Last Stop (2021)

Last Stop is an episodic graphic adventure that works a bit like an anthology, in the sense that you get to play as three different characters throughout three seemingly unrelated stories that build up towards a climax as the game progresses. In that respect, the game does a good job of keeping the mystery alive and player engagement fairly high throughout most - not all - of the time. The main issue here is in perception. Like a lot of graphic adventures, there really isn’t much of a game to talk about in the mechanical sense. In fact, I feel like what passes for gameplay in Last Stop actually gets in the way of the story beats, some of which are quite interesting and clearly its biggest selling point. When we’re looking at it with game goggles, another issue that crops us is the frequent disconnection between your dialogue choices and what the characters actually say. Couple that with the fact that there really isn’t much player agency in how these stories are shaped (ending excluded), and you end up with the illusion of choice rather than actual choice.

Even considering these shortcomings, however, Last Stop still manages to offer something competent. It tells mysterious and captivating stories, it boasts solid voice acting, and it’s able to keep a high level of storytelling quality throughout most of the experience. The big drawback in this regard is that this isn’t always achieved. There are glimpses of narrative inconsistency here and there (the 3rd chapter, for example, starts out really weird), but the biggest offender to me is the actual ending. After going through frequently engaging, interesting and even fun story beats, I felt like I had been left waiting for a payoff that never truly came. The conclusion ends up being ultimately unsatisfying, simply because some aspects are left unexplored and unexplained. Which doesn’t really work, especially when you are leading your audience through a well designed mystery under the implied assumption that all will be revealed in due time. Some of it never was, and that was frustrating.

For some, the runtime of about 6hrs may be considered too long if the ending is seen as a bit of a letdown. However, this time is important to make you create an emotional bond with the characters and feel invested in the story, which is paramount in a narrative-driven experience. And the game delivers on both of these fronts. In the end, I still enjoyed the journey I took with Last Stop. I just didn’t fully enjoy the destination. 6.5

First things first, there is VERY little gameplay in this. It is a Telltale-style game but there is little interaction other than walking or running even by Telltale standards! That along should help anyone on the fence decide if they should even bother.

The second thing I want to point out is this game has a terrible beginning! I almost quit a few times from boredom until somewhere around chapter 3. For a game with only 6 chapters that is NOT GOOD!

That said, what gameplay variety there is, is in the first few chapters. It is funny but when the story gets interesting/good is when it really becomes just an interactive movie. Normally that would be more of an issue but it took such an interesting left turn that I was captivated to see it finish.

I am not sure this is any good but for a certain sort, maybe a casual Sci-Fi fan, this is worth trying.

I was a huge telltale games fan and ive played all of their games except for Tales of the Borderlands and the Guardians of the Galaxy. One thing about telltale is that regardless of the universe and story, the main characters are always likeable and you care and root for them on their journey. This is why I struggled with this game at first, most of the characters put in front of me weren't very likable to the point i didn't really care about what happens to them. As the game progresses though, some character growth happens (very abruptly) and by the end, you kind of care about what ending each character gets.

The main draw for me with this game is that it's set in London, a city i studied in for a few years and it really makes me feel good to see all the details that are so uniquely London. (Slight spoilers!!) But in the later parts of the game, the story takes place in a fictional land that is actually quite interesting to me and it makes me wonder what other stories could be told here in this foreign land.

All in all, this was a good game to scratch the telltale games itch. There's definitely a lot of potential here and i wish they would concentrate on one character and give him/her a well written story and just focus on that. This game tried to do a GTA5 and give multiple characters and multiple views which really weakens the story and experience in both games in my opinion.