The real tragedy of this game is that it wasn't ambitious enough.
This seems like a really great concept. A timed photo shoot in an abandoned, decayed, weird sci-fi city? Sign me up. The problem is that it completely stumbles over its own feet in the execution of that idea.
The biggest struggle is that there's just not a lot to see. This is a very large world, and was somehow surprisingly empty. Because the game uses the same assets over and over, any time you find something really interesting in the world, if you walk a few feet, you're guaranteed to see the same thing repeated twenty times over. I remember coming upon a strange, Greek temple on a shoreline, and thought, "wow, what an interesting design," only to see the same temple copy-pasted 3 more times past the next building. It's because of this reuse of assets, and very minimal amounts of unique variety, that makes this a bother. Very rarely does the world offer interesting vistas, and even then, it's a chore to find them.
There's also the fact of the mechanics. Again, a timed photo adventure seems really appealing. Get in, get out, and only take what you find important. The problem is that the mechanics are a deliberate wrench in your fun. First, why is there a sprint button? I'm already limited by the time of day, so why should I be further limited by my ability to navigate the world? Perhaps the idea was to force people to choose paths, and come up with unique experiences. But when everything looks the same, and there's only a smattering of narrative bubbles, that you're not guaranteed to see, this mechanic isn't serving its intended purpose. The time also doesn't stop when you're taking pictures. The game seems to relish in you playing with your lenses, exposure, and grain. But you're not really given the time to explore the artistic process, because you're on the clock like a wage-slave.
Then there's the narrative. It's steeped in mystery, which is kind of cool. But again, because a player can wander any direction their heart desires, the odds of them finding a collection of good narrative bubbles is low, and this is exacerbated by the size of the world, which is large. The note feature helps, allowing you to place Dark Souls style notes on the ground for other players to find. But again, it's hard to find something creative to say with a note when the world is just the same buildings ad infinitum. And, if you choose to write a note, that's precious in-game minutes spent forming the perfect sentence and not taking photos.
It's best to compare this game to other photo games. Umurangi succeeds by giving you infinite time, a clear objective, but allowing for artistic freedom. Pokémon Snap gives you limited time, a clear objective, and reduces artistic freedom for the sake of gameplay. Dear Future, by contrast, gives you limited time, no objectives, and restricts artistic freedom through its mechanics. And that's just a shame, because there are the bones of a really interesting game here. But the bones are scattered on the ground like the assets in this world. Maybe you can find beauty in those bones. But I did not.
This seems like a really great concept. A timed photo shoot in an abandoned, decayed, weird sci-fi city? Sign me up. The problem is that it completely stumbles over its own feet in the execution of that idea.
The biggest struggle is that there's just not a lot to see. This is a very large world, and was somehow surprisingly empty. Because the game uses the same assets over and over, any time you find something really interesting in the world, if you walk a few feet, you're guaranteed to see the same thing repeated twenty times over. I remember coming upon a strange, Greek temple on a shoreline, and thought, "wow, what an interesting design," only to see the same temple copy-pasted 3 more times past the next building. It's because of this reuse of assets, and very minimal amounts of unique variety, that makes this a bother. Very rarely does the world offer interesting vistas, and even then, it's a chore to find them.
There's also the fact of the mechanics. Again, a timed photo adventure seems really appealing. Get in, get out, and only take what you find important. The problem is that the mechanics are a deliberate wrench in your fun. First, why is there a sprint button? I'm already limited by the time of day, so why should I be further limited by my ability to navigate the world? Perhaps the idea was to force people to choose paths, and come up with unique experiences. But when everything looks the same, and there's only a smattering of narrative bubbles, that you're not guaranteed to see, this mechanic isn't serving its intended purpose. The time also doesn't stop when you're taking pictures. The game seems to relish in you playing with your lenses, exposure, and grain. But you're not really given the time to explore the artistic process, because you're on the clock like a wage-slave.
Then there's the narrative. It's steeped in mystery, which is kind of cool. But again, because a player can wander any direction their heart desires, the odds of them finding a collection of good narrative bubbles is low, and this is exacerbated by the size of the world, which is large. The note feature helps, allowing you to place Dark Souls style notes on the ground for other players to find. But again, it's hard to find something creative to say with a note when the world is just the same buildings ad infinitum. And, if you choose to write a note, that's precious in-game minutes spent forming the perfect sentence and not taking photos.
It's best to compare this game to other photo games. Umurangi succeeds by giving you infinite time, a clear objective, but allowing for artistic freedom. Pokémon Snap gives you limited time, a clear objective, and reduces artistic freedom for the sake of gameplay. Dear Future, by contrast, gives you limited time, no objectives, and restricts artistic freedom through its mechanics. And that's just a shame, because there are the bones of a really interesting game here. But the bones are scattered on the ground like the assets in this world. Maybe you can find beauty in those bones. But I did not.