Oh dear where to begin... This is a game that has a promising start, filled with mystery and a rather neat language exploration mechanic... and thats about all it has going for it. To call this a sci-fi game would be incorrect, it is actually just a fantasy game. The narrative fails to provide any sort of payoff but instead goes for the whole "we are back at the beginning again loop". Which is a shame as you could have done so much with the given material. The language puzzles themselves while interesting often don't gel with the story and often times don't even make sense in the context of the game. The setting itself is needless overcomplicated, it becomes difficult to immerse yourself in the story when the laws of physics are completely absent and characters seem to forgot that they can teleport. The dialogue in this game is incredibly messy, often times just lazily labelled as "question" or "remark" rather than allow the player to know what exactly he/she wants to ask. It can also be quite tricky to figure out who is even talking half the time, and this in combination with the lack of voice acting can creates confusing moments when multiple characters are standing too close together or just off screen. The game also pointless tries to incorporate a shallow exploration mechanic which doesnt add anything to the game other than pad out its run time, the movement controls are sluggish in both the Nightingale and Aliya herself, which seems impossible in a point and click but for whatever reason the developers picked a terrible engine.
Some rather cute body horror puzzles, though it really lacks any sort of story or lore. Other than a creepy atmosphere this game doesnt really do much in the horror department, and doesnt really give any reason for a second play through, which is a shame since the game is only about 2 hours long. Probably best to buy this one when its on sale, but otherwise a fine game.
The setting, the writing, the characters are all amazing. I am fortunate enough to play this game with a powerful PC, and thus have avoided most of the technical issues others are facing on consoles. I still however have noticed a few bugs/glitches and pop in every now and then. I really do hope these bugs get patched out as soon as possible. This game is truly a masterpiece that deserved a better launch.
Obsidian is truly great at world building, but just to be clear this is NOT a mass effect type story, there isn't really a tangible big bad enemy in this universe that is morally bankrupt. Its really just a somewhat realistic story of a system of colony worlds struggling for resources while under the knee of board of corrupt corporate powers. They really did a good job driving in that robo-cop vibe, where over time people are brainwashed into thinking that they are nothing but an extension of the products they produce especially on the lower end of the corporate ladder. Of course it wouldn't be obsidian to also have a few pop culture references. All in all a truly fantastic game, I really think if Obsidian just took a page out of Larian's writing style when it comes to character arcs, they would probably be the best writers in the industry.
This is a game with a beautiful art style and some innovative mechanics that just don't work well together. It attempts to combine a JRPG style interface with a fighting game combo system which is probably its main selling point outside of the wonderful artwork, however the excess fighting game mechanics does take its toll on the platforming components where too often attack moves get in the way of movement, this in combination with some poor camera work creates some rather unenjoyable platform sessions. Another issue with mixing the combo system with a JRPG style progression is the enemy health, this is a game that simply does not respect your time, and soon fights are something you almost want to avoid as gaining XP from fighting mobs are nearly pointless in the grand scheme of things. Finally the writing...oh boy. This is where the disappointment really starts to stack up. I understand the decision to have many support characters as a way of allowing the playing to pick their favourite team combos, but this really does spread things too thin, and its truly a disservice to the individual characters when it comes to their character arcs. It would have been significantly better to limit the number of support characters to maybe 5 and just flush out their stories, give them a bit more growth, rather than just being one dimensional tropes. All in all, this is an interesting game with many flaws I'd say buy in on discount, but definitely not worth full price.
