Deliver Us The Moon

A decent story is, sadly, poorly supported by some fairly tedious and often contrived gameplay. More than anything this is a walking sim in which the game tells you how the story happened, rather than actually involving you in any part in it. The game changes the rules of certain elements from moment to moment to illicit drama, and despite looking rather breathtaking at moments, is altogether still a fairly patchwork experience technically. The game is at its best in the few moments you spend in first-person; the rest of the time you run around in goofy third person for no clear reason, which exposes the poor character animations and weird floaty movement even when under normal gravity. On at least one occasion I looked at an item and encountered a developer note saying that it should be removed. How that was left in a game in which there simply isn't much to interact with is, frankly, baffling. And it's this basic lack of finesse that leads to me say that, despite its story being compelling and well-performed, you're not going to miss out if you never play this. The sequel, Deliver Us Mars, has garnered exactly the same criticisms. It's a shame that there is such lost potential.

It's a basic puzzle adventure. I like the story so far and the gamelay is fun but a bit tiresome after a while.

Another game with a great premise and subpar execution. The original idea - as far as I can tell - is interesting and relevant, but the result is not. This game, like so many nowadays promising an interesting story and captivating gameplay, is simply junk, worth neither time nor money (I'm seriously considering reclaiming my money on this one). Sure, it might have super highres raytracing graphics and a well-made soundtrack and I suppose good voice actors, but it stops there. Well, let's go over it: First, you can't rebind the keyboard controls which is a big no-no. This make the game really awkward and cumbersome to play. Secondly, it's sluggish and runs slow and with stutters, even with the graphics settings turned way down. In fact, the graphics settings make no difference in sluggishness, neither high nor low has any effect on speed. This, combined with the shabby controls makes for a bad gameplay experience. Then, time-based puzzles. A simple puzzle doesn't get more "interesting" or "challenging" by setting a time limit. It only gets annoying, especially with the bad controls. It also means the developers were running out of ideas already at the start of the game - not a good sign. There are plenty little other things, like the task view sorted the wrong way around, but I think this is enough. SOMA is often compared to this, but there is no comparison. SOMA has a clear, straight, efficient gameplay with no slowdowns and you're not pressed for time solving puzzles. The enemies are an optional annoyance for those that want it - just switch them off and you're free to think and ponder. And this is the correct way to go. Unfortunately, many new games suffer from these problems. A great idea and story, good graphics, music and voice actors, but the game is below adequate, barely functioning and in many cases only half-finished. If it were still in development, this would be fine. But it is considered "finished".

What a great game. Finished the game in two, 4 hour sessions. One thing I dislike about modern games is that they overstay their narrative. This game was perfectly paced, and I never once thought "I hope I'm near the finish". The progressive mystery was fun to solve/learn about and the puzzles were challenging wihtout being frutrating. Good length, enjoyable gameplay, good storytelling, good voice acting.

A third person adventure game that combines the exploration of abandoned places with sci-fi. There are no jumpscares and the action sequences are not stressful, but the game keeps up the tension throughout with it's presentation, kind of reminds me of Firewatch in that regard. The story is interesting, prettynstraighforward, but leaves some questions up in the air. Visually gorgeous and sound design it's absolutely fantastic, a very immersive experience in my opinion. I just wish the puzzles were a little more demanding, because they all pretty easy if you justy pay attention to your surroundings. Great game, it's right up my alley.