This is so warm letter, thank you very much! Me and my friend at the begining of the same journey and you inspired us a lot to finally start moving on our project and dreams. Thank you for sharing your story through this awesome game. My tightest hugs and lovest love to both of you! Keep going!

Originally posted by Unƨaid 🐱:

Five years in development. 7 hours of nonsensical and underwhelming crap without a meaning... You guys should be ashamed.

Completely agree, instead of explaining the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ending they say its about whatever we want it to be? extreme copout.

I've spent my money on worst things but this game has clawed its way in my top 5.

I'll repeat what I said in my review. I do not recommend this in the slightest, or at least not at the price I paid for. 23 euros for a game that ain't worth more than 10.

A linear story regardless of the choices you make, you don't advertise a multiple choice narrative game if there's no replay value in it. You can make any choice, really any choice and the outcome will be the same at the end of it and if there's one thing I loathe is to be given the illusion of choice. You cannot make mistakes or fail even if you try.

The initial theme of "The rich eating the poor" is so on the nose that it feels disrespectful simply because you failed to carry it to the end and dropped the ball on a weird subplot that we could have done without really... You squandered it!

I'll say it again as well... You're better off playing Tales of the Neon Sea, it's cheaper, better written and actually gives you Detective work to do.

The dev team, I'm sorry but your work here ain't cutting, you might have poured a lot of love into this but it remains mediocre work.

Originally posted by Unƨaid 🐱:

Five years in development. 7 hours of nonsensical and underwhelming crap without a meaning... You guys should be ashamed.

Based

Backbone added to my wishlist May 2020, removed from wishlist June 2021. Very sad.

Loved the game, thank you guys!

Русский будет? Если да, то когда?

Played the prologue one or two years ago. The art is so beautiful; the night streets made my bed seem to be warmer when I was playing at night. The texts are also well written and friendly enough for someone trying to learn English such as myself. Bought it as soon as I knew it was available. Will make some time to check it out. Thank you so much and I hold a firm belief that your efforts will pay off!

Originally posted by destroy976:

A linear story regardless of the choices you make, you don't advertise a multiple choice narrative game if there's no replay value in it. You can make any choice, really any choice and the outcome will be the same at the end of it and if there's one thing I loathe is to be given the illusion of choice. You cannot make mistakes or fail even if you try.

Did we play the same game? The entire ending was you failing lol. That was the point. You make mistakes all over the game, choices about who Howard is. Your character is given an option to continue his Sisyphean task or make one last connection with someone he cares about. Most would probably do the first hoping for a larger positive outcome than just a letter. It doesn't happen. There's no reward, there's no lootbox, you're destroyed, betrayed by that person, and then they're immediately shown to be lied to as well with the wasteland scene.

Guys. Maybe the writers are fine. Maybe you're just not good at reading. That is at least a possibility if the first is. This is Noire sliding into a Kafkaesque ending, genres not exactly stuffed to the brim with happy shiny fantasies about an underdog triumphing over evil. If you didn't pick up that it might be kinda dark with the promos showing him puking, binge-drinking, and getting beaten, I don't know what to say. At least show some base-line respect.

Originally posted by Stria:

Originally posted by destroy976:

A linear story regardless of the choices you make, you don't advertise a multiple choice narrative game if there's no replay value in it. You can make any choice, really any choice and the outcome will be the same at the end of it and if there's one thing I loathe is to be given the illusion of choice. You cannot make mistakes or fail even if you try.

Did we play the same game?

According to your own assessment, yes. Nothing you say below opposes anything you are responding to above.

The entire ending was you failing lol. That was the point. You make mistakes all over the game, choices about who Howard is.

No you don't. Howard does. You can make no mistakes, because there are no changes created by your choices.

Your character is given an option to continue his Sisyphean task or make one last connection with someone he cares about.

Which I'm sure you aren't attempting to characterize as a "mistake" regardless of which is selected, especially given that neither choice has any actual effect.

There's no reward, there's no lootbox, you're destroyed, betrayed by that person

Factually incorrect; you are not betrayed by Renee, who reminds herself "at least he knew I was looking for him". That she failed does not amount to betrayal, and by the way, takes place regardless of whether you send the letter or not, so the letter you are asserting as "an effect on the story" has no actual effect on the story.

Your entire defense of the game amounts to reinforcing the criticism you are responding to, and indeed you argue that these are positives in the game's favor. If that is your opinion, you are certainly welcome to it, as others are welcome to theirs.

Originally posted by Stria:

Did we play the same game? The entire ending was you failing lol. That was the point. You make mistakes all over the game, choices about who Howard is. Your character is given an option to continue his Sisyphean task or make one last connection with someone he cares about. Most would probably do the first hoping for a larger positive outcome than just a letter. It doesn't happen. There's no reward, there's no lootbox, you're destroyed, betrayed by that person, and then they're immediately shown to be lied to as well with the wasteland scene.

Guys. Maybe the writers are fine. Maybe you're just not good at reading. That is at least a possibility if the first is. This is Noire sliding into a Kafkaesque ending, genres not exactly stuffed to the brim with happy shiny fantasies about an underdog triumphing over evil. If you didn't pick up that it might be kinda dark with the promos showing him puking, binge-drinking, and getting beaten, I don't know what to say. At least show some base-line respect.

Hi, obviously I can't speak for everyone, but this is my 2c.

I was disappointed with the game. Like many, I loved the prologue, and assumed it was going to be representative of the finished product. Specifically, I thought there would be a) puzzles (possibly with multiple solutions) and b) choices that would matter. Obviously neither of these panned out. That left a bad taste--though it didn't have to be a deal-breaker.

The story would almost have been a secondary consideration, but with the lack of anything else, it suddenly had a lot of heavy lifting to do. I suspect we won't agree on what makes a story good, but this one didn't feel well-structured or executed to me. My gripe isn't that it was bleak or that the goodies didn't win--it's that it felt incomplete, that characters had questionable motivations, and that it took a weird turn (in a bad way). It appears to me to have been patched together, which I suspect is actually what happened. Certainly in terms of a standard three-act structure, it has "problems". You can argue that it doesn't need to "follow the rules", which is true, but people do follow them (sometimes religiously) for a reason: namely, they help produce satisfying stories. I'd suggest that if you were satisfied by this story, which is somewhat all over the place, you're the one whose reading taste/comprehension is unusual, not the people complaining.

Having said that, you're obviously welcome to like it, and even compare it to Kafka (which is facile, imho), that's honestly great, no one can take it from you. But I'd say there are good reasons for disliking it too.

Originally posted by frank:

Having said that, you're obviously welcome to like it, and even compare it to Kafka (which is facile, imho), that's honestly great, no one can take it from you. But I'd say there are good reasons for disliking it too.

Sure, I'm entirely speaking to the people that are trashing the writers and company without even understanding the thrust of the story, which is obviously about regret, what we choose to value, and sacrificing those values without reward. Renee is set up to betray Howard's ideals, and we immediately see that it's pointless with the wasteland, and that wasn't an accident. It's an unusual ending for sure, part of why I liked it - and no, this is textbook 'Kafkaesque' lol. It's not a quality judgement, those are the themes.

I get not liking it in terms of structure, and wanting more puzzle elements, but some of the vitriol here is just out of hand, like they very obviously were not intending to cheat you guys, that's insane.

Originally posted by Stria:

Sure, I'm entirely speaking to the people that are trashing the writers and company without even understanding the thrust of the story, which is obviously about regret, what we choose to value, and sacrificing those values without reward. Renee is set up to betray Howard's ideals, and we immediately see that it's pointless with the wasteland, and that wasn't an accident. It's an unusual ending for sure, part of why I liked it - and no, this is textbook 'Kafkaesque' lol. It's not a quality judgement, those are the themes.

I get not liking it in terms of structure, and wanting more puzzle elements, but some of the vitriol here is just out of hand, like they very obviously were not intending to cheat you guys, that's insane.

I guess we have different ideas on what characterises Kafka's work: none of those themes scream "Kafka" to me. Again, though, that's fine--we can disagree.

As for the vitriol, I hear you, but it's classic Internet--people get worked up and overdo it sometimes. Take it with a pinch of salt, as I'm sure the devs will. And I don't think anybody's accusing the devs of scamming--there are some annoyed KS backers, but you might be annoyed too if you considered the thing you backed was different to what you got.

Originally posted by Stria:

Sure, I'm entirely speaking to the people that are trashing the writers and company without even understanding the thrust of the story

I don't think you understand the thrust of the story.

which is obviously about regret, what we choose to value, and sacrificing those values without reward

Disagreed. Who has sacrificed any values in this narrative? Most of the characters excel at asserting values and then never deviating from them. Except Howard, who is forced to by genetic mutation. The story presents this as inevitability, not choice and therefore not sacrifice.

Regardless, you are welcome to your opposing opinion.

Renee is set up to betray Howard's ideals

Inaccurate. Nothing like this ever happens.

I get not liking it in terms of structure, and wanting more puzzle elements, but some of the vitriol here is just out of hand, like they very obviously were not intending to cheat you guys, that's insane.

I have seen few people claiming the devs cheated anyone, and a lot of people saying the devs did not deliver on the expectations they themselves set to begin with. Your argument is identical to asserting that if you personally feel a rice cake looks and smells delicious, then it should not matter to the purchaser that they ordered, paid for, and were expecting a pizza.

Originally posted by Stria:

Originally posted by destroy976:

A linear story regardless of the choices you make, you don't advertise a multiple choice narrative game if there's no replay value in it. You can make any choice, really any choice and the outcome will be the same at the end of it and if there's one thing I loathe is to be given the illusion of choice. You cannot make mistakes or fail even if you try.

Did we play the same game? The entire ending was you failing lol. That was the point. You make mistakes all over the game, choices about who Howard is. Your character is given an option to continue his Sisyphean task or make one last connection with someone he cares about. Most would probably do the first hoping for a larger positive outcome than just a letter. It doesn't happen. There's no reward, there's no lootbox, you're destroyed, betrayed by that person, and then they're immediately shown to be lied to as well with the wasteland scene.

Guys. Maybe the writers are fine. Maybe you're just not good at reading. That is at least a possibility if the first is. This is Noire sliding into a Kafkaesque ending, genres not exactly stuffed to the brim with happy shiny fantasies about an underdog triumphing over evil. If you didn't pick up that it might be kinda dark with the promos showing him puking, binge-drinking, and getting beaten, I don't know what to say. At least show some base-line respect.

Man, this is one disingenuous read of my comment. Lemme rephrase it in a way that a smoothbrain could understand it.

The problems of this game are inherantly structural.

The story : As people said to you already, it feels incomplete. The main hook of it given by the prologue is probably what most people got on the train for, I certainly did but it's dropped completely for the symbiote creature and even that isn't properly being given the time and weight it requires. If your excuse is simply that "You're meant to fail" then you missed my point because it was regarding the choice system which I will address in a few.
To conclude, whether it's the society that feeds on the nobodies, or the introduction of an Alien capable of splicing the DNA of the inhabitants and people playing gods, these plots are not given a proper conclusion and for a narrative driven game that is the big succ.

Choice system : As I said, you can't fail the game with it. Pick any choice, really any choice at all and your journey with Howard will lead to the very same end. For a multiple choice game that is the very hated idea of the illusion of choice. This is what I mean when I say you can't fail... If you can't make a mistake even by picking a situationally dangerous choice, Howard will get by just fine.

TLDR : Game drops the ball on its narrative plot points, they don't have enough time to grow or a satisfying conclusion. The multiple choice hook is a failure because you can't have a real RP moment with consequences on what you choose. This ain't a game worth 23 euros but 10 at best. This isn't a vitriolic comment, this is just an unhappy customer who realized his time and money was invested in a product that doesn't deliver.