I am not a visual novel fan. Never was, to be honest, even though I love reading. This is why I love playing RPGs, which involve lots of lore, narrative and story. But VA-11 Hall-A literally changed my life. Not many pieces of art can do that. Not every movie, not every composition, not every story. Yet what you face here is inspiring and honest. So, let's do a quick one about every single aspect: 1. Graphics. Amazing art complements the game design. You see a lot of oldschool-styled pictures of characters, menu designs, fonts. The game is styled so nicely that you'll lose yourself in a nostalgia you didn't even know. It looks 90s from the starting screen to the credits. 2. Gameplay. Don't expect too much - but don't forget, your decisions will directly affect the storyline. The process itself is rather easy, quite repetitive, and yet it doesn't turn into routine. Sometimes you need to serve the exact drink you're asked for. Sometimes you must be more liberal in that. Whatever you do, it will change something - sometimes in a small way, and sometimes it will massively affect much later story. Enjoy and experiment. 3. Soundtrack. I'll be honest - I didn't exactly clicked at first. Yet now only "Safe Haven" makes me home, while "Every Day is Night" is my usual while taking a walk in my wet, dark city at night. It will hook you. Not every single composition, but you'll have your associations. Incredible work by Garoad. 4. Story. This will punch you hard. Developers did their best to transmit their own experience onto completely fantastical world. As a main character, you will watch the world change, move and live. But unlike so many other games, you won't really have a chance to change it big time. Nor should you - your main character got her own life, her own troubles. Her own friends with their lives. So you live it...and change it. In short: this game is alive. You'll see if you try. Expect puns, nostalgia and well-written narrative. 10/10. Replaying it weekly.
I love stealth games, though I admit - I am really poor stealth player. My favorite titles are usually Deus Ex, Thief and a few others. I had my luck to play few of Splinter Cell games before, and recently I've bought this gem. Long story short: Good graphics (aged nicely); Interesting to play and learn; Fun story; Fairly challenging. I'd recommend this game to both seasoned stealth-players and to newbies to this. You gonna have fun. This game is neatly balanced, has a fun story and not-so-easy situations to solve. Definitely give it a try!
The moment I saw Gilbert's and Winnick's names I knew what to expect from the game. I love adventures. Love oldschool style, pixel art and throwbacks to the good old past. I admit I hesitated a bit - but in the end, I bought it and chewed the game in two days. Graphics are something between Maniac Mansion and MI series - and trust me, it is not the only subtle easter egg to our oldschool favorites. Characters are memorable, very different and recognizable. What not to love? And of course, Ransom the *beeping* clown. Those *beeps* gave me a fair chunk of laughs! Go for this game if you love point-and-click adventures. Go for it if you love Maniac Mansion, Day of The Tentacle, Monkey Island series and/or Full Throttle. Go for it if you enjoy absurd humor mixed with overall weirdness. Then go and tell your friends about it and let the developers do what they love, which means making more great titles we all enjoy. Thanks for yet another great adventure, good sirs. We love you.
Now that I completed this game twice, I thought writing a review would help everyone else not to miss this masterpiece. My verdict is 5/5. Being an oldschool point-and-click adventure, this game is absolutely stunning. Where should I even start? I guess I should probably start with graphics. You don't expect too much and you shouldn't - but I believe that back then this 2.5D mix must have been really pleasing. You got two drawn worlds and lots of beautiful scenery. Character models are fine - as long as you don't compare them to modern graphics. But where this game is shining...dialogues. I've played quite a bunch of adventures before, but never been so immersed in conversations between characters. Everyone seems very real, having their own unique personalities and you can't help but to feel it. Protagonist is not only battling overwhelming forces, but also her very own demons. Some of the moments are almost therapeutic - you kinda grow as your character grows too. The plot itself has quite a few twists and turns. I absolutely don't want to spoiler any of it, but one thing I can say for sure - Tornquist created a massive world design and it doesn't feel incomplete. Can't say too much about gameplay - I mean, it is point-and-click adventure, after all. Don't forget to read the diary once in a while. If you're still in doubt - stop doubting. There's a long journey ahead. In fact - the longest one.
