else Heart.Break() is a unique game, it's unlike anything I've played before. It's a very ambitious game: this ends up being its greatest strength but also the main weakness.
When you first start playing this, it seems like a pretty standard point-n-click adventure. You move your character around by clicking, you can interact with objects and there is an inventory and inventory-based puzzles, plus lots of dialogue. The game is set in this strange future.. this utopian city that feels like Omikron: The Nomad Soul. The art style is also really beautiful, colourful: everything is bright and geometric. In terms of controls it feels a bit like The Sims too, that isometric view and all the interactions with people.
But once you get started on the game you realise it's very different from your standard puzzle/adventure. As soon as you arrive in the city, the game mechanics are loosened. The city that you explore is finely detailed: hundreds of areas, houses, rooms, gardens. And you have immediate access to all of it. I was immediately lost in this world, I spent hours just walking the streets, talking to people, exploring the gardens and abandoned buildings and parks, the factories and apartments. The city is alive too, every single person goes about their business, each character has a home, a job and things they like to do outside of work. People go to parties or cafes. That's one of my favourite things about this game: you can just ignore the main story completely and have a relaxing time in this strange city: hanging out in the garden with a cup of coffee, taking some drugs at a nightclub or talking to workers on the dock. The whole experience is accompanied by a brilliant futuristic soundtrack, which adds to the appeal.
Anyway, I've described the world but in truth I haven't really even touched on the main draw of the game. So you play as a novice hacker, but you quickly realise that there's something peculiar about this world: everything can be hacked, altered and programmed. It's difficult to explain, but practically every single object in this city can be hacked and modified. It sounds a bit like Watch Dogs or System Shock 2, but it goes much deeper. Everything can be hacked: not only things like computers, vending machines, terminals.. I mean things like doors, plants, food, drinks, even people! The game is completely open, and you can go as deep as you want to. It's a bit like Minecraft: you can take this to the extreme, reprogram the entire city to be whatever you want. I got sucked into this and I spent a large amount of time trying to push the limits of the game to see what was possible. It's almost like you're fooling around with the game engine itself. I would go into more detail on this, but I feel like it would be a spoiler, because the joy of this game lies in discovery.
The game is so completely open and alterable that this ends up being its downfall. It's quite easy to bug the game. If you play it, save frequently because I encountered or created game-breaking bugs at least 10+ times. The game is ambitious, but a small team built it so it was bound to be a bit buggy, for something so huge and malleable. My other complaint is the story: to be honest, the characters are kind of awful and one-dimensional, and irritating, including the player character! But I can excuse this for two reasons: firstly, the game is about exploring and tinkering, I was ignoring the actual story for most of it so it's not a big deal. Also I feel like the actual characters are secondary to the city itself. The city is so alive and colourful that it makes up for the weak characters.
Ultimately this is one weird game, but it's a brilliant idea. Omikron: The Nomad Soul was my favourite game for many years, and this is the only game I've played which gave me that same weird feeling of being in this almost-real weird utopian metropolis. This game also felt like Dwarf Fortress in some ways, like a tinkerer's dream. This game doesn't hold your hand and I can imagine that some people might find it extremely difficult to progress, especially because it's so open-ended. If you're looking for an adventure game with a riveting narrative, maybe pass on this. But if you'd like to try something completely unique and weird, with this magical atmosphere, and you like to tinker around, then perhaps this is the game for you.
