Console: PC
Date Released: Unreleased
Date Reviewed: 10 Feb 2012
Reviewer: Justin
Serving only as a blast to the past for most players, there’s generally little interest or room for success with games like Yesterday. Perhaps the world of gaming has gone too far down the road on their fan-boy wagon, but that’s something that we all have to live with. Games like Yesterday don’t tend to pop up too often, so developers of these titles have to do their best to attract the attention of gamers. This preview serves as a first-hand experience with a seemingly long-forgotten game style that quite frankly, we’d like to see have a comeback.
Pros
* Fresh artistic style
* Original story (escapes the bandwagon)
* Tests the gamer
Cons
* Complete lack of voiceovers
* Lacking UI options
* Potentially outdated gameplay
Presentation
Let’s just start by saying that this game isn’t Battlefield 3 when it comes to graphics – and damn it, it’s not supposed to be. Yesterday’s graphics top the charts of cel-shaded video games, bringing back the lovely art style of games such as Afro Samurai and XIII (which seems to be Pendulo Studio’s claim to fame throughout the years). The graphics are solid, bringing none of the industry standard complaints along with it; this is a game where you don’t have to worry about the sky turning into a pink sea of error.
Although the graphics are solid – the animations are extremely hard to have an opinion of. At times, the game presents a stop-motion style of animation, while in other instances it chooses to present a cinematic style. If there’s anything to complain about in the animation department, it’s the lack of consistency (as far as we’ve seen).
Now – the sound – which, while damn good in an ambient matter, seems to be otherwise non-existent. It’s a general rule to include at least limited amounts of voiceovers in new games, but that doesn’t seem to be in the design of Yesterday. Although the RPG-style text does work in essence, the lack of voiceovers as a whole seems to be a huge set-back for the game. Don’t get me wrong though, I love the RPG-style text, but find that it’s more appropriate in Gameboy releases, as opposed to new PC releases.
Single Player
The mechanics in Yesterday are very simple, providing point-and-click movement method, text-based dialogue, and linear puzzles. Yesterday rolls back to days of old, providing these simple mechanics along side a great story – one that might even shock players; and that’s something that doesn’t happen too often anymore. Due to the gameplay style of Yesterday, not a single game breaking issue popped up during our preview run, which is a lot more than one can ask from post-release products as of recent.
With games of such simplicity, the storyline and good old-fashion fun are what players look for – so difficulty shouldn’t be a huge obstacle to step over. Yesterday provides in-game hints that can only be used every so often, along side queues that may or may not help the player. Getting from point to point is generally stress free – allowing for the player to actually enjoy a game for what it is. Unfortunately, due to the preview version being a short glimpse of what is to come, we can only speculate that the length of this game will fit in perfect with the play style and audience’s wants and needs.
Multiplayer
No multiplayer to be commented on.
Replay Value
The lasting appeal of Yesterday can only be told with time, along side bonus content and possible DLC. Although we can only speculate once again, it is generally safe to say that unless content is added in later days, the replay value will be non-existent. The modern gamer needs diversity or added content, and story-based point-and-click games often don’t deliver.
All-in-all, from a preview standpoint, Yesterday will be a great game for a one-time playthrough. Games of its type often don’t have much replay value, nor do they often incorporate multiplayer – but only time will tell for this release. Perhaps this game will go down in history as an industry innovator, or it could release under the radar as so many games have in the past.
