a bad experience -- it's still overall fun and enjoyable, though I do have complaints I'd like to see ironed out.