Unrest Special Edition

This is an unusual game to say the least. It is almost like reading a novel. There are a lot of choices and answers you can give, only some of them seem to have an effect on the game, and only very few have a long lasting effect at all, even fewer of these effects are thrown in your face directly. The interesting part is the moral choices you will encounter. This game is about the journey(what do you experience while playing it), than about seeing the outcome. A positive aspect of the game is the feeling you have while roleplaing the different chars. Sadly the end feels a little rushed. i also missed that the threads of the different characters do seem to intervene seldomly and if they do it is only for 5-6 sentences. The second thin i did not particularly like was the ending, it seems a little rushed, there where a few problems with the transmission/switches between the characters in "the last chapter" and the game seems to just end, even though the game itself seems to know the story is not really finished. All in all i played the game through 3 times now, and i personally do not regret buying it. it kept me entertained for about 2-5 hours for each playtrough ( i think this is short for a game, however it is still longer than a movie at the cinema). So if you are in the mood for a text-heavy moraldilemma game, which will entertain you for roughly 4 hours, i can recommend it. Everyone else should stay away.

developers are too stupid or cowardly to take on. I'm mostly writing this because I'm livid, like I have been ever since I started really loving video games about a decade ago, about the absolute *state* of things! I've liked the concept of Unrest ever since I first heard of it when it came out. You play as several different characters in a kingdom in the midst of some unrest. First of all, the writing is just elegant. It's good. The characters are real and packed with perspective and the conflicts are complex. Normally when I play RPGs I have to really clench my teeth and use my imagination to make the storytelling go down better--not here. It was a genuine pleasure and something I craved more of. Secondly, the setup, where you play several characters--it made me think in new ways that only an RPG could do, and I've never seen it quite done like this. It's not "like a novel," it creates a totally different experience with text. You play many characters, some in opposition to each other, and every story is richly told. Where is your allegiance as a player--your character, the city, what parts? It's strategic and I was always excited to see how things would turn out. I didn't get excited about The Outer Worlds after playing for an hour the way I got excited with this after an hour. The killer--and maybe I shouldn't write this, because I really admire the devs and this project--but it doesn't go very far. It's 3 hours. It surprised me with its abruptness. If you care about video games, you should get it anyway. To have a fun and interesting time, to support the devs, and to remember what RPGs could be. I'm patiently awaiting a world where this is just a demo for a fully-fledged, 100-hour game set in Bhirma, a sprawling epic where you're a coauthor. Isn't that the point of RPGs, to be the coauthor of stories that you then carry with you? I'll carry this with me. I just wish I knew what happened next. Like a dream, from which you're awoken prematurely. Life sucks!

Summary: an interesting narrative game with a couple of cool moments, an OK way to spend a couple of evenings. It's cheap, so I would recommend buying it even if just to broaden your perspective on the RPG genre. Feels more like a test game before the developers put out something really good. On that note, I really wish them further successes in gamedev, I think they have a lot of potential. Good: - Unique setting. Ancient/medieval India, a setting not often seen in the genre. - Good general plot. A story of a riot and upheaval in a city-state. - Different characters. An ability to look at the same storyline from different points of views. - A couple of tough choices. Not all choices are tough, but some actually make you stop and consider the consequences. Bad: - Consequences not impactful enough. Some consequences are not described at all, some are too vague, and some are not displayed prominently enough. At the end, you feel like 80% of your choices didn't matter, and 20% didn't matter enough. - The ending feels rushed and not solid enough. You don't feel as if the story has had a proper conclusion. - The dialogue stats (NPC attitude) system doesn't seem to impact anything. - Controls are somewhat janky. You need to be too close to NPCs to talk to them. Sometimes pathfinding doesn't work. - The maps involve too much empty walking and I see no reason (other than possibly technical) to split every level into different "rooms". Everything could have been placed on a single screen so that you don't need to load levels all the time. - No tutorial. - Some things are useful for lore exposure, but not for gameplay. Items and inventory don't serve any purpose, and neither do books. - All in all, the game tries to look more impressive than it is. You could delete 30% of the existing systems without impacting the gameplay in any way. You do a lot of things, but only 70% of them actually matter.

Unusual but nice looks to the game. Story is extremely short, even if you save everyone. Not much worth in replaying, even to see other storyline so short and with the abrupt dry endings they have made. No quick travel or running stretches the game uselessly, and it's annoying. Tiny game world, few maps, few locations to visit, few things to do. Everything seems to be forced upon you, you have no freedom of choice except maybe in some conversations. Linear in terms of movement. It's on GOG and it still has some bugs (random crashes, visual bugs, etc.). Looks like an amateur's game that should go on Kongregate than here on GOG. Speaking of which, why is this on GOG in the first place? It's neither old nor good. Would be nice if you could leave the junk and ordinary games to Steam and other site like that. Game is extremely short, and should be free on the web to play, and certainly NOT 10$+ to buy... not even worth 5$. I mean, 25$ for 2 to 3 hours of gameplay when I can get Skyrim for less? COME ON! This is game ain't worth a penny! Really, don't buy this! Get NWN, Baldur's Gate EE, or something else, but not this!