Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Oct 15, 2022

  Boasts a solid art style but is generally just bland and uninteresting to start. Apon loading into the game and attempting to move, the protagonist's legs visibly clip through their lower shirt as they walk. The walking animation also doesn't stop when the protagonist reaches a wall, they just keep walking in place up against that wall until you tell them to stop. The dialogue text hasn't been properly spaced in relation to the typewriter effect being used to spell it out either. So the game tries to type out a word, realizes that word can't fit on the line anymore because the text box isn't big enough, then teleports the word down to the next line where it'll fit. This game costs around fifteen dollars yet has simple presentation issues I would prefer to not even see in a free game. These are such basic elements of immersive presentation. Making it so the character stops their walking animation when they reach a wall is such a simple part of making a game look believable, especially for an experience where the protagonist is so in focus on the screen. And to not even have the text properly spaced so that it stays on the same line while being typed out in a dialogue heavy game is just ridiculous. The character dialogue itself is stiff and sounds distinctly translated. The characters randomly using phrases and sentence structures that are totally inorganic. There's also an uncomfortable amount of word repetition where sometimes a character will say the same word multiple times in close succession; it just reads terribly. All of the characters I encountered were simply humans. There wasn't anything particularly special or intriguing about them, their defining trait is them being a human basically. Whatever that means. Meanwhile the environment is monotonous and decrepit looking. The screenshots on the store page actually do a great job of hiding the fact that the initial cityscape is just a bunch of dingy narrow streets. There are little visual indicators that this game takes place in the future apart from holographic signs and the protagonist using a hoverboard. The game tries to make the protagonist reference future things at first so the futuristic element of the world seems more prominent, but it really isn't and the game is less interesting as a result. The initial sandbox is largely empty with most streets having no characters or examine fixtures in them. Players can find random objects by searching the environment, or maybe they encounter a random character who gives them a fetch quest. This appears to be the core of this experience. Fetch quests given by generic humans in a largely empty environment that supposedly takes place sixty years in the future; but that part doesn't really matter much. There seems to be some mechanics involving the hoverboard that weren't explained however the hoverboard is basically just a speed increase otherwise. There's no dynamic movement or anything associated with it that really distinguishes the feature from what I saw, apart from a couple simple novelty tricks the player can perform while riding. The game just seems really boring. The locomotion is boring, the environment is boring, the characters are boring, the fetch quests are boring. There's nothing particularly exciting or engaging about any of it. This game feels like an overly accurate simulation of what it'd be like to wander around a half empty small town filled with humans who aren't fluent in English and don't know how to solve their own mundane problems. But it takes place sixty years in the future so there's a very low flying hoverboard, holographic signs and a drone apparently. Maybe it gets more interesting later on, but there's nothing in the initial half hour that was remotely gripping to me. Nothing about wandering around a bland sandbox filled with basic fetch quests inspires any confidence in the future experience, especially when the dialogue is so monotonously inorganic. I'm sure there are at least some parts of this game that are enjoyable but the investment to reach those theoretical parts just doesn't seem worth it. This game was originally posted as a demo on the Event Horizon School account in Itch.io so I'm assuming this is a student project. Which is exactly what it feels like. There's some effort and style present but no distinct sense of vision or intrigue to the experience, nothing deep enough for the player to really sink into the world. The developers probably had more fun making this game than I had with trying to play it. If you're interested in finding some games that I do positively recommend they can be found on my curator page here .
• gamedeal user

  Oct 16, 2022

  Ok, so I don't really have time for this now but I just can't let this game remain with this single negative review. I honestly have no idea what the deal is with that one, it seems downright malicious to me and I'm wondering if the reviewer has some kind of personal beef with this game's devs or if they were just having a very bad day. For one thing, there's no good reason to buy and then dismiss this game after the first half hour because you can check out (a previous version of) that first part for free in the still available demo on here. Anyway. I've been loving this game. It has a pretty gloomy backdrop, but just about everything else about it makes me constantly smile. The art style, the characters, the humour. All the little details that make the city feel alive - the birds flying up as you walk/hover past, the street art OMG I adore the street art everywhere, and the advertisements and other stuff hinting at what can be found in the neighbourhood... And let me say that I'm a bit of a language and translation nerd and what Other Reviewer said about the dialogues seems like bullshit to me. They aren't perfect, but I found nothing worth nitpicking over (and those who know my reviews know that I love to complain about bad writing). If I had to nitpick about one thing, it would be my usual pet peeve of games being too controller-oriented, but in this case it's just a very minor annoyance that there's so little mouse control. I have to get back to work, but I'm looking forward to playing more as I've really been enjoying this game a great deal. * * * If you like chill and story-driven games, check out my curator Peaceful Adventures and Stories. You're also welcome to join the group.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 18, 2022

  this game is really relaxing and enjoyable. The strong point of the game is the exploration of Venice in every street and in every corner to discover every little secret. The character and environment design is consistent and highly inspired. The references to Italian pop culture are really nice, and even if you are not Italian with a brief search you can discover many interesting or funny things about it. If you want a relaxing and enjoyable game, Venice 2089 is definitely for you.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 24, 2022

  Want to relax and let yourself be pampered by very chill music? Well, Venice2089 is the game for you. This game is a story driven experience that lets you explore every street in a futuristic Venice. On an artistic level, the game is truly spectacular, uniquely mixing 2D and 3D. I really loved this game, especially the setting and the props. I also very much appreciated the issue linked to pollution. Especially in a period where this problem becomes more serious every day. I recommend everyone to live this little experience in Italian pop culture.
• NooFrog

  Aug 17, 2023

  good game disappointing ending