Her Story had better pacing.
That might seem like a strange thing to say about two games which can be played in any order, but Her Story is very clear upfront about the shape of the story (a disappearance turned murder) and your goal (solving said murder). It took me two hours of Telling Lies to even guess what I was supposed to be investigating. Her Story made it easy for you with the implausible contrivance that only the interviewee's dialogue was saved. This allowed for short clips with the occasional out-of-context whammy. Here, you are scrubbing through video calls that are often seven, eight, nine minutes long. It's more realistic, but also more of a slog. Especially when matching two sides of a video chat to each other: there are many recordings that are just: ๐คจ๐๐คจ๐คจ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐๐
As far as the plot, it's dealing with some heavy and topical issues, with mixed success. An intelligent point, with an unsatisfying delivery. And less emotional rapport with the protagonist. Specific spoilery thoughts in ROT 13 (CW sexual violence, police brutality):
Fb, V guvax gur cynlre vf vagraqrq gb qenj n yvar orgjrra Crgre'f hapurpxrq frkhny nohfr va gur npgvivfg pvepyr (juvpu vaibyirq gnxvat abapbafrafhny ivqrbf bs na haqrentr Nin) naq Qnivq fgnegvat n frkhny eryngvbafuvc jvgu Nin haqre snyfr cergrafrf (v.r. encr ol qrprcgvba). Gvr gung gb Znkvar'f pnz fubjf, juvpu vapyhqr inzcver/ulcabfvf/fyrrc cynl naq bgure sbezf bs jung fur pnyyf "encr snagnfl"--gur vyyhfvba bs jngpuvat n fyrrcvat jbzna jvgubhg ure xabjyrqtr, naq gur ercrngrq Fabj Juvgr zbgvs (Cevapr Punezvat fnirf Fabj Juvgr ol xvffvat ure juvyr fur vf nfyrrc). Ohg gura gur cynlre (nf SOV ntrag Xnera) nyfb unf gb pbzo guebhtu ubhef bs frk pungf naq bgurejvfr crefbany zngrevny npdhverq ol yrtnyyl dhrfgvbanoyr zrnaf. Vf jung jr'er qbvat nal orggre, be yrff iblrhevfgvp? Pbapyhfvba: fgngr fheirvyynapr vf ivbyngvat.
Ohg vs lbh nyernql nterr jvgu guvf cerzvfr--yrg nybar vs lbh'ir rkcrevraprq nalguvat yvxr gur riragf qrcvpgrq--gur bhgpbzr jvyy cebonoyl yrnir lbh pbyq. Oybjvat hc n oevqtr naq xvyyvat uvzfrys vfa'g gnxvat nppbhagnovyvgl, naq qbrfa'g uryc gur jbzra ur'f jebatrq, be gur crbcyr ur'f zheqrerq naq nffnhygrq. Juvpu, fher, Qnivq vf n cerggl greevoyr crefba, fb V pna ohl uvz znxvat n qrpvfvba yvxr gung. Ohg vg'f abg rknpgyl fngvfslvat. Gurer'f ab whfgvpr urer.
Anyway, that critique wasn't even why I stopped playing. It was actually because manually scrubbing through long videos on a trackpad (there are no buttons) was physically uncomfortable. I got the gist of what was happening and then dipped.
That might seem like a strange thing to say about two games which can be played in any order, but Her Story is very clear upfront about the shape of the story (a disappearance turned murder) and your goal (solving said murder). It took me two hours of Telling Lies to even guess what I was supposed to be investigating. Her Story made it easy for you with the implausible contrivance that only the interviewee's dialogue was saved. This allowed for short clips with the occasional out-of-context whammy. Here, you are scrubbing through video calls that are often seven, eight, nine minutes long. It's more realistic, but also more of a slog. Especially when matching two sides of a video chat to each other: there are many recordings that are just: ๐คจ๐๐คจ๐คจ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐๐
As far as the plot, it's dealing with some heavy and topical issues, with mixed success. An intelligent point, with an unsatisfying delivery. And less emotional rapport with the protagonist. Specific spoilery thoughts in ROT 13 (CW sexual violence, police brutality):
Fb, V guvax gur cynlre vf vagraqrq gb qenj n yvar orgjrra Crgre'f hapurpxrq frkhny nohfr va gur npgvivfg pvepyr (juvpu vaibyirq gnxvat abapbafrafhny ivqrbf bs na haqrentr Nin) naq Qnivq fgnegvat n frkhny eryngvbafuvc jvgu Nin haqre snyfr cergrafrf (v.r. encr ol qrprcgvba). Gvr gung gb Znkvar'f pnz fubjf, juvpu vapyhqr inzcver/ulcabfvf/fyrrc cynl naq bgure sbezf bs jung fur pnyyf "encr snagnfl"--gur vyyhfvba bs jngpuvat n fyrrcvat jbzna jvgubhg ure xabjyrqtr, naq gur ercrngrq Fabj Juvgr zbgvs (Cevapr Punezvat fnirf Fabj Juvgr ol xvffvat ure juvyr fur vf nfyrrc). Ohg gura gur cynlre (nf SOV ntrag Xnera) nyfb unf gb pbzo guebhtu ubhef bs frk pungf naq bgurejvfr crefbany zngrevny npdhverq ol yrtnyyl dhrfgvbanoyr zrnaf. Vf jung jr'er qbvat nal orggre, be yrff iblrhevfgvp? Pbapyhfvba: fgngr fheirvyynapr vf ivbyngvat.
Ohg vs lbh nyernql nterr jvgu guvf cerzvfr--yrg nybar vs lbh'ir rkcrevraprq nalguvat yvxr gur riragf qrcvpgrq--gur bhgpbzr jvyy cebonoyl yrnir lbh pbyq. Oybjvat hc n oevqtr naq xvyyvat uvzfrys vfa'g gnxvat nppbhagnovyvgl, naq qbrfa'g uryc gur jbzra ur'f jebatrq, be gur crbcyr ur'f zheqrerq naq nffnhygrq. Juvpu, fher, Qnivq vf n cerggl greevoyr crefba, fb V pna ohl uvz znxvat n qrpvfvba yvxr gung. Ohg vg'f abg rknpgyl fngvfslvat. Gurer'f ab whfgvpr urer.
Anyway, that critique wasn't even why I stopped playing. It was actually because manually scrubbing through long videos on a trackpad (there are no buttons) was physically uncomfortable. I got the gist of what was happening and then dipped.