Well, it took me awhile to figure out how to get to chapter 4 and 5, but I beat the game.
It was an interesting narrative, even if the premise and initial beats were more interesting than the latter parts of the game.
(spoilers)
The climate change scenario was rather dicey for everyone involved, and it was a powerful moment when the protagonist had a moment to sympathize with their future self for being stuck in a harrowing situation. I just wished that that dialogue option had a tangible result instead of forcing a file load.
That future self was stuck in a world with corrupt governments, violent refugees, a rogue scientist who trapped a broken person with their past self in a pointless, emotionally-scarring time loop for months in the name of 'research,' and a bunch of disillusioned rebels who decided that the only sensible option was to bail on the timeline entirely.
And in all that, despite the motivations and the consequences of their actions, future self really was the least horrible person in the story.
Despite everything, at least they genuinely tried to make a difference, even if it didn't matter at all in the end.
Let me just say WOW! The mechanics are great, the story is good, and I want a secret ending or update. That's the only bad part about the game. Please add a secret ending or make a sequel. Solid 9/10 Get the game.
(chooses Empathy)Okay. So I just finished the game and I'm still having a hard time if I'm being honest, really becoming content with the ending. But at the same time I understand that there wasn't a direct intention to make it "clear and concise" in nature. With the theme of the game, I can wholeheartedly understand and appreciate the way things turned out. (chooses Rational) I certainly enjoyed this game, and appreciate the themes used and the complexity of the nature of such topics. It left me almost feeling as if there had to be more I was missing....maybe more questions to be asked? All in all, I can appreciate that as the developer, you weren't afraid to stray from the socio-normative approach of endings. You told a tale that was not only realistic, but both gripping and free-flowing. I think we need more games like this.
SEMI-SPOILERS: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED
(chooses Assertive) So here's what my impression is: I loved what everything was becoming as I witnessed the turbulence and then it feels like the rug was pulled from under me. I had to google search and make sure that I had actually gotten the final ending. If I'm being honest, the only real gripe I could give is that we weren't truly given a conclusion. It feels like watching a show that had an absolutely outstanding first season that left you waiting for Season 2, but then the show got cancelled by Netflix. I love the game, and I absolutely appreciate how the nature of the story was handled. I just wish I was able to walk away from this feeling more solid about the events that happened, rather than experiencing what felt like peering into the conflicts of a seemingly realistic timeline and witnessing troubles that in the end still felt like we as the player weren't properly connected to. The way you carry through the game never knowing who to trust, only for the very end to be so absolutely sudden felt lacking. I don't want to criticize the directive approach of "no happy endings" but in that circumstance the audience needs some clarity to go home with. And to be honest, even after writing this review and contemplating the experience: I'm still feeling unsure and unfulfilled.
I really liked this game, it took me some time to understand how my decisions affected the outcome, but the story is interesting enough to keep going and discover the truth, particullarly after "they" kicked me out. I enjoyed it a lot more with the music off because sometimes it didn't go well with the seriousness of the game. I played for about 2 hours and ended with a headache because of the bright flashing colors, I understand that they are there to represent the different characters, but after some time it gets annoying and interferes with the game experience.
Incredible game, first started playing it last year when I was on mystery game kick and I absolutely came to adore the story behind this one. The story line was realistic and almost all of the characters displayed in it gained my sympathy - though that only came after the story progressed more and more.
So I just started playing this game and I think it's incredible so far, but i've gotten kind of stuck and I'm not entirely sure how to keep playing. [spoilers ahead] so i've gotten to the point of the game where my future self is feels defeated and begs for the time loop to end, and then the entity in control of the time loop tells me well done, but then I get a glitching message to keep going. I figured I would be able to continue the game by using the load game feature, but it just returns me to the last save point, which is right before the "deliver the final blow" option. I've tried loading the game this way several times to see if I could get another outcome and I even clicked on the "STOP" message right before the loop ends but nothing changes. I also tried clicking on "play" to start a new game thinking that maybe that would be the way forward, but it just said that it'd overwrite my saved game and obvs I don't want that to happen. So... how do I keep playing? This is probably a really silly question with an obvious answer but I don't play games that often so i'm at a loss. I don't want to completely spoil the whole game but a simple hint would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!
Well, I didn´t expect this at all. Clever writing, nice mechanics and a few twists that made me want to know more about what was going on.
The only downside I found maybe was the flashing lights and the bright colors. There was moments I couldn´t read anything without feeling a bit dizzy (maybe it was just me)
If you like time-loops and intrigue stories give it a chance. Is a shame the experience is a bit short, but what an experience!
What a game! I love time loops, and non-jump scare based horror. This managed to fill my with dread, and when I found out the identity of the person putting me through my paces me I gasped. I like this take on the trope a lot, and the music is excellent in my opinion. If you like text based horror or time loops, I would give this a try. Good job!!
This was incredible! Very immersive and unique. I'd love to see an expanded version, with more of the worldbuilding and multiple endings. Excited to see what future projects you have in store!
Got this first in the Racial Justice Bundle but only discovered this title while browsing the Palestine Bundle, and I’m so glad I decided to play this.
What an experience. My mind is still fucked from all the jumping between timeloops but it was worth it. I’ll probably replay this sometime in the future as I feel like I didn’t manage to quite catch everything, though it did make me rethink my entire existence and I’m no longer capable of trusting anyone so good job?
Absolutely brilliant sound design. I have writing all over my hands from trying to figure out which answers worked, took me a while to figure out that the answers that work are based solely on your stats. There were two spelling errors I picked up on that made the game feel a bit less polished (the word focused was spelled focussed, and there was a word with an extra letter)
Hi! "Focussed" is just the British English spelling of the word (I'm British) but what was the other spelling mistake? I'd really like to correct it. Thanks
pretty much loved everything except the text display speed (even with clicking) and the ending (har har unavoidable ending you can see coming to punish you for continuing to play the game).
This game is awesome! I love how it's (almost) completely text based but there's still the feel of a lot of action going on. The ending was like a blow to the face, it feels like it came right out of left field even though the realization slowly dawned upon me as I reached it in horror. I definitely think I won't be sleeping much for a few days since this is going to occupy my mind a LOT.
Wow, this was amazing! I love anything with a time loop, and the story and design of this are both fantastic. Thank you for making this, definitely one of my favourite things I've found in the bundle so far. This is going to stick around in my memory for a while!
A very interesting game! Love the concept and wow, that ending. I do wish that the "no crt/blinking" option turned off ALL blinking/flashing/etc. I know it'd mess with the look of the game, but even as somone with minimal eye issues, it was a bit much.
Well, that ending gave me trust issues, thanks lol
But seriously, amazing game. I second Atroniac and emdibrew completely, those 2 said it better than I ever could. It played upon multiple of my values and beliefs and just... fully recommend.
This game was fantastic and engaging! I had to take a break from it for a few days in the middle and I could not stop thinking about it. The mechanics are very elegant,.
Loved this game, Ironically the mc reminded me a lot of myself (Besides the whole convicted criminal bit) so that just immersed me in the story even more. I found myself reading the lines of dialogue in my own voice, even adding on emphasis as I would have said it. My only gripe is that the first section of the game can feel a bit slow but once you get the flow of conversation down it really works well. I definitely recommend playing this if you are on the fence about it. (I can't guarantee that your and my experiences will be exactly the same tho due to the reasons I stated at the start of this.) Great game 10/10
This game is really, really cool. It kind of reminds me of Undertale, in a way--much less lighthearted, of course, but with a big focus on what you (both the character and the player) can accomplish and subverting your expectations of how a game like this works. Tackles difficult topics without being preachy; makes you think without being full of itself. It's a 1-2 hour experience that'll stick with me for a bit for sure.
This was a great, short game to play. I'm not someone with a lot of light sensitivity, but I did find that booting up the game in a small resolution let me handle the flashing a lot better. The story is really intriguing and at one point I did come to the comments here to check if that really was the end (if you didn't get credits, keep playing!).
i've discovered this game through the racial justice and equality bundle, and have been trying to play this game little by little- my sensitivity to light makes it very difficult, unfortunately, since i'm autistic. ;; I have a terrible headache but it feels (mostly) worth it! I love the concept behind this game and the music and story so far!
...also, will there be any sort of an alternate display mode for people with epilepsy or sensitivity to flashing lights?? i feel terrible that i can't continue D': turning off the CRT flickering and scan lines definitely helped a bit, but not enough that i could continue :(
edit: i wanna clarify that i did read the epilepsy warnings, i just.... thought i'd be okay but it turns out i'm not ;w;
Played it through to the end. Oooooh my goshhh. So good.
I absolutely love this game. I wasn't getting anywhere at one point, so I took a 5m break. Best decision ever.
SPOILERS FOLLOW.
At some point it feels like the game is over, and you can play it again. This is false, continue playing until you see a short credits thing. Using save/load as a game mechanic is the single most innovative thing I've seen in gamedev so far. Seriously. Changing one of the most basic systems that's usually meta-game stuff, and making it have an effect on the story? holy crap
This was an amazing experience! I got it from the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, and based on my preferences alone, it was worth the price in itself. As someone who lives in a third world country, the world that unravels in this story really shook me. If climate change isn't stopped, literally half my country will be underwater, possibly more. I really connected with the situation the world building set up. It was so scary because it felt so real to me. It could definitely happen to me.
By the time I hit the ending, I was so engrossed I literally googled the game trying to find out if there was more content that I missed hahaha. Only two hours! I wanted to see more!
I love how this game kept playing with my perception and my expectations. It really plays on what you've come to expect from stories like this. I love it.
Of course, it's not without its downsides. The first ten or fifteen minutes, I was pretty much just guessing on what were the right answers, since the choices were really vague. After that, I somehow got the logic of the game. I can't tell if it's because I memorized the choices, or I learned to think the way the game wanted me to. Probably both, especially since I didn't make any mistakes at the very end. The main gameplay loop had its flaws too. Because I had to reread parts, I would end up clicking faster to skip them, and accidentally click a choice without looking. One time, it did lead me to dialogue I hadn't seen before, but then I had to reread a bigger chunk of text after, so it didn't feel worth it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this game and immediately recommended it to my friends who love this kind of stuff. Thank you for this!
Edit: I'm still learning how itch.io works, so I didn't realize reviews go to a different place. Oops!
Because I had to reread parts, I would end up clicking faster to skip them, and accidentally click a choice without looking.
Don't click-to-advance-text in the bottom area where the dialogue options pop up. I always moved my mouse upwards to make sure that I wouldn't accidentally click a dialogue option. I wish Space Bar could be used for text-advancing.
Anyways, I fully agree; this is the best meta narrative I've ever played!
It is interesting to say the least. It would be a bit helpful to have a small tutorial to understand what I am looking at before anything else. But that's a small gripe on my end.
The story is pretty interesting. I look forward to the final chapter.
I was a little lost in trying to play this, though. I wasn't sure what the interface represented or how my choices affected things. I figured I'd pretty much just pick whichever option had the highest percentage, and that seemed to work out. But if doing that does end up being correct, it kind of trivializes all the decisions.
Oh, wait, I played with Helper Mode enabled, so maybe that's what that was. That's another thing I would critique, though, that I had to choose whether to enable it before starting, with nothing to explain what it was, and no way to guage whether I'd want it. I went back to see what happens without it, and it seems to just omit the percentages. But the "receptiveness" ratings still pretty much give away which answer to choose. And do the percentages mean there's an element of random chance regarding success?
None of that makes sense to me. Shouldn't I have to be figuring something out in order to get a success? But the way it is, either success comes from following what the receptiveness ratings show, which is trivial, or from getting lucky on random chances, which I don't have control over. Is there something else I'm supposed to base the decisions on? Otherwise, it seems like the gameplay element was included more for being plain interactive than for being actually interesting or fun.
The failure responses do kind of hint at why a choice fails, so maybe some strategy could actually be involved if the receptiveness ratings weren't shown. But then partially correct choices shouldn't just randomly succeed or fail. It would make more sense for you to simply gain a proportional amount of insight.
I don't really understand how the mechanics all fit together. What does "insight" represent? Any choice, even "failures," seem to move the narrative along regardless, providing the same information. The difference between a success and failure seems to be whether your future self becomes more receptive to you. But then labelling accumulative successes "insight" wouldn't really fit. And since insight is needed to unlock more of the narrative, I would expect it to be acquired by "questioning and doubting," like the game keeps saying. But picking the choices your future self is most receptive to doesn't really have anything to do with that...
On another note, I also found it hard to tell which text belonged to which character. It seemed like your spoken voice was yellow, your future self's voice was red, and then what looked like your thoughts appeared in green. But later the rebel voice was also green. And text also changes color during transitions, making things even more confusing.
One last thing I'll suggest is to allow us to refer back to what the last statement was when making a choice, so that we don't have to risk forgetting the context of it.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. I hope they can be of some help, and thank you for the game. The presentation is very impressive.
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Well, it took me awhile to figure out how to get to chapter 4 and 5, but I beat the game.
It was an interesting narrative, even if the premise and initial beats were more interesting than the latter parts of the game.
(spoilers)
The climate change scenario was rather dicey for everyone involved, and it was a powerful moment when the protagonist had a moment to sympathize with their future self for being stuck in a harrowing situation. I just wished that that dialogue option had a tangible result instead of forcing a file load.
That future self was stuck in a world with corrupt governments, violent refugees, a rogue scientist who trapped a broken person with their past self in a pointless, emotionally-scarring time loop for months in the name of 'research,' and a bunch of disillusioned rebels who decided that the only sensible option was to bail on the timeline entirely.
And in all that, despite the motivations and the consequences of their actions, future self really was the least horrible person in the story.
Despite everything, at least they genuinely tried to make a difference, even if it didn't matter at all in the end.
Let me just say WOW! The mechanics are great, the story is good, and I want a secret ending or update. That's the only bad part about the game. Please add a secret ending or make a sequel. Solid 9/10 Get the game.
Solid 8/10
(chooses Empathy) Okay. So I just finished the game and I'm still having a hard time if I'm being honest, really becoming content with the ending. But at the same time I understand that there wasn't a direct intention to make it "clear and concise" in nature. With the theme of the game, I can wholeheartedly understand and appreciate the way things turned out.(chooses Rational) I certainly enjoyed this game, and appreciate the themes used and the complexity of the nature of such topics. It left me almost feeling as if there had to be more I was missing....maybe more questions to be asked? All in all, I can appreciate that as the developer, you weren't afraid to stray from the socio-normative approach of endings. You told a tale that was not only realistic, but both gripping and free-flowing. I think we need more games like this.
SEMI-SPOILERS: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED
(chooses Assertive) So here's what my impression is: I loved what everything was becoming as I witnessed the turbulence and then it feels like the rug was pulled from under me. I had to google search and make sure that I had actually gotten the final ending. If I'm being honest, the only real gripe I could give is that we weren't truly given a conclusion. It feels like watching a show that had an absolutely outstanding first season that left you waiting for Season 2, but then the show got cancelled by Netflix. I love the game, and I absolutely appreciate how the nature of the story was handled. I just wish I was able to walk away from this feeling more solid about the events that happened, rather than experiencing what felt like peering into the conflicts of a seemingly realistic timeline and witnessing troubles that in the end still felt like we as the player weren't properly connected to. The way you carry through the game never knowing who to trust, only for the very end to be so absolutely sudden felt lacking. I don't want to criticize the directive approach of "no happy endings" but in that circumstance the audience needs some clarity to go home with. And to be honest, even after writing this review and contemplating the experience: I'm still feeling unsure and unfulfilled.
ma̵y̴be ̢the ̢rea̢l en̨ding͡ wàs ͞t̢h̵e̸ ͏fr̨iend͡s we̕ ͢l̶os̢t a͘lon҉g ̕th̶e w͞ay
I really liked this game, it took me some time to understand how my decisions affected the outcome, but the story is interesting enough to keep going and discover the truth, particullarly after "they" kicked me out. I enjoyed it a lot more with the music off because sometimes it didn't go well with the seriousness of the game. I played for about 2 hours and ended with a headache because of the bright flashing colors, I understand that they are there to represent the different characters, but after some time it gets annoying and interferes with the game experience.
Incredible game, first started playing it last year when I was on mystery game kick and I absolutely came to adore the story behind this one. The story line was realistic and almost all of the characters displayed in it gained my sympathy - though that only came after the story progressed more and more.
So I just started playing this game and I think it's incredible so far, but i've gotten kind of stuck and I'm not entirely sure how to keep playing. [spoilers ahead] so i've gotten to the point of the game where my future self is feels defeated and begs for the time loop to end, and then the entity in control of the time loop tells me well done, but then I get a glitching message to keep going. I figured I would be able to continue the game by using the load game feature, but it just returns me to the last save point, which is right before the "deliver the final blow" option. I've tried loading the game this way several times to see if I could get another outcome and I even clicked on the "STOP" message right before the loop ends but nothing changes. I also tried clicking on "play" to start a new game thinking that maybe that would be the way forward, but it just said that it'd overwrite my saved game and obvs I don't want that to happen. So... how do I keep playing? This is probably a really silly question with an obvious answer but I don't play games that often so i'm at a loss. I don't want to completely spoil the whole game but a simple hint would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!
It sounds like you came across a possible bug. Were you able to figure it out?
I was stuck at that point too. Click on play instead of load and after a few lines of dialogue, things start to change
I got to that point in the game, but it looks like the 'play' option took me back to the very beginning of the game.
Edit: I did some looking around and figured how to get to chapter 4 and 5.
This was FANTASTIC! The whole thing had me enraptured as my poor fiance listened to me yell. Keep up this amazing work !!
Well, I didn´t expect this at all. Clever writing, nice mechanics and a few twists that made me want to know more about what was going on.
The only downside I found maybe was the flashing lights and the bright colors. There was moments I couldn´t read anything without feeling a bit dizzy (maybe it was just me)
If you like time-loops and intrigue stories give it a chance. Is a shame the experience is a bit short, but what an experience!
What a game! I love time loops, and non-jump scare based horror. This managed to fill my with dread, and when I found out the identity of the person putting me through my paces me I gasped. I like this take on the trope a lot, and the music is excellent in my opinion. If you like text based horror or time loops, I would give this a try. Good job!!
Honestly one of the best games I've played in a while. The story was super interesting and the sound design was incredible. Thank you!
Loved it! Really clever use of time travel and I adored the story twists - definitely a game that's going to stick with me for a long time.
This was incredible! Very immersive and unique. I'd love to see an expanded version, with more of the worldbuilding and multiple endings. Excited to see what future projects you have in store!
Got this first in the Racial Justice Bundle but only discovered this title while browsing the Palestine Bundle, and I’m so glad I decided to play this.
What an experience. My mind is still fucked from all the jumping between timeloops but it was worth it. I’ll probably replay this sometime in the future as I feel like I didn’t manage to quite catch everything, though it did make me rethink my entire existence and I’m no longer capable of trusting anyone so good job?
Absolutely brilliant sound design. I have writing all over my hands from trying to figure out which answers worked, took me a while to figure out that the answers that work are based solely on your stats. There were two spelling errors I picked up on that made the game feel a bit less polished (the word focused was spelled focussed, and there was a word with an extra letter)
Hi! "Focussed" is just the British English spelling of the word (I'm British) but what was the other spelling mistake? I'd really like to correct it. Thanks
Couldn't find it on a second playthrough, it's probably my mistake
pretty much loved everything except the text display speed (even with clicking) and the ending (har har unavoidable ending you can see coming to punish you for continuing to play the game).
I loved this game. Nice work. <3
This game is awesome! I love how it's (almost) completely text based but there's still the feel of a lot of action going on. The ending was like a blow to the face, it feels like it came right out of left field even though the realization slowly dawned upon me as I reached it in horror. I definitely think I won't be sleeping much for a few days since this is going to occupy my mind a LOT.
Wow, this was amazing! I love anything with a time loop, and the story and design of this are both fantastic. Thank you for making this, definitely one of my favourite things I've found in the bundle so far. This is going to stick around in my memory for a while!
Wondering if the fact that I saw that (general) ending coming should worry me. :-J
Nicely set up and done, always a good thing when I wish I could get more story in a world.
A very interesting game! Love the concept and wow, that ending. I do wish that the "no crt/blinking" option turned off ALL blinking/flashing/etc. I know it'd mess with the look of the game, but even as somone with minimal eye issues, it was a bit much.
Well, that ending gave me trust issues, thanks lol
But seriously, amazing game. I second Atroniac and emdibrew completely, those 2 said it better than I ever could. It played upon multiple of my values and beliefs and just... fully recommend.
This is gonna sit in my head for a good while.
This game was fantastic and engaging! I had to take a break from it for a few days in the middle and I could not stop thinking about it. The mechanics are very elegant,.
Loved this game, Ironically the mc reminded me a lot of myself (Besides the whole convicted criminal bit) so that just immersed me in the story even more. I found myself reading the lines of dialogue in my own voice, even adding on emphasis as I would have said it. My only gripe is that the first section of the game can feel a bit slow but once you get the flow of conversation down it really works well. I definitely recommend playing this if you are on the fence about it. (I can't guarantee that your and my experiences will be exactly the same tho due to the reasons I stated at the start of this.) Great game 10/10
This game is really, really cool. It kind of reminds me of Undertale, in a way--much less lighthearted, of course, but with a big focus on what you (both the character and the player) can accomplish and subverting your expectations of how a game like this works. Tackles difficult topics without being preachy; makes you think without being full of itself. It's a 1-2 hour experience that'll stick with me for a bit for sure.
This was a great, short game to play. I'm not someone with a lot of light sensitivity, but I did find that booting up the game in a small resolution let me handle the flashing a lot better.
The story is really intriguing and at one point I did come to the comments here to check if that really was the end (if you didn't get credits, keep playing!).
i've discovered this game through the racial justice and equality bundle, and have been trying to play this game little by little- my sensitivity to light makes it very difficult, unfortunately, since i'm autistic. ;; I have a terrible headache but it feels (mostly) worth it! I love the concept behind this game and the music and story so far!
...also, will there be any sort of an alternate display mode for people with epilepsy or sensitivity to flashing lights?? i feel terrible that i can't continue D': turning off the CRT flickering and scan lines definitely helped a bit, but not enough that i could continue :(
edit: i wanna clarify that i did read the epilepsy warnings, i just.... thought i'd be okay but it turns out i'm not ;w;
Played it through to the end. Oooooh my goshhh. So good.
I absolutely love this game. I wasn't getting anywhere at one point, so I took a 5m break. Best decision ever.
SPOILERS FOLLOW.
At some point it feels like the game is over, and you can play it again. This is false, continue playing until you see a short credits thing.Using save/load as a game mechanic is the single most innovative thing I've seen in gamedev so far. Seriously. Changing one of the most basic systems that's usually meta-game stuff, and making it have an effect on the story? holy crapSomeone did compare this to undertale, which makes the save and load feature of the game, the pinnacle of the plot.
I enjoyed playing this game :) Interesting gameplay and different twists
The game is good but the soundtrack is epic!
Mac version says it cannot be opened? I dont know if this is my computer or not- but this game looks incredible!
Hi. I think this might be a problem with several Mac games on itch, according to this post on Reddit. Hopefully it helps: https://www.reddit.com/r/itchioJusticeBundle/comments/h8h7c6/some_games_wont_ope...
Thank you very much!!! This helped fix the problem! And the game was absolutely INCREDIBLE!
Absolutely love this game!
There is a little bug. If you don't skip the text effect and let the dialog «type in» scene, you have to click twice to read the next.
Opposed to: if you click and make the current text to appear, you have to click once to continue the dialog (at least on the linux build)
can you please make it possible the skip the messages before the title screen appears? it takes forever
This was an amazing experience! I got it from the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, and based on my preferences alone, it was worth the price in itself. As someone who lives in a third world country, the world that unravels in this story really shook me. If climate change isn't stopped, literally half my country will be underwater, possibly more. I really connected with the situation the world building set up. It was so scary because it felt so real to me. It could definitely happen to me.
By the time I hit the ending, I was so engrossed I literally googled the game trying to find out if there was more content that I missed hahaha. Only two hours! I wanted to see more!
I love how this game kept playing with my perception and my expectations. It really plays on what you've come to expect from stories like this. I love it.
Of course, it's not without its downsides. The first ten or fifteen minutes, I was pretty much just guessing on what were the right answers, since the choices were really vague. After that, I somehow got the logic of the game. I can't tell if it's because I memorized the choices, or I learned to think the way the game wanted me to. Probably both, especially since I didn't make any mistakes at the very end. The main gameplay loop had its flaws too. Because I had to reread parts, I would end up clicking faster to skip them, and accidentally click a choice without looking. One time, it did lead me to dialogue I hadn't seen before, but then I had to reread a bigger chunk of text after, so it didn't feel worth it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this game and immediately recommended it to my friends who love this kind of stuff. Thank you for this!
Edit: I'm still learning how itch.io works, so I didn't realize reviews go to a different place. Oops!
Don't click-to-advance-text in the bottom area where the dialogue options pop up. I always moved my mouse upwards to make sure that I wouldn't accidentally click a dialogue option. I wish Space Bar could be used for text-advancing.
Anyways, I fully agree; this is the best meta narrative I've ever played!
If this ever becomes available for Mac, I'll grab it!
Should be a Mac version out within the next week :)
The Mac version's out now!
holy shit im shook as fuck?? hot damn
storyline is confusing in the best way. gonna let this marinate in my head for a bit. there's tons to think about, and that ending? holy shit man
only thing i wish was different was that there was a save function, but i guess that might ruin a part of it. oh well
love this game man! keep on keepin on dood
It is interesting to say the least. It would be a bit helpful to have a small tutorial to understand what I am looking at before anything else. But that's a small gripe on my end.
The story is pretty interesting. I look forward to the final chapter.
I was a little lost in trying to play this, though. I wasn't sure what the interface represented or how my choices affected things. I figured I'd pretty much just pick whichever option had the highest percentage, and that seemed to work out. But if doing that does end up being correct, it kind of trivializes all the decisions.
Oh, wait, I played with Helper Mode enabled, so maybe that's what that was. That's another thing I would critique, though, that I had to choose whether to enable it before starting, with nothing to explain what it was, and no way to guage whether I'd want it. I went back to see what happens without it, and it seems to just omit the percentages. But the "receptiveness" ratings still pretty much give away which answer to choose. And do the percentages mean there's an element of random chance regarding success?
None of that makes sense to me. Shouldn't I have to be figuring something out in order to get a success? But the way it is, either success comes from following what the receptiveness ratings show, which is trivial, or from getting lucky on random chances, which I don't have control over. Is there something else I'm supposed to base the decisions on? Otherwise, it seems like the gameplay element was included more for being plain interactive than for being actually interesting or fun.
The failure responses do kind of hint at why a choice fails, so maybe some strategy could actually be involved if the receptiveness ratings weren't shown. But then partially correct choices shouldn't just randomly succeed or fail. It would make more sense for you to simply gain a proportional amount of insight.
I don't really understand how the mechanics all fit together. What does "insight" represent? Any choice, even "failures," seem to move the narrative along regardless, providing the same information. The difference between a success and failure seems to be whether your future self becomes more receptive to you. But then labelling accumulative successes "insight" wouldn't really fit. And since insight is needed to unlock more of the narrative, I would expect it to be acquired by "questioning and doubting," like the game keeps saying. But picking the choices your future self is most receptive to doesn't really have anything to do with that...
On another note, I also found it hard to tell which text belonged to which character. It seemed like your spoken voice was yellow, your future self's voice was red, and then what looked like your thoughts appeared in green. But later the rebel voice was also green. And text also changes color during transitions, making things even more confusing.
One last thing I'll suggest is to allow us to refer back to what the last statement was when making a choice, so that we don't have to risk forgetting the context of it.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. I hope they can be of some help, and thank you for the game. The presentation is very impressive.