Orten Was The Case

Unique time loop game with some bugs. It can't be ignored that this game is both janky and buggy. I didn't run into any real soft locks, you will find need to use checkpoints because you get stuck. The game will crash a lot, using the checkpoint system. You will fall to your death a couple times, because the floor is not where you think it is. You can imagine the rest. Luckily the loops are short. It wont take long to do everything in the game, even with the bugs. The world is very unique and the loop exploration is fun. One of the things that stands out is that MOST of the advancement is just learning information. To get the best ending you literally play a new save and just use everything you've learned. Another thing that is unique is how many locations have multiple paths to them. Many other loop games just have you deciding what order to do objectives to complete the story. In this game, especially for the good ending, you need to decide what the best path is as well. Unfortunately there are really only two ending, so these unique choices are not as impactful as I would have liked. I like what is good about this game, hope to see an improved game like this in the future.

This is a recommendation with some pretty strong caveats. This game is an obvious labor of love. It's creative and different. It has a truly engaging mystery and makes you feel smart. Up to a point, where it becomes rage-inducingly frustrating because it is, in a sense, an unfinished and unpolished game. If you're okay with playing this game until you reach the standard (bad) ending, you will only have to forgive a few charming quirks and bugs. If you, like me, are intrigued beyond the standard ending, then you're in for a painful ride. A lot of the annoying movement quirks become a barrier to enjoyment, and the fact that the game doesn't provide feedback for partial solutions makes you dismiss things that were correct after all. That's bad design and bad implementation. I do still recommend this game. For the patient ones.

super good until you get to the last puzzle, which is filled with ill-thought out ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that cost nearly half my playtime despite knowing the "solution". and after that you still get a bad ending and it turns out that you need to figure out a bunch of nonsensical stuff on your own to get the ACTUAL ending. I'm good bro I'm sure I just got unlucky in a few big ways but this should have been playtested more. I'll still drop a thumbs up but I can't necessarily recommend this because of how badly the last bit pissed me off

fun

Orten Was the Case is a beautiful and incredibly well-thought-out game. The art style is one of its strongest features. At times, it genuinely feels like you are playing inside a painting. The time-loop structure is also extremely well designed, and you can really feel how much work must have gone into making all the different events, characters and locations fit together within the same repeating timeline. The characters are very well characterized too. After spending enough time in Orten, you actually start getting attached to them. Their visual design is certainly unusual and probably won't appeal to everyone, but personally I think it gives the game a very strong identity. The game is not without problems. Character controls can sometimes feel imprecise, and there are occasional glitches and bugs. Some issues can even seem to carry over between loops, while other situations can cause deaths that are not always easy to understand. A few sections are also not communicated very clearly and can lead to unnecessary confusion. For example, after finding a map of the old underground tunnels showing a boat, I assumed I was supposed to stay on the Bloodstone boat in order to…

Cool game