Vivet. Morietur. Iterare.
I was really looking forward to this one and I was not disappointed. The game was made by a very small team and it shows – this is no technical wonder and has a healthy amount of jank to it. Fortunately, that jank doesn’t detract in any meaningful way from the experience. My score doesn’t detract any points for the jank.
This game is about the story and how you go about unravelling the mystery. It’s not a Pulitzer winner but the story gives you enough to keep you interested. I played thru in about 7 hours, getting the canon ending. There are four possible endings. They offer negligible replay ability. You can technically replay it and get different results but I don’t see why you would.
I think many will compare it to Outer Wilds but this game is a bit simpler in that it is missing the timing element. You have time to do everything you want to in a given cycle, just need to figure out the discrete steps needed to accomplish your goal and learn the truth. In OW the events occur on a timer and you need to be more precise. It's a bit more of a game in that way, whereas this is a narrative.
It’s a good game and if it sounds interesting you should play it, but if it doesn’t grab your attention you won’t miss much if you skip it or abandon it part way thru. Fun little mystery and mechanic, could’ve been more ambitious with the time loops and spent more time on the characters. I didn’t find myself caring much about them. There are several fun memorable moments but nothing that “you can’t miss!” I love the Roman setting and what they do with it.
3.5/5, but I can’t call it a 4 star game.