Lacuna – A Sci-Fi Noir Adventure Reviews

I liked the idea of a game where you have to pay attention to clues and making mistakes has consequences to the story. Except that it's essentially impossible to make a mistake. The puzzles are trivial and the game highlights every relevant clue in yellow. I don't think you'd even have to read the text to solve the puzzles, just see that your options are "the suspect is bald/blonde/ginger" and skim the text to find one of those words in yellow.

Very nice atmosphere, really enjoyable, fairly short. The story is pretty simple but I felt invested and the writing is good, the puzzles aren't super hard but I felt rewarded for paying attention and reading all the clues. Overall I really enjoyed it. I would have liked more cool smoking locations, a couple felt really special early on but they kind of trailed off. This was super chill. I felt some really hard choices on what to do.

I really enjoyed this game. There was a lot of tedious running around, but the plot, dialogue, and puzzles were good. Pay attention to everything and it really helps.

Thrilling detective narrative game that blends sci-fi dystopia with traditional hardboiled detective stories. Free movement around maps and the importance of the choices you pick takes this game to a much higher level than a traditional point-and-click. I also liked the lack of a manual saving option, preventing savescumming, which would ruin the tension/thrill of your choices having permanent consequences. Worldbuilding, exposition, clues, and other information are neatly compartmentalized in the game's cell phone menu, so solving mysteries that required certain information was always fairly simple to do because the info was well organized. REALLY disappointed that the biggest narrative thread of the game doesn't actually get its conclusion shown in the ending, and is only briefly touched on via closing narration by the MC. I would love a sequel to this game that continues the plotline.

This is a cool game with a good concept. Not its fault I couldn't get into it.

Note: Steam says I have 84 hours on this, but I played through in about 7 hours. Pros: -Atmospheric. I like the film noir style. -Good backstory and animation. -Voice acting is good. -Choices matter. -So does attention to detail. Cons: -Limited replay-ability, despite having multiple endings. -The problems are not difficult for an adult to solve. This may be more difficult for an early teenager. I found that it didn't take me any time to solve the problem. I barely had to reread notes. -I knew what the ending was likely to be within 10 minutes. -I wish there was a map for each area. I was kind of annoyed while navigating unfamiliar areas, especially when entrances are not clearly marked or are obscured from view. Overall, I would recommend this game to those who like atmosphere more than puzzles. If you're after a good puzzle and do not care for atmosphere at all, look elsewhere. That being said, I was looking for a puzzle but ended up playing through the entirety of this game (and I don't normally finish games).

How refreshing: Lacuna is a somewhat unique investigative adventure because it actually allows players to fail [b]without[/b] resulting in a death- or game over-screen. You play as an investigator trying to crack a case by looking for clues and interviewing suspects and then putting it all together. While it never gets too opaque, you will need to stretch those deduction muscles a bit. You can (and will) f*** up if you don't pay attention. But the game is robust enough to allow for blaming the innocent and lets you carry on, you muppet. Another thing I thoroughly enjoyed: Lacuna is a decent political sci-fi thriller with a twist you will probably see a mile coming - but only because it's actually believable. Unlike so many other modern adventures I played whose narratives often completely fall apart at the end. The world-building and characterization is pretty good. Lacuna tackles themes of colonialism, capitalism, class struggle and marginalization that could hardly feel any more topical in this day and age.

I really enjoy playing this game, the music and the whole aesthetic was awesome. Great work, hope for a second part.

I liked the investigation and going through the evidence, and the impact of different decisions made throughout the game. I also really liked the music and narration.

I'd give this game a 5/10. The story was interesting enough, but not so interesting that I could be bothered to replay for the other 7 endings. Whilst I rate a good story over slick graphics, I found the pixel art a little blocky - it was sometimes difficult to work out who/what I was interacting with. Also I wasn't keen on the controls, this game would probably work better as a point and click rather than using WASD to move around in a 2-d environment.