I like the noir emotional 2.5D sidescrollers, and this one delivers. It is well worked through. The side-scrolling action is interspersed with the flipping comics. One cannot just flip through the comics because of a delay time of couple of seconds before one can hit the click button. You have two seconds to contemplate about what just happened. The content of the slide just burns into your mind.
Ah, this was a short game, but I got what I wanted: a sense of nostalgy about my home city. I got it, even if in a small amount. There was a different way to look at my own experience, and gave me a food for thought. Where am I, and why I am here not there... I had to tell myself that the life and experience looked good on picture, but your real home is where you are.
I am impressed with the game. Some people say it is a "work of love", and I entirely agree with that. The development team poured lots of attention to detail, thought, and affection into the game. The production values are high. The polygonal textures were probably used to decrease the amount of the developmental work (otherwise it would be insane), however the developers used the textures artfully, and the art stands out on its own. Some people are critical of the mini-games (puzzles) as the "filler", but I disagree with them. The puzzles are simple, but they are used to interject the flow of story, and make me realise how I am impatient to learn what will happen next in the story. I think the puzzles are appropriate. The game started monotonous, and looked "samey". In the past quarter of the game, I was impressed with the many changes of the scenery, and with the pace of the story. All of the places were beautifully and lovingly drawn. The story presented the moral dilemmas, and it was not "black or white". This appealed to me, an adult. This gave a depth to the game. I was able to be compassionate to the characters, and the game incited an intense emotional response from me... in the last quarter of the game. It took me 14 hours to beat the game... while the average reported time was 4.5 hours. I have no idea why, because I did not waste my time.
