Just bought the game, and it won't even launch. It plays the opening theme and then gets stuck on an infinite loading screen with no buttons working. All I can do it alt+f4.
A lot of other reviews have already talked about the gameplay extensively, so I'll summarize that really quick here; It tries to be Firewatch, but it's not. It's first person perspective, free-roam, and your only source of communication with any other person is a walkie-talkie. It's just fine. The writing is just fine, the voice acting is just fine, the world you can explore is just fine- if not way bigger and emptier than is necessary or used. But none of that deserves the one I give, and I only give one because I cannot give zero. The story is horrendous. This game obviously focuses on dark themes, it's in the title, but there's way more going on than just that. On top of being the terrible handling of said dark themes, the writing around the game tries to justify pedophilia, and the character dialogue just about demands you forgive the pedophile. The game tries to walk on the knife's edge of content that is generally refered to in fiction as edgy, but it doesn't just fall over, it snaps the blade on the way down and tears down anything good the game had to offer. Please do not support this kind of writing. Do not buy.
This is the one. This is where it's at. This is the pinnacle of choose-your-own-story games. Frankly, this is the pinnacle of story games at all. The entire Telltale's The Walking Dead series, and all bonuses, remastered and bundled together. It doesn't get any better than this. If you're a fan of The Walking Dead, Telltale-style games, zombie horrors, post-apocolypses, or just damn great stories in general, you HAVE to play this game. This game is legendary and iconic, it completely reframed how we view video games from a storytelling perspective. You will laugh and cry, pray and plead, and scream in fury playing this game. It is the biggest emotional rollercoaster to come to gaming, and I'm not sure anything will ever top it.
I love this developer, and he's done something amazing here. This game is dark, it's harsh, it's depressing, but actually less so than the first. But if anything, it's far more psychedelic than its predecessor. And after all the darkness, it still managed to touch me with a gentler tone. The graphics have improved, the art is better, backgrounds are more detailed, dialogue feels more flushed out. I am thoroughly impressed and enjoyed every minute of this game. I highly recommend it.
I got this $5 for free, and after letting it gather dust in my library, finally decided to give it a go. Oh boy, don't I wish I'd tried it earlier! Is it dark? Very. Is it depressing? Absolutely. But that's the point, it's a psychological horror, and I can't understand why so many people are complaining that this game is literally what it claims to be. This is a little gem! I'm extremely impressed by its sole developer and will be buying the sequel to support him.
Typical LucasArts console port. I don't know if it's Windows 10, or having a modern graphics card, or just having two graphics cards in a laptop. But whatever it is, this game does NOT work! I've tried every compatibility fix and downloaded every patch and mod on the game's wiki page, but nothing fixes it. The game crashes before you can even play it. Do NOT buy this game as is!
Brothers is a game mainly based one gameplay mechanic. You alone play as both siblings. Objectively, it's a relatively unique mechanic, only seen on rare occasion in the likes of "The Adventures of Cookie and Cream." This original and fun twist is what the game is riding on most of the time, and it does succeed. In my personal opinion, it would have been even better with at least the option to play co-op, because much like Josef Fares other video game, the EA Original "A Way Out," it would be a fun and trust-building experience, but the game still does well as is. Brothers other strong point is it's sweet and sorrowful- albeit unoriginal- story. The two brothers must go on a journey to save their ill father, and the only known cure is the water from the Tree of Life. It's simple and inspiring, and leads to an epic journey, which I might add is brilliantly told with no actual dialogue. The characters speak but their language is a fantasy one and they mainly use body language. It was interesting and fun to learn to understand them as the game goes on. Many people have complained that the game is too short, but in my opinion it is well-paced and long enough for the small price. In short, if you haven't had the experience yet, I highly recommend it. But every game has its drawbacks, and this one's is definitely the ending. I've seen someone here say that it ended on a high-note, which baffled me. I won't give any spoilers, but the game's ending it ruthlessly and completely unnecessarily heartbreaking. A horrible tragedy occurs, and ultimately it's caused by a silly mistake and accomplishes absolutely nothing. Don't get me wrong, I love a sad story told right, but I didn't see the point in this and that upset me greatly. I guess I should've seen the signs. It's a telling point of Josef Fares stories to force an unnecessary and cruel ending on his players. I still recommend it, but be prepared for a harsh ending.
It's really not good, either. Dream is an exploration game that takes place in the subconscious mind of a young man. It's an interesting concept, but that's about it. When they say "exploration" they really mean "wandering around a big area where everything looks the same for AGES, while searching for something. And no, we're not gonna tell you what that is." Don't get me wrong, I like exploration games. I love open-world games and I'm pretty happy with sandbox games nowadays. But this is just ridiculous. I spent hours roaming around the first area, searching for something without knowing what it was- and I might add that the controls are really choppy and the world is filled with annoying hitboxes and invisible walls. When you stop admiring the craftsmanship of a video game and become more focused on how tedious a region is and wonder when you'll get to move on, the developers have crossed a line. This is supposed to be a young man whose waking hours are "tedious and dull," but whose dreams are "lucid and powerful." I did not get this impression at all. Howard has inherited his recently deceased uncle's entire property, all his money, and the rights to his famous books. It feels to me that he should have a ton of options right now and the resources and opportunities to figure out what he wants to do. Also, the voice actor for Howard was... Man, he was just really terrible, alright? There was NO emotion in his voice. No confliction, no confusion, nothing to suggest that he was going through some sort of psychological or worldly crisis. He is completely monotonous regardless of the situation. As all games do, Dream had its good points. The landscape feels vivid and real, the artistry and rendering are beautiful. Though the music was a big disappointment. In most atmospheric games nowadays, you usually get an inspiring and/or emotional soundtrack to complete the experience, and as it did in most cases, Dream seemed to lean more towards minimalist.
I honestly can't say there was anything WRONG with this DLC. It added a new region, some story, a lot of lore, and some character side-quests. Sounds great, doesn't it? I thought so, too. I like to split Bastard's Wound into two parts: Verse and Barik's companion quests, and the actual Bastard's Wound region, which includes Lantry's companion quest (and initially hints at a Sirin companion quest, but then unceremoniously dumps the idea...). Verse and Barik's companion quests were actually really good. As weird as Verse's backstory and 'sisters' sound described by her, I could oddly relate to her and felt a much deeper connection with her character. Barik's was definitely my favorite, with loyalties, fighting, and a single but powerful emotional "oomph!" PLUS being able to free him of his twisted iron and bronze cage. If just those two stories were in a separate $5-$9 DLC, I would buy it. But the other half of Bastard's Wound? Eh... I've found it very difficult to pin down what EXACTLY about the Bastard's Wound turned me off, but I just simply wasn't interested. Period. It didn't suck me in like the rest of my 36 hours well spent on this amazing game, it didn't engage me. I suppose some serious lore junkies might have enjoyed it though. As for Lantry's story, I... really... didn't care. Don't get me wrong, I like Lantry (meaning, I LOVED Lantry, he was such a well-written character!) but I just didn't care for his companion quest. It was very long, very drawn out, semi-difficult, and just... boring. I wasn't really interested in what awaited around the next corner while playing through his story, and truthfully I wasn't interested enough to speculate. All-in-all, though, a good DLC. Perhaps not a solid A+, but a good DLC. If you loved Tyranny and/or Verse or Barik (or both!) then I highly recomment buying it. If not, then don't waste your money.
Throughout my playthrough of Tyranny, I LOVED the OST. It's a beautiful fantasy sonudtrack with some truly inspiring individual tracks. Also, a great way to support some awesome developers! Thank you, Obsidian and Paradox! You guys rock!
