So I've decided to start doing 100 word reviews. The aim is to keep the waffle to a minimum and not be all puff and no pastry. I want to provoke discussion and elaborate in areas that people wish to talk about. Be a 100 word reviewer, all that is required is a computer and an opinion.
Gone Home
After recently being disappointed with Firewatch's story, I dip into another story driven Indie but the outcome is more positive.
It's a small game set in your mysteriosly abandoned family house. The main story is told through voice journals and written pieces with a few underlying stories to also discover. Searching around is rewarded with deeper stories and interesting discoveries.
If you spend enough time with the game you will get absorbed into the stories that all conclude properly by the time you reach the end. Not a crytic or "make up your own mind" ending, a good proper conclusion. 9 out of 10
Firewatch
From the off, you can tell that Firewatch will solely depend on the story with the absence of any sort of puzzle at all. The majority of the story is pretty good but fizzles out towards the end, I felt that it had more potential but didn't fulfil it.
That's not to say that the game wasn't enjoyable, the voice acting is excellent and the characters believable.
The only other downside was the game's performance with constant annoying framerate stutters, if this was a shooter it would of been a game breaker.
The game is enjoyable but far from perfect. 6 out of 10 (7 out of 10 if they sort out technical issues)
The Witness
This is a game that will you throw you into the deep end, explore and learn or you will sink.
On the surface the game looks simple and 2 dimensional but the puzzles require thinking outside the box, learning the rules of the puzzles and some have to be solved in a various, sometimes ingenious, amount of ways.
The graphics are stunning and the world absorbing. The puzzles are just hard enough to not frustrate too much but satisfying to solve. If you are prepared to scratch beneath the surface, you will fall in love with this game. 9 out of 10
