I broke from my rule of not even looking at a trailer for a game and actually watched a bit of the trailer for this one before downloading it even though I was going to download it anyway since I have to get through so many games in order to complete the list by the end of the year. I am Dead was something that I could tell right away was going to be heavy on the story and light on actual gameplay. I was absolutely correct about this and it is for that reason that I think this game will only appeal to a rather small segment of the gaming community.
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The game starts out with a man narrating as he talks about how much he loves his morning walks on the beach. The voice acting is actually superbly done, one of the best I have heard in any game ever, at least for the main character of "Morris Lupton." As I met more of the characters that he interacts with down the line they weren't as good as whoever is going the voiceover work for the main character, but none of them are terrible either. This can end up being an amusing problem in a lot of games that feature voiceovers.
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The game controls are rather simplistic and the tutorial for using these controls are done in a simple enough type of way and the controls are kept on screen at all times for easy reference should you forget. Basically all you do is look at stuff and since you are dead, you have the ability to look through items in sort of an X-ray type sense. You can't physically touch or interact with anything so you simply float about peeking into boxes and plants as well as inside walls.
This is cool at first but when you realize that this is the ENTIRE GAME it kind of quickly gets tiresome.
The story of learning about the life of the spirit that you are, and the others you interact with, is touching and very well done so in that regard I give the developers points for doing something unusual and well-written. The only problem is that the gameplay is extremely repetitive and at least for me, I had no desire to continue to the 2nd stage since it was just more of the same thing that happened in the first level, just in a different area.
The items that you have to find are rather inconsequential and they are simply items that were precious to the person that is also dead that you are investigating so that you can speak to them.
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The puzzles themselves are not at all difficult and the locations of most items that you have to find are relatively obvious. At times you also have to go into a human's psyche and hear them relay a story about the dead person you are currently seeking to speak to. These stories normally have a tragic element to them and I found them touching. I enjoy when a story has an emotional side to it but unfortunately I found myself unwilling to go and scan through a dozen pots hoping to find a coin or something like that buried underneath the plant. Unfortunately that is the entirety of the game and I don't believe that most gamers will actually possess the patience necessary to get all the way through this game even though it is quite short.
I commend the developers for having a great story, fantastic voice-acting and an unusual type of gameplay. However, this doesn't take away from the fact that the stuff you control is quite mundane and repetitive to the point where I didn't even feel compelled to continue through this roughly 3 hour journey. There are a lot of other games out there that are very story-driven that are more fun than this one was and therefore I am going to recommend that people give this one a miss. It has a lot in common with Spiritfarer and if you only have time for one of them, Spiritfarer is by far the better choice.
Pass on this one, on to the next one.
Games I have tried in my journey to play every PS-Plus Extra game for at least an hour
- Windbound (survival game with rogue-like elements - not recommended)
- Magicka 2 (top-down humorous multiplayer hack and slash-sort with immense spell system - maybe recommended)
- Tearaway: Unfolded (charming casual 3D platformer with inventive graphics and gameplay designed for all ages - recommended for casual players)
- Spiritfarer (casual simulation / resource-management style game with an extremely good story - recommended for all)
- Observation (point and click survival sort of... interactive game of sorts set in space - found it very boring after just one hour and do not recommend)
- Gabbuchi (simplistic puzzle game that I feel is better suited to mobile devices. Not recommended on consoles)
- The Messenger (8-bit style action/platformer that is a throwback to original Ninja Gaiden. It's simplistic fun. Recommended)
- Megadimension Neptunia VII (typical JRPG with some adjustments made to combat for uniqueness. Could be fun and I lukewarmly recommend for someone willing to dedicate 50 hours to a turn-based RPG)
- Monster Jam: Steel Titans 2 (monster truck racing game that will appeal only to people who are already fans of the sport - not recommended for any other people)
- Entwined (Visually appealing rhythm pace game that is very easy to pick up but gets repetitive after 30 minutes or so - recommended for anyone that can get it for free.)
- 2Dark (8-bit graphic survival horror/stealth hybrid. The game becomes extremely difficult really fast and therefore failed to hold my attention - not recommended)
- Virginia (interactive-cinema...not really a game and it is over in a couple of hours. Not recommended)
- Trials of Mana (simplistic action RPG that will definitely appeal to the casual gamer that is a fan of old-school RPG combat mechanics - recommended)
- Journey to the Savage Planet (FPS exploration game in a semi-open-world environment. The game is intentionally silly and I loved it - recommended)
- Resogun (arcade-style single-screen SHMUP that will get boring to most people after an hour or so. Not recommended)
- The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 (point and click adventure game that doesn't work on consoles and is just irritating to play - not recommended)
- Mighty No. 9 (it's Mega Man but terrible. Definitely not recommended)
- Moving Out (delightfully funny moving company simulator. It gets boring and repetitive pretty quickly. Recommended for a short laugh)
- Last Day of June (a sad story done in 3rd person perspective that while an interesting story and/or life lesson, quickly becomes repetitive and dull. Not recommended)
- Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom (action adventure RPG with an inventive combat system that unfortunately becomes very boring very fast. Filled with bugs and invisible walls, I lost interest within the first hour. Not recommended)
- Hue (inventive puzzle-platformer that whose basic controls are the reason why it is fun. This is also the reason why it gets old after a couple of hours)
- Dragon Quest Builders (simple building game similar to Minecraft with a quest and story system built it. A lot more fun than I thought it would be and highly recommended)
- Bound: Shattered Kingdom (artistic 3D platformer with an unusual graphical style that has an amazing story. It's only 2 hours long but still very good. Recommended)
- Hohokum (an artistic and relaxing experience but ultimately it isn't really a game because there are no clear objectives. Not recommended.)
- Bound by Flame (basically a budget Witcher but fails in almost every way. This game was frustrating to endure for an hour. Not recommended )
- Stray (a simplistic and beautiful adventure / puzzle game that I think most people would enjoy. However, it isn't as perfect as professional reviews would indicate IMO)
- Alienation (action RPG that plays similar to Diablo3 but set in a futuristic world. Recommended for casual multiplayer with friends)
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (A classic beat-em-up akin to Double Dragon that loses its appeal in the first 15 minutes of gameplay. Not recommended)
- I am Dead (Point and click puzzle-hunt game with a fantastic story that is unfortunately bogged down by very boring gameplay. Not recommended)