this game is aesthetically and narratively an absolute triumph. i'd say the same for its gameplay at least in a bubble. the game is fun. the critical issue that makes it come apart at the seams is how in conflict the narrative is with the gameplay.
if you havent played, this game is a fast paced stock market simulator where you accept requests from people looking for organs and buy them off a market with fluctuating prices, trying to turn a profit. the game's several endings are gotten through fulfilling the requests of different characters in varying ways. the issue comes into play because these wonderfully written requests that serve as the game's main narrative are something i barely looked at. i had a tight time limit to buy and sell enough organs to turn a profit so the only thing i'm going to have time to look at is what organ they want and when. its a tragedy.
when i got my first ending i was completely blindsided. i was just desperately slinging organs and doing requests when boom. black screen, dialog, cool art, the end. and none of it made any sense to me at all. that moment killed me. i wanted so bad to love this game, but i knew that playing it as intended and enjoying the narrative would be impossible.
i can understand what they were trying to do. this game is about doing something unethical for profit. moving so fast, you don't have time to consider the damage you could be doing providing organs to mass murderers. but if i dont even have time to read it it's not gonna work.
there are options to slow down the game, but at slower speeds the stock market becomes a total slog. there's no challenge just find the lowest or highest number and buy or sell. and switching the speed requires going through 2 menus so you cant slow down to read requests, then speed up to play the stocks very easily.
i want to love this game so bad, but it feels like there was just no way to make this game concept work in any real way. im glad it exists for its beautiful music, art, ui, and the idea at its heart, but this game feels like a failed experiment
if you havent played, this game is a fast paced stock market simulator where you accept requests from people looking for organs and buy them off a market with fluctuating prices, trying to turn a profit. the game's several endings are gotten through fulfilling the requests of different characters in varying ways. the issue comes into play because these wonderfully written requests that serve as the game's main narrative are something i barely looked at. i had a tight time limit to buy and sell enough organs to turn a profit so the only thing i'm going to have time to look at is what organ they want and when. its a tragedy.
when i got my first ending i was completely blindsided. i was just desperately slinging organs and doing requests when boom. black screen, dialog, cool art, the end. and none of it made any sense to me at all. that moment killed me. i wanted so bad to love this game, but i knew that playing it as intended and enjoying the narrative would be impossible.
i can understand what they were trying to do. this game is about doing something unethical for profit. moving so fast, you don't have time to consider the damage you could be doing providing organs to mass murderers. but if i dont even have time to read it it's not gonna work.
there are options to slow down the game, but at slower speeds the stock market becomes a total slog. there's no challenge just find the lowest or highest number and buy or sell. and switching the speed requires going through 2 menus so you cant slow down to read requests, then speed up to play the stocks very easily.
i want to love this game so bad, but it feels like there was just no way to make this game concept work in any real way. im glad it exists for its beautiful music, art, ui, and the idea at its heart, but this game feels like a failed experiment