Developer: Sunset Visitor | Released: 2024 | Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi
It’s tempting to describe this game as a visual novel disguised as a walking simulator, but it wouldn’t quite make it justice. Although it did have some exploration and light puzzles, the distinct style and narrative really made it stand out from its peers.
A disease from an alien race, the Occupants, wiped out all humanity except one girl, Iris. She was immune, and she created a new society with clones of herself, known as the sisters. They were not immune and had to wear masks, and they worshiped Iris as the ALLMOTHER. They lived in an enormous underground bunker called the Orchard, hiding from the Occupants.
I was playing as the Watcher, a girl with the ability to relive and interpret the memories of the ALLMOTHER through a process known as Communion, made possible by Secretary, my floating AI companion. These Communion sequences were like virtual reality experiences in the past memories of Iris.
I could talk to a lot of NPC, sometimes jump forward or back in time, and there were tasks for finding specific NPC. Talking to these quest goal NPC typically shifted me into a surrealistic scenario zipping from node to node, trying to find the NPC in a cloud of floating objects. The time jumps were typically useful for bypassing blockades like closed doors or force fields.
This game had received top scores by most review sites and an overwhelming positive user rating on Steam. Especially the story and the dialog were praised as an amazing experience. Many claimed they were jealous of gamers experiencing it for the first time. Did I agree with the consensus?
