The trailer really gripped me, I liked the artstyle and the old, cheesy yet charming atmosphere it had. But it also looked very cheap and likely wouldn't be that great and... I mean, it's not. But it entirely depends on the context of when/how you play it. If you play it during a stressful exam season (like me) it will be a fantastic, calming way to end or start a day.
I played it in real time (played each day in the game on the same day IRL, you get it) and I think that's the best way to consume this. You gotta play it over a long time. Otherwise, the repetitive gameplay will feel incredibly tedious and the lack of character animations will get on your nerves. But playing it over two weeks, 30 mins every day, was perfectly fine.
The world was nice to drive around and explore but the biggest highlight is the voice acting. People said it was good but I felt like that's what people sometimes say instead of "at least it looked nice". But, no. it's actually surprisingly good and it felt very natural even among the soulless faces they're paired with, perhaps why the perception of the VA is ameliorated? However, some dialogue didn't feel right. I'm no expert on Oregon dialect of 1986 but it felt more like a British dialect of recent, maybe an attempt of localisation of the English publishers? It slightly bothered me and so did the dialogue options the player is given. You pick one thing and Meredith will just say the option 2 right after anyway.
I also wish choices had more impact. Like, you can make plans for after delivering mail and it would've been cool if you had to cancel some or decline some instead of doing both to add some stakes to the game and enhance the character relationships. I do appreciate this made it easier to 100% it and get that sweet Platinum Trophy, though.
If you're on the edge about buying it, Wait for a sale. I got it for £12 instead of the usual £16 and I think it's worth that price. It's good to support indie developers but it doesn't exactly feel like the people wanted to make THIS game, specifically. The plot isn't anything original and it felt more like an exercise to hone their craft to put on their showreel to hopefully go onto make the games they want to make.
But yeah, it was nice. I liked it. A game this cheap is obviously gonna have its faults but they're pretty easy to overlook when the ambiance is charming and peaceful.
Also, it has gay people and that's very cool.
I played it in real time (played each day in the game on the same day IRL, you get it) and I think that's the best way to consume this. You gotta play it over a long time. Otherwise, the repetitive gameplay will feel incredibly tedious and the lack of character animations will get on your nerves. But playing it over two weeks, 30 mins every day, was perfectly fine.
The world was nice to drive around and explore but the biggest highlight is the voice acting. People said it was good but I felt like that's what people sometimes say instead of "at least it looked nice". But, no. it's actually surprisingly good and it felt very natural even among the soulless faces they're paired with, perhaps why the perception of the VA is ameliorated? However, some dialogue didn't feel right. I'm no expert on Oregon dialect of 1986 but it felt more like a British dialect of recent, maybe an attempt of localisation of the English publishers? It slightly bothered me and so did the dialogue options the player is given. You pick one thing and Meredith will just say the option 2 right after anyway.
I also wish choices had more impact. Like, you can make plans for after delivering mail and it would've been cool if you had to cancel some or decline some instead of doing both to add some stakes to the game and enhance the character relationships. I do appreciate this made it easier to 100% it and get that sweet Platinum Trophy, though.
If you're on the edge about buying it, Wait for a sale. I got it for £12 instead of the usual £16 and I think it's worth that price. It's good to support indie developers but it doesn't exactly feel like the people wanted to make THIS game, specifically. The plot isn't anything original and it felt more like an exercise to hone their craft to put on their showreel to hopefully go onto make the games they want to make.
But yeah, it was nice. I liked it. A game this cheap is obviously gonna have its faults but they're pretty easy to overlook when the ambiance is charming and peaceful.
Also, it has gay people and that's very cool.