So I played Dustborn first, in which I wasn't really a big fan of personally, but I played this game, and good news, I liked it quite a bit more, although it isn't exactly perfect.

I think this is a perfectly fine game. It's not amazing, but its certainly worth your time for a narrative driven game.

For starters, this game has a focus on three main parts, Betty, your own character in relation to other characters, and the mystery. That is literally it. It is admittedly pretty dry with its delivery of its story, but I felt that despite it taking quite a while before I had gotten invested in the story, I felt that it did carry my interests until the very end. I greatly prefer this type of storytelling compared to just, trying to do everything at once with equal importance, simply scattered all over the place in a messy manner.

I really like the approach to this story a lot more. This isn't a "we are telling you exactly what happened" or "we're just going to be vague about this just for the sake of it" or "you see this? You have to believe it or not believe it." This is a game in which you essentially create your own interpretation of events and your own interpretation of what exactly happens to your own character or characters within the story, and its a really cool way to tell a unique story that, has its foundations within Norwegian folk lore while as to not simply copy and paste the actual mythology. To create its own unique story, while having these elements elevate and improve the overall experience as you will. I also feel that this perfectly fits the whole "being led on by a red thread" story telling that encompasses the studio's style.

I think another aspect of this game that I just liked a lot better was the way that the quote on quote "unlikable" was handled here when it came to characters. In this game, the characters are all still pretty much likable in their own ways, and they also have their own flaws, in their own ways, but you get to see and experience these characters, as you find out what happens in the story, actually try to address their own flaws head on, have actual importance in the plot, rather than simply ignore them or overly praise the characters just for the sake of being told "the characters are likable" even if that isn't necessarily the case. I think the other aspect of this is that this is definitely a mature and serious story, which again can at times make the game feel a bit too dry, but I think that it was for the better.

The soundtrack, perfectly fits the game. The soundtrack, is actually really good, one of the best parts about the game for sure. Not only does it really fit the overall setting and time period, but it also gives off that "mystical, mythological, mysterious" vibe that it should, while still having the diversity and creation of atmosphere and ambiance that aided the overall experience. It is really well done.

Graphically speaking, also a lot better, although this is where the flaws of the game start to show.

I almost wished that with its black and white mode, I wonder what this game would of looked like if it were to be graphically designed to be either just black and white or perhaps black and white within a slight tint of color, or perhaps a select color type of look. I feel like even though the game looks decent, I just felt like at times when switching between the two different modes, I felt like something in between the two modes would of been best and really make the game stand out with its visuals a lot more. Perhaps a neutral color type of look? I don't know, just something that makes the best of both worlds.

Speaking of which, level design. Much like with their other games so far, it's still not great, too linear, barely anything to explore, and when you find something, yes it's still better, but its only really story specific information and that's it, nothing else. It's interesting, but there really isn't anymore established world building here besides from the main story, which again is just the creative style of this game much like their other games. This game would of benefited massively from more lore within the game. This time, there is an even more interesting world here to do that with, but that isn't the case. You get the plot, and that's it.

The other aspect is the run time. Yes, it's not too long, but this to me feels too short and in the opposite direction. I feel like this game could of been much longer than it was, perhaps two or three times the length. About 3 hours? That is way too short.

I feel like this is also reflective in the points when the story didn't provide enough context in certain important aspects of the plot. It's not that it didn't make sense in these instances, it just needs more time to develop, more time to learn additional clues and details, more time to build up tension, etc...

Still, this was really cool to play, and I greatly enjoyed it, and it makes me want to play their other games. I am going to give this game a 7/10.

So I played Dustborn first, in which I wasn't really a big fan of personally, but I played this game, and good news, I liked it quite a bit more, although it isn't exactly perfect. I think this is a perfectly fine game. It's not amazing, but its certainly worth your time for a narrative driven game. For starters, this game has a focus on three main parts, Betty, your own character in relation to other characters, and the mystery. That is literally it. It is admittedly pretty dry with its delivery of its story, but I felt that despite it taking quite a while before I had gotten invested in the story, I felt that it did carry my interests until the very end. I greatly prefer this type of storytelling compared to just, trying to do everything at once with equal importance, simply scattered all over the place in a messy manner. I really like the approach to this story a lot more. This isn't a "we are telling you exactly what happened" or "we're just going to be vague about this just for the sake of it" or "you see this? You have to believe it or not believe it." This is a game in which you essentially create your own interpretation of events and your own interpretation of what exactly happens to your own character or characters within the story, and its a really cool way to tell a unique story that, has its foundations within Norwegian folk lore while as to not simply copy and paste the actual mythology. To create its own unique story, while having these elements elevate and improve the overall experience as you will. I also feel that this perfectly fits the whole "being led on by a red thread" story telling that encompasses the studio's style. I think another aspect of this game that I just liked a lot better was the way that the quote on quote "unlikable" was handled here when it came to characters. In this game, the characters are all still pretty much likable in their own ways, and they also have their own flaws, in their own ways, but you get to see and experience these characters, as you find out what happens in the story, actually try to address their own flaws head on, have actual importance in the plot, rather than simply ignore them or overly praise the characters just for the sake of being told "the characters are likable" even if that isn't necessarily the case. I think the other aspect of this is that this is definitely a mature and serious story, which again can at times make the game feel a bit too dry, but I think that it was for the better. The soundtrack, perfectly fits the game. The soundtrack, is actually really good, one of the best parts about the game for sure. Not only does it really fit the overall setting and time period, but it also gives off that "mystical, mythological, mysterious" vibe that it should, while still having the diversity and creation of atmosphere and ambiance that aided the overall experience. It is really well done. Graphically speaking, also a lot better, although this is where the flaws of the game start to show. I almost wished that with its black and white mode, I wonder what this game would of looked like if it were to be graphically designed to be either just black and white or perhaps black and white within a slight tint of color, or perhaps a select color type of look. I feel like even though the game looks decent, I just felt like at times when switching between the two different modes, I felt like something in between the two modes would of been best and really make the game stand out with its visuals a lot more. Perhaps a neutral color type of look? I don't know, just something that makes the best of both worlds. Speaking of which, level design. Much like with their other games so far, it's still not great, too linear, barely anything to explore, and when you find something, yes it's still better, but its only really story specific information and that's it, nothing else. It's interesting, but there really isn't anymore established world building here besides from the main story, which again is just the creative style of this game much like their other games. This game would of benefited massively from more lore within the game. This time, there is an even more interesting world here to do that with, but that isn't the case. You get the plot, and that's it. The other aspect is the run time. Yes, it's not too long, but this to me feels too short and in the opposite direction. I feel like this game could of been much longer than it was, perhaps two or three times the length. About 3 hours? That is way too short. I feel like this is also reflective in the points when the story didn't provide enough context in certain important aspects of the plot. It's not that it didn't make sense in these instances, it just needs more time to develop, more time to learn additional clues and details, more time to build up tension, etc... Still, this was really cool to play, and I greatly enjoyed it, and it makes me want to play their other games. I am going to give this game a 7/10.