This game is on a different level - Corru.Observer Review
355Play the game Here, Doesn't work on mobile: https://corru.observer/
Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/BigRatHole
Join my discord (don't forget to drop a comment here too before you go!): https://discord.gg/CJZqUWvKfQ
Script:
If the idea of playing a person playing inside a simulation of an alien's memories appeals to you then drag and drop Assassins creed into the recycle bin and play Corru.Observer. it's free and yes it looks like return of the Obra Dinn on acid run through CGA graphics. You could probably play this game at work and your coworkers would think you were just trying to restart the power at Jurassic Park.
if you like Homestuck you'll like this.
I am not what could be described as a Visual Novel guy, I need to be tricked into it with Jazz, boring dungeoneering, and tepid dating. Corru.Observer hooks you immediately with layers of mystery that I've seen multiple people compare to Outer Wilds. That should be recommendation enough for you to click and give it a go but i have a word count to hit to keep the patreon backers happy. So let me do my best to do a fairly spoiler free review.
Don't ask me what the genre is because the answer is yes. You COULD say it's a point and click Hard Sci-fi adventure where you drill through an overglorified folder system representing memories stored within a living metallic organism. But that run on sentence undersells how much the developers are flexing every web dev bone in their body to create an experience that constantly makes you say "woah that's cool".
If you have ever been curious about anything in your life you'll enjoy giving this game a crack. lore whores have a lot to chew on and the writers know how to string out mysteries and deliver reveals with the surgical precision of air striking an aid station.
It defies your expectations at every interval. Is it on Steam? no don't be an idiot, it's running entirely in your browser. Chrome holds this game by the balls. If they tweak how CSS is handled even a little bit the game will turn to Ass immediately. In fact it's 3D rendering is doing so much work that it's resulted in bug fixes to Firefox.
Ratwife is hard to please, not like that, but she got hooked on it after a member of the rathole discord shared it with the crew. Every time i looked over at her screen it was different and completely incomprehensible until I played it myself.
There are various hubs you can move back and forth between that gradually unlock new paths to drill through. Occasional Note taking is recommended, but most events can be replayed while others are a one time deal due to a malevolent entity within the simulation deleting memories.
The game is being released episodically so you need to be in this for the long haul.
The game is not only multi-genre but multi-worded, and fortunately all the words are great. I like their arrangement into sentences! You'll find yourself endeared by the protagonist and their helper. It's a funny game!
Sound design is also top tier with each episode getting it's own soundtrack. I think the one downside i have with this game is the fact you need to export your save when your session is finished but it makes sense considering the limitations of the medium.
The game can also be incredibly frustrating. The action gameplay section is brutal but at least can be mitigated by a "I'm a pussy just here for the words" setting if you want to skip it. Sometimes you'll come to a story beat where you're not quite sure where to go next, generally you have a couple dead ends with one unlocking more stuff in another, so you'll find yourself going backwards and forwards through areas just poking around hoping to make something work. There is an ingame hint system but it's only sometimes useful. I recommend playing with someone else to compare notes with when you find yourself stuck.
Overall this is one of the most interesting projects I've played with in a while, and it's criminally unknown.