Exactly my kind of game. I love a slow, contemplative walking simulator. However, there are times where this feels too ambitious. I don’t know if this is the right term or if I'm letting my anti-intellectualism spill, but it felt like navel gazing, where we’d just spin off these philosophical sentences one after another without much leaving an impact. It's like the game is trying to say so much (or maybe says so little to invite the player to do all of the interpretive/thematic work), but it didn't always land with me. The game is about everything from growing up, refugees, environmental ruin/climate change, depression, religion, post-war society, community, the creation of art as a means of preservation, grief, and friendship. It's even got tons of statements about the very nature of time and memory. It tries to ask all these big questions in maybe 4-5 hours of gameplay, and I don't think it quite stuck the landing. And it got my brain going for sure, but I guess I simply got exhausted at times.

The gameplay is crazy simple and centers tactility. I think this is so key to the game because it's about observation. Of course when it's a game asking you to be present, it's cool that basically the only actions you can do are take out a camera or take out an audio recorder. The story is serene and meditative. The graphics are consistently gorgeous. I loved this game, but I don't think I'd play it again.

Pros:
- decently engaging plot
- I always love when a more narrative type game like this has voice acting because it feels cinematic. I bought this game because I love Rear Window so much.

Cons:
- terrible gameplay at times e.g. you just point another character where to "hide" in the open plaza or you just wait for time to pass. it felt like a chore to play sometimes
- this is maybe the same point as above, but this had lazy storytelling in my opinion. I understand the whole point is your limited pov, but it felt like the creators approached this simply as an obstacle instead of having fun with the concept. like the game is never as thrilling as it thinks it is. maybe my issue is it feeds info to the player too easily??
- the plaza you're overlooking often feels lifeless. the thrill of a film like Rear Window was how alive the community felt and the voyeurism in that. here, the plaza always had the same like 4 characters just standing there. there wasn't traffic. most windows went unused.

not sure i'm articulating myself well but tl;dr the premise and voice acting are kind of cool but I wish more was done with the limited pov because it's such a cool idea

this was so insane I loved every second of it and i'm so glad I came into it blind. my favorite part is the love of storytelling that comes across so clearly. but my main complaint (semi-joking) is why did the first act have to be that hard huh? I legit played maybe 8 hours just trying to get through the first act. I then rage quit and left this game alone for like 2 weeks. then I came back to it, finally beat act 1, and sped through acts 2 and 3. i'm dumb and easily confused by card games - have mercy on me

I’m inflating the score because so much on display here is exactly the kind of stuff I love in my favorite video games.

It’s kind of a narrative game (or a hidden objects game). It’s sweet, albeit corny most of the time. I also thought the hidden object mechanics got tired quick, especially collecting grenkins. But wow I loved the art style, the music, the voice acting, and this community (there’s nonbinary fish folk and animal/bird people I love all of them). Most of all I loved the stories. These characters and the memories of them felt so natural and fully formed, even if we only saw bits and pieces of their lives. The themes are so touching to me, essentially being a celebration of life, friendship, community, and how we are remembered once we’ve passed.

I had high hopes for this because this is extremely my kind of game. I love walking simulators, I loved the art style, and this even takes place in the Pacific Northwest, where I recently moved to.

But I think I just didn’t care for most of the characters enough to care about the ending(s). I think this was more intellectual than it was emotional. I liked Jonas, I liked Ren, and I liked Alex. However, I didn’t walk away feeling invested in them. Nor did this cause any kind of self reflection. I feel like it has some messages about grief, but the ending cheapens these messages. It was a shallow, but enjoyable experience.

I found the gameplay way too annoying and tedious, especially on my switch on handheld. Some of the fonts couldn't be any smaller I swear. And I didn't care enough about the story or the main character after the first episode which, by the way, was creepy and fantastic and easily the highest point of the game. Then the game lost me some time during the third episode, and I followed a walkthrough just to finish the fourth episode. The ending fell flat for me. I don't think I'll be revisiting this.

UPDATE: I woke up this morning determined as hell to beat this and after one great run I did :-) a little over 25 hours in and after 51 deaths I finished Act 2. This last run was so easy and fun I got some great guns and artifacts/upgrades so I'm bumping this up half a star lmfaoo

I can't beat the final boss ophion this game is too hard for me as a casual gamer lmfaoo see my prior review below

I felt more and more let down and frustrated after finishing a run and felt less and less motivated to attempt another. Some of my most recent runs left my hands sweaty and shaking I'm so embarrassed. Anyway after almost 25 hours I'm putting this down. Maybe I'll pick it up again eventually. I really have to be in the mood for how intense and involving this game is. Otherwise, it has super snappy and immersive gameplay that's generally a blast but the deliberate, unforgiving nature just loses me after finishing a run.

I love how simple yet absolutely unwavering this game is. The game pushes the boundaries on what intuitive really means. On one hand, it's simply designed, but on the other hand the gameplay and puzzles are still complex. It doesn't hold your hand much; it took me maybe about 10-15min to understand how to play. It reminded me of some of the best films I've watched. The ones that present a singular vision and a meditative rhythm that you either buy into or you don't. This game has zero dialogue, barely any characters (can I call them that lmao), plenty of magical mumbo jumbo, yet I was wildly into it the whole time.

An engaging little, self-assured masterpiece on perspective and finding meaning in life.