What happened to Kate Reviews

I'll give this a pass, but only just for the reasons below. A walking simulator / mystery explorer with puzzles in the vein of Gone Home and Edith Finch. It is compact and fairly clever with some tricky puzzles but an intuitive flow to solve them mostly. The graphics are pretty good and it has a suitably creepy atmosphere. Bonus points for a clear UK voice-over with some character. However, there are issues not all players will tolerate despite some recent fixes. - Stair navigation is broken, you have to jump and then reposition and jump further, No reason for this, just using walk would be fine. - The VO is over-used and becomes annoying very quickly. There is only so many times it is worth saying the same thing like "a box, what a good use of your time" so why not just have a shorter version like "just a box" for subsequent examinations, or none at all? Same with the bit using the computer. This is even more annoying because - you have to pick up and examine everything you are able to discover what has a useful clue or doesn't (triggering the VO.) There's no rhyme or reason as to what you can pick up pointlessly and what you can't pick up at all. Or why so many assets are re-used (its just silly that Kate has so many piles of the same books for instance!) - there are many clues and assets which seem pointless, and that's because the game is unfinished, Which brings me on to the unforgivable part of this game. It turns out that this is just part 1. There is no mention of this on the store at all which is IMO borderline scammy behaviour and something that a new indie dev should not be doing. Just say on the store page that "the exciting second part will be coming soon" or something. Be clear and honest with your players - read the room - players have had enough of being duped. This also means that the game is very short for the price. If the following parts are 'free' add-ons to this purchase then the price is reasonably I suppose. If they are not, and require additional purchase, this review will be changed to 'not recommended.' Again, you must be clear to your customers what they should expect for the price. Lastly, there is no good reason not to have achievements in a game like this. Even just one, for completion or something. It's low effort not to put one in. I'm recommending because I can see effort put into the game, especially some of the puzzle flows, and it is quite enjoyable but there are also red flags to consider at the moment.

See that playtime? 90 minutes. 90 minutes I spent staring at a puzzle trying to work out WTF it wants from me. I know the "answer", meaning the value I know it wants me to plug into it, but nothing I try maps to that stupid three-disc puzzle. 90 minutes is the length of the average movie, which is straight up ridiculous. I no longer even [i]care[/i] what happened to Kate, she can bite me. Peace out, I'm out of here.

It's a cool little game, I like the British sounding voice actor lol, reminds me of animal world's commentator. It is as if hidden object and mystery game had a baby, also what the hell is wrong with Kate ? i thought we were coming to save her, not sure if she deserves saving. I like the game, can wait for episode two.

There are in-game keyboard clicks every time i click wasd which made it almost unbearable to play (so I played without sound, but you need to hear narration so I was flipping back and forth with sound volumes), I am able to run through furniture which is personally, not practical. You have to jump up the stairs, you can't walk up them because you will be stuck in place if you try. Being able to pick up every empty box and every book item is pointless if it doesn't help with the progression of the game. If these things are fixed, I would be more likely to recommend/play it.

I could see potential in this game as its obvious good effort was put into the game design. I kept feeling curious every bit of the way and when I found a hint it didn't feel like a chore going back to solve the puzzle. It is a story driven hidden items puzzle game set in the real world so useful items and hints could be hidden in seamless places but also it has some sense to it once you find them. I appreciated not having to walk a long distance to use an item/hint to progress in the story. Its a bit relaxing until you start to wonder what happened to Kate?