I enjoyed this game very much but in the beginning I nearly returned it because the WASD control system is simply awful. I don't know why this system is so popular, it makes moving character tedious and slows everything down. It was as if the developer saw they made a really great game and then wanted to find a way to make it less enjoyable. I heaved a tortured sigh every time I had to move Holmes (or someone else) around. However, in spite of absolutely hating the controls throughout the whole game, most of the rest was great. The artwork is absolutely marvellous! Beautiful scenes with amazing details. It was a pleasure just watching them and I took my time doing that. Gorgeous, just gorgeous. Character movements were a bit clunky that was the only thing that took away from the great artwork a bit, but it's an old game so that of course plays a role. Unfortunately this detail made loading times atrociously long. Voice acting was just as wonderful. Truly enjoyable, great feeling for the different pronunciations of the social classes, local dialects, moods, everything. Top notch. The cases: usually really good stories, I enjoyed them. I also liked the fact that there were several shorter cases. There were two I found tedious, one case is solved by running around an underground temple with a labyrinth and it's just incredibly tedious. The last case was also a bit too focused on "go there, get that, put that there, go here" instead of deductions and finding clues so I actually didn't finish that one. As for deductions - there is a deduction system where you have to combine clues. In the beginning it took some getting used to but once I got the hang of it (mostly) it was fun and a great way to move the story forward. There are many other ways to find things out - such as a character analysis and research. Great variations and usually fun to do. Another minus: no manual save system. In general: enjoyable, interesting cases and solving methods.
I liked the idea of the game, it's delightfully twisted and I like a dark theme. As I also like TM games, it sounded like a great combination. The artwork is beautiful, very nicely done, with many details. However, I didn't really enjoy this game very much. First, it runs painfully slow, I have to put in on the lowest setting to make it playable and that makes white interferences appear on the screen so this is not really pleasant. This is probably due to my Nvidia Geforce graphic card being one for laptops and being a bit older, though I have no problems with other games. Anyway, the actual issue is the cumbersome controls of the game. Actions can't be lined up (unless one of the character is already beginning with one action - then the very next one can be set) and one constantly has to scroll up and down between floors. So you sit there, give them something to do and have to wait for them to start doing it before you can give them the next action. It takes smoothness, speed and fun out of the gameplay. The dark theme - yes, it's there, but I found it too crudely implemented. There is no finesse, no sarcasm, it's just blunt, with some graphics / actions that even I as a lover of morbid themes found disgusting. Actions are very limited. I played about two hours and nothing much changes. It was highly repetitive and while I wouldn't mind this terribly if gameplay was smooth, it was just tedious this way. The combination of stuttering gameplay, cumbersome controls, scrolling and repetitive actions just took most of the fun away. I paused for some weeks and when I wanted to give it another try I stopped in the middle of a level because it was just too annoying to play. It's a pity because it could have been an entertaining game.
I tried this game and the predecessor and found them to be very enjoyable. This sequel keeps the good bits of the first game and adds some complexity and new features, which is how I like my sequels. There is less freedom to do things than I had thought, but it's a nice original concept. It's mainly about creating and managing resources, which means you have to explore and develop bits of land on the map. Each development brings a different combination of resources and you have limited space available. You will encounter other tribes and again, it's up to you whether you want to just let them me, trade with them, integrate them or conquer them. Each decision brings different benefits and costs different resources. Once in a while, special tasks require quicker decisions or the allocation of more resources. That's basically the gameplay and while I found it entertaining, I didn't find it very difficult. Everything went well first time around and I never felt really challenged. The game mechanic is a bit repetitive - the special tasks are different, but follow the same principle. Once you have a balanced resource management set up, events might cause smaller setbacks, but no serious problems. As there is a set turn of events, there is unfortunately no real replay value - you know what will happen and different decisions might affect gameplay to some degree, but won't make for a new experience. I got this game on sale and therefore it's okay, but the lack of replay value would have been disappointing had I bought this for the full price. Still, the gameplay is fun and options expand a bit gradually. The visual design is also pleasant. The historical background is very accurate, I was impressed by this and very much enjoyed it. This shows dedication and good research and absolutely adds to the uniqueness. I enjoyed the gameplay and had an entertaining time with this game, in spite of the small limitations mentioned here.
The idea of the game is great, it does make one think how easily news can be manipulated. Gameplay was a bit disappointing. First, it's a very short game. 1st run took me 40 minutes, the 2nd 30 minutes. There is some replay value, but not too much. Gameplay is simple & rather repetitive. At the beginning of each week you might get mail, such as a warning if one of your editors has been writing too many critical articles or if the tone of your newspaper is too critical for the government's liking. Then, you have a list of articles. You choose one of two headlines, can take some sentences out & then allocate it to one of your editors. Headlines are extremely black & white. Playing with taking out sentences is quite interesting & reading the articles as well (during the first run at least) as they show developments of events over time. Your editors might refuse to write an article if it goes against their beliefs and then you can give in or force them. - Later in the game you also get to do some very basic layout and marketing. No new challenges, it always stays the same. Your decisions have consequences, but less than I had imagined. During one run I put in critical articles all the time. I got a warning from the government in week 10, toned it down for a week, then went back to critical mode. Nothing happened. Forcing editors to write articles might cause them to quit. If you get a warning that one of your editors wrote too many critical articles, give him/her something else for a week & everything is fine. It was interesting to see how opinions in the town districts changed due to the articles, but again: there was not much effect. My different choices during the two run didn't have as much effect as I thought, so that was a bit disappointing. There are interesting aspects, but they'd have to be fleshed out more to make one think about one's decision more. Other games dealing with these topics did it better. However, it makes for an okay 30 - 45 minutes.
The game was quite original in parts. We have a narrator with a certain charm, the graphics are cute and the storyline has its moments. Some bits of the dialogue are pretty witty, others try a bit too hard. Some of the puzzles lack logic, which made gameplay a bit frustrating, others make sense, so that was an okay mix. However, I had to stop the game when the most frustrating puzzle i ever encountered ruined it all (just saying: trying to teach the stupid flowers the tango). I'm not the only one who considered this undoable. Maybe with loooooads of more patience and infinite attempts I would have managed, but my idea of fun is not to repeat the same action over and over again. It's a pity, because the storyline was just getting intriguing. Controls are very user-friendly and it would be quite a good adventure if it would have been completely playable.
This is the first time I wish I could get a refund for a game. This is so incredibly boring that I couldn't believe the good reviews. You pick a character, answer three questions and get points for some personality traits. Then the game "play" is as follows: you choose a location (unless it's lunch time, then you get to choose a table at the cafeteria), you read the text of what happens there, you are faced with a situation and choose one of two options. Depending on your choice you get an increase or decreased in the personality trait points. And that's it. That's the whole game. The long version (which is advertised to take 60 minutes, but took me about 25) gives you eighteen such scenarios. The game tries very hard to be super original and totally out of it, but it just feels silly to me most of the time. The texts and options are quite juvenile and the "risky" topics that are mentioned in the game description are quite tame and lame. The people are one-dimensional, the best strategy is easily found out. I played two runs, the second one was already repetitive enough to bore me even more than the first one. Absolute waste of money as far as I'm concerned. No real game play, very little humor, very little of anything else .
I was absolutely delighted by the first Orwell game and eager to play the sequel. It is still a good game, but if engaged me less than the first one. However, that may depend on one's preferences, so I will explain what I liked and what I didn't like. - I liked that the story was very powerful. There is a lot of human tragedy involved and it is a good - but sad - example of how politics, greed for power can ruin lives and how ruthless those in power can be. The attention to detail in the source provided was also very good again. There were a few tie-ins with the first game, which were enjoyable and also helped to create this virtual world again in a lively way. It was also a good idea to be able to use stored data in search fields or a passwords to gain new information. - Between like and dislike was the new "fake news" function. It's good that they added new elements, I like it when there is some innovation. The fake news angle is more important then ever and the game shows how easy it is to manipulate. However, I enjoyed the pure investigation bit of the first game much more and I also felt more uncomfortable with my role as the game progressed (which may well be a purpose, but I do want to enjoy gameplay). Then, the focus was very limited. Everything mainly revolved around 3 characters (with a 4th one being somewhat involved) and compared to the rich world of the first game it was not as satisfying, not as varied. So, some might like this game more than the first one because of the fake news angle, but I hope that if there is a third game one day (and I very much hope there will be), it will be more investigative and with more characters again.
I had been thinking of buying this game for quite a while, but there were so many bad reviews that I shied away from it. Now I did buy it and am delighted! It's a different kind of game - there is not so much action, not much freedom in what you can do. A lot of reading is involved and, as others mentioned, it's a bit more like an interactive story. One starts investigating a bombing, there is a suspect and through the system "Orwell" one can access all kinds of online information, listen to phone calls, read chats and search desktops. Most of these sourced contain so-called datachunks that need to be added to the profiles of people who are investigated. One starts with the basically empty profile of the first suspect and from there on, the scope continued to expand. Some datachunks open up new sources or suspects, other complete the picture, still others are not relevant. One review stated that it is impossible to decide which datachunks are useful - I disagree with this. Yes, sometimes it's not sure and there is a learning curve involved, but with an eye on the objectives, it is absolutely possible to weed out useful datachunks. I found this learning curve enjoyable because I could gradually understand the system more and developed an eye for what was relevant. The sources are delightfully varied and created with painstaking eye on detail. The different characters have their own voice, every website, social media timeline, photo gallery contains a lot of info that might not be relevant, but makes these sources seem so real. Little typos are built into chats when people are excited, even the !1 is used once to show how upset someone is. I was impressed by the work that went into creating this virtual world. As the story unfolds, one learns more and more details about everybody. It's a fun journey and I was immersed into it. There is quite a lot of room for thought about the topics involved. Fun game on many levels!
I usually don't write a review after half an hour of gameplay, but as I wish I had had this information before spending money on this game, I'll make an exception this time. The graphics are nice, the atmosphere is created well and I quite like the idea of a somewhat creepy exploration game without fight scenes or having to run away. Still, this game is nearly unplayable for me because of its awful controls. To open anything, one has to click the mouse and move it. With a laptop, one only has the small touch pad and it doesn't always offer enough space for the movement required by this game. There is a chest I nearly couldn't open because I had to move the mouse upward and when I got to the end of the touch pad it wasn't upward enough and the trunk slammed shut again. Took me endless tries. Same with some of the doors. This might be the first game to give me carpal tunnel syndrome and it takes all of the fun out of the gameplay and makes it tedious. It doesn't save properly. When I leave the game, I'm back where I started. I tried several times. An internet search revealed conflicting information about how this game saves - some say it does so each time you hit Esc, which is NOT the case in my version, others say it only saves at certain intervals. In addition, it lagged badly until I set all graphics options to the lowest levels, but was just a minor issue that was solved quickly. So, while this looks like a game I might enjoy it if was user-friendly, I fear that I completely wasted my money on this one. It's a pity, I very much wanted to like it.
I enjoyed the game a lot, right from the beginning. The first scene has a fun dialogue between hung-over Kathy and her over-eager nice-but-weird college roommate Eileen, and it bode well for the game. The game is a typical point and click adventure, with a very simple interface - you click on something and can then choose whether you want to look at it, think about the item (useful for further clues) or use it further (open, talk, take etc). You have a bag with an inventory, the items of which can be used as in every other adventure. All well-known stuff. The graphics look very old-fashioned, but the backgrounds are nicely done, as is the voice acting. Another reviewer compared it to the Blackwell games and the looks are very similar. The charaters are interesting and well created. The story starts well - supernatural twist, family secrets, town secrets - and it's great fun to investigate it. Investigation is done the usual ways - talk to people, examine locations and documents. There is a fun bit where you have to use a photo editing and a voice recognition program on the computer (the story takes place in 1993) and in total, I liked the mix of investigation methods and the step by step revelation of the story. The tasks are mostly logical, sometimes they were a bit too easy for my taste (especially all tasks relating to the very gullible young policeman in the station and his tendency to coveniently not pay attention in crucible moments), but then I prefer this to overly annoying riddles in some adventures, and there were also some tasks which had me wondering at first. So basically it's a mostly easy-going adventure, with a focus on the story, and this is exactly what I like. The story developed in the promising way, but the end was a bit too weird for me. Nicely executed and original, just not completely my case. Still, in total, I very much enjoyed this game, found it a bit short, but great fun and would buy the next in the series if there will be one.
