All Roads

An interesting experiment in storytelling, this isn't your typical brand of puzzle solving adventure title (there was only really one puzzle in the whole game).

The focus here is on telling the story and taking the reader through it.

The story begins with the protagonist on the hangman's block waiting to be executed, with no idea how, or why, they are there. It then proceeds through a number of seemingly disjointed episodes before coming full-circle with a twist.

Personally I enjoyed the experience, but the major flaw lies in the lack of character development through the telling. Yes, we learn what the protagonist's stock in trade is, and why he's there and what he's doing, but there's no real development of his character or background which for me left the experience lacking a little.

I also found the disjointedness of the scenes to be both confusing and disorienting to begin with. It was only after the story had progressed to a significant degree that the pieces began to fit together (helped by some gratuitous hint dropping in the narrative).

Overall though, a recommended try.

Confused nonsense about a shadowdancer/assassin in some parallel universe Italy (best setting EVAR!!!11), a story that repeats over and over in some utterly senseless way, a protagonist who is uninteresting in the worst way since he has no personality at all and WE KNOW NOT A FUCKING THING ABOUT HIM.

yeah, it's game of the year (!) material all right!

I am beyond words.