This is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of the worst games I have ever played. The other half of the star is for the mere concept of it being fun, in execution there is not even a hope of enjoyment to be had with this game. The good reviews for this game are downright sickening. The people who made this are also sickening. This is foolishness, this is buffonery, this is downright robbery and trickery.

Where can I even start with it? It would be easier to talk about the parts of the game that actually work. The basis of the game: you run a rescue center. Theres dogs in it. People adopt the dogs. Not one part of this process functions as it should. Horrible control scheme. Jaw-droppingly stupid. Things that should just be A or X are abominable combinations that I cant even remember half the time. Imagine: decorating. Pick the thing you want then press A to purchase. WRONG. Select your purchase with the left stick, move cursor to place it, put it down with ZL. You didnt actually buy it. Press + to confirm that youre actually buying the thing you already put down. Wait 7 minutes because the ingame PC you're making this transaction on is insultingly slow. In fact, all the menus lag. The game lags. But the menus specifically make me feel like im wading through mud. Oh... tutorial? Did you read it? Sorry, because they are never showing it to you again. The tutorial is shockingly long while also not telling you what to do. And after it is done they leave you clueless. I was stuck for 3 hours trying to figure out how to access a menu.

Pacing issues. Overwhelming pacing issues. Dogs shitting themselves and tearing each other faces off and I cant give them the time of day because 8 new strays just came in for some fucking reason and each dog needs their special food and drink and accommodations. Someone walks into a dog shelter, unsure if they actually want a dog. They ask me to bring out and hand pick 5 dogs for them instead of the customer just walking around the shelter like an actual person. If they dont like all 5 dogs they will decide they were just cruising and leave. Im sure that exciting gameplay loop makes you wet and ready for more action so im so happy to say that that's all there is. If you have a dog with a disability just forget about them because, despite the fact that this is a shelter, customers have exceedingly high standards in direct contrast to the game's ride or die attitude on adopt, dont shop.

Does not function. Nothing about this game functions. Dogs shit in the walls and I cant see it. Dogs get stuck in the walls and get diseases and starve and dehydrate. Dogs have fights through the walls. The game believes certain dogs do not exist and I can no longer interact with them. Dogs get stuck in the play pen and the game will not let the dogs leave, ever. The game crashes and softlocks when you do complicated things such as opening a menu on the PC or taking a dog for a walk. The unstuck button itself fails to work. Unbearable. Inoperable.

Someone once said that we have it all wrong, that we should cry when one enters this world and rejoice when they leave it. Thats how I feel about these fucking dogs. Euthanized and they dont have to bear the weight of being trapped in this horrible game. The person who made this, never dare to even think about making another game again. Any good you put in this world will be a shadow of the torment you put me through. I hate you.


I want my 10 dollars back.

The thing about this game is that it's a very wordy buddy cop detective thriller with no real fail states. That's not a negative, but you will not be able to meet all the goals you have and you should learn to deal with it.

Why? Because the game already tells you that you're a washout detective well-past his glory days, enough that you go on a disastrous drinking binge that would make The Hangover blush and have to be pried apart from the tiles you're lying on by your partner who is constantly exasperated with you. Still, for one reason or another you still manage to do your job at the end, the extent of which is dependent on how successful you are in doing things.

It is very wordy and constantly uses its own jargon that even I have to take many breaks or else I'll risk not actually understanding the game and bleeding from all cranial orifices.

It also has no real combat, relying instead on its roleplaying to carry it. Depending on whether this is your type of thing or not, it can work, because the writing is very good. Shame the overall game is short and we're likely not to see any sequels for this game thanks to a hostile corporate takeover.

I would rate this a 4.5 but the amount of words in this game that makes my head ache prevents me from doing so.

I can't believe it. I finally played through this legendary game, and it is more than deserving of its status as a touching, gorgeous exploration of guilt, trauma, and wrongdoing.

I loved how the dialogue performances, while much better acted than the first game in the series, seem subtly self-aware of tropey and strange voice acting in games enough to lean into the oddness of the medium to emphasise erratic, nonsensical behaviour in all of its characters - but very, very effectively in James in particular.

Maria is also, while a sort of surface level, cringe female character, also a pretty interesting note on gender and how men see women. A hollow ghost of male visions of womanhood made alive, pathetic, desperate, and ultimately, discarded and disgusting to her own creator.

The Historical Society sequence is my favourite part of the game. It's unbelievably well-designed. A gorgeous, disorientating, hellish environment. The holes are iconic. And I would, most certainly, dive in.

Larian studios have really put their whole puss into this mhm mhm <3 <3

They've stayed true to the original DND lore and at the same time, made it more gentle and less overwhelming for people who are new to the DND world! The developers and VA's have put so much love into this game and it shows!

I usually struggle with being able to continuously play a game without getting bored after a few weeks but I can guarantee that I will be playing this for years to come! It's been an experience to say the least and I'm wholeheartedly devastated that I can never experience the base game itself ever again T^T <3