Highway 96 from DigixArt facilities across the plight of youngsters who’re making an attempt to flee an authoritarian nation by crossing the border. It clearly has extra than simply refined ties to present occasions. The world is split. A number of refugee crises, political turmoil, battle, homelessness, crime, and illness are operating rampant. So, simply as we’ve seen with music, literature, movie, and artwork, it is smart {that a} recreation studio would try to touch upon at the very least a few of these points. Sadly, it finally ends up feeling extra like child’s first revolution than a poignant commentary on any specific subject.

Little Runaway

All through the story, you play as a faceless teen making an attempt to flee the fictional nation of Petria. The President, Tyrek, has turn out to be more and more authoritarian in his insurance policies, and individuals are fleeing the nation in response. The one factor is, I by no means actually knew why.

Highway 96 takes a somewhat juvenile strategy to its commentary. You discover out that Petria’s authorities is unquestionably overstepping its bounds and that Tyrek is a nasty dude. Nonetheless, aside from the suggestion that these teenagers have a troubled previous and are homeless, there’s little indicator as to what you’re fleeing from aside from a typically unhealthy vibe. There’s no ethnic cleaning or non secular persecution occurring, and folks appear somewhat free to journey aside from crossing the border, and meals and cash are plentiful sufficient that folks go away them out so that you can snatch up.

For essentially the most half, you simply need to belief that unhealthy issues are occurring. A secondary narrative issues a failed revolution try that occurred ten years earlier than the sport. Towards the top of the sport, extra concrete proof surfaces that Petria isn’t the most effective place to reside, nevertheless it appears a bit contrived and purposeless.

I might have appreciated to see Highway 96 to be quite a bit much less opaque in its commentary. It normally takes quite a bit to make somebody flee their nation, and little or no of that’s addressed right here. I had a good time taking part in Highway 96, however taking part in a personality with out a background in a recreation that’s primarily political commentary makes all the things fall flat.Non-

Linear Linearity

The sport builds its narrative in a novel approach. Not like different journey video games is that every playthrough of Highway 96 is procedurally-generated. One of many weaknesses of the journey style is that irrespective of how good a recreation is, the story unravels in a linear trend, which ends up in low replayability.

In principle, it is a nice thought. You may benefit from the story a number of instances with out understanding the way it’ll play out. Nonetheless, in follow, it feels extra like a proof of labor. There are seven primary characters within the recreation, and the target largely facilities round filling their story meters. Every journey to the border gives you a handful of encounters with them, and then you definitely rinse and repeat till Election Day rolls round.

You gained’t hear 100% of every character’s story in a single playthrough, which is what makes taking part in by the sport once more awkward. You is perhaps lacking one or two scenes from a personality, however to get to them, you’ll have to sit down by hours of repeated materials to get there. There are some minigames and puzzles in some sections that make for a enjoyable distraction, however there are a restricted variety of these.

The sport is additional stifled by the truth that your selections solely lead as much as three conclusions. Every resolution contributes to one in every of three meters: revolution, vote, or apathy. Your anonymous character additionally has little or no company, and so they’re propelled alongside by the actions and ideas of the seven main NPCs.

Highway 96 Evaluate: The Ultimate Verdict

Highway 96 looks like a wierd mix of experimental and conservative recreation design. The procedurally generated narrative is a good suggestion and one I’d prefer to see used once more. Nonetheless, the overarching plot is political with out being substantive. It’s a narrative that might seemingly have been greatest served following a linear construction with participant characters that had wealthy backstories that firmly tied them to the wrestle occurring in Petria.

Journey recreation lovers could have a great time with Highway 96, although. The forged is a whole lot of enjoyable, and it has sufficient twists and turns to make for an entertaining play. It’s positively distinctive, and I hope that DigixArt continues experimenting with the style.

7.0

Attention-grabbing strategy to the style. NPCs are likable for essentially the most half. Would not go fairly far sufficient with its commentary. Clean slate participant character would not tie you into the story. Procedurally-generated narrative makes it irritating to see all of the story with out repeating a ton of the sport.