It's tough to even know where to start but I guess I'll give a quick clinical summary.
You work as the live editor of a TV news station, most of the game happens through 4 cameras you have to micromanage alongside a variety of other tools and mechanics that you'll use to keep the show going as smoothly as possible.
The station has standards on what to censor and what to promote, but they're not the ones in control of what gets shown, you'll have to come to your own conclusions on what is right to show the public.
The premise is going to sound incredibly boring to some on paper and if you aren't into the political drama, you aren't entirely out of luck, the game on its own is also just, genuinely really funny.
I'd compare it to Tim & Eric or most other live-action Adult Swim stuff except with, I don't wanna say "actual restraint" but it's got a unique pace in coherence with the game's design, all of it's done in 4 separate takes and the only "cuts" are between commercial breaks, I couldn't help but be astounded over how much planning and communication had to be done to get everything right over every session.
I'll have to check the documentary they made alongside the game to get a proper idea which I'll undoubtedly do soon but in my head, all the potential work is a complete headache to even imagine.
I don't think it can be underestimated to say how much of a behemoth this game is, by the way.
At a staggering 50 gigs and 43 hours of footage, it's got the world record for the most FMV in any game ever. Divide that by 4 and you'll get an average playthrough of the campaign, I'm not entirely sure how they calculated the length since there's definitely more than that but whatever, point is it's as long as you can get for an FMV game right now and that is seriously something given how outright experimental the whole game feels, it's got an almost theater kid feel despite being done very professionally all things considered. Maybe it's cuz of the musical stuff, idk.
It's so detached from any kind of gaming niche I'm aware of aside from the revitalization of FMV games that's been kinda on and off for the past decade (Roundabout and Her Story seem really good but I've heard a lot of mixed things about Late Shift) that it's hard to make any comparisons that'd feel right, but that really speaks to its uniqueness more than anything.
I've heard comparisons to Papers Please from a gameplay standpoint and I can get behind that, though managing your home life is relegated more to visual novel decisions. (which on their own get colored by your performance in the main game)
You won't have to choose between paying for electricity or food for your family but you will get asked if paying for immediate small pleasures or distractions instead of a safely budgeted vacation next year is worth it.
They're story-driven, as opposed to Papers' clinical and mathematical money management.
Anyway, if any of this sounds interesting in the slightest, I implore you to check it out. I really don't know if there will ever be a game like this made again but if it does, I'd play it in a heartbeat.
The team's obviously been passionate as hell about this game throughout its entire development and it shows, the dynamic they got here is way too good for them to not do another project together.
Whatever happens, I'm seriously grateful they stuck with this until the very end because this is a genuine achievement of a game.
You work as the live editor of a TV news station, most of the game happens through 4 cameras you have to micromanage alongside a variety of other tools and mechanics that you'll use to keep the show going as smoothly as possible.
The station has standards on what to censor and what to promote, but they're not the ones in control of what gets shown, you'll have to come to your own conclusions on what is right to show the public.
The premise is going to sound incredibly boring to some on paper and if you aren't into the political drama, you aren't entirely out of luck, the game on its own is also just, genuinely really funny.
I'd compare it to Tim & Eric or most other live-action Adult Swim stuff except with, I don't wanna say "actual restraint" but it's got a unique pace in coherence with the game's design, all of it's done in 4 separate takes and the only "cuts" are between commercial breaks, I couldn't help but be astounded over how much planning and communication had to be done to get everything right over every session.
I'll have to check the documentary they made alongside the game to get a proper idea which I'll undoubtedly do soon but in my head, all the potential work is a complete headache to even imagine.
I don't think it can be underestimated to say how much of a behemoth this game is, by the way.
At a staggering 50 gigs and 43 hours of footage, it's got the world record for the most FMV in any game ever. Divide that by 4 and you'll get an average playthrough of the campaign, I'm not entirely sure how they calculated the length since there's definitely more than that but whatever, point is it's as long as you can get for an FMV game right now and that is seriously something given how outright experimental the whole game feels, it's got an almost theater kid feel despite being done very professionally all things considered. Maybe it's cuz of the musical stuff, idk.
It's so detached from any kind of gaming niche I'm aware of aside from the revitalization of FMV games that's been kinda on and off for the past decade (Roundabout and Her Story seem really good but I've heard a lot of mixed things about Late Shift) that it's hard to make any comparisons that'd feel right, but that really speaks to its uniqueness more than anything.
I've heard comparisons to Papers Please from a gameplay standpoint and I can get behind that, though managing your home life is relegated more to visual novel decisions. (which on their own get colored by your performance in the main game)
You won't have to choose between paying for electricity or food for your family but you will get asked if paying for immediate small pleasures or distractions instead of a safely budgeted vacation next year is worth it.
They're story-driven, as opposed to Papers' clinical and mathematical money management.
Anyway, if any of this sounds interesting in the slightest, I implore you to check it out. I really don't know if there will ever be a game like this made again but if it does, I'd play it in a heartbeat.
The team's obviously been passionate as hell about this game throughout its entire development and it shows, the dynamic they got here is way too good for them to not do another project together.
Whatever happens, I'm seriously grateful they stuck with this until the very end because this is a genuine achievement of a game.