Finished it last night and my thoughts below:
Visually and aurally the game is very well realised and both elements combine to create a very unsettling atmosphere. The writing is generally pretty good, although I was certainly rolling my eyes at some of the immature cynicism but that is perhaps the intented response for some of the characters. Of particular note is the writing for the youngest character, Robin. I really felt they nailed the child world view and it was a delight to play as her.
I quite liked the variation on the 'wolves', with Ruby's being quite brilliantly realised and a moment that I'm not likely to forget, and the FPP trips though grandmas house where well done also . I found the overall the themes of growing up and it's various stages quite affecting even though they are often from strongly female prespective. In some small ways I felt I even came to some understanding of certain things that perhaps I hadn't before.
However the game has some slightly clunky controls and collision detection problems. I really don't know why they didn't go for the more conventional control scheme. The game is also undeniably boring at times, the painfully slow walks to grandma's house being notable examples, and the RPS review sums this up better than I could:
Quote:
To move quite so slowly suggests a great deal of confidence in the player’s interest in persisting, and perhaps this isn’t always deserved. I stress “always”. Often it is, but there were certainly times when I was just bored, rather than anticipating.
I think 'Pathologic', for example, does a much better job of sustaining your interest during the slower parts of the game.
I also think that the idea is perhaps streched to thinly and some of the girls could have perhaps been cut or combined. The criticism of games and their trappings, eg the collectable flowers, seems out of place and to be honest quite condescending to the player. Once again I think 'Pathologic's meta-narrative about games works much much better.
All in all a very good game that goes into some interesting places, and well worth the 10 or so dollars I payed for it, but I think it's obvious self-importance prevents it from being a great one.