Always Sometimes Monsters

The game engine works, but is loaded with a story that does not leave an impression of good taste.

I had high hopes for this game. Reading the descriptions it sounded like the kind of game I’ve been wanting to play for a long time, one where your decisions truly have a big impact on the story. I have played several games before where the player can affect the story but based on the hype for this game I was looking forward to something extra special. Ultimately I was disappointed by how little choice the player actually ends up getting. I played through the game twice and have read about other people’s experiences on forums. It seems clear to me that he game has a pretty strict path through the narrative that you are not given any option to divert form. I don’t want to spoil anything but there were a number of occasions where my character said things and made choices that I as the player could not control. What type of character (gender, race, sexual preference) you chose really does not have a big impact either. I must be fair and say that the story was interesting and did effect me emotionally. The game did manage to keep me interested and entertained for a number of hours so it’s worth the price. I consider the writing to be good except that it sometimes gets a bit too humorous/silly when I feel a more serious tone would have worked better. I would recommend buying it if you like a good thought provoking story but don’t except anything groundbreaking when it comes to gameplay.

An interesting game with interesting ideas, and interesting writing that swings wildly between very good and completely awful. Despite making a better show of choice and consequence than most other games that claim to be choice-driven, it's much more limiting than it first appears. It also has moments where you can't make what seems like very obvious choices, but since most choice-driven games fall victim to this, I don't know if it's fair to judge it for that. Many of the graphics seem to be stock assets, which is a little disappointing. It's very slow, in annoying and unnecessary ways. Basic navigation feels 50% slower than it should be, and some sections are tedious on purpose. I think the developers wanted to make the player experience the same boring workday drudgery that the protagonist does, but it's just too much. It hurts immersion instead of helping it; the player is likely to become fed up and stop caring. But despite its flaws, I found hard to put down. It would have received a higher score if not for two unforgivable points: 1. A horrible "intentionally boring" section that leaves the player in the dark as to what's expected of them. Without knowing ahead of time, you'll just keep going until you get pissed off, so let me save you the trouble: despite the game tricking you into thinking there's an end to the boxes, the section is actually endless. It doesn't stop even after the counter stops at 99 of the damn things. Just do 10 and stop. 2. The ending undermines the entire game, and is terribly written too. I'd elaborate but I'm out of characters, so I'll just say it takes a steaming dump on everything that came before it. In closing, it's a rough but oddly compelling game that's difficult to enjoy but also difficult to put down - except for the fact that it sometimes shoots itself in the foot for no reason whatsoever. If it's on sale it might be worth trying, but exercise caution - you're very likely to encounter something that infuriates you.

Now, first things first, this IS a good game, I really enjoyed it, but the choices you're offered really don't seem to matter much in the long run. Some parts can feel like a drag, like trying to earn enough money to leave town, and it feels like the game is trying TOO hard to tell a meaningful story, but it's mostly enjoyable nonetheless. The highlights, for me, were firstly finding the devs themselves in the coffee shop discussing a game they're developing and secondly, finding the "heroz" figures which represented various Indie Game characters like the guys from Gods Will Be Watching...meanwhile, the rest of the game was enjoyable enough that I would definitely recommend it to others with the caveat that it's not some great earth-shaking adventure and it probably won't deliver any huge life-changing revelations, but it's a sweet little slice of entertainment anyway...

If you go into this without expecting the next game that will blow your mind or keep you filled with excitement all the way through, then you'll enjoy this game a lot more for what it is. It does have quite a nice concept, even though there are some bits that keep you from fully enjoying it. The game is big on choice and consequence, with every decision making you wonder if you screwed up (game has multiple endings and you can get a bad ending quite easily). Being a good or bad character makes a big difference, and the game is filled with dialogue that will make you question the morality of your choices. However, despite your choices moving the game forward, there are bugs that make the whole purpose of the game a bit broken: Choices made throughout could be registered incorrectly and the game will act as if you did something differently during a key moment in the game, which negates your whole effort at being either a good or bad character. In this type of game, this sort of thing is very important and really messes up your experience. I hope the devs keep an eye on the reviews to notice these bugs and eventually fix them, as it would make the game be as intended and give a much better experience for every one. The game does have a few activities that are a chore rather than fun: your character needs to work to move the story forward, and time doesn't pass until you finish an activity. They are not that bad, and for certain key story moments it does give you the opportunity to take a shortcut. Unfortunately, the game doesn't make it clear though, and players could be 'forced' in activities that they didn't want just because they didn't know that there was a hidden shortcut they could take. Ending is a bit unsatisfactory too, and could have easily been made better with a few extra dialogue lines and variations. It would be nice if the devs added a couple of extra scenes during the ending bits to make your efforts more satisfying. I hope to see more for this game!