iOS

Sony PlayStation DualSense Wireless Controller

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/20/2023
Posted in: Android, Hardware, iOS, Linux, Mac, Mobile Reviews, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Sony Consoles. Leave a comment

The PlayStation controller is iconic. It was the first controller that had force feedback built-in, and dual analog sticks, and became a worldwide icon. I remember buying my first DualShock controller as a kid. It was a green one too. The controller improved with the PS2 by adding pressure-sensitive buttons, but overall still being the same thing. The DualShock 3 was the most controversial originally being a SixAxis controller with no force feedback due to the lawsuit that Sony was in over their force feedback tech. The DualShock 3 did eventually come out, but the SixAxis motion was a gimmick and was never utilized outside of the first two years of the system’s life. It also had triggers that weren’t well done and the analog stick rubber degraded over time. It just wasn’t a fantastic controller. On the other hand, the DualShock 4 wasn’t the greatest either. The forced light bar needed to communicate with the PlayStation camera that no one had drained the battery and the added touchpad didn’t really add to any one experience just like the SixAxis didn’t. It had improved rear triggers and analog sticks, but that was about it.

Here we are the scrapped DualShock name. I have to salute that name and it will be missed. We are now in the DualSense era. This controller is probably the first ever to be truly as innovative as the built-in analog sticks and force feedback from the DualShock 1. The haptic triggers literally change how a game plays and feels. These aren’t gimmicks. There is a resistive force on the triggers in the game. You can hold down a trigger partially and it will stick with a motor. Pull down harder to actually shoot a gun or arrow. You can feel the swings of an axe in God of War: Ragnarok. The triggers can even vibrate a bit and feel suddenly loose or tight like in The Last of Us Part 1. It changes the way I shoot in games. Spider-Man Remastered lets you feel the webs that you shoot with physical force.

This is the best part of the entire controller and I miss it in every game that doesn’t have it. The rest of the controls are just slightly tweaked with a better hand feel of the grips and the top light bar was finally removed. However, there are still lights around the touchpad which is fine. The controller just looks so good now too. The change to a pure white launch color was strange, but also brave. The texture of the controller is improved as well. It doesn’t feel as slippery and the plastic doesn’t feel as cheap as the DualShock 3 (I’m sorry, but that controller was my least favorite from Sony). The D-Pad also feels better this time around and less mushy. I also love how the controller is now USB-C and we can finally get away from the micro connector. You still have Bluetooth availability and it seems to be more compatible with devices than what the DualShock 4 could do. I do like the actual PlayStation logo as the home button now, and the controller retains the speaker and mic features. There is also a mic mute button right on the controller which is a great feature.

Overall, the DualSense controller is the first controller revolution since the Wii remote and the original DualShock before that. The haptic triggers literally change the way you play and feel the game. There are so many things you can do with this type of resistive technology and many first-party games are coming out swinging already. The battery life is improved over the DualShock 4, the ergonomics have been tweaked just enough, and finally, get USB-C! I’m not sure how Sony can improve from here.

Microsoft Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controller

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 03/12/2023
Posted in: Android, Hardware, iOS, Linux, Mac, Microsoft Consoles, Mobile Reviews, PC Reviews, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S. Leave a comment

Microsoft isn’t someone to mess with when it comes to controllers. Sure, the original Duke is lauded as one of the worst controllers ever made, and it has its fans, but the Xbox S controller really changed things up. Not to mention their analog stick orientation which is copied to this day by even Nintendo. The Xbox controller made built-in headset plugs a thing too. The Xbox 360 controller was considered the best controller ever made at the time. The ergonomics were fantastic and the later improved rotating D-Pad was a huge plus. The Xbox One controller only made things better with bumper button rumble, and just overall improved ergonomics and build quality. Microsoft messes the least amount with their controllers. They just like making it feel good and work. They also have a battery fetish that a lot of people don’t care for.

Fast forward to today and we have Microsoft’s next-generation controller. It’s probably the least changed compared to other companies, but it continues its design DNA. The ergonomics are slightly tweaked still, the built quality feels even better, and they took the idea of the rotating D-pad and the D-pad from their Elite controllers and made it standard. Xbox has the best D-pad out of all three companies. The bowl-shaped D-pad works so well with fighting games as it feels almost like an arcade stick. It’s very clicky and detents in the right spots. You can roll your thumb around for those quarter-circle moves with ease.

The trigger texture is also improved and feels very bumpy and gritty. The haptic feedback hasn’t changed either, but I guess that’s okay. It’s a stark contrast to Sony’s fantastic DuelSense controller. There isn’t much tech packed into this controller either. It’s probably the most basic controller available right now, but many gamers prefer that. You still get a headset input at the bottom and that’s about it. This feels like the Xbox One 1.5 update rather than a next-gen controller. There is an added share button in the center with Microsoft taking notes from Sony from the DualShock 4 controller. This makes sense with streaming and social media has blown up since the Xbox One debuted. The controller does have a USB-C port just like the DualSense so I applaud Microsoft for not making me get out the USB micro.

You still get your Bluetooth functionality, and they are still using AA batteries. Some praise this as that means this controller will always work and you won’t need to get a battery in a few years and tear it apart. Some hate it saying it’s not very modern of them to do. You can get rechargeable AA which I have been doing since the Xbox 360 era so there’s no need to whine.

Overall, the Xbox Series X|S controller is the least changed, but it still works. Microsoft is the poster child for “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” USB-C is nice with the added texture to the bumpers and triggers, but the biggest change is the D-pad. It just feels great. If you liked the Xbox controller up until now then you won’t be disappointed.

Rhythm Thief & The Emperor’s Treasure – 11 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/14/2023
Posted in: 3DS, iOS, Mobile Reviews, Nintendo Consoles. Leave a comment

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Xeen

Release Date: 07/10/2012


Also Available On

Paris. A thief by night and regular Joe by day. A strange symbol your father left you. An Anti-Christ that has risen from the grave. This all sounds like an epic recipe for some crazy National Treasure sequel, and honestly, this kind of feels like an anime version of that movie. You play Phantom R and are trying to uncover an ancient mystery that your dad left you as a small boy while stopping the evil Napoleon Bonaparte himself from taking over Paris.

The story really takes itself too seriously for how silly the plot is. During the 5 hours you will spend with this game I honestly felt no attachment to the characters or story. They’re very cookie-cutter and don’t really develop any type of personality. The spotty voice acting doesn’t help either. There are a lot of characters for such a short game and many of them only get a few seconds of screen time to shout at you and that’s about it. It’s a very forgettable game, not just in the story. The visuals are your bog-standard anime-style graphics. The game plays like a rhythm version of Professor Layton on top of all that.

Once you get a hold of your character and can explore the map you will be presented with still backgrounds on the bottom screen like in Professor Layton. You then tap away ferociously until stuff happens. You can collect two hidden presents per screen for golden coins that are used to buy aids during mini-games. Some screens will have secrets such as notes that need to be found to find a secret music page, soundtrack CD, or objects that produce sounds that are needed to build the master instrument. These hidden items eventually unlock hidden chapters, but I honestly didn’t care enough for any of the characters to learn any backstory here from said chapters.

The meat of the game is the rhythm sections and these are fairly simplistic, but frustrating in nature. In most rhythm games you can get good at it by following the beat of the song. In this game, you don’t ride the entire beat like in most rhythm games. Small sections are cut out with button presses. For example, you do a sequence with A or B buttons like A-B-B-A-B and that section follows the beat of the song. This would be fine if the entire game wasn’t a Simon Says game disguised as a rhythm game. You have to listen to a sequence of notes and repeat them regardless of the beat of the song. I wound up failing many mini-games because I wanted to naturally tap or press buttons in time with the beat, but just mashing the buttons worked. Increased difficulty means more prompts to remember and they sometimes play so fast that it’s almost impossible to remember the sequence on the first try.

While I praise the game for giving a variety of mini-game types they do repeat very often. The games usually require you to tap two buttons or swipe on the screen in certain directions. That’s it. In between the rhythm games are mini-game puzzles that are fairly easy and offer no challenge. There are a few Simon Says ones in here too, but the sequence is remembered so if you mess up you just start at the last note you messed up on. That offers no challenge and allows you to basically mash all the buttons and not care about the order. While I could find a groove with some rhythm mini-games there were many that I just couldn’t get into or kept messing up on and didn’t understand why.

Overall, Rhythm Thief is a Simon Says game disguised as a rhythm game. There’s no true rhythm here outside of repeating every pattern in time with a beat. I could do that without a beat. The increased difficulty isn’t about more complicated songs, but just increased speed and more prompts in a shorter time frame. That’s not challenging just frustrating. The story is nonsensical and takes itself too seriously with characters that are one note and don’t have any time to build a personality to care for. While the visuals are nice it feels way too much like a cousin to Professor Layton and not its own thing.

Rage of the Gladiator – 10 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/06/2023
Posted in: 3DS, Android, iOS, Mobile Reviews, Nintendo Consoles, Wii. Leave a comment

Publisher: Gamelion

Developer: Ghostfire Games

Release Date: 09/19/2013


Also Available On

Infinity Blade was a big deal when it was released. It was the Dark Souls of mobile games at the time before Dark Souls even came out. Chair Entertainment started a revolution that many tried to copy and failed. It was a rogue-lite that had you dying over and over to only use the gold and XP you acquired to level up and get further each time. Some consider it a repetitive grind, but others feel it makes them want to get further and further and find the chiseling of progression addictive. Rage of the Gladiator tries this and doesn’t do any of it very well. Forget a story, it’s pretty much nonexistent outside of a few stills with text.

There are ten bosses to fight through. Each one does more damage, has faster moves, and more of them. Despite this sense of progression in difficulty, the game is very easy. You have to dodge left or right in first person, jump, and then swing your sword left or right, and even kick when you successfully dodge. You can get a max of a 5-hit combo in unless you use a special move before that fifth hit. There’s no strategy involved, and I only died one time during my entire play-through. Moves are easy to predict and rather slow. The repetition gets worse when you have to win three rounds per boss. That’s 30 rounds in total before unlocking the medium difficulty. Yeah, you work your way up through hard, but the moves are just faster and one or two more are thrown in. You also take more damage.

You can buy weapons, shields, armor, mana, and health potions, acquire passive and offensive abilities and increase stats. You win gold after each match and earn one measly XP per match. Yes, it’s a complete grind and this is leftover from this being a mobile game. At the end of the tenth boss, I was only able to buy two new weapons, a single shield, and an armor piece. You can use gold to buy XP, but this system is in favor of grinding or slowing you down enough to make you buy this stuff via microtransactions, but these aren’t on the 3DS version. So, instead of rebalancing the game, they kept the grind in.

This would be fine if the game was as epic or good-looking as something like Infinity Blade. Instead, we get generic Greek mythology bosses, a ninja, and a Chinese martial arts master, and that’s about it. Medium and Hard difficulties have one additional boss at the end, but they’re not exciting. However, the animations are stiff, the visuals are ugly, and everything is just on repeat forever. There’s no strategy involved in the fights or even how to go about your attacks. Instead of adding a parry system that allows you to counter an attack you just dodge. There are a few attacks that can be paired, but it’s only on a few of the bosses. It would even be cool to change up the background, but instead, it’s the same Roman arena forever.

Overall, Rage of the Gladiator is a repetitive, boring, easy, and weak attempt at a genre that has been done better and to death. There’s no rebalancing of the shop or winnings so you’re grinding as if you can buy these things to advance quicker. The bosses are uninteresting and boring, the game is ugly and drab, and there’s no story to speak of. Shoving a mobile game onto the 3DS was a bad move and it shows here.

A Little to the Left

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/05/2023
Posted in: Android, iOS, Mobile Reviews, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, Switch. Leave a comment

Publisher: Secret Mode

Developer: Max Inferno

Release Date: 11/08/2022


Also Available On

As time goes on I’ve learned to appreciate engaging casual games that don’t require intense focus. Small adventure games that only take a few hours to beat, relaxing puzzle games that don’t really have an ending, and anything in between are fun to enjoy and veg out on. It’s the same effect for me as binge-watching a show. A Little to the Left tries to be that. It has engaging puzzles and serotonin-squirting organization puzzles along with cute visuals, but it does come with issues.

The game’s puzzles start out fairly simple. There are around 75 puzzles in the main game with 365 daily puzzles. Puzzles start out with just straightening photos on a wall, putting cat toys in a basket, arranging a dinner set, aligning colored pencils in a certain order, stacking rugs, etc. These first dozen puzzles are relaxing and really give you a taste of what this game could be. Yes, I said could be as the game quickly ramps up the abstractness, and even with a full-on guide and accessible hint system in the game it still doesn’t make sense. The arrangement puzzles are the absolute worst. These are abstract shapes that don’t snap together but instead are arranged in a specific pattern. The patterns usually make no sense since the pieces are so far apart. These puzzles will frustrate most players and lead you into a false sense of relaxation and simple organization and stacking.

That’s not to say I don’t like a challenge. One puzzle has you sliding a mirror to the left and right and arranging the objects according to the reflection. Another has you stacking cat food cans in colored columns that match. These puzzles were enjoyable. My favorite was the organization puzzles. Put all the junk in the correct cubbies. That’s a lot of fun with the process of elimination. Sadly, there are only about four of those puzzles and I wanted more. The difficulty is all over the place, but it’s the artificial difficulty. The puzzles are just so obscure sometimes that most people may quit the game.

I also found the snapping system pretty broken. Sometimes you place an object in the right spot and it will snap into place and make a faint ding sound. However, abstract pattern puzzles require two symmetrical objects in the same spot in the scene before they will snap into place. This hinders progress as there are no tactile hints that you are making progress. There is a hint system that shows you the solution by erasing and uncovering. This was nice as I would try to just erase one part and still be able to solve the rest on my own. However, even the hints sometimes make zero sense.

Thankfully, you can still move on with the “Let It Be” system that skips the puzzle for you. There are some puzzles that have two or more solutions such as sorting from highest to shortest, then by color, and then by matching an image on the same object. While the first solution may seem easy to spot the additional solutions can be insanely abstract and obscure. I really tried to solve as many as I could on my own, but in the end, I solved maybe a quarter of the puzzles by myself. There were just too many that were frustrating or I felt I wasn’t making any progress. Some were just me overthinking the puzzle, but some were just poorly designed.

The visuals are cute. It has a pastel minimalistic look. Lots of colored pencils, charcoal, and watercolor art designs. The music is great and relaxing to listen to in the background it’s just too bad the game isn’t as relaxing. In the end, A Little to the Left is misleading in its first dozen puzzles and quickly ramps up the abstractness and obscurity too much requiring too many puzzles to be skipped. The most enjoyable ones are too few. This isn’t a bad game at all. There are fun puzzles peppered throughout the bad ones, and the overall cat aesthetic is enjoyable with great music.

2022 Game of the Year Awards — Console Awards — Apple Arcade

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/16/2022
Posted in: 2022, Game of the Year Awards, iOS, Mobile Reviews. Leave a comment

Apple Arcade continues to dominate the mobile platforms with amazing original games that are non-pay-to-win or stuffed with microtransactions. These unique games invoke what gamers love about games and what mobile games should be. Not since the early days of iOS gaming have there been this many awesome games.

stitch.

A gorgeous and fantastically unique puzzle game that will keep you glued to your screen. The game insists on stress free and relaxing gaming. The bright colors, simulated textures, and overall zen nature of the game is welcoming. The addictive nature of mobile games is a key ingredient to making them great. You want to be able to play for an hour or five minutes, but always want to come back. Stitch has done this without making it frustrating or repetitive.

Runner-Ups

Warped: Kart Racers

Jetpack Joyride 2

Horizon Chase 2

Wylde Flowers

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition – 13 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/26/2022
Posted in: iOS, Mac, Microsoft Consoles, Mobile Reviews, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Playable, Steam Deck Verification, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: LucasArts

Developer: LucasArts

Release Date: 07/15/2009


Also Available On

LucasArts’ SCUMM engine games hold a great fanbase for those who grew up in the 80s computer gaming scene. They were bright and colorful. Revolutionary, for their time, in terms of gameplay and art. They were also later updated with voice acting which was some of the first of its kind. While the games were short (running around 6 hours per game) they were memorable and had a special sense of humor that was considered top of their class. The series got a much-anticipated remake starting with the first game. While not much was really added, the entire game was redrawn from scratch with all new lines of dialog recorded by the original cast.

The game definitely plays like an old point-and-click adventure of yore. Clumsy controls (which were never really fixed), slow pace, obtuse object hunting, and no puzzles. That’s not to say the game is bad. While it doesn’t feel as modern as The Longest Journey or even David Cage’s games with quick-time events and button pressing that’s part of the charm. Thankfully the game has a hint system that slowly gives you more specific hints including full-on arrows pointing to the exact spot you need to be. This was really helpful and a must-have for first-time players or those who aren’t familiar with this era of adventure games.

The game has two main areas. The first one consists of some small areas, a town, and a large overhead map to get to these areas. Most of the game is gathering items and figuring out where to use them and how. You have multiple commands such as talk to, push, pull, look at, use, open and close. These are used by pulling up an action command menu and then you have your inventory. To use these commands you need to pull up the command menu and then the inventory. This is cumbersome and took a while to figure out. You control Guybrush by clicking around on the ground, but his walk cycle is pretty slow. There’s a lot of backtracking in this game and this slowed the progress a bit. One thing I didn’t like was the insult for sword fighting. You have to lose to pirates to learn their insults and comebacks. You need to learn enough to defeat the first “boss”. There was a lot of trial and error doing this and it got really frustrating.

The star of the show is the characters and the writing. The salesman Stan for example is hilarious. Using overexaggerated arm waving and an obnoxious coat to look like a sleazy salesman. The pirate LeChuck doesn’t get much on-screen time, but neither do most of the characters. The main character Guybrush is who you will get to know the most. There is an optional dialog for most characters to get to know their personality more than their backstory. There just isn’t enough time to get to know them more. So, it makes up for funny writing and witty humor which the game does solidly.

I liked the visuals in this game. The hand-drawn art is beautiful and still captures the classic LucasArts look. Some of the animations feel a bit stiff still, but again, that all adds to the charm. The voice acting is awesome, there is some funny use of items and small little tidbits of humor thrown in that did make me chuckle. I have to say that this game won’t hold everyone’s attention. It is slow to build up and takes a while to get going. A lot of people might feel lost clicking on everything and not realize what order to do things in, but the hint system makes this game much more enjoyable. I highly recommend this classic remake, but it won’t be to everyone’s taste.

Cat Museum

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/19/2022
Posted in: iOS, Mobile Reviews, PC Reviews, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified. Leave a comment

Publisher: 751 Games Co. Ltd

Developer: 751 Games

Release Date: 03/17/2022



Also Available On

I love short point-and-click games, but they are hit-and-miss. For these games that are less than two hours, it takes a lot of talent to pull off a good story, something to get attached to, and fun gameplay. Cat Museum nails almost all of this except the story and something to get attached to. The mini-game and puzzle-driven gameplay are more entertaining than pixel hunting, but there’s also the fantastic art direction and grotesque nature of the whole game.

See, the story just doesn’t make any sense. It’s told in abstract story panels. I only gathered that you’re possibly dreaming and your dream of a cat museum full of monsters and creatures that need help. You’re searching for special eggs and that’s all I could gather. It doesn’t make a lick of sense. The game isn’t confusing or anything like that which is nice. Clicking around moves the boy and you will see eye icons for things to look at and hand icons for interaction. These hand icons advance the game and each interaction is unique and different. Jigsaw puzzles, slider puzzles, timing mini-games, and just weird things like pushing and pulling things to reveal hints. It’s hard to get stuck in this game as there’s always one object in each room to interact with which will reveal a hint or the puzzle/mini-game will advance the story.

The best part about this game is the insane art style. Lots of grotesque characters, guts, bodily fluids, and crazy monster designs right out of a child’s nightmare. However, it’s still colorful and full of life. I really liked the atmosphere and world of Cat Museum, but at a 90-minute runtime, the game doesn’t allow any type of world-building or anything of that nature. Dialogue is cut down to a couple of lines per character and none of it is meaningful. There are a couple of scenes where you need to run and hide from a monster chasing you, but it’s just to the end of the same room so there’s no challenge there either.

There’s not much to say for a 90-minute game. For a few dollars this is an interesting art exhibit, but not much more. I appreciate the unique puzzles and mini-games, but the monster designs are so cool that I wanted to spend more time in this world and learn more about it. What’s here is a short and crazy ride full of weird art and nothing more.

Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 07/29/2022
Posted in: Android, iOS, Mac, Mobile Reviews, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Switch. Leave a comment

Publisher: Akapura Games

Developer: Silver Lining Studio

Release Date: 08/25/2021


Also Available On

We as humans tend to dwell on death and what lies beyond. It’s only natural as we simply don’t know. Behind the Frame explores this concept with an emotional tug-of-war of a story, but you really need to pay attention, and a lot of the story is more between the lines and not what’s really being shown in front of you. There’s a lot of assumption that you know what’s happening when the main character looks shockingly off in the distance based on the previous scene. It’s done fairly well too.

Most of Behind the Frame is puzzle solving. It takes a dark twist halfway through and it surprised me. Your goal is to acquire all five missing colors on your paint palette to finish your painting. To do this each color is locked away behind a chapter puzzle. These got rather complex towards the end, but nothing you can’t figure out without exploring and finding that key item that gives you that “AHA!” moment. Some puzzles are as simple as matching colors on a painting to memorization. Nothing is overly complex and it does eventually come together. The painting itself is a matter of scribbling enough in the empty space and it will auto-fill. Nothing extraordinary there. There are some other small tasks like making food which is as simple and dragging items around.

There isn’t a lot of context on the main character’s life itself through any reading of notes or anything. It’s pretty much learning about her past and her connection with her neighbor. The game has gorgeous anime-Ghibli-inspired art with a few small cut scenes thrown in. I never got tired of looking at the game, but it is confined to mostly her apartment. Every so often you “dive” into a painting, but it’s usually just for story context. There were a few panoramic scenes that were breathtaking. I actually felt like I stepped into a painting myself a few times.

In the end, the game is over in about 90 minutes or less depending on how long it takes you to solve the more complex puzzles in the final chapters. Without having to solve these this game is over in an hour. The story does unfold quite a bit towards the end and without voice acting it gets a lot of emotions across and I have to give the developers credit for that. Most of these short indie games don’t have any meaning behind them. They have some clever gameplay ideas or neat visuals and nothing beyond that. Behind the Frame actually tugged at my heart strings a bit and got me thinking at the end which is more than I can say for 60-hour-long AAA titles. If you want a puzzle-filled emotional evening with great visuals and fun gameplay mechanics then look no further.

Before Your Eyes

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 06/24/2022
Posted in: Android, iOS, Mac, Mobile Reviews, PC Reviews, Steam Deck Playable, Steam Deck Verification. Leave a comment

Publisher: Skybound LLC

Developer: GoodbyeWorld Games

Release Date: 04/08/2021


Also Available On

Gimmicks that use various types of hardware are nothing new since the days of the Wii made that mainstream, but very few games use your camera outside of a home console for gameplay. While it’s wholly gimmicky and can be played with a controller, the game uses your webcam to see your eyes blinking to determine when to change scenes in the game or interact with objects. Not often does the gimmick feel like it’s influencing something important, but when it does it works well.

You play as a boy named Benjamin Brynn floating along the river of death in a boat with a wolf as a ferryman. He’s to be taken to a being in a large tower whom he has to sell his life story so he can pass on and the ferryman can be paid. You start out as a child and you eventually learn your mother is an accountant and failed music composer and wants you to follow in her footsteps. Each scene is full of mostly black with just what you can remember being in view. Sometimes an eye will appear on objects for you to blink at and interact with. When a metronome appears you can blink and jump to the next scene or try to hold your eyes open and see the scene to the end. Most of the time I couldn’t do it (it’s very dry where I’m at here in the summer).

You slowly progress through the story only to find out that you need to retell the story correctly. I won’t spoil anything as to how or why, but the only times the blinking gimmick felt right was when you had to close your eyes to focus on someone talking. With headphones on this is a great effect. The game does a great job detecting your eyes even in low light, and I was using a laptop webcam which isn’t that great. There isn’t much else to this game. It’s an interactive adventure with interesting visuals. The whole game reminded me a lot of That Dragon, Cancer, but I can’t connect to this game as much as it’s shorter and at the time I was expecting my first child so that game hit home quite a bit. A big fear is your child being born with some sort of debilitating disease.

You’ll most likely not really feel the game’s impact until the last 20 minutes when things get really dark and sad. It didn’t make me tear up, but it was really sad for sure. You can finish the game in about 90 minutes, but I did connect with the character to an extent, but not wholly. The scenes rush by too fast and you’re meant to understand the moral of the story more than connect with the characters and get behind their motives and feelings. I feel a game like this misses the mark due to its short run time, but the gimmick would get tiring for more than 90 minutes.

Overall, Before Your Eyes is a charming game with a lot of heart and a fun gimmick that works well when it wants to. It’s a very short game and doesn’t let you really connect with the characters enough. It’s forgettable in the end, and not as memorable as some other short adventure titles I’ve played in the past, but it’s fun and worth a look.