IFReviewed by
Andrew Plotkin on 2006-06-25 09:34
Mmf. The actions I'm supposed to use don't always make sense -- in the diner, I had to look at a hint. (Sure, I could have done that, but why should I think it would help?)
When you ask about a topic twice, you get a paraphrased summary the second time -- not phrased as dialogue. This is a good idea -- certainly better than repeating a canned speech -- but I'm not sure it works. Since it is a paraphrase, I feel like the NPC actually is repeating the first speech, and the game is just being vague about that fact.
Generally the game feels like it knows what I should be doing; no other tracks are tolerated. "examine tri-di" was a great opportunity to give some background about my emotional state -- even refusing to watch it would have been a good response -- but all I get is a generic "not important" message.
The story is fine -- but a bit elementary, and I don't feel like it's presented well enough to make up for the sparseness. The game doesn't get me particularly involved in it, either. I mostly looked at hints to get through it.
