rain

[HandsomeDead]

S'alright this game.

This is the game where you play as an invisible boy who you can only see when the rain covers him. It's mostly a stealth game where you have to avoid other invisible beasts and it's all about moving around in the sheltered areas without being spotted.

So it's straight forward enough and I'm a third in and it hasn't done anything inventive but it has basically been pleasant... pleasant is the wrong word, I mean it is at times but it can get pretty scary. It's not Silent Hill or anything, it's just the game puts you in situations where you have no way of defending yourself.

I think it's the tone of it I like, mostly. It is a bit fairy tale-y and I guess there is some whimsy but it's dark and tense as well, like one of those non-patronising family films. Or maybe ICO is a kind of okay comparison

The game is linear and there is always just one way to progress but I'm actually not minding that since I'm fairly poor at stealth games. There is no grey areas where you're not sure if you can bee seen or heard. When you're invisible they leave you alone, when you're not they give chase; nice and simple.

So It is an okay thing to interact with every-now-and-then.

[HandsomeDead]

It's done now, kinda.

Overall it's a cool interactive story thing to go along with but I can't help but feel there could have been more done with its mechanics, like there are some good puzzles that could have been done but they kept it real obvious and scripted. I guess it's because they were putting the narrative first and basing a lot around the set pieces. It does mean it's paced nicely.

I dunno, I suppose it made it a nice game to hang out in for bits at a time.

I'm not happy with the end, though.

Not to spoil it, if anyone cares, but the thing that bugged me was that when the credits stopped rolling it told me I could play the game again with the ability to pick up 'memories' as you go. I just don't know why these weren't in there in the first place. The story is abstract and is about as clear as mud, and I was hoping it would become clear at the end as I made some theories as I was playing but to be told that they'll tell me what it was all about if I play it again was a bit of a shitty thing to do. There was very little pay off.

So apart from that dumb decision its and alright bleak fairy tale thing. I wouldn't recommend it, though I wouldn't discourage it, either.