Review of Again by TimovieMan

Again is very much like Cing’s other games Hotel Dusk and Last Window, yet very different. You hold the DS sideways again, the dialogue system is similar, there’s a recap pop quiz at the end of every chapter, moving around is similar, etc., but the animation style is very dissimilar (hand drawn vs. real stills), the feel is a lot different (no noir here), and unfortunately the story is severely lacking towards its conclusion…

The good:
- holding the DS sideways (like a book) is a feature that I like
- by using stills and small movements of real actors, the game not only looks good, but gives a realistic feel to it all
- very interesting premise that grabbed my attention early on
- the psychic element offers some superb gameplay and the accompanying grainy FMV adds to the great production values
- unlike in Hotel Dusk and Last Window, the end-of-chapter “quiz” is integrated a lot better
- decent suspenseful music (if somewhat repetitive)

The bad:
- too few psychic moments (they’re too good gameplay-wise to be used so sparingly)
- the main characters are clueless: lots of plot twists are obvious well in advance, but the main characters remain oblivious until slapped in the face
- overacting by the actors, to the point of cheese
- the ending doesn’t live up to the massive potential that the premise held
- unnecessary cliffhanger makes the game feel somewhat unfinished

What started out as a great game slowly went downhill. The game looks gorgeous, the premise is great, the psychic moments offer some great gameplay, but the longer the game lasts, the dumber the main characters appear to be, and the ending is just ludicrous. Not only are the plot twists obvious from miles away, but the conclusion makes far too little sense. This is a crying shame because there was a lot of potential to the story.

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Time Played: 5-10 hours
Difficulty: Easy