4 ms·

It's incredible, maybe not for everyone though. It is slow, it takes a few large story beats to really kick off the story. If you are in the right headspace, a

by ehnto 2y ago

It's incredible, maybe not for everyone though. It is slow, it takes a few large story beats to really kick off the story. If you are in the right headspace, and are a patient player who is able to sink into the atmosphere, you will be gripped by the pacing. The atmosphere is thick, dripping with retro-futurism, chilling environmental storytelling as well as thrilling story moments. The music will raise the hair on your skin. If you don't want to dive in, I recommend giving the OST a listen on spotify/YouTube. It stands on it's own and is a pretty good representation of the feeling of the game.

arlcode 2y ago
Quick question. Do you remember any jump scares or the likes? I love the setting and the aesthetics but for my live I can't stand some monster/zombie/etc bursting suddenly out of a cupboard.
- izacus 2y ago
  No, I don't remember anything like that - there might be some tension when exploring things, but I remember no cases where things jump in your face.
  - arlcode 2y ago
    Excellent. Thanks
- ehnto 2y ago
  Potential spoilers ahead but I will try to be vaugue. I recall only one instance of a surprise, it was not a monster but a very large machine falling through a wall, in a sense. But there's no monsters, creepy crawlies or anything like that. It's a more tech-focusses sci-fi story.
  - arlcode 2y ago
    Even better thx.
zuminator 2y ago
I agree, the videogame does a good job conveying a Lem-like sense of inscrutable alienness mixed with pervasive unease. Just a bit of advice, there was one section maybe about 75% through the game where you hit a fork and you're meant to turn left, but I got turned around in the map and turned right instead. And instead of notifying me that I was going the wrong way, the game's atmospherics started very gradually getting foggier and foggier and it became harder and harder to move forward. Eventually I came to a region where my vision was so grayed-out that I could barely see a foot ahead of me. I had to ditch the rover and proceed on foot, but even then it felt like I was walking through molasses and that the way forward was somehow eluding me like a hidden passage. I mistakenly thought that was just an expected part of the journey and I stubbornly tried to slog on in the wrong direction for what seemed like a couple of weeks. I became frustrated and was ready to give up playing and then just decided on a whim to go all the way back to the fork and try the other direction, whereupon to my surprise it became immediately obvious that I was now on the correct route, and the game proceeded normally. That whole misadventure became to me a core part in how I experienced the game even though it effectively nothing more than a side quest to nowhere. If you ever read his (in my opinion) greatest work, "Memoirs Found in a Bathtub," it felt in some way very much like that book, pushing forward with no sense of progress but a vague sense of something very wrong.
- ehnto 2y ago
  I think I did something similar actually, I definitely got very lost. Even in the first player controlled sequence, I was really unsure what to do. I think I self-propelled into the valley rather than trying to get out. I loved the experience. Games are really reluctant to stop guiding players, which I get is to avoid frustration. But I enjoy games that let the player experience their mistakes properly.

by ehnto 2y ago

arlcode 2y ago

Quick question. Do you remember any jump scares or the likes? I love the setting and the aesthetics but for my live I can't stand some monster/zombie/etc bursting suddenly out of a cupboard.

izacus 2y ago
No, I don't remember anything like that - there might be some tension when exploring things, but I remember no cases where things jump in your face.
- arlcode 2y ago
  Excellent. Thanks
ehnto 2y ago
Potential spoilers ahead but I will try to be vaugue. I recall only one instance of a surprise, it was not a monster but a very large machine falling through a wall, in a sense. But there's no monsters, creepy crawlies or anything like that. It's a more tech-focusses sci-fi story.
- arlcode 2y ago
  Even better thx.

zuminator 2y ago

I agree, the videogame does a good job conveying a Lem-like sense of inscrutable alienness mixed with pervasive unease. Just a bit of advice, there was one section maybe about 75% through the game where you hit a fork and you're meant to turn left, but I got turned around in the map and turned right instead. And instead of notifying me that I was going the wrong way, the game's atmospherics started very gradually getting foggier and foggier and it became harder and harder to move forward. Eventually I came to a region where my vision was so grayed-out that I could barely see a foot ahead of me. I had to ditch the rover and proceed on foot, but even then it felt like I was walking through molasses and that the way forward was somehow eluding me like a hidden passage. I mistakenly thought that was just an expected part of the journey and I stubbornly tried to slog on in the wrong direction for what seemed like a couple of weeks. I became frustrated and was ready to give up playing and then just decided on a whim to go all the way back to the fork and try the other direction, whereupon to my surprise it became immediately obvious that I was now on the correct route, and the game proceeded normally. That whole misadventure became to me a core part in how I experienced the game even though it effectively nothing more than a side quest to nowhere. If you ever read his (in my opinion) greatest work, "Memoirs Found in a Bathtub," it felt in some way very much like that book, pushing forward with no sense of progress but a vague sense of something very wrong.

ehnto 2y ago
I think I did something similar actually, I definitely got very lost. Even in the first player controlled sequence, I was really unsure what to do. I think I self-propelled into the valley rather than trying to get out. I loved the experience. Games are really reluctant to stop guiding players, which I get is to avoid frustration. But I enjoy games that let the player experience their mistakes properly.