Technobabylon

This is one of the best adventure games I've played, almost on par with the likes of Gemini Rue. The dystopian cyberpunk vibe is strong in this one, the writing is good, plot twists well-placed, and the voice acting is surprisingly better than in some of the big-budget productions out there. The pixel-art is very nostalgic, yet clear. There's no pixel-hunting, all active areas are easy to find. The puzzles are logical, no use-the-wrench-on-the-flower-to-make-a-fishing-rod ones. Some are quite tough, though, and to this, the only of the two flaws I found is connected: no hint system. It would be good for the character to say something that would nudge us in the right direction. Unfortunately, there's nothing like it, and you need to rely on walkthroughs. The other flaw is scarce background. This would really need more backstory that just a few news articles and random references in the dialogues. All in all: a very good cyberpunk adventure game. Definitely worth playing!

Man, "Technobabylon" is so good; it may have topped "Primordia" on the Best New Adventure Games list. Here's a quick list of yes and nos for fellow adventure game fanatics: 1. Does the game have any dead ends like the old Sierra games? No. 2. Is the game funny? Yes, but not always. There are some jokes, but the story is serious. 3. Does the game use a three-verb interface like Full Throttle? It's a two click system. Right click is for examine, and left click is for pick up/user. You combine objects in your inventory, etc. A beautiful game that keeps reinventing itself, set in a rich, layered, complex world and beautifully written. I am 100% for the adventure game renaissance. They're really giving LucasArts a run for their money.

This is a cyberpunk tale done right: a self-consistent, well-realised world operating under its own logic (no lazy deus ex machina twists, easy outs, or ad hoc contrivances so common to this genre) that doesn't hold the audience's hand and isn't too ponderous or self-impressed. It's dense, intelligent storytelling. If you can fault anything, character motivations are occasionally a tad thin (Regis' 'life begins at conception' shtick is a bit hard to swallow). Soundtrack and VO work are equally as impressive; deluxe edition is worth it just for the MP3/FLAC soundtrack. Adventure game mechanics are mostly bullshit-free. Occasionally, you'll get stuck because the game requires you to use an object in a non-intuitive way (eg. using a physical object in 'the Trance' or being expected to use 'wetware' on a corpse despite not being able to do that to anyone else, living or dead, across the first two thirds of the game). You'll also have to use Google to figure out how to get the game running in full-screen.

+ intelligently designed, believable world + well-written, likeable characters for which I really cared about + very good voice acting + logical puzzles (sometimes with multiple solutions!). Just be careful not to miss interactable objects on the screen! - poor, sometimes confusing graphics (even for a pixel-style), although character portraits are lovely It took me 15 hours to finish the game. Considering the price and that the story was fleshed-out (I never felt like Im being dragged through filler) I think this is nice length of time. In summary, great game developed by something like 2 or 3 people. Please give them a bit of Your money and experience a life in Technobabylon.

tl;dr - If you like Cyberpunk, get this game. Obviously if you like point-and-clicks as well it will really help. There's thankfully very little "moon logic" here, but the genre of game is really secondary to the setting and atmosphere. It's just so cyberpunk. You flip between the 3 playable characters very well, the virtual-reality based internet is handled excellently, the voice acting is up to snuff, and the game is nice and long by modern adventure game standards. It's also convincingly dark with the right level of violence for cyberpunk; just a dab of humor, never gets silly. It's absolutely required playing for any cyberpunk fan, there is no way you will regret it. It truly gives you that Deus Ex feeling of being in a real, living cyberpunk reality. The only downside is that it is currently the only game available from this developer right now.