Neoproxima

Neoproxima is a tremendous sci-fi adventure. The structure of the game is a time loop, but it's set up in such a way that you only need to repeat things once or twice - you start off in a hub and each point of interest is in a different direction so there's no backtracking, and by the second loop through each mission you'll know the best kit to bring along to succeed. Not having to waste time playing through the same scenes over and over is key to what makes this game so good. Every day the story progresses. Every day you gain another little piece of the mystery. I can't tell exactly how long the game is, but it's slightly longer than the recorded Steam playtime because the integration is a bit buggy (side note: achievements also don't consistently fire). Maybe 5 hours? Whatever it is, it is paced perfectly. It's so rare that a narrative game gets the pacing just right, but Neoproxima is on point. I hesitate to get too much into the story, because what really makes this game work is the payoff at the end. It's one of the best endings to a sci-fi game ever. There are no dangling plotlines or spin-off hooks - this is a single, epic sci-fi story and you get the whole damn story, jus…

Good timeloop sci-fi game with a retrofuturisitic bend. It does embrace the dark parts of a timeloop more clearly that its counterparts.

A good little game with a lot of heart. Recommended for fans of Citizen Sleeper.

I strongly recommend this under an important caveat. Do not go in expecting a game like Outer wilds (or Elsinore to give a more text based time loop puzzler). The time loop is cool narratively for sure, but the puzzles are not that interesting. The game took 7 hours, and probably could have hit just as hard if not harder with a bit of trimming. However, I think the plot of this game is a phenomenally well written piece of science fiction. Perhaps on the level of "classic" sci-fi literature (I am no bookworm, but have read enough that I think I can somewhat say this). The world is strange and interesting in a unique way that has a really strong pay-off, and the time loop finally hooks in beautifully with a small mechanic having large impacts towards the end of the game. If you like story focused games, I think this is a really cool experience and worth the time investment. I find the quasi-RPG mechanics really funny. On the one hand, they are meaningless because of the time loop, so any roll with a 50-50 chance either means try again tomorrow or succeed. On the other hand I kind of like this because it reflects a real groundhog day style truth which is if stuck in a time loo…

It's not about gameplay and making meaningful choices, it's about telling a good story. Story, characters and very unusual setting make this time loop story a very good time investment. Suprisingly, even the meh ending matters not that much - this story mimicks a game well enough to hide it under things that look like a game mechanics. Very good job, every visual novel should try to feel like Neoproxima.

Tattie scones mentioned. A nice little timeloop adventure.