This is not a game. I do not say this for the normal reasons. Most people will claim that this is more of an interactive movie than a game. But this is actually not the case, either. You see, when you watch the videos in this game, you're fast-forwarding and rewinding a lot. These videos are mostly halves of conversations. They are recordings of video chats. So, each recording only has one half of the video chat at a time. So, you are speeding through a lot of the downtime. And you are trying to fit halves of videos together in your head (though you can never merge them). And the main gameplay involves searching for videos and bookmarking them. You watch snippets of videos to get keywords that you then plug into the search function to find more videos. After bookmarking them, you click the date button to put them in the right order. And then you watch them all. So, this is definitely more game than movie. But I would not call this a game... not in the traditional sense. You see, games are curated to have the gameplay be engaging, exciting, and entertaining. Of course, a game doesn't have to be fun. But just like how literature covering a depressing subject is still well-written, a game must play well... aka be fun. You see, though... Telling Lies does not make an effort to "play well." The interactivity, though engaging, is work-filled. It is a sloth. And that is why this game gets controversial reviews. Let me give you a hint: Don't treat this game like a game. Don't treat this like a movie, either. Just let go of all notions about things needing to be fun and feel right. And let go of all notions of movie narrative structure and plot. When you do, you will realize that this is reality. You're witnessing the videos of real freaking people. Of course... they aren't actually real. But that's what it feels like. By forcing you to do work in this experience, everything feels like actual freaking reality. And that is why these characters will be with you forever.
