Cyber Noir Stories: The Trunk Steam Charts & Stats

This is a fun, well-written point-and-click adventure game. I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Eve Williams And The Secret Of The Trunk is a classic-modern adventure game with 3D-rendered characters and backgrounds, evoking memories of the second golden age of point&click games. The verdict: Generally recommended if you like the genre, but with one major caveat. The pros: [list] [*]Well-written story [*]Very nice character design [*]Unique cel-shaded art style [*]Multiple endings (presumably, only unlocked one so far) [/list] The mehs: [list] [*]Relatively short, but length was ok for the price [*]QTEs are mostly very easy [*]Some animations feel stiff and out of place [*]Perspective mismatch between character sprites and some scenes [/list] The cons: [list] [*]AI-generated voice-over [/list] Yes, most of the voices were generated by ML models. It wasn't particularly noticeable at first, but the numerous mismatched phonemes, inconsistent stress and modulation, plus weird noises, made it extremely obvious (and annoying) towards the end. In retrospective, I'd have preferred no voices at all. I hope the developer takes this into consideration for their next games.

I really liked the game. The characters are likeable, especially the charismatic protagonist. There are characters who seem boring at first but become interesting as the story progresses. The plot is interesting and sometimes surprising. A huge plus is the presence of romantic lines. The level of complexity of the riddles is gradually increasing, but in general, everything can be solved. As a person who is not very good at solving puzzles, I managed to complete almost the entire game without guides. Among the minuses, I want to highlight the riddles in the final location; they seemed to me illogical and greatly slowed down the ending. There was an impression that the plot was speeding up and the gameplay, on the contrary, was slowing down. One more thing—not entirely minus, but it seemed strange. The technology, especially the cars, looks like it was collected from different eras. Some cars look like they are from our time, while others look very futuristic. Perhaps there is some kind of artistic idea in this, but it caught my eye. Otherwise, the game is very good. I really want to see more adventures of Eve Williams.

Let's start with the most important part: I've just finished the game and I feel satisfyingly entertained. I was looking for a quick dose of cyberpunk and point & click adventure and I certainly got my money's worth. Everything else I say should be viewed against that background, it's minor niggling and only intended to encourage the creator to create more and even better games in the future! [hr][/hr] As a programmer who has dabbled in game-making myself I know first-hand the difficulties of making suitable art and I think the solution of having pre-rendered backgrounds and cel-shaded characters on top works surprisingly well, there's the usual issues with walkable areas and proper z-layering, but nothing I found too annoying. The game is fully voiced and I applaud leaning into the VAs german accents by setting the game in Germany; However a lot of the minor character voices are synthetic (so probably "AI", but maybe one of the older voice synths) and they neither work particularly well, nor do I like seeing too much "AI art" (or something easily mistaken for it). I think the game would've been better served by simply not voicing those characters, plenty of adventures have taken that path before! As for the storyline it's certainly suitably cyberpunk, though the ending is not to my personal taste in the genre. There are a few moments where NPCs are ridiculously dense and some where their personality seems to have gone through a big shift (Though it was telegraphed), including some lampshading of Bond Villain Stupidity only to do it anyway. There were a few moments where the PCs do things I would not have chosen, but I feel those were all well in-character; Yelling at the screen because the character is being reckless is par for the course, I think.

[h1]Eve Williams’ first outing is a gem💎[/h1] [h3]If you liked the demo, you will enjoy the rest of the game.[/h3] There’s something special about [i]The Secret of the Trunk[/i]. The worldbuilding is excellent; the environments have a consistency of design; the characters’ motivations resonate; and the scenes have a range of emotions from chill and laidback to nail-biting and intense. I enjoyed interacting with the game’s world. This is a grounded cyberpunk setting that is comprehendible. I found [i]The Trunk[/i] to be refreshingly bereft of any ‘moon logic’ type of puzzle design. The game is mostly about exploring, interacting with the environments, and talking to characters. There are a few quick-time style action scenes, and while I usually don’t like QT action scenes—after the latest patch’s adjustments—I thought that they were tastefully done and added some nice spice. They occurred sparingly enough as to not outwear their welcome. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by my time spent with [i]Eve Williams[/i]. The experience held up the whole way through. [h2]Pros:[/h2] [list] [*][h3]Unique art and aesthetic:[/h3] The architecture; the vehicles; the environments; the fashion; the hair! All rendered in an interesting ‘saturated’ 3D look that is neither too photorealistic, nor too cartoony. [*][h3]Logical game design:[/h3] Not your grandfather’s adventure game. [*][h3]Sound:[/h3] The ambient sound was excellent with a nice spatiality to the sound design, and the music was good—nothing shouty, out of place, or distracting. [*][h3]Journey:[/h3] I thought it was a great ride. [/list] [h2]Cons:[/h2] [list] [*][h3]Inconsistent acting:[/h3] Eve’s accent could flip from German to American at times. Some characters seem to have lines delivered by multiple voice actors (or algos). However, there are comic-book style text bubbles all throughout, so it didn’t bother me. [*][h3]Timed sequences:[/h3] They get the pulse going, but are they cheap? These certainly are not the most egregious examples in gaming, but they could be grating depending upon one’s individual playthrough. [*][h3]Interface finagles:[/h3] It could be just me, but it took me a while to figure out a couple of simple game tasks, even though I was on the right course of action. [/list] [h2]Overall:[/h2] I recommend this adventure game: if you enjoyed Trecision's [i]Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy[/i] or Westwood's [i]Blade Runner[/i], then you should definitely get to know [i]Eve Williams[/i]! Note: The game comes with an official walkthough manual, which is always appreciated. I had to access it twice.

Wow, I'm really impressed by the solo developer and would like to share my impressions with you after 6 hours. The game is an absolute indie pearl in the point & click genre if you are looking for a hybrid of Monkey Island, Detroit become Human, Life is strange with a pinch of "visual novel". For a better impression, you should definitely play the demo before buying. If you like it, it's a clear recommendation. Here are my reasons: + Extremely good story + Exciting dialogue + Good humour + Very good soundtrack + Very good voices of all characters + Decisions actually influence the course of the story + There are different endings + Fair 4 hours playing time + Worth playing twice + 2 romances are possible (boy or girl) + Eve is a very cool main character + Classic "inventory" point & click environment + Quick time events loosen up the gameplay Controls and graphics are absolutely fine for a solo development, especially at a fair price. It can only be played with mouse and keyboard.

I finished the game almost in one go and really liked it. the story is exciting and the puzzles were clever and challenging but not too much that you end up frustrated and aimlessly running around trying to combine every item with everything. I also liked the character design, you could really feel yourself in the story. I would recommend the game to anyone who likes dystopian/Cyberpunk worlds, point and click adventures and games like life is strange. If there is a part two I will definitely play it as well.

I've already played the demo of The Trunk and I'm really impressed by the story. I'm so excited to see what happens next... I like this semi-realistic comic style and especially that I can influence how the story develops... Exactly mine!