Overall most helpful review

Posted on: September 21, 2021

spykyvenator

Games: 59 Reviews: 3

An extra immersive book

This game tells it's story in a really good way, I played it almost in one go (about 5-7 hrs). It is best compared to a book or a movie but it gets the storytelling right. I would say that you should wait for the discount. Except for the alternate storylines I see little replayability. The graphics were ok (I ran it at ultra settings) However, I had a few annoyances: Your character walks slow, this makes walking long routes irritating there are many rooms that add nothing to the story or its setting and seem to be there just to make the building a copy of the real one. On some occasions it might be unclear what to do to progress the story. I played this in linux, it ran well, but my mouse did stutter, this might not be the case for you. I really enjoyed the story but this game certainly isn't for everyone.

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Posted on: September 23, 2021

Geraltovic

Verified owner

Games: 31 Reviews: 1

Mildly terrifying, heavily depressing

This is basically a walking sim wrapped inside a carefully woven narrative, telling the story of a mental hospice patient in early 1940s Italy. If you have 4 bucks (discount price) and as many hours to spare on a gloomy Sunday with nothing else to set the mood, I recommend giving this a go. Pro: + Great storytelling + Great visuals and 2D Artwork + Great overall atmosphere Cons: - Too slow-paced, which becomes especially evident during Chapter 13 - Not the biggest fan of the voice acting, but maybe that's just personal preference - Minor inconsistencies between the written and the voiced texts

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Posted on: January 29, 2022

raull96

Verified owner

Games: 209 Reviews: 36

An unexpected jam

I started the game with low expectations based on the score here on GOG. I got the game as a bonus for pre-ordering Martha is Dead which looks really awesome. Back to the game, as the title says, I wasn't expecting to be this good. This game really gets to you, especially that it is based on true events which is...wow. Playing the game and thinking of what really hapeneed in WW2 with all the psychiatric patients in Volterra...it's devastating. The story developes really well, the graphics are cool. This game is not for everyone. It is slow paced, you have to explore, to pay attention to details. I loved it. Can't wait for their next game: Martha is dead which looks promising.

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Posted on: February 20, 2022

FKAWMEWB

Verified owner

Games: 171 Reviews: 22

A gem, with edges

"Calm down; you must be calm; don't get agitated; we'll make you calm down! Is that the only thing that matters? Is tranquility worth the price of not living?" In TTOL, you retrace the steps of Renée, an intelligent, imaginative, mentally ill young woman, as she is systematically reduced to a purposeless animal that needs to be clothed and fed, in a Tuscan psychiatric hospital between 1939 and 1944. Not out of malice, mind you, though contemporary takes on immoral behaviour may sometimes feel like it, but because it was the one thing they knew how to do. While her case is fictional, the game painstakingly recreates the 2016 lost place version of a real hospital where similar stories actually happened. Guided by an inner monologue kind of voice, you collect documents: historic photos of the real place; a doctor's diary outlining the difficulties they faced; and Renée's patient file as well as more or less developed documents on other cases. In addition to distorted first-person flashbacks, memories are presented as animated drawings, and in Renée's heart-rending childhood diary (originally a free DLC). The 2D art alone is enough to make this game unforgettable. TTOL has some issues. Pacing is one of them- long walks through a non-interactive outdoors are followed by frantically collecting childhood drawings in a labyrinth while an invisible timer runs down. Menus periodically become inaccessible. The dates on several found documents, especially from 1940, seem contradictory. At times, the game resorts to horror tropes like doors slamming shut or ghostly arms groping at you. Also, it bows to video game conventions in allowing for some player choice- out of place in a story defined by everyone's lack of agency. But what gem doesn't have edges? I played this three times in a row and still find it hard to get enough distance for a rational review. It's one hell of a ride. If you feel games like The Cat Lady or Gone Home, you should definitely play this.

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Posted on: August 11, 2024

tallybunny

Verified owner

Games: 395 Reviews: 6

Painful, but in a good way

I'll start by saying that this is as much a game as Gone Home is. You decide what that means. I would focus on the story. This is not a happy tale, it's dark, and painful, and raw, yet, it manages to do so in a manner that can be appreciated, and enjoyed, in it's own way, which is the hallmark of a well told tale. Unlike some titles, this game earns it's dark story through a carefully curated journey through the physical location, and our protagonist's mind. The horror is, as advertised, perfectly grounded in reality, and yet, I feel like it all could easily be left to interpretation, and easily become the starting point of a very different, more fantastical, story. It puts me, in that regard, in mind of supernatural horror classics such as Hellblade, or Alan Wake. In a different world, Renée's evocative darkness could have very easily become something else, and I can't shake the feeling that our poor protagonist simply drew the absolutely shortest straw in the multiverse of psychic heroes. That said, there is no action here. This is strictly a walking simulator, through a real world location, combined with the effective telling of a story that may be too morbid for some, but is well executed regardless, and well worth experiencing, if one can stomach it. The one flaw I would point out is the English translation (the only one I tried), which could have definitely benefitted from a little more TLC. Some translation choices had me scratching my head sometimes. Fortunately, I can sort of understand Italian, and that helped, but such instances are rare enough anyway. In conclusion, I'd say this is definitely worth the asking price, which is not something I anticipated I'd be saying by the end of this review. Imagine that :P

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