Far from Noise

If you’re looking for a game, this is not it. I found it heated my phone as someone else commented, and the interaction is minimal, and I would guess that there are not multiple “endings” to be had as there are in “choices” games. But this is not a game. In my experience “playing” through, this wasn’t the point. I found the whole experience to be profoundly allegorical. I found metaphor after metaphor in the discussion between the driver and his environment. I’m sure I missed some as the authors have shown admirable restraint from making every sentiment explicit. While I wouldn’t call the characters complex, the ideas and perspectives were often immediately relatable. The characters are clearly not the point, but rather the story they act in and the existence they discuss. The narrative also forced some perspectives that initially felt more alien (irrational fears of material creatures primarily) but was able to bring things back to this space of relevance without fail. This is a well tailored piece of art that very successfully resonated with my philosophical side. I feel no need to immediately replay it, but I am very much looking forward to discovering how I relate to the journey a year or so from now when it crosses my mind to rediscover it. To the developers: thank you for a wonderful experience. I wish I could articulate my thoughts and feelings as well as you have in this piece of art.

This game is really just quite lovely. The stories the person told were quite nice, and the toad, not frog, riding the tortoise, not turtle, was funny. It was just like, “imma hawp on dis tortoise and ride around woo”. The details are lovely, and I really just loved the game in general. But at the end of when I played, it’s hard to tell whether the person fell off the cliff or drove away. But I think it’s most likely they drove away. Though, I wonder how the person ended up on the cliff edge in the first place. I know why the person is there, but how. Did the person accidentally go too far? Or did the car slip or something? That’s really all I’d like to know, but the game is lovely overall. Very majestical, you could say.

response required

First and foremost, this is a promising experience (You’d be hard-pressed to call this a game) - but a couple of fundamental issues exist that prevent me from enjoying the narrative. These are as follows: 1) On my iPhone SE, playing for any length of time makes my phone REALLY hot, for a game that demands time and patience to experience, this is a bit of a deal breaker. Turning on low graphics in the options menu helps this slightly. 2) In the scene with the frog and the turtle, I can tell (from the dialogue) that the turtle is supposed to take the frog on a taxi ride; however in my version the pair just sit statically, doing nothing, while the dialogue ticks on. Hmm. At point “2” I turned the game off since I then couldn’t be sure if I was missing anything or not. A shame, because this entirely ruined the pace and experience of the journey. I would definitely want to finish the game, but with some animations or sequences clearly not working - I can’t see the reason to bother. In conclusion, this is a beautiful and novel (no pun intended) idea, but one that needs to work smoothly to be articulated properly - which was not the case for me. In such a carefully executed app, any break in the narrative utterly damages the experience. It’s a shame, because I am at a point in my life not unlike the woman in the game, on a precipice between life and death. I was hoping this game would provide some context, or comfort - but it was unable to.

First off, this really isn’t a “game.” It’s even less interactive than so-called “walking sims.” You have dialogue choices and that’s it. But that’s really not what this experience is about. If you want gameplay you’re in the wrong place, and it irks me so many people have slammed this game for being “boring.” IT IS NOT A GAME. How did anyone spend money on this without realizing what they were getting into?! To those folks, it’s your own fault for not being more discerning. This is a story. A slow and thoughtful one that requires patience. At times it is even quite funny. But it can also be emotionally crushing. If you are willing to immerse yourself in the experience and take the story at its own pace, you will discover something moving, wonderful, intense, sad, and thought-provoking. I’ve rarely in my life has such a strong emotional reaction to a piece of media as I did to this. Absolutely 100% recommended for anyone interested in a bittersweet story about one’s own meaning and place in the world.

This game is a work of art. It fills you with tons of emotions.. And makes you wonder what life REALLY is! The story is priceless, the conversations are poetic, and when it all ends, you feel sad that it's over. I couldn't put down my iPad for an hour! I still feel dazzled over it all. I honestly don't know if I should be happy.. or sad! Anyways.. I should stop writing down a bunch of junk and just say, this game is great and I HIGHLY recommend you play it 👍