There are some interesting aspects to Silicon Dreams that I think make for a good experience, but it never really managed to capture the tension or dilemmas of the games it takes inspiration from.
Papers Please worked well because, in addition to the moral dilemmas at play, you had a strict time limit that forced you to take these decisions with little time to think them through. Likewise, monetary punishments could dissuade you from taking ethical actions thus encouraging you to perform your job better (getting you an additional monetary buffer) or take personal risks.
Silicon Dreams put far more attention on the ethical issues within the story, but the mechanical incentives never felt strong enough to give those dilemmas any weight.
You can ask a specific question of your target, get their response, then lie about it on your report and oftentimes your employer just wont care. Even though its stated explicitly that they have access to the full interrogation, it never actually feels like you're under much pressure from the outside. So long as you aren't blatantly disobedient you can get away with almost anything.
While this gives you the opportunity to explore things much more fully, exhausting all the dialogue and learning as much as you can about the context behind everything happening, it also makes the interrogations feel devoid of tension. I don't feel like I'm secretly subverting the plans of my corporate overlords or playing a dangerous balancing game between the good of androids and my own survival. It just feels like I'm going through the motions, submitting a somewhat plausible report, and nobody above me cares enough to actually verify that what I'm saying is correct.
For their first game, I do have to give some credit here. Silicon Dreams does expand on its inspirations and has a few interesting aspects going for it. I definitely appreciate that it stayed away from any of the more trope-y elements that often pervade AI and Android fiction. But I also think its clear that they haven't found their footing quite yet. I'll probably check out whatever they produce next in the hopes that they improve over what is already a decent foundation and hopefully turn it into something greater.
Papers Please worked well because, in addition to the moral dilemmas at play, you had a strict time limit that forced you to take these decisions with little time to think them through. Likewise, monetary punishments could dissuade you from taking ethical actions thus encouraging you to perform your job better (getting you an additional monetary buffer) or take personal risks.
Silicon Dreams put far more attention on the ethical issues within the story, but the mechanical incentives never felt strong enough to give those dilemmas any weight.
You can ask a specific question of your target, get their response, then lie about it on your report and oftentimes your employer just wont care. Even though its stated explicitly that they have access to the full interrogation, it never actually feels like you're under much pressure from the outside. So long as you aren't blatantly disobedient you can get away with almost anything.
While this gives you the opportunity to explore things much more fully, exhausting all the dialogue and learning as much as you can about the context behind everything happening, it also makes the interrogations feel devoid of tension. I don't feel like I'm secretly subverting the plans of my corporate overlords or playing a dangerous balancing game between the good of androids and my own survival. It just feels like I'm going through the motions, submitting a somewhat plausible report, and nobody above me cares enough to actually verify that what I'm saying is correct.
For their first game, I do have to give some credit here. Silicon Dreams does expand on its inspirations and has a few interesting aspects going for it. I definitely appreciate that it stayed away from any of the more trope-y elements that often pervade AI and Android fiction. But I also think its clear that they haven't found their footing quite yet. I'll probably check out whatever they produce next in the hopes that they improve over what is already a decent foundation and hopefully turn it into something greater.