So there are 24 negative reviews...

[dameon2k]

but only one person could be bothered to write about why the game was negative and that person's review left a lot to be desired. Things that makes one go hmmmmm...Also curious how 70 something positive to 20 something negative equals mixed versus what it actually is, mostly positive. Just sayin'...the review system on steam continues to baffle me.

[MakoSipper]

Many people wrote about how negative the game was, but most of them did that in German. It looks like an okay game that, lasting only about 5-6 hours according to most reviewers, should cost about 25% of what they're asking, I think. I'm definitely not buying it for this insane price.

I think the main problem here is that they chose a "cost-ineffective" way to make their game, and that reflects on the price players get. Honestly, I don't think those graphics justify the huge price leap compared to similar games, since I don't think my experience as a player will improve that much. You could create better or worse graphics with a lot less money. I think it only makes sense to pay that much if you want to reward the devs for doing what they did ("hey, that's a cool idea, congratulations, here's your prize" or "I want to give money to artists"), otherwise just pick another PnC game that is better and cheaper, since there are many options out there. As an art project, I understand and approve, but not as a game meant to sell.

Allow me to summarize what the reviews said (so not my opinion, just what I've read):

Many people complain about issues like not being able to skip some dialogues, not being able to auto-walk to the next screen, not being able to manually save either.
Also, most down-voters said the history was bland, they were not sure if it was supposed to be funny or serious. Voice-acting and dialogues also seem uninspired.
Puzzles seem to be way too easy because you don't have to try out combinations. Items in your inventory are automatically combined, and you don't use items on the field, rather just click a point of interest with the necessary item in your inventory, and the main character will use the correct item for you. Some people also complain that there's some moon logic in the puzzles and clues to them.
They all seem to agree that the art style is great, though. Soundtrack seems to have been "not special".
Most complain that it is too short for its price. Someone said that it felt like they gave up on making what the game set up to be and instead delivered a not-so-great game as result.
Last but not least, some report bugs, like stuff not showing when you click them, like a document you're supposed to read or something.

[zuppaclub]

this game have game breaking bug, no way to progress, stuck , big no no for me, , but I still not yet review it because other than that game breaking bug I have no problem with it, so I hope they can fix it.

[Hamstergeddon]

tl;dr:
Story is thin. Plus Puzzles are not good and it's actually nice that the player does not have to try every combination


Full version:
The story is rather thin even until the end of the game. Of the course the plot evolves, but is still more a basic version of a plot. In addition to that the game design is
rather bad. Ironically people complain about one gameplay aspect which actually saves the game: the lack of cominbations


So what is the problem with the gameplay and why does the lack of combinations save it?

Good puzzles emerge out of context and provide you with a task that needs to be solved. Meaning that you actually know your task and a specific approach, for example "I need a car" and "I need to fix parts A, B and C of car XY to get it running". In this the game gives the player a basic approach to the puzzle and the player has to find a way to master the specific tasks.

A lot of adventure games don't get this aspect right, because they tend to just give you the overall task "You need a car" and nothing more. Meaning that this point the player is just doing random stuff to get to know what he needs to do in order to solve the overall problem. In this case the player is not really solving a problem, but is rather trying to find out what the game designer wants the player to do. (worst case being a totally retarded solution which breaks with the logic of the game's world, but the designer thought this was "creative" or "out of the box")

This also applies to Truberbrook. For example there is a scene where you have literally have to find a way to cross an obstacle, but the scene itself does not really evoke a certain approach. This is where you just start to try out stuff, because "this is an point & click adventure game and I have to try out stuff".

In contrast to other games this "trying out random stuff" is not as annoying as it could be since the game only presents you with valid actions (very few exceptions). This makes the game rather "easy". Speaking of being easy in quotes since full combinations would not increase the difficulty, it would just allow the puzzles to reach their full potential of being annoying.

[couchcamper]

It looks nice, has a fresh story and would easily be worth buying for 25 bucks. But Böhmermann is a nogo. Have to finance this clown against my will already via GEZ, won't give a cent to anybody working with him if I don't have to. In this case, I don't have to :-D yea.

[Getty]

you don't see those reviews because your language filter is set to english. most reviews are german/chinese

[dameon2k]

Originally posted by MakoSipper:

Many people wrote about how negative the game was, but most of them did that in German. It looks like an okay game that, lasting only about 5-6 hours according to most reviewers, should cost about 25% of what they're asking, I think. I'm definitely not buying it for this insane price.

I think the main problem here is that they chose a "cost-ineffective" way to make their game, and that reflects on the price players get. Honestly, I don't think those graphics justify the huge price leap compared to similar games, since I don't think my experience as a player will improve that much. You could create better or worse graphics with a lot less money. I think it only makes sense to pay that much if you want to reward the devs for doing what they did ("hey, that's a cool idea, congratulations, here's your prize" or "I want to give money to artists"), otherwise just pick another PnC game that is better and cheaper, since there are many options out there. As an art project, I understand and approve, but not as a game meant to sell.

Allow me to summarize what the reviews said (so not my opinion, just what I've read):

Many people complain about issues like not being able to skip some dialogues, not being able to auto-walk to the next screen, not being able to manually save either.
Also, most down-voters said the history was bland, they were not sure if it was supposed to be funny or serious. Voice-acting and dialogues also seem uninspired.
Puzzles seem to be way too easy because you don't have to try out combinations. Items in your inventory are automatically combined, and you don't use items on the field, rather just click a point of interest with the necessary item in your inventory, and the main character will use the correct item for you. Some people also complain that there's some moon logic in the puzzles and clues to them.
They all seem to agree that the art style is great, though. Soundtrack seems to have been "not special".
Most complain that it is too short for its price. Someone said that it felt like they gave up on making what the game set up to be and instead delivered a not-so-great game as result.
Last but not least, some report bugs, like stuff not showing when you click them, like a document you're supposed to read or something.

Hey, is there a way I can see these types of reviews if I am from the states and then translate them? I was unaware there were reviews that weren't being shown to me.

[dameon2k]

Thanks for the info everyone. That makes me feel a bit better about the situation.

[HOWDOISHOOT]

I bought it, played it, finished it. I liked the atmosphere.
Both endings are cringy, but that didn't make me enjoy the rest of the game any less.

I want btf to do well, they showed great potential with this game and I hope they will make others like it. For me that justifies the price they're asking for.

[Rzep]

The main problem for me was that aside from the audio visual aspects the rest of the game seems like it was supposed to be bigger but maybe due to money or time constraints, things were cut.

Gretchen is underdeveloped, where she came from, where she went, her AI bike Dolores. Lazaruses attachment to Hans also comes out of nowhere. There was very little time that the two spent together yet the way Lazarus talked about him suggested something more. Similar thing with the computer and Hans. In general the characters are underdeveloped, even the main crux of the story with Hans and Gretchen, the two barely knew eachother yet I think I was supposed to be surprised and affected by the twist. The Cooperative was really underdeveloped too even though it was important for the twist and reveal. The wierd robot-like doctor came and went without explanation.

This game is really frustrating, there is a lot of potential that wasn't realised.

[Thorba]

Just started the game but already seen a big design mistake. The game tells you if you can use a inventory item on a object or not. This way you dont have to think about a logical way to solve the riddles, you just need to click on every possible hotspot. I have the feeling that this will become a very casual game.