Indigo Prophecy (2005)

What a shithow this was. It has aged so extremely poor. The script feels like it was written by a 13-year-old who just saw The Matrix for the first time.

I'm sure this was super cool tech and relevant when it came out, I mean you have to give props for spearheading the movie-to-game type of games. But damn playing this in 2024 everything is just awful.

I did end up seeing it through because the vibes are actually pretty nice from time to time, enveloped in a snowy landscape gives it a bit of Silent Hill feel to the outdoor scenes, except it's all snow. Also, it's one of those games that are so bad they are pretty funny.

Played the remastered PS4 version, on the PS5. The story begins quite strongly and is very interesting for a good bit of it. However, once the mid and end game is reached, it sort of tries too much and doesn't quite feel as cohesive and strong as the beginning. Some parts feel too rushed and not quite given the necessary time to develop. Nevertheless still a decent story.

Gameplay is definitely aged. There are moments when the gameplay intrudes too much to the story experience and sometimes, you're focusing too much on just trying to pass the rhythm esque game prompt instead of paying attention to the story which is unfortunate. The ending also kind of drags on with this, doing many long sections of these rhythmic-game esque moments once more. Quantic Dream definitely improves upon this on later releases.

Overall, its worth a playthrough especially if you enjoy Heavy Rain or Beyond Two Souls, or other story driven games like this, but probably only once and keep in mind its age.

Previously, I played the original Fahrenheit that I bought on DVD over a decade ago. It may not have been ground-breaking even back then, but it puts the "interactive movie" genre in a new light thanks to the technological advancements that add to the immersion value. Since I got the remastered release as part of a Humble Bundle pack, I figured I would revisit and digest it with prior experience in mind.

The story takes focus on mainly 3 characters in an increasingly cold winter season in New York City; one having been possessed to murder a stranger while two others are detectives on the investigation of the crime. Playing through the segments in each character's perspective, there are 2 prime features that'll decide how you carry out the events. The first one is the dialogue choices that occur during the conversation with other characters. Having them timed can be a double-edged sword in a plot-driven adventure game; it may play up to the real-time factor of an interactive movie. But, unless you have a good simultance capacity, considering between the dialogue options while trying to keep up with the occuring dialogues have a chance to make you miss out on plot details or make the wrong choice too soon.

The second prime feature is the QuickTime Events, affecting the outcome of current scene you play in. You have 8 buttons, that are like made for controller layout, as well as button mashing moments. Such execution made here is quite experimental but having played the demos on Quantic Dream's later games, they would learn to revamp and improve QTE formula, which here is barely intuitive in comparison. The third prime feature is the wider freedom of approach in your environmental and object interaction, some are crucial for succeeding while others are open choices for attaining your goal and some can lead you to death/failure.

It all sounds good on paper and has something interesting going on from the start, only until the plot drops the mystery factor for ludicrous, super-power plot devices two-thirds in. Even the pacing picks up to a rushed degree, which may have killed the potential satisfaction in the conclusion(s) of the story.

In my younger years, I have found Fahrenheit to be a refreshing and exciting output from the storytelling niche of video games (I was crazy about Matrix). But from the points mentioned above, it is hard to recommend this when there are more refined and worthy games that Quantic Dream has brought out later. Fahrenheit hasn't aged well, despite the remaster, but might be worth looking into at a sale.

SPOILER

So I finished this game exactly at 12 am and I intended to finish it yesterday (so like 11 minutes ago). So close.

Anyway, the only reason I'm writing this in English is so I can use the term lazy writing as I please.

Because Fahrenheit truly is Lazy Writing: The Videogame. Guess that makes it two Fahrenheits I don't like. Though this was far more fun that 451 so it has that going for it at least.

Anyway so basically the game starts pretty strong, and from one point in the middle it just goes completely nuts. In a bad way.

The protagonist conveniently has superhuman powers exactly when the police are gonna catch him. Alright.

But why did he have to see exactly the person he needed to see on TV exactly at that moment? What are the fucking odds? Were you really not able to come up with anything better than a Mayan expert showing up on TV exactly after mayans being mentioned? Really, David Cage?

The concept of the story is mighty interesting, don't get me wrong, it's just badly executed. If you took the first half of the game for a remake, this could make an incredible movie. Because the concept is just so good.

But it's not as good as to outweigh the poorly written way it's executed in. What a shame.

Anyway, don't get me started on the gameplay. Really. I had to change the difficulty from hard to normal and then to easy, and the only thing I regret is not doing it sooner.

It's a pain in the ass. I don't know if it was like this on consoles and PC but on the Android version, which is what I played, it was extremely hard. You're asking for a kind of precision impossible to have on a fucking touch screen.

I mean the colored arrows, of course. The worst thing is that they get even stupider as the game goes on because at the start they do make some kind of sense, since if, for example, you're running from a monster and you have to turn left, then you swipe left.

But at the end of the game you got these cutscenes (because they are cutscenes) in which these fucking things make absolutely no goddamn sense because it doesn't matter. The moves the guy makes have nothing to do with what you're doing on the QTEs. At this point just let me watch the damn thing.

Like, there were some action scenes. And I guess they were cool. I say I guess because HOW COULD I KNOW IF I HAD TO DO THE MOTHERFUCKING QUICK TIME EVENTS WHILE THEY WERE HAPPENING. Fuck these QTEs, for real. Never seen them done worse in a videogame.

And well the whole thing about moving your characters around close environments with the shitty camera... That's something David Cage just will never learn. It's been a while since I've played Detroit, and I know it fixes a lot of the problems this one and Heavy Rain have, but I don't know if this is one of them.

It should, anyway, because like I read on Grouvee, Quantic Dream is the proof that if you keep making the same game over and over one of these days you'll end up making a good one.

Sadly this still had a long way before that. Heavy Rain too had some of these problems (its plotholes were outrageous), but it was far nicer to play.

Oh, did I mention the stupid way Lucas and Carla get together at the end? "I love you"? What? You just met the fucking guy. And then they have sex. Really gratioutious.

Oh and I love Tyler. Love the way he's so useless for the game that the way it has to get rid of him is to have his girlfriend (that appears two times before this) ask him to leave with her for Florida. Seriously, his existence was dispensable.

This is one of the few games that are a lot better if you just watch it on Youtube.

And that's how this review ends. I'll never know why I played this because as far as the world is concerned, this is just a shit game.

Playing this game was a very unique experience. The gloomy atmosphere introduced from the very start was one which set the mood for the entire playthrough, and each new clue I discovered about the murder at Doc's Diner and Lucas' involvement in the prophecy made me more and more intrigued. Everyone met along the way each had a surprising amount of individuality and character to them, and the way we experience these regular people in the midst of their regular lives, being brought into this wider story was very impactful to me. The story was engaging - it was able to mix a deep paranormal link with a regular, gloomy city, and I really liked this. It gave me hints of Twin Peaks along the way, the base murder-mystery with a much more complex core, and considering that is my favourite show of all time it made me enjoy the experience more thinking of this. The at times wacky and top-bar plot really made me connect with this game. And while the ending did feel rushed I still had the feeling of completion, and Carla and Lucas at the end was a like, too. Additionally, the soundtrack was brilliant. Along with the genuine TUNES throughout the game, it also had a great original instrumental soundtrack, which really stuck with me, and kept the mood for the game. (I also found out these instrumental pieces were composed by none other than Angelo Badalamenti (who composed the soundtrack for Twin Peaks also) so of course it's top notch in mood and atmosphere). Finally, while I'm not one to vouch for QTEs, this game, I feel, used them to a comfortable level, and when used in certain action scenes made me feel very involved (and a lot like Neo from The Matrix).

Overall, I really enjoyed this game for the connection I gained with the in-depth characters, the normal life represented amongst the chaos lying beneath, and the setting and soundtrack which made the atmosphere come to life. And mostly, the unique experience of the game as a whole. It was great fun.

This game was almost the end of me. Between the button mashing, the clunky story, and the very odd gameplay I could barely enjoy anything. At one point you had to perform a 10+ minute sequence of pressing buttons in the correct order with little to no errors, like what am I even playing at this point. The graphics were quite good and the writers at least tried. But the whole experience was lessened to whatever was going on with the gameplay side. I know this was early into those types of story type games that later improved with Heavy Rain and Beyond two souls and for that, it gets its credit. However, there are no reasons to play this one since it fails as a game and as a storytelling tool, even if it played with the innovative idea of multiple three-dimensional characters, multiple endings, and attempting something different.

This game has one of the best, most arresting openings I've ever encountered in a game, putting the player in the shoes of a character who's just committed a murder and needs to hide the evidence and then, once you're sympathizing and identifying with him, switching to the point of view of a police officer and making you find the evidence you just hid. It's a great sequence, and one that really makes use of the interactivity of the medium and the way players tend to automatically become invested in the fate of any character they control.

It's just a shame about the rest of the game.

No miento cuando digo que Fahrenheit es uno de los peores «juegos» que haya probado. Y no porque sea más bien una peli con algo de interacción (The Walking Dead S1 es genial) - su mediocridad se extiende a varios niveles, pero los principales son:

Jugabilidad

El punto más bajo y flojo. Básicamente se juega como un juego clásico de aventura, lo que no está mal - hasta se puede intercambiar el uso de personajes en algunas escenas, lo que permite diferentes perspectivas y formas de interactuar con el entorno. Pero ahí termina lo bueno. Fahrenheit depende mucho de quick-action events, esos en los que tenés que apretar botones como loco en el momento justo para avanzar la secuencia. Aunque funciona en juegos como Resident Evil 4 (ya que es realmente algo ocasional y bastante simple), aquí es básicamente un juego de baile. No, literalmente hay que tocar los botones en la secuencia exacta tipo Dance Dance Revolution, pero sin fallarle apenas - hasta incluso el HUD son 4 flechas de colores.

En escenas en las que hay que lograr que el personaje esquive ataques o se mueva con sigilo, es divertido. Para el que mira nomás. Desde una perspectiva de diseño, ésto es una atrocidad. ¿Cuál es la relación con el juego o la trama? ¿Acaso los personajes tienen que bailar para salvar sus vidas o procrear? Nop. Cero relación con el resto del juego. Y pasar por éstos quick-time events es obligatorio para ganar el «juego».

Trama

Bueno, uno pensaría que un título en el que lo que importa es la historia, al menos tendría una decente, bien escrita, y medianamente original, ¿no? Iré al grano: ésta historia es una porquería de clase B que ni siquiera es de esas «tan malas que son buenas». Clichés como profecías sin sentido y elegidos, un prota que termina tirandose a la chica, un enemigo encapuchado y «malévolo», un negro bastante trillado, salvar al mundo, visiones, etc. Personajes vacíos y predecibles, carentes de personalidad. Una trama que *sorpresa* tiene un final feliz (al menos uno de los finales) de los obvios. Muy pobre representación de temas como el bien y el mal. Etc etc.

Fahrenheit es un juego pretencioso y realmente muy mal diseñado. Ya los dos aspectos que mencioné son argumento suficiente para que no pierdas tu tiempo en ésto. No perderé tiempo analizando otros apartados flojos, cómo el gráfico - ya sé que es del 2005 y blah blah blah, pero hay muchos juegos de esa época e incluso antes (Silent Hill 3) que se ven mucho mejor en cuanto a modelado, iluminación, animación, etc. Pero bueno, supongo que Indigo Prophecy fue más un experimento que otra cosa - incluso aparece David Cage explicándonos algunos aspectos del «juego» - lástima que falla como tal, y ni siquiera funciona como pelicúla interactiva.

Фаренгейт впечатлил. Сначала музыка заставки, потом необычное управление, прекрасная киношная камера и переключение ракурсов. Крайне интересный сюжет, в котором не всё просто, и ты едва ли можешь предсказать следующий поворот. Обстановка и герои настолько хорошо сделаны, что я потерялась, где реальность, а где игра. Супер-здорово, что нужно много думать, подмечать детали и быстро соображать. А сколько было загрузок во славу перфекционизма и поддержания морального состояния героев... Ух. *тут должна быть фраза из заголовка* Горячо рекомендую.

Fahrenheit is impressive. First, the opening music, then an unusual controlling, wonderful camera like in a movie and toogling of angles of view. Incredibly interesting storyline where everything isn't simple, and you can't predict the next plot twist. Environment and heroes were made so good that I've lost an edge between the game and reality. I needed to think hard, to notice every single detail and to make decisions asap. That is super cool. Oh, how many loadings I've made due to supporting main heroes' state bar in 'Normal'. Ugh... 10 Oracle's voices of 10. Highly recommended!

P. S. Best time for this game is snowy January. Like right now.