Purpose 1951, we finally found it and it only took an hour or two.
I’ve played a lot of games by Tonguc Bodur (and even interviewed them on some of their first games) and I’ve always enjoyed their walking simulators, even if some of them didn’t age well. Seeing as this was a new game by them, and it had been a while since I’d played any of their games, I gave it a go.
I didn’t regret it.
Pros:
- Gorgeous environment
- Lovely soundtrack
- Intriguing color overlay at times
- Strong storyline
Cons:
- Odd achievement triggers
- Seagulls just as annoying as real life
- Chapter two’s connection was odd
Explanation to Negative Feedback
Odd achievement triggers
Tonguc Bodur has a lot of games that have achievements where they don’t just pop up once you hit a specific checkpoint, although that may be the case for some. Usually you have to stray a little bit from the main path in order to find something to gain an achievement, and that’s what you have to do for this game.
But they’re really weird because the achievements come from boxes.
When you approach a box it’ll open up revealing what looks like a transparent globe and the achievement’s title within it. When you back away, the box will close again.
I don’t really know how the boxes pertain to the story that’s being told, which is what makes them a weird fit to me.
Seagulls just as annoying as real life
Well, they are.
Their annoying squawking can be heard in one of the chapters where you’re riding your bike by the water, but I guess it would be weird if they weren’t making any noise at all. At least you know there’s wildlife in the game.
(The foxes are downright adorable.)
Chapter two’s connection was odd
The moment where you’re riding your bike (and I didn’t realize we were until we were sliding along the path when I stopped, because I thought we were running awfully fast until I looked down and noticed the bike), is actually a flashback that’s connected to the last part of the game. When you delve into it though, you won’t know this obviously, and it just feels disjointed.
We don’t think about our current problems, because it takes place in the past, and he’s even screaming he’s on fire by the end of the scene which weirded me out.
Like…you good bro?
I just wish they could’ve fit it in better to mesh with what’s happening now and connecting it to the ending scene.
Explanation to Positive Feedback
Gorgeous environment
There have been some games of Tonguc’s where the environment typically shifts to some other setting, but there are also those that stick to the central environmental setting.
The strong fall setting at the start of this game, with all of its trees and their changing leaves setting that practiclly sets the environment on fire with its reds and oranges, and then the big poofy clouds, is something that I would’ve been fine remaining in all throughout the game.
It just looked so good.
The setting does chnge several times though, and I’m still okay with it because they all look really good–even the horror vibes of the hospital that we’d entered into.
I mean, if that’s how the hospital we worked in looked, no wonder people were dying.
Lovely soundtrack
As usual the soundtrack for the game is really nice to listen, and goes from pretty upbeat to a bit more sinister by the end of it, since, y’know, it’s not quite as upbeat as the biking chapter portrays it to be.
At first, I wasn’t sure if the soundtrack was even needed, as the environmental sounds could’ve just been enhanced to provide some ambiance for us as we walked through the different settings.
Plus, the specific pieces of music never fully encompass the chapter you’re in. There’s always some stopping point to them and then you’re left listening to the ambiance around you anyway.
But I’m actually glad there is music.
Intriguing color overlay at times
At times, there’s a strong color overlay to the environment, and at one point everything turns red and it’s when we’re talking about a dangerous situation, which was pretty cool to me. Just having the color shoft to represent the emotions coming from our thoughts.
It doesn’t happen often though, and I wish it did.
I wish at some of the sadder sections the environment could’ve been overlaid by a blue.
Instead there are time where the landscape goes yellowish and you’re forced to look up and connect circles into the spaces of a larger circle that’s missing a chunk in the middle. These sections just kind of go over what was already stated, in case you missed the story from being too focused on the environment.
Strong storyline
I’ll be honest and say I thought the ending was going to lead to a very specific path by a few chapters in, and while it was gunning for it…the ending shifted away from what we were initially going to do.
And good for us.
I also thought this was just going to be a game that b*tched and moaned about hospital practices being not the greatest and while it sort of went there, it also wasn’t like that at all. There was a strong storyline here, one that absolutely sucked for us to be in, and one that was completely unfair…but given the circumstances, we stood no chance.
I’m a little surprised we decided to stick around, which I think we did? Personally, I would’ve searched for a better place to live.
Links Worth Checking Out
- Nothing here
Achievements
- The Explainer
- The Loser
- The Player
- The Promiser
- The Realizer
- The Replier
- The Taker
- The Thinker
