Away Reviews

(stay) away

Short, but interesting experience

easy af game 10/10 cheap too

neat little game with solid narration. dont expect much though. why is it tagged FTP? idk

If you're considering buying this, then its main worth is as a literally 2 minute instant 100% complete game. And even then, only get it while it's on sale for half price or less. If you're not here for the achievement, I think it's highly unlikely you'll find this worth your dollar. Warning: Reading this review will probably take slightly longer than playing through the game. Gameplay: Listen to a line of monologue. Clock in the middle of the screen. Click on the "Enter the light" text. Rinse, repeat 6-7 times. The light gets slightly closer each time. That's absolutely everything. Don't get me wrong, this sort of minimalist approach to gameplay *can* work! But that lack of focus on any gameplay makes it so much more important that all other parts of the game really shines, and despite the name of the singular achievement, it doesn't. Visuals: A grainy, black screen with a bright, white light in the middle that you're constantly walking towards. Makes sense, but I also feel that more could've been done to make it more interesting, without breaking the feel or vision of the creator. Story: Not really any story here! It's just a guy monologuing a bit philosophy. Nothing deep: It mainly boils down to "you're going to die some day, and then there's nothing you can do about the stuff you regret, so do something about it now". Not a bad idea, but not terribly well written. (Though not outright bad either.) Audio: There's a nice atmospheric track running in the background, but you're likely to notice the loop point. The voice acting isn't great, however: The actual voice is good, but the pronounciation of English words is kind of bad, and it sounds like it's being read by someone not great at the language trying to speak it. Maybe that's the case, and if so, kudos to them for trying! I hope they continue trying, and grow to master the language! All in all: This is a try at a more artsy and philosophical game that is minimalistic in both visuals and gameplay. I like that the creator had a vision of what they wanted to do, and ran with it. However, with such few parts making up the entirety of this game, it's all the more important that everything is completely polished, and this is where Away falls short. I got it for 50% off the $1, and still didn't feel it was quite worth it. The game is also literally 2 minutes long, and I had to keep it open for longer just to be able to write this review. I do hope the developer takes this mainly as constructive criticism, and they continue making games, using feedback such as this to improve their skills over time.