It took me a couple of hours to really get into Broken Roads but once I got my head around the avalanche of characters you meet in the first hour I found myself getting drawn into the story. This is a quite story-heavy game but fortunately it's shaping up to be a good story... something mysterious is brewing (no spoilers!) and I need to know what it is. The gameplay itself is a bit rough around the edges, it doesn't have the polish of a big budget game. For example gathering companions to go on a mission out in the world is janky because you just pick them by name with no information about them, not even a portrait. For the first few missions I had no idea who any of them were because I couldn't remember their names from the menagerie of characters I'd just been introduced to. Then the combat with those characters is just reactive and not strategic because I have a bunch of random characters who I couldn't distinguish between. I'd rather have less combat. This stuff detracts from Broken Roads and gets in the way of enjoying the story, but I can cope with it. Where Broken Roads shines is its atmosphere. They have built a world that feels legitimately post-apocalypic Aussie, and I love how much it leans in to its Australianess. The art and music in the game are excellent. It feels like real place and it has character. It's this world and story they've created in it which is drawing me back in despite the shortcomings of the game itself.
