NeonLore | PS4 Review
Developed and published by Playstige Interactive, NeonLore is a graphic novel set in a dystopian cyberpunk universe. It is currently available on PlayStation, XBox, and Nintendo Switch, and for the purpose of my review I was playing the PlayStation 4 version.
NeonLore describes itself as a first-person free form exploration game, which sums it up well. I’d personally describe it as a fully interactive graphic novel. You essentially are free to wander around the various districts of the city where you’ll meet a vast array of people, all with different stories to tell and different struggles that they have faced throughout their life as the world transformed and changed into the cyberpunk dystopia. Technology advancing is a scary prospect, and NeonLore really homes in on the negative effects of these advances and the way that they impact individual humans throughout the city.
NeonLore frames the way story wise for a much bigger and more involved RPG game. I felt like I was getting to know some interesting characters that the gamer in me just wanted to help. I wanted them to give me a mission to go get them medication, or rescue a friend, but instead I was just getting their story. This isn’t a criticism as such, the game is called NeonLore (emphasis on the lore part), and I feel like it truly delivered on that. There’s a lot of reading - most of the game is reading and walking around between characters. The only time the game deviates from this is when you find a short puzzle on a computer screen to complete and once you complete them, you’ll unlock an audiobook. When I say audiobook, that's no exaggeration. I spent a good hour walking around listening to the audiobooks and was incredibly surprised by the length of these audio books and the immense amount of detail that went into them. I have a lot of respect for the developers for taking the risk and creating NeonLore the way they have. I feel it's a very risky concept as its very far away from the norm for a game, but I do think it was an interesting concept and it was pulled off well. If misinterpreted, I could see it being disliked, but with the view that it’s an interactive graphic novel, it’s a success.
For the trophy hunters among you, NeonLore is an incredibly quick and easy platinum and became my first EVER platinum. The game itself doesn’t take very long to “beat” however if you wanted to listen to every minute of every audiobook, it would be much longer. I listened to almost every audiobook in their entirety, and they were excellent to listen through, but I can see why others may not share the same enthusiasm for this concept.
NeonLore was an artistic creation and really framed a universe for a future game where you're helping the inhabitants of this city and delve into their lives a little more. There is exceptional detail given and shows a lot of potential and if anything, I’ll be keeping my eye out on what's next for Playstige Interactive and their Neon creations.
Lj’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
For more information on NeonLore please use the following links...
Playstige Interactive - Developer | Publisher | YouTube | Twitter | Website
Many thanks to Playstige Interactive for the Review Key.
NeonLore | PlayStation | XBox | Nintendo
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