this game is more of a digital graphic novel than a game. If you love graphic novels, gloomy and inspired artstyle, give it a go. its narrative is a bit naive and very reminiscent of other things: it's like matrix meets fight club, meets a conspiracy theory enthusiast. but everything about it's art-style is great, I mean: if you see it as a (midly) interactive digital comic book you could really like this, the style reminds of great artists like Frank Miller and everything is professionally done in its figurative communication, it's also interesting the artistic direction took by the "gamy" side of things, the choice of black-and-white plus occasional crimson blood is cool and it has some real character. sadly, though, the 3D models and animations aren't that great, controls are sometimes quite messy and the scarce platforming leaves a lot to be desired and won't entertain you that much. what is "gaming" here is a little poor and the story sometimes it's as if it wanted to be preachy, even if it tries to show you the double sides and hypocrisy of our modern world, showing that violence is omnipresent and threatens to cover the good intentions of everybody, alas, it doesn't offer any really charming character and does a poor job in introducing you to new ones, just a couple get to be known and not so deeply. overall, if you would like some chill time reading a great multimedial medium for a dark, yet simplistic, story, you can get some enjoyment out of this, just try and savor the artistic side of it. as for telling a tale well and providing a good, complete game, you might find something that's more of a miss than a hit.
i'd like to say more, i would write a long review but this is just a the verified proof that videogames can be not just art, but the most complete and evolved form of art. it's what comes after cinema. just buy. i will very soon and see how this port fares against the original i played for the first time 22 years ago on PSX and mant others after that. no one can be disappointed. this is the epitome.
i loved and played many Wadjet Eye games and have always said how it's asy to see their love and respect for the genre. their retro style manages not to feel old but caringly linked to classics without missing innovation; pixelart is great and they pour quality and sheer fondness in their work. all granted. too bad this is a "Beneath a Steel Sky" rip-off with a flavour for bad/unlikeable characters and lack of ideas with a hint of PC/SJW aftertaste. originality is sure hard to come by, but key-elements and all the great themes (even some mechanics and even clever aenigmas) were already said, done and overall explored 25 years ago by the guys from Revolution Software... probably better, surely in a more innovative way. BaSS had its falws, mind you, one of those was its short span and somewhat linear structure, but had his keen world, lore, aesthetics and approach to tech/ethics and themes like infospace, mind, artificial life and computer brain, it stands today as a great gem and at Wadjet Eye KNEW THIS ALL TO WELL. i think that in this case, with this game it's safe to say Wadjet Eye guys were really showing what means that emulation is the highest form of admiration but also that admiration is the farthest from comprehension: - you cannot go any deeper in showing your admiration for something than when emulating it; - alas, copying is VERY FAR from deep comprehension and understanding what makes something great. in short, "Technobabylon" IMHO *is* a decent but mediocre game, and its narrative it's just a tad modernized, yet more ineffective retelling of what was so good in "Beneath a Steel Sky". is it worth to play? sure. innovative, independent, original, always effective? absolutely not.
I have been playing this masterpiece during Christmas holidays. It was released on 13th december 2018, a week later I knew about its ecistence: the images captivated me, an heartfelt review sold it to me, 10 minutes after reading it I bought it here on GOG, downloaded, installed it and started plying. Half an hour later I purhcased with no shadow of a doubt the OST. I could delve into specific, but I'll just report here the comment I posted on Gris' FB page right after my first seating: This experience has a soul and I am thankful for every second of it. every transition is worth a screenshot. Gris has a deep sensitivity and is a clear, inspired philosophical example of why videogames are the most evolved form of art, in my humble opinion. every music note, intertwined with each graceful jump and each stroke of brush and pencil gives the player the chills, profund suggestion and food for thought. I personally thank Nomada Studios to be the off-key in the too-often bareboned musical sheet of a gaming world so impoverished. thank you for having delivered to the history Gris.
i followed this game on youtube from streamers who had the privilege of playing it in alpha and they had also multiplayer. i fell in love with it and was so happy that as soon as it was released on gog i installed it and tried it during full night time. today, which is day one on GOG, i am writing this review from my workplace, i thought it was a given fact it *HAD* crossplay between every platform it was released but it DOES NOT :-O i am so frowned right now, since GOG is my digital delivery platform of choice by all means, but now i discover i cannot play this multiplayer gem over the internet :'-( this is the worst... i am sure single player is gonna be great, but it's not enough for this game.
I am developing a soft-spot for this kind of cheap indies. These games must get to you as fast as possible, and they have to tease you with just one good idea: which is exactly what big productions lack nowadays, IDEAS. This is not one of the brightest or even the newest, in fact this game builds upon one of the oldest of the book: "what about cleverly insulting your neighbor?" For as cheap as 2 bucks or less you can bring home one tiny game all made up around a handful of characters that seem to love hurting each others' pride and feelings through accurate insulting. It works like this: pick one between the elegant dandy Mr. Shufflebottom, the hipster wannabe, modernity-loathing Sir Knight plus some others and start arguing: the game puts you in a tight situation against another character and lets both of you settle it through verbal hate, also featuring internet MULTIPLAYER. Insulting takes place with an acceptable variety of lines of text, fully dubbed with nice accents: you square off against each of your enemies trying to build up the perfect, longest and yet most possibly logical composition of offending words and profanity towards your adversary, each of which will deplete his lifebar as inside a beat'em'up. Both take turns and will have to build the insults using rules and techniques well explained by a short and funny tutorial: components will vary from a bucket of subjects, objects, verbs and conjunctions common to the two characters and a couple of secret ones you keep in your own pocket. If you have a hard time combining, you can always sip a cup of tea to change your personal words or wait for the next turn while keeping an already built but unfinished insult, be careful, though: your opponent may do a rude combo, or hurt you in using your weak spot (each character has one) and make you forget it!! This is a solid, LITTLE game experience: it even has unlockable characters (see: LO WANG FROM SHADOW WARRIOR) but could use more stages and even phrases.
Are you seaching for a cheap, minimalistic and yet somewhat stylishly monochromatic FUN gaming experience? search no more, this is just it. I saw this little Devolver Digital gem in homepage. Actually, the cover artwork wasn't even great, but i read on. The description and a couple of screens - didn't even watch the trailer - intrigued me enough since, well, I had a 300+ GOG library and countless GREAT GAMES old and new still to play but had neither ENOUGH TIME on my hands to choose one, or the state of mind to embark on an epic quest, emotionally or mentally. I was tired from work and had half a hour before dinner. So, out of an impulse, bought this game for 1.50 euros. What could go wrong, right? Worst case scenario, I'd have lost the money for a coffee at the bar. Sooner than expected I was late for dinner because this little platform has an undeniable force which hooks you in, from the very start. The more you play, the more YOU WANT to continue playing, it's simple, direct, challanging and rewarding. 4 lives, 1 button to jump and shoot and that's all you need to face the great leap of faith into nothingness. The simple graphics manage to be neat and somewhat funny even being REALLY minimalistic, the game has a style and it gets to you from the get-go. There's not much more to say: I could describe it further, but why should I? It's so cheap you could see for yourself if it's the kind of fast-to-love gaming mechanic that you need in your day to bring back arcade into your life. With a salvo of loud and pointless gunshots from your heels.
