This is part of my Steam Challenge Series (the full list is here).
Time played: 8.7 hours
Gemini Rue is a dystopian sci-fi point-and-click adventure title that hearkens back to the 90’s golden age of 16-bit adventure games. The plot is not quite as epic as the marketing suggests, but nevertheless it is a (mostly) well-written, gritty drama that will keep you interested until the end.
All the characters are voice-acted, which is really good for an indie developer. The talent is of a fairly high standard, but there is one character who is very, very badly done. I can’t decide whether it is the writing, or the voice actor himself that is the problem.
The puzzles are intuitive and just challenging enough to require some effort, without being silly Monkey Island-style “combine these incredibly unlikely things at this specific point” affairs. There are several points in the game which involve combat, but you are put through a tutorial which explains how this works, and it is quite simple. I can’t say it adds much to the game though, I feel like it could have worked just as well without those scenes. Fortunately it is a rare occurrence.
You do end up playing as more than one character during the game, which is integral to the way the story unfolds, and in general it works quite well. Overall, this is definitely a worthwhile pickup at full price if you are into adventure games, and a bargain if you get it cheaper.
Star-Fired Beef 