ESC

Non-Spoiler Review:

------ OVERALL:

PROS:

• OST <3
• Lore/story heavy
• Good character writing
• ATMOSPHERE.
• Beautiful worldbuilding

CONS:

• Entirely reading and "typing" (gameplay-wise)

---{ Audio }---

Absolutely incredible. Obviously Lena Raine is known for her incredible work on the Minecraft OST, but those songs were not some fluke. ESC's OST will be sticking in my mind for a long time to come.

---{ Audience }---

Anyone who enjoys games that are entirely plot/reading + atmosphere.

---{ Story }---

I don't want to spoil anything, so all I'm going to say is that it is an incredible look at identity, the future, and dreams.

---{ 9.5 / 10 }---

FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, PLAY IT. IT IS NOT A LONG GAME, BUT YOU WILL THINK ABOUT IT FOR A LONG TIME.

(Spoilers Below!) Specific Thoughts/Ramblings:

• The character writing was SO well done. Every single character had a unique voice without it feeling forced or overly done. If you had removed the names of who was saying what, I could likely guess correctly for 90% of the dialogue. I have to applaud Lena for this, as someone who has wrote before- THIS IS NOT EASY TO PULL OFF! Plus, if this hadn't succeeded, the rest of the game wouldn't have been nearly as good, as the entirety of this game is dialogue-/character- based.

• The atmosphere and ambience of ESC is incredible. I am a '03 baby, so I didn't grow up in old chatrooms online, however it didn't seem to matter. Ironically enough, it felt like tapping into someone else's mind- their memories feeling like my own despite never actually experiencing that time in internet history. Having to actually make a "typing" movement on your keyboard for the fastest dialogue input is FANTASTIC game design for what it is attempting to achieve. I felt a strong PHYSCIAL connection to Raine (character) because of having to "type out" every input. It's incredible what well done atmosphere can convince your mind of. 

• The revelations were definitely confusing (but somehow also I understand it, but also don't?), but this is a review after only one playthrough. From the other reviews I've read of people praising it, it is definitely a "put it down, ponder it for a while, and then replay it" type of experience. I'm sure the more I think, the more I will wrap my mind around them, but the themes and worldbuilding are such strong foundations that it really doesn't matter if I truly "understand" everything the story is communicating.

• I do wish the visual aspect was pushed a bit further at the end, maybe a little animated snippet? I only say this because the appearance of visual media near the end was an incredible moment (I was in shock /pos), and I wish it had been taken to its full potential (ramped up from still images, to images with some movement transitions, to tweened animation, to proper animation). This is genuinely my ONE criticism, as I think the ending could have punched even harder like this. However, even without this, the ending still hits like a TRAIN (get it?)

• The worldbuilding is so robust, yet it never feels forced or overwhelming. I was able to understand and make reasonable assumptions about the world without having to be spoon-fed EVERY detail. The idea of an internet made of peoples' brains just straight up connecting to one another's is not an idea I've seen executed well, yet this game explains the origins and functions easily and naturally.

Lena Raine and ESC Team: Thank you for this game. It truly is something special.