Yes. I marathoned it all today in something like 7-ish hours. Yes, I preordered it and paid the full $40 retail price. Yes, it was totally worth it.
I haven’t been this gripped by a video game since earlier this year with RE4 and God of War. All these have something in common: a story that takes hold of you and never lets you go. The biggest difference is that Indigo Prophecy, aside from a few reflex exercises, is a traditional adventure game. But no, don’t think that you can sit back and relax like your favorite PC point ‘n clicks of yore; even the dialogue scenes here are a frantic exercise in decision making. While this design decision will never let you listen to all of the dialogue, it does afford replay potential. (And if you just want to replay certain scenes, there’s a Chapter option on the menu.) Also, it keeps you from getting bored. I know any of you who’ve played adventure or RPG games get bored following every branch of a dialogue tree. This design never lets the pace drop.
Most telling of the overall cinematic experience is the option on the main menu in which you choose to begin the game. It reads “Start New Movie,” versus the usual “Start New Game.”
Here’s something to be noted in light of the recent GTA Hot Coffee scandal. There is an unbelievable amount of skin shown in this game. (Or maybe not so unbelievable if you consider the developers are French.) It’s not full front, there are no nipples. But it’s pretty much everything but nipple; breasts aren’t at all concealed otherwise. And yeah, there are several sex scenes. So how’d this get away with an M rating instead of the sales-killing AO? I think it’s the same thing that differentiates softcore and hardcore pornography. Never once here do you see pelvis meeting pelvis. Also, this game is pretty arty next to that pornographic (not just in the sexual sense) GTA game. (Kinda funny considering Hot Coffee had fully clothed characters while they were knocking boots.) Maybe it’s because in this game the sex wasn’t controllable unlike GTA. I dunno.
But this is one of the more truly mature titles out there. It doesn’t cater to the thrillseeking crowd, the bloodthristy and lust-filled. But you will be on a helluva ride playing it. The game is all about dialogues, both between characters and within one’s own psyche. It’s about character relationships and cause and effect.
If anything brings down the game, it would be the wonky walking controls (often making it hard to initiate interaction with objects) and the finger-breaking trigger tapping sequences. Oh, and those infuriatingly difficult stealth sequences. Yes, the gameplay nearly cripples the whole game, but you’ll suffer through anything to see what happens next.
Like I said, I marathoned the game in less than eight hours. But like this spring’s also brisk God of War, nary a moment feel empty or wasted. You’ll always have the feeling of accomplishing something and progressing forward in the story.
The main reason I say to buy this game is not so that you can play it. Hell, I think I may lend it to you if you want. I want you to buy this game so you can show your support with your wallet. Projects like these are labors of love and financial suicide for the developers because their production is draining with little potential of sales. If you want to see anything else this compelling to come out in the future, you’ll have to show the publishers that people will buy it.
Oh, and there are plenty of unlockables, including several behind the scenes videos. I saved those to watch for later.
Most highly recommended.