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Excellent mechanics, fell short story-wise, August 18, 2023Alone is, from a technical standpoint, a great game. Good, classic IF with puzzles that make sense and have a logical progression, while still requiring some creativity. A nice mix of classic IF-style puzzles, and some which were a little more out of the box.
Where the game falls short is, in my opinion, story and atmosphere. Maybe part of this is my fault - I went into the game expecting something very different from what I got. From the title, cover image, and summary, I was expecting a heavily atmospheric horror game set in the open road, a slow build to learning what it was I was fleeing from, perhaps having to solve puzzles to escape whatever was pursuing me while not daring to leave my car. I was very excited about this.
This is not what I got. Instead, your car almost immediately runs out of gas and you are forced out onto the road and into a desolate and looted gas station. This is a perfectly fine, if more conventional, direction to take a horror story. Then, though, it turns out that (Spoiler - click to show)this gas station just so happens to be on top of a research bunker, which was on the verge of discovering the cure to the world-ending infection, and it is now your job to finish what they started, cure the lab workers, and save the world. This felt both unrealistic to the point of rendering the story almost cartoonish to me.
The writing was also just a little bit lacking. The descriptions of locations and characters fell short of evoking any real fear or emotion in me. The second you enter the (Spoiler - click to show)bunker, the atmosphere shifts drastically and loses any of the "lone road and run-down gas station at night" charm that it might have had. This may, of course, be different for others.
I got the good ending, and while it was satisfying and rewarding, it felt just slightly too saccharine for a post-apocalyptic horror game. I can't shake the feeling that it just felt too easy, and much of it was driven by unlikely coincidence. What started as a lone survivor's quest to live another day turned into (Spoiler - click to show)an underwhelming and vaguely sci-fi quest, where you push a couple buttons and save the world.
Overall, this is a great little horror game. Well, it's a great game with some truly mediocre horror. I'd still recommend it to someone looking for a fun game with some spooky elements, but don't get your hopes up for something scary.