Notice, I did not use the word Pretentious
As a big fan of Wreden's previous game, The Stanley Parable, I scooped this game up without a second thought. I was not expecting a follow up or even another funny game. I was just glad to check out what was next for Wrenden. What I found was a patchwork of pretty dull game snippets and a dour tale that was not well told and not very compelling. The setup for the story is interesting enough; one game developers near obsession with another developers..... well... development was certainly unique. For the first 30 minutes of the game I also liked the direction the game was going. The game demonstrates how the details of game design can reflect and even reveal the inner working of the developers psyche. As the story unfolds, the narrator becomes less reliable and far less interesting as he rambles on and on.
The game snippets also remain about as interesting as they did from the start, which is to say, not very interesting at all. This continues for about another hour and the game just ends. There is no real arch for the narrator. In fact, the narrator seems more confused in the end than at the beginning. This all makes for a less than compelling story. The main issue I had with the game is that Its not so much telling a story as just narrating some thoughts. And while, at times, the game does bring up some very introspective concepts, it never reaches the goal of good story telling. Which means, you are simply left with is a poem and a sidecar of simple, dull game play. I am sure some people will be compelled by the narrative of the game. There are some good bits here and there. Unfortunately, other than the games interesting premise, I found the ride rather dull.
