I like the game, but at $25 it's at the upper bound of what it's worth paying for. It's got some problems but also has some seriously nifty mechanics that make me willing to put up with the problems.

Pro:
-Very maleable world where the game tolerates you doing very unexpected things

Associated Con:
- The 3rd-person camera is kind of derpy, and doesn't know how to avoid objects obstructing your vision., probably because their positions aren't set in stone You'll have to manually move the camera around a lot to see what's going on.


Pro:
- Does the concept of "the matrix" right. You don't alter the universe by just staring at an object and saying "there is no spoon". You do it by actually having the power to alter the game's scripting code that defines how the spoon works, in-character.

Associated Con:
- It's nearly impossible for the developer to think of everything a player might do to hack the game in-character, and thus you can do stuff that breaks assumptions and makes bugs surface.


Pro:
- Unique gameplay mechanic that doesn't just talk about your character being a hacker, but actually has YOU, the player, doing the hacking, and not in a stupid "movie OS" sort of way, but in a way that actually feels like really programming - you actually type script code in-character, using a scripting language the game invented for its universe.

Associated Con:
- The game doesn't let you get access to this aspect of itself until a few hours of gameplay. The apparent plot at first, the pure "dating sim", is kind of lame. Especially since you apparently are a "salesman" selling soda by literally selling it one can at a time to random strangers you converse with, rather than by, say, selling it by the crate to restaurants like you'd expect. That doesn't seem very viable as a job and feels like the sort of plot intended for an 8-year-old player. But you have to go through that a while before the actual gameplay surfaces and the game suddenly gets a lot more mature and smart than it seemed at first.

Pro:
- You are expected to crack the mysteries of how to do powerful hacks yourself, and it is possible once you are given the tools to get started. The universe's objects behave logically and consistently making it possible to reverse-engineer things to learn the system naturally in-character.

Associated Con:
- The game is VERY vulnerable to spoilers. The primary challenge of the game is learning the names of things so you can hack them, so it probably won't have good replay value unless someone starts making mods that add new plots.

I like the game, but at $25 it's at the upper bound of what it's worth paying for. It's got some problems but also has some seriously nifty mechanics that make me willing to put up with the problems. Pro: -Very maleable world where the game tolerates you doing very unexpected things Associated Con: - The 3rd-person camera is kind of derpy, and doesn't know how to avoid objects obstructing your vision., probably because their positions aren't set in stone You'll have to manually move the camera around a lot to see what's going on. Pro: - Does the concept of "the matrix" right. You don't alter the universe by just staring at an object and saying "there is no spoon". You do it by actually having the power to alter the game's scripting code that defines how the spoon works, in-character. Associated Con: - It's nearly impossible for the developer to think of everything a player might do to hack the game in-character, and thus you can do stuff that breaks assumptions and makes bugs surface. Pro: - Unique gameplay mechanic that doesn't just talk about your character being a hacker, but actually has YOU, the player, doing the hacking, and not in a stupid "movie OS" sort of way, but in a way that actually feels like really programming - you actually type script code in-character, using a scripting language the game invented for its universe. Associated Con: - The game doesn't let you get access to this aspect of itself until a few hours of gameplay. The apparent plot at first, the pure "dating sim", is kind of lame. Especially since you apparently are a "salesman" selling soda by literally selling it one can at a time to random strangers you converse with, rather than by, say, selling it by the crate to restaurants like you'd expect. That doesn't seem very viable as a job and feels like the sort of plot intended for an 8-year-old player. But you have to go through that a while before the actual gameplay surfaces and the game suddenly gets a lot more mature and smart than it seemed at first. Pro: - You are expected to crack the mysteries of how to do powerful hacks yourself, and it is possible once you are given the tools to get started. The universe's objects behave logically and consistently making it possible to reverse-engineer things to learn the system naturally in-character. Associated Con: - The game is VERY vulnerable to spoilers. The primary challenge of the game is learning the names of things so you can hack them, so it probably won't have good replay value unless someone starts making mods that add new plots.