XBLA Fans

There’s always room for fun when it comes to gaming. When something doesn’t take itself too seriously, it has to lean on the bad to be the good. While this game captures that in some areas, it also seems to be lacking in “so bad it’s good”. It starts out well, with the comedy and terrible dialogue, but then tries to steer into atmospheric horror. And while the tension is needed for horror, the silly beaver from the beginning is quickly forgotten about. The funny phone calls stop. It becomes a hide-and-seek game for the rest of the game. The pacing isn’t bad, but because the game is so short, it ends just when you think things could start getting interesting.

The game does a wonderful job of capturing the past. From the visuals to the music and dialogue, it’s all very well done. The story is okay, but the ending seems a bit far-fetched. The pacing wasn’t bad, but I do think this game could have had a few more puzzles. I do wish there were some more areas to explore, instead of being in the same places for so long. The running button and lack of checkpoints were annoying, but the game is fairly short, and you likely won’t be playing a second time. The gaming world is full of fantastic games and amazing stories. While this might not make any of those lists, if you’re looking for a decent detective game with a very twisted ending, you may want to give this a few hours of your time.

If you like the idea of gathering resources and crafting while playing a metroidvania style game, you will likely really enjoy this. I actually love both genres. There is a decent amount of fighting enemies and a few bosses to find. Sometimes things can be pretty tough. You have infinite lives, but anything you gathered will be on your dead body, and you must go all the way back to where you died, which can at times feel miserable. There is too little space to really customize your base and put everything you want inside, but it’s still a great way to lose time editing and managing it. I didn’t mind that the hero is not much of a hero, but the story felt pretty generic. I completed everything and still felt like I wanted more, maybe because I had already invested a lot into building what I thought was an awesome base. You can really lose track of time while playing, and it’s one of those games that are hard to put down. Also, a fair warning, some of the achievements stop tracking, and so far, there has been no update to fix them.

Working at a gas station and spotting anomalies can be pretty addictive. Trying to complete every last one of them is part of the fun. This series has taken a lot of strides since the first installment, where you worked in the market. They added more mini-games versus mostly just putting things away or organizing signs. There could still be some improvements. The movement can feel pretty awkward. Some of the objectives can be hard to figure out. It’s one of those games that, if you’re hunting for achievements, it can be easily done while being somewhat of a grind at the same time. I can’t wait for what crazy job is in store if they bring in another installment, and what improvements we can expect!

This is a short but sweet mini-horror game that you can pick up for an afternoon or spread out over a few. There isn’t really much to come back to after you finish it, but this is fine because you’ll likely know what you’re getting into if you pick it up. Besides the cool horror part, they have decided to add some silly parts, like balloons falling when you make it through the job. This works fine in similar titles like the Before Exit series, but I’m not a fan of it being in something that’s supposed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Luckily, there isn’t too much of it. When it’s all said and done, the goal of the game was accomplished. To give you a short experience that you can think about and enjoy. To create a creepy atmosphere that has a few jump scares, but doesn’t go overboard.

Sometimes it’s fun to be the one making all of the decisions for a business. There are a lot of items you can order and place where you’d like. Besides running the store, there are a few side things to do, and they’re all going to fill your day. I had a lot of fun ringing people up and making sure I ordered the right items. However, there were some issues I had with ordering, specifically that it did not display how many items I had total, but what I had in the back (not on the floor). There was also the issue of attracting customers to the specific items I wanted, but I guess in the end that wasn’t too big of a deal. No pun intended. Besides a few flaws, there’s a lot to enjoy about the simple mechanics and the small town of people that make sure you know when they’re not happy customers. But that’s common when it comes to consumerism.

There’s a lot of beauty to behold in this horror game. I can admit, maybe one of the best-looking ones I’ve seen (horror/walking sim). And while I did enjoy my time playing through it, there were some annoying bits that take you out of the atmosphere. There were a few puzzles that just seemed like time wasters. Being kicked out of the game at the menu was actually ripping me away from what I was enjoying (walking around the atmospheric horror). The story didn’t catch me as depressing, even though it was the main theme. I didn’t care about the character enough. The narrator was great at first, but eventually became an annoying philosopher whom I just wanted to shut up. He wouldn’t stop making everything have some deeper meaning. Then there were the words placed around for a puzzle. Like it would say “sound test” on the floor. It made me think of a pirated movie where the editing hadn’t been completed yet. It started off great and with promise, but then the need for the game to be “unique” threw it off the rails, not being able to be saved by the storyline.

Even if you can beat the game pretty fast, there are a lot of reasons to start another week. Getting to see new situations as well as trying to complete every scenario can be a good time. It’s quite simple, though it will test your attention to detail and memory to do simple tasks (like turning the closed sign). Things can be funny, but maybe not laugh-out-loud funny. There are some scenarios that can be frustrating, but play them enough times and you’ll get the hang of them. There is a serious frame drop that happens near one of the doors, and it is annoying enough to ruin your overall experience. Every time I suffered through the slowdown, I wanted to just exit the game. And without even turning off the lights first.

I could not get enough of this game while I was playing it. I played for hours every day trying to get everything done. When I accomplished everything I could, I searched for more information on the third protagonist that hasn’t been released yet. It’s the first game in a long time that I couldn’t put down, and when it was time to, I had a hard time doing so. I couldn’t even cover half of what I wanted to in the review. There’s crafting, lockpicking, sneaking, extorting, TV night, poker, and the list goes on. There are so many great moments to experience, and many people will want to do every escape method and bond with every single character. The new game plus works perfectly, and with so much to do, you may spend as much time as I did while being incarcerated.

While most of the game wasn’t too difficult, there were some challenging puzzles that might make you run to a guide on the internet. The story is pretty good, and the reading of journals was welcome. I really liked not having to worry about fighting things or jump scares. It lets you become engrossed in what’s going on and gives you the freedom to do the puzzles without too much stress. They took the game’s death to a step further by playing them out as a mini cut-scene. While I have some gripes with navigation and the ability to skip dialogues, most of the experience was great. If you’re a fan of point-and-click adventures with a love for sci-fi and horror, you won’t want to pass on this!