VirtuaVerse

TLDR: Great concept for a game but I overall didn't like the nonsensical puzzles and drop in story quality in the later half of the game. I struggled to finish it but was invested in the story which kept me going. Get the game on sale if you want to try it out but I don't recommend it at full price. I completely forgot about this game until gog did a free giveaway of it (I got it free which is why I played it) but I remembered loving the art style, tone of the story, and overall concept of the main character looking for his girlfriend. So I was excited to finally try this game out now that it's free. Now I'm not normally someone who plays puzzle heavy games but I thought this one would have puzzles that at least made sense, even if I was slow to solve them. Several times I was forced to go to a guide to figure out a puzzle because many of them are nonsensical. I found myself losing interest in the game by the time I hit the club because the writing became strange and lost the simplicity and tone I liked. Instead this very strange story begins to emerge and it feels... all over the place? It also didn't help that the main character was unlikable (to me at least) because of his selfishness. I won't spoil how he's selfish but, yeah he is. I was disappointed that a game with great potential was overall ruined by the puzzles and story writing in the end. I'd feel worse if I paid for it.

Virtuaverse is a standard point-and-click adventure game, set in a cyberpunk future. And it is a mess. The story makes no sense and the plot has holes big enough to drive a truck through. The dialogue is atrocious (so much so that at some point I just started skipping it). The puzzles were nonsense. All of the characters were awful and forgettable. Also the "ending" was non-existent, to the extent that I thought the game had just frozen, but nope, "that" was it. There are some parts that are fun. I liked the parts around the nightclub for example. But mostly the game is boring and just feels weirdly disjointed with a bunch of individually good ideas lacking a coherent direction or a thread that holds them together. However, the visual and audio presentation is amazing. I loved the pixel art. I loved the music. I loved the art direction in general. I can't recommend getting this game as a game (and especially NOT at full price) - it's more of a piece of art that is unfortunately tied to a bad game. If you are considering getting this game, I urge you to just pay it with a guide handy because this game gets frustrating fast.

As other reviewers have pointed out, beneath its coat of painting this game is utter garbage. If somebody tried to compile everything that could be done wrong in a point & click adventure into a single game, they probably couldn't have done a more perfect job. Pixel hunting. Pointless drivel in dialogues. Clutter in the inventory. Nonsensical puzzles that force you to try combining everything with everything else). Puzzle chains that make Looney Tunes ACME machines look straightforward. Tons of backtracking. No fast travel or shortcuts. On top of that characters and dialog are bad. And the plot is probably the worst. What is the message we're supposed to take from it? Give up free will and submit to a supposedly benevolent AI? Are you kidding me? There is a metric ton of better point & click adventures out there. Do not waste your time on this one. It only gets 2 stars because I reserve 1-star ratings for games that are technically broken.

VirtuaVerse is an indie sci-fi/cyberpunk point&click adventure game. The story is full of nostalgic references to the golden era of personal computers and hacking, constantly compared to the oppressive dystopian world where everyone is required to have a permanent VR implant. What had started as one geek's attempt to rescue his mysteriously disappeared girlfriend, turns into an epic journey... The game features lovely pixel art graphics, especially beautiful in urban scenes, and very fitting for the plot. Puzzles are logical and reasonable, (almost) no wacky usage of items for unintended purposes. I resorted to the walkthrough 3 times; twice it could've been avoided if I didn't loathe backtracking so much, but the first one was quite tricky. You really have to pay attention to everything that happens on the screen, including the cutscenes and animations. Still, this game is very long, and 3 hints is not that bad. At least I'm happy that I solved both freaky puzzles in the Technomancers realm all by myself. The gameplay is linear, but this simplicity is reassuring - you know that you're not missing any plot branches, so there's no stress of making the right choices. No timed/action sequences, no dead ends, no player death. You can play at your own pace and enjoy this relaxing retro experience. There's no voice acting, but this is also an advantage, meaning that you can click through the dialogs faster. There are minor faults such as the awkward dialog interface, somewhat unsympathetic main character, somewhat unsatisfying ending, and as already mentioned, I'm not keen on backtracking (but there's not a lot of it). Otherwise, it's a fantastic game, and I loved it all the way!

An important note here is that it was made by 3 people (coder, artist, musician). As a musician myself it is always a pleasure to see fellow musicians involved so actively in the development progress of games. And most of the times the result is breathtaking, musicians usually don't go with the gaming trends, as many developers do, and the result shows (try The Norwood Suite by Cosmo D, the one and only walking sim adventure I ever liked). As for the game itself, it's a beautiful and respectful throw back to the 90's golden era of Point n Click games. I won't go into details about the story and characters, many reviewers here covered this (plus there's a character limit). The important thing you need to know about the story is that it supports the gameplay here, not the opposite and this is the reason why the journey feels so memorable. It feels like an actual journey and when you progress through the puzzles it's very rewarding. Of course it's not as good as Fate of Atlantis, but it has that feeling. As for the puzzles, they're not very hard but not too easy either and definitely they're not spoon-fed. It has the right balance. And no, it's not necessary to use a guide to complete it. You only need some patience and observation, 2 virtues that seem to be lacking in newer generations. It's not meant to be finished in one sitting, it's designed to last. Take a break and play or do something else and come back later with a more clear mind. You'll be fine. As a final note I want to say to the devs, If you ever consider making another game (which I hope), please don't water down the puzzles!! Keep the same quality and just include an optional hint system in the same vain of Thimbleweed Park. Goof luck with the sales! :)