I wanted to love this game. Really, I did! The graphics are gorgeous, and the game's mechanics are quite fun! Where it broke down for me was the sheer simplicity of the puzzles. Maybe this is my own bias [as I grew up with games like Myst and several logic puzzles], but each chamber I would walk into became, "This connects to this, so this does this, and chamber complete." It simply lacks ANY sort of challenge. The story isn't all that interesting, either.. which is... honestly, to be expected of a lot of modern games. The first installment of this series had an engaging story and interesting characters [all two of them]. There was a sense of existential dread to it, too, whereas this falls flat on its face. The voice acting, by the way, is also kinda lackluster. To distill this game down to the basics, it's a walking simulator with the bare-bones structure of logic puzzles thrown in. It has a LOT of potential, though, and I would love to see what the devs come up with as a sequel. Yep, that about sums it up.
I'm not gonna crap in your hand and call it gold, but I'm also not going to outright tell you to not play this game. As it's from Quantic Dream, you already know you're in for one helluva ride. Starting out with the out-of-nowhere murder, it kicks you into this frantic story where you're just as confused as the main character! The segments where you play as the police are equally as confusing. This game is *meant* to be jarring, and that's what makes it enjoyable. On my most recent playthrough [in mid-2020], I felt as lost as I did in my initial playthrough back in '05. The voice acting is on-point, giving the whole game a sort-of neo-noir feel which pairs exquisitely with the OST. My *only* complaint is with the port itself. The controls ended up being quite clunky. Overall, the atmosphere is what sells this title. If you get a chance, play it in the dark on a snowy winter's evening. You won't regret it. Great non-linear storytelling, amazing soundtrack [if anything, you should buy this title for the OST alone!], fairly-decent voice acting, and good graphics for the time.
