Ricebot and the weird long cat were good. TTM and FP were meme machines and had a lot of quirky moments to break up all the sad. These, along with Quincy’s relative silence during the second third, means IF has a more serious tone to it than the previous game before it, and while it does make it stand out from TTM and FP, the game also feels less memorable than those other two. I will admit that I didn’t miss the puzzles as much, but I did miss trying to find the next memento and seeing where the memento leads to they gave a break from all the story we’re constantly surrounded by. Also, the “memento” system is done away with: the orbs break open a barrier and you move on to the next section, no puzzles to solve to progress.
You barely talk to NPCs and there are barely any items to click on and read funny descriptions on.
That isn’t the only issue plaguing IF. For one thing, there isn’t as much interactivity with the environment as there is in the previous games. While a little cheesy and unnecessary during the serious parts, Rosaline and Neil were fun characters to hang out with, and its a shame they’re not controllable this time around. Just it feels like he probably should’ve had a companion with him to bounce off of during the second third of the game, to add some levity to the proceedings. Neil Watts has, and Neil is a comedic king in these games. That’s a shame, because Quincy is a fun guy to hang out with otherwise. There are times where he just seems emotionless, even when he really shouldn’t be. We aren’t following indifferent but sympathetic workers, but a person with a kind heart, and so his reactions to the memories he witnesses are much more raw and emotional.when he reacts.
Quincy has no clue as to where he is and what these orbs do, and that makes for an interesting twist on the formula. Except this time, there are no bickering scientists one-lining their way through a person’s life- instead, Quincy is the one in control, and this alone is an interesting concept. I won’t go into too much detail about the other two-thirds of the game, but I will say that the second half is more or less what you would come to expect from a Kan Gap game: exploring memories, collecting orbs, and moving on to the next memory. But like the Steam page says, that is only the first third of the game.