Teller's Duty

[b]TL;DR:[/b] Teller's Duty is a subpar try at coming up with a compelling narrative on top of what [i]Papers, Please[/i] built once. I picked this game up close to its release and checked it again recently. It still has many problems and hasn't improved even after the patches, and I don't have any hope left at this point for it to get better. Initially, I played the game for a little less than two hours and was thinking about returning it. Then, the game introduced a really charming character and hooked me, so I continued playing. I wish I hadn't, as the story was bland, the dialogue was shallow, and the game did not give any further reason to play except for a single character, whose storyline ended with nothing but a poorly written ending. Considering the gameplay, [b]it introduces maybe a couple of exciting investigation mechanics, but that's it[/b]. The pacing does not feel right; it feels too repetitive, with many filler levels, and you don't get to make hard calls when it comes to the narrative or the investigation portions. I don't know what the original language this game is in is, but [b]the English dialogue is absolutely horrendous[/b]. They haven't improved much sin…

So I played the game for myself after reading some of the reviews that are - unfortunately - less than helpful. Honestly, I cannot understand the negativity. Full disclosure; I have *not* played "papers, please" and I think “tellers duty” suffers unfairly by getting compared to it. To this end, I am not as biased as some of the reviews here. I personally loved the game. It was nice and cozy, the addition of some real life characters was funny, though I think the dev could have ripped on them a bit more, if he is already including them in the game. All in all, it's a slow, relaxing game that does not take itself too seriously. I have only played it in english so I cannot speak much to other translations, but I didn't notice any glaring errors. I loved the artstyle and the story. I think the ending might be take it or leave it for some people, but I personally didn’t have a problem with it. It just shows that our character is not this super influenced unstoppable force and sometimes life just goes that way.

it's a nice story but at the end it feels like your actions bear no consequences really. Either way your ♥♥♥♥♥♥ by the [spoiler] nuke [spoiler] . Of which you don't actually/will never find out [spoiler] why government decided to nuke their entire country, from my standpoint it seems illogical [spoiler]. the sense of community and the characters are quite rich in this game however just based of the ending. If could go back in time and decide to purchase the game again, i wouldn't.

i wuv being a wittle tewwor wif my wittle money and my wittle jawb :3

I'm really enjoying this game, the characters are well designed, the systems are good, I do recommend this game.

I don't recommend this game at this time. It feels clunky to play and is not intuitive. I like the concept, and I like the art. I would consider trying this again once it's polished. As of now, it feels unfinished.