Recent reviews by The Man of Faith

The NPCs have -decent- voice acting but it sounds like the main character doesn't know what acting is. The main character constantly mispronounces or even mumbles/slurs words. His tone is all over the place. While trying to be comforting or come across at all sympathetic he sounds disinterested, overly casual, or sometimes sarcastic and angry.

The graphics I'd normally not gripe about but the characters have those dead eyes where they don't actually focus on anything is that bothers you a lot.

Plotwise, it doesn't give you a lot to latch onto in the beginning of its story. I struggled to figure out how one thing connected to another and not like... a mystery. I mean like "this thing happened and the character doesn't seem phased that it did... is he used to this happening? Is this new for him?" He doesn't really seem bothered but normally they'd state that this is something he's experienced before or that it's new.. not here. So that's really off-putting for me personally.

The controls are a bit clunky and the character feels very heavy, like when you're running in a dream and it's like the air is too thick to move through? The motion capture doesn't really help, as the character motions feel awkward and stilted.

Maybe the plot gets better as it goes but I found myself annoyed and bored through it at the 72 minute mark. I really wanted to like this game, as I typically love mysteries and narrative-driven things. but I think the "every famous person ever in the whole world you've ever heard of are here" thing just feels like it's pandering a lot. Rather than write interesting original characters it relies on the players going "NAPOLEON!? I KNOW HIM!" etc etc. Would've preferred a more unique or original setting than relying on "omg I know that historic person I feel smart/clever" from players.

I've only played PART of the the free chapter and couldn't get through it. If you think you're able to get past the things I couldn't, you may enjoy this. But for me it was a definite disappointment.

First I want to say I enjoyed this, second I will say what needs to be fixed for those with Simulator Sickness.

This is a free game and I wasn't expecting much, but I really enjoyed what it had to offer. It wasn't full of jumpscares, though it had some well placed startles. I'm a big jumpscare-hater because I just feel like they're really cheap and don't really fill you with that sense of dread. I've always said that true horror is the kind of thing that sits with you, essentially haunting you, for a long period of time. A jump scare is instant and immediately forgotten in almost all cases. This game uses it's equivalent of a jump scare really well and it is justified in the plot.

I should state that the plot is pretty thin, but again this is a free game. I'm not expecting them to deliver Disco Elysium levels of complexity. For a simple plot, it has an interesting way of telling that narrative in the tradition of games like What Remains Edith Finch or Dear Esther: walking and some minimal environmental interaction.

The graphics a good and the creature is genuinely well done during the main parts of the game. The ending is disappointing, I will say, and you see too much of the monster. I would much rather it be obscured and seen in moments rather than all together for a significant period and in full light. Not my favorite part.

Has some really cute gimmicks which I absolutely loved (the tvs, the books, etc). Subtle little changes in environment you don't notice until later, unexpected changes of pace, and the like are there. I say cute, but I thought the "twist" at the end of "Doki Doki Literature Club" was cute, so take that as you will. I like those kinds of creative "scenarios" I suppose I could call them, where something happens and it's well done and not necessarily scary, but just clever or well executed. (Doki Doki Spoiler: like having to go in and delete save files and have that interact with the game. Or in (Undertale Spoiler) Undertale when you don't save and go back to change something and the game knows. That is cute to me.

So overall, definitely a GREAT play if you want to see something interesting and like some good creepy atmosphere that works. I'd absolutely pay for a longer format of this kind of game from this team.


The Bad:

IF YOU HAVE SIMULATOR SICKNESS, THIS WILL BE AN ISSUE FOR YOU.
I suffer from it big time. I have had games that I genuinely can't play -at all- because of it. This had to be played a few minutes at a time. Mouse sensitivity, motion blur, and some of the hazy effects would need to be changed to make this easier for those of us with this particular issue.

If you suffer from that, things that help a lot are facing a wall and walking sideways if you know you're going to be turning a corner. That way you can see the next hallway and not miss anything but you won't have to deal with as much of the motion sickness. Take breaks every few minutes by getting up, walking, and have something very light on the stomach. Having a fan blow on your face can also reduce the issues! If you have backlight on your computer monitor that can also help, but not everyone has that.

If you suffer from Simulator Sickness you can still play this, you may just have to do it over a longer period of time.

I suffer from simulator sickness, where first person games can sometimes cause your brain to believe you are poisoned and it makes you nauseous to get the poison out.

That said, this game is beyond sickening in that regard. I wanted to figure out what was happening, but the camera moves constantly in random directions and very quickly, with lots of fluid motion. I almost immediately broke out into a sweat and had to look away from the screen to try and continue. I held my hand up in front of the screen during cut scenes to try and help it and it still wasn't enough. The camera work just really ruined the entire thing.

My suggestion for the the devs is to cool it with the wild camera flailing and put in a simulator sickness mode like many games are doing now.

For those who also have motion or simulator sickness: DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME. YOU WILL GET VERY SICK.

I love slow, meaningful gaming experiences that are more that visceral thing than a "fun and engaging gameplay" situation. That is not what this game is.

This is literally an incredibly slow boat with very slow controls as you listen to some nice music and affirming platitudes show up on the screen. It's almost cringe inducing how cliche and "ugh"-worthy the phrases are. The kinds of things you see on the wall in the breakroom at work that the boss thinks will inspire you but in reality make the employees roll their eyes.

The game mechanics themselves are meaningless to the game. As I said, I'm all for an experience in a game. I play a lot of indie titles that are slow, sometimes repetitive, and "boring" to other people and I really love them. This was unfortunately not one of those games and the 6 minutes I played felt wasted.

I do feel a bit bad leaving a bad review on a free game, but if you downloaded for something meaningful and interesting, don't play this. It is neither of those things and you'll reach the end and be both disappointed and relieved. Really wish the gameplay mattered at all. Because it was ultimately 3 phrases I had to wait 6 minutes to finish reading.

This game boasts as being a beautifully crafted, convoluted story full of emotion and if you shut your brain off the entire time and stopped having any minor rational thought, then yes this would be emotionally impactful on some level. However, it's one of the most asinine, "trying to be edgy" games I have ever experienced. Truly, it is appaulingly shallow, easy to call right from the start, and its intrinsic moral lesson is lost int he shuffle of "wtf why does this game hate me so much? why does it disrespect my intelligence so much?". The "best friend" character is as endearing as a pike to the eye and I admit I did enjoy the game at more than one time just on the fact I could watch her die several times.. in my mind, my Max was getting petty revenge on Chloe for her constant nagging, berating, and blaming of dear Max. And speaking of Max, I have never been so angry at a main character for being ignorant and obnoxious. Her voice sounds very much like a stereotypical community actor, overplaying it in all the wrong places and trying to do some kind of voice? But it never comes out as anything other than emotionless and awkward. The pacing and writing is laughable and confusing while the dialogue is cringe-worthy. Cinematography is pretty good and if the direction for most of the scenes was "be as hipster as physically possible.. not in a "this is the setting cause it's near Portland" kind of way.. just try and be edgy and hip for real.. but FAIL at it" then they did really well.

And I'm not just hating on it because I "didn't get it" or I'm "not en emotional gamer" or "you've never felt loss". I'm a very emotional gamer. I often feel moved on a deep, soulful level and feel compelled to tell everyone to experience what I did. Dear Esther, A Machine For Pigs, Nier, Undertale, Bastion, etc etc etc it can go on and on. This is not one of those games. When someone can call the entire plot of a game, including the villain and their motivations AND the overarching meaning, within the first half of episode 1? That's really REALLY disappointing.. and for the record.. I called the villain and the motivations within literal minutes of playing (once you hit the real world). That... is... just awful. By the end of Episode 2, it was so glaringly obvious what the entire game was about I almost stopped playing entirely, because it wasn't going to get any smarter if I did... but I continued.. and it degraded as quickly as assumed.

I'm honestly depressed I spent money on this. Like a David Cage game, it relies on visuals, music, the illusion of choice, and the assumption that its audience isn't smart enough to pick up on the scam. Unfortunately, I picked up on it. And if I can save someone else from buying this hack of a game and wasting money, then I've done my job. If you don't like my opinion and you think this was vastly deep... then the makers of this game have been proven right; the audience isn't smart enough to recognize the scam.

game is pretty fun. I like to see how the interactions evolve but personally I'd liek to see more from it. more depth from the girls would be great, more personal interactions, and once you max them out you get the option to "seduce" without anything to do past that point. I'm assuming there'll be more once there's a new update, but for now it stalls out. I have the "completionist" mentality which keeps me going but it fizzles out a lot after a while.

this is what Harry Potter SHOULD have been. The world is very fleshed out and feels real. The "fish out of water" character feels real and controllable. The way the story plays out depending on your choices made this really interesting. Certain events will happen regardless of whether or not you were involved in them and really casts a different tone to the scenarios. The romances or character centric paths are all pretty great, though some better than others (Grabiner was my favorite while Virginia's made me absolutely hate her). The writing is well done and the magic system makes for some creative puzzles with multiple ways of accomplishing your goals.
My ONLY complaint is that there wasn't enough done with the magic. There were a lot of fascinating things to do but sometimes only 1 situation you could ever use them in. I wanted to see a little more considering the puzzles and spells had SO much potential.

That said, I love everything about this game.

I am a straight dude and I thought this game was fantastic. If you like visual novels, you'll definitely have a good time playing this.

PS: I have purchased this for atleast 6 people, so... again.. totally worth it.