Rain Of Reflections: Chapter 1 is talky, stealthy, and out now
You have haqors!
Rain Of Reflections: Chapter 1 slipped past me on Friday, so I'm glad I had a bit of time to try it out today after Matt's mention of it last year.
It's a talky light adventure game with hacking and turn-based stealth bits, and based on my brief time with it, does a great job of shearing off the worst habits of each of those constituent parts, and making them work together. Lionbite Games have done a good job on this one, especially for their first release.
It's a few centuries from now and humans have gone infertile, the idiots, but a single wean is suddenly born and kept under wraps to be studied and poked and that. Children Of Men comes naturally to mind, but RoR is more about futuristic technology than modern fascism, and although dystopic, it has a much less miserable tone.
You're a scientist working on humanity's wonky nads who's decided to free the sprog. In a neat twist, your mother is a powerful government minister, and although overbearing and probably in the wrong, she's genuinely concerned for your safety, not just a moustache twirling evil authority figure for the sake of it. You butt heads of course, as your first act is to hack and sneak out of your own apartment block against her instructions. Also you steal a flying taxi by hacking it, because that's how it goes in the future.
It's an attractive game, and while the dialogue is a tiny bit over-acted, the conversations offer enough options to give a sense of agency, and the music and general atmosphere in general carry it well. The talky bits, hacking minigames, and the music in particular are reminiscent of Deus Ex: Orange Revolution.
I have enormous respect for Wilona's decision to wear a cardigan under her cloaky raincoat. Few games acknowledge the steadfast power of a woman in a cardigan.
Rain Of Reflections: Chapter 1 is out now on Steam. A 10% launch discount brings it down to £13.04/€17.09/$17.09 until this Friday.