This game is very well-paced and has good music. Use controllers if you wish to enjoy the game.
I own the CD of this fun game which I had bought years ago. I had ton of fun then. Now, this game is a great addition to my GOG library. It is amusing and silly at the same time. It was a very unique game and I have never seen anything like till date. Give it a try, I assure you, it will an imprint of a lifetime on your memory.
This game is a good stress-free time killer. Graphics are pleasant and soundtrack suits the game. The only shortcoming I found in this game was that the map was missing variety. There are only a few difference between the locations which makes the game boring a little fast. But on the positive side, the game isn't pretentious and it does not try to be something it isn't. It has its heart in right place.
The first time I tried playing this game, I simply gave up on it within an hour. The controls seemed awkward for some reason, the world was very unusual and everything seemed absurd. After a few months, I watched an interesting review about it and I decided to give it another go. This time I was patient was ready and willing to accept unfamiliar ideas. This game is a masterpiece, once you get to understand it. The game is bizarre and that is the real charm of this game. There are a only a few games which have reached such peculiar strangeness in world and characters. It is grotesque and lavishly beautiful. Characters, dialogs and plot are very memorable. And, I really loved the dousing rod.
Indeed this game is beautiful, atmospheric and intelligent and yet somewhat depressing. My greatest gripe with this game is that it suffers from the same issue which is found in several early third person point and click games, i.e., the character takes too long to travel between places. And this makes the game tediously and unnecessarily long. I know a lot of effort went into making this game and the creators really wanted the gamers to experience the beauty of the game, but travelling long distances only to find out that was not the right place to visit, was annoying. This happens throughout the game. Unless, you are using a walkthrough to solve puzzles, it becomes boring quite easily.
I can understand that why this game is revered by many retro-gamers. Graphics were pretty neat, considering the era. I did not get a chance to play this game when it was released in the 90s because it was not released in my country. So, my review may offend some of the hardcore fans as, my perspective is not governed by nostalgia despite the fact that I am a retro-gamer. The greatest issue I had with this game was that of pace of character movement and controls. Even the jump button does not work as expected (and this is my greatest complaint). It made me miss "Konami's Antarctic Adventure" (a lesser-known game you'd often find in 100 in one NES Roms but no one I knew ever played it) far more fun than this. At least, the its jump function was fun. Inventory system of Flashback does look cool, and indeed, I have seen quite a few recent games which are clearly inspired by the aesthetics of this one. But, I have to be brutally honest, there were several lesser known NES games which released 5 years before this game and which were faster paced and far more entertaining than this one. It comes as a surprise to me that this game was very popular globally in the 90s. Maybe its fanbase were the kids, who had too much time to kill. Well, we all have our tastes. Still, in my opinion it is a little overrated game. 8 out of 10 is the most suitable rating for this game. Neither less nor more.
Love the beautiful artwork and music. Fun to play.
