Unbelievable! Why did I buy this game? To play in parallel with Selby ;3 Totally not my favourite kind of genre, but this was great to play something different for a change!
Unforgiving painful game, made in style :) It is pretty fun, including dying a lot, and throwing spears into enemies is a cute thing to do! Variety of weapons/skills allowed for pretty interesting explorative gameplay on new game plus till the very end: at first, after beating game on normal, didn't expect that I will go for NG+ mode but I wanted to try all the skills and managed to unlock them beating whole campaign on NG+ including replaying some of levels few times. Game has great replayability, it can never get boring ..but can get frustrating and irritating :]
Some things I specifically want to remark:
Surprisingly, this game reminded me NES and SEGA games of childhood, where to beat levels you had to remember what happens next, from where come new enemies, specific timings to use skills beforehand or hit fast enemies etc. Had not this feeling for years, and it was quite refreshing and great, despite I am not fan of such mechanics where you need to remember motoric actions/habits in your neural links to beat the game (and it is likely not useful for brain). I was not really able to remember much of these things anyway (only few most critical e.g. on boss fights), and tried to play the game by improvising in every situation. Thanks to diversity of skills this was fun!
Then, game forces to learn how exactly to kill certain types of enemies, and skills of destroying each are 'improving' in parallel. You realise that some enemies are extra difficult for yourself and choose build to help you to defeat them. It is not just throwing enough spears in direction of enemies: you see certain special enemy which can be killed by hitting it in specific spot (and for some enemies also in specific moment), and you throw a single spear to try exactly that... and considering that everything is moving and spears don't fly instantly, you have to switch targets all the time and control occasions when you didn't hit someone properly, and need to perform another shot. This is, when it becomes messy :3 It is a lot of things to control in the same time, and not damaging anyone 3 times in row (this includes hitting enemies in armour or shield) invokes stun which is just.. terrible :3

I was interested in this game from the first time I saw the store page. While this is completely text-based game with almost DOS-like interface, it is a cyberpunk game, and not [only] in meaning of CP of 1980-x, but more generally. Protagonist leaves the Earth to travel to another planet, for a new life. While flight takes about one hour, on the Earth passes more than 20 years. All you can do meanwhile, is to browse some kind of social network working in text-only mode, each refresh hit showing world news and discussions between friends happened through more than year.

I got why protagonist left the Earth only playing it the second time. There are also pretty touching stories revolving around protagonists friends, in a trendy AI-futuristic key. Nothing of this was news to me considering my area of interests, but for someone it may be new. Anyway, story is tranquil, sometimes sad and sometimes happy, it was good. I was surprised that it was so.. realistic in how it felt. I really waited to know what happens next to some of the characters.

Graphics through whole game was pretty nice, and up to store page image, creating spooky and in the same time pleasant tale-like, immersive atmosphere, which was keeping mood in the process. Mostly contributed to this character sprite models and palette of game. Gameplay is built around a narration, more to that - from point of view of gnawing feelings and experiences of the past. Game could be called a horror story, despite it is not scary at all. Story becomes clear a bit too early than game ends, but there is some sad surprise I don't want to spoil to anyone interested.
Narration itself was actually great. Perception of all the characters and story slightly changes whole time as more becomes known, and last act mechanics was somewhat unique although had few unnecessarily repetitive parts. I still would prefer any similar things as a film or picture/anime, not as PRGM or VN game @_@ I just don't understand why my interaction is needed here at all. Overall content and experiences were a bit too simple for my taste.
Game had some accidental links personally for me which in sense, made up for cons :)

"Your ability to inflict pain is equal to ability to see things as separate"

Frankly speaking, Everything is not a game in classic meaning. It could be classified as a sandbox or even walking simulator, but this is not important. It is a pleasant experience, a gift. In the core of the game there are recorded (read by himself) lectures by [philosopher, writer and speaker Alan Watts (1915-1973)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts), divided in many small bits, and accompanied by 'thoughts' - text phrases or citations trying to reinforce the experience in parallel. 'Walking' offers exploration through many scales of the world from plank units and bacteria to planetary systems and universes, is visually soft and pleasant; music is great and tendering ears. Model of the world created by David O'Reilly supports lectures in incredible harmony. Whole process is tranquil and quite rewarding, I loved it a lot.
Regarding lectures, for me personally there was not many new ideas, but I have to say they were put into words with a great elegance and brevity. I wish to recommend listening to lecture to everybody, but it is clear that for appreciating it, some initial philosophical interest is needed, to compare own views to ones of Watts or at least to understand what is he talking about in any own way.
I was surprised by how deeply and without major contradictions many of his views were corresponding to mine atm, considering that I never heard of him before. Moreover, I am not fan of reading works by any philosophers - part of my believes is that I need to grow own philosophy and purview as independently from others as possible and never become biased to any particular sources / associated to any groups/teachings, and for record, works I ever encountered were not so close. He looks at things from well generalized point of view, using a lot principles of homogeneity in processes of different scales, governed by unity in underlying principles of universe. What I really like about Watts, that he is actually a master of word and he puts ideas in fairly simple for further translation and understanding form.
I saw that he actually wrote a lot of books, and I don't know his other standings, but at least material picked for this game is quite general: it does not bring own teaching, dogmatic principles or advices, no. This is rather a material to shake up own thinking and perceiving process, approach to improve own ability to see things deeper.

This game was... surprising. As Devs claim, they created it in old school traditions and this feels being complete truth, travelling through numerous locations with fixed camera, having a lot of scripted cut-scenes using game engine but outside of camera views, ..even palette itself! World map between locations in Final Fantasy -style. At first I didn't like their engine, at first in looks somewhat too amateur but in the end, I would say I liked it. Game in PC looks too much like console port and it is probably more comfy to play it with gamepad, but it was no issue for me.
What is really a game-killer - dialogues full of terrible distasteful puns. If from the beginning of the game player can be drastically disappointed by numerous obvious unfunny cliché jokes, in late game there appear jokes about whores, ex-partners in relationship, cocks, etc. I am angry in developer for letting me down. For making me skip through all this terrible crap. I saw comments about this game by others who said that game is funny and full of great jokes. No, god, no. This game is full of terrible jokes. You try to find gems among them - yes, maybe 5% are genuine, but this does not make up for others. Humour is very thin area, failed in numerous games, films, literature. I love humour, but in this game is was totally spoiled by dirt, silliness and sometimes rudeness - things I despise. I have to say that despite terrible dialogues, some global scenario twists were pretty funny. I shall not spoil them. My point is not that everything should be kind and clever, no, not necessarily. I love black humour too, by the way. This is beyond good and evil, just disrespect dev shows to player and themselves.

I love that nowadays more beautiful dreamy things are appearing as games and films. Even when I was a child, everything was so extremely boring compared to imagination. Only books were there with us, but I read so slowly and most are still boring. Films, good lord, films require not only great scenario and funding but a great inspired director, great actors being in right moment of life, so many human factors.. it is like arranging a planetary parade. Games are difficult too, but are naturally fitting to express fantasies and dreams.
Game starts as a regular butterfly effect thing: protagonist finds herself able to rewind events back in time. But, what quickly becomes more important driver, game has a great charm. I don't know how close setting is to USA small town in year 2013, which was a bit interesting itself from game-touristic point of view, but it had feeling of a small quiet whirlpool, in depths of which demons lurk, provincial, far from unwanted eyes mysterious place having scent of [Twin Peaks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Peaks) (to which it has more than numerous references). Neo-noir investigation story resembling e.g. such film as [Brick](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0393109/) and mechanics somewhat reminding Heavy Rain (but because of noir-ness). Neat, dovelike protagonist with her interest in arts and photography creates natural entourage full of visually beautiful scenes (with interactions of taking photos), which has brilliant synergy with rewinding-based plot line.
!!! SPOILER ALERT FOR NEXT PARAGRAPHS !!! DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THE GAME !!! (I don't know how to get it working inside html paragraph)
At first Max tries to save her friend and to help everybody she can, using her new ability. Soon she starts to uncover terrible, hidden events happening behind the scenes of small town, much bigger than she and her companion. Trying to uncover the truth, messing with unknown powers, she finds herself in front of more and more hard decisions, relentlessly pulling strings from her inner self. She sees close ones hurt and dying over and over again, her unable to change course of history to right all wrongs. Player sees how she grows up, evolves, her true self becoming naked, revealed in a ferocious battle which, seemed at first to be a standing against one person, escalates into a war against the nature and inner self. It disturbs and gnaws the protagonist, throws into a storm of feelings and thoughts which are too big for a young girl and may be for any person, alienating her, destroying, leading to catastrophe.
I love how this game shows this storm, literally, as a grand element, power of nature, able to destroy whole past, in some sense, whole their world. She is returning from this battle changed forever.
I have chosen Chloe at first, for Max. My Max believed it was her destiny. But another ending, I would say, is the true ending. Life.. Storm is inside a little girl, only inside, as in any of us. Paths taken and not, craving for finding their calm. She made up for years of silence with her best friend, solved a huge terrible mystery. She matured. You grow, change inside; no one can see this instantly... and it doesn't matter. What matters is within you, no one can take away.

One thing is not to do pointless things when you understand yourself and world you are living in better. But another is, not doing some of important because you.. can't. Anymore, or at all. It may lurk inside, it may torture. Do you seek for agreement with them, let them torment you, accept help or get to some actions.. Oh :3

This game was under my close observation since Rusty Lake: Roots was not yet released, this makes more than a year, but bought pack only at this Autumn sale. I noticed it after playing Year Walk, and while games are quite different, both are eerie, which makes finding somehow relevant. Atmosphere is really gorgeous. For such a short game, it is incredible how momentarily entry in setting is performed straight from the game intro and events revolve quickly, resembling some detective novel of end of 19th - beginning of 20th century, with exception that there are only murderers and no detectives (except player grasping more and more details about characters) ;3 While genre of game is classic point-and-click adventure with simple puzzles, this does not matter. Points of the game is experiencing immersion in mysterious eerie atmosphere of some forgotten place with evens, happening behind the scenes, which player is offered to speculate about; this aesthetic, artistic show with player being it's main executor

Similar visual style as Rusty Lake Hotel, and quite similar spirit, feeling of the game. But if Hotel tells about one week of events, Roots tells series of episodes of lives of one family during many generations. Basically, a saga. Creepy saga :3 Struggles, deaths and survival. Mystics, witchery, spiritualism. Great atmosphere, perfectly fitting music, no silly boring puzzles. Some of them are quite challenging, and game includes an in-built help with link to walkthrough. As value of the game is not in solving puzzles, but rather enjoying animations, music, small details, facial expressions. Sometimes it reminds of Adams family, sometimes of some grim WWI-time film. Sometimes old novels.. sometimes I imagined how my own ancestors lived in these times (1860-1930). Details while being drawn, are created by someone who has made fine research before creating the world of Rusty Lake. There are apparently a lot of small games in this series, most of them free to play. Totally recommend to try! Game is not strongly connected to Hotel, only by place and one side character, but Hotel still is better to play beforehand.

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