‘Open Roads’ Review
Developer: Open Roads Team (Fullbright) | Platform: PS5 |
Playtime: 2:20 | Platinum: 2:35
Moderate to Major story spoilers follow, reader discretion is advised
When it released 11 years ago, Gone Home changed the way that games could be presented. The industry took the idea and ran with it, leaving Fullbright behind somewhat. Tacoma in 2017 was a welcome evolution of the design principle. 7 years on, delays and studio controversy have led to the release of Open Roads. I'm not sure how I feel about it, too little too late perhaps? Both destination and journey, despite some glimmering moments, just don't hit their mark.
The story follows teenager Tess and her mother Opal who, after the death of the family’s grandmother, discover her secret buried past. Together they go on a road trip in search of answers. The premise is good, but the games run time of just two hours doesn't let these ideas flourish
Unlike the previous Fullbright titles, Open Roads takes place over three locales, including the first one and the car journeys. For a game about being on the road, these car segments are little more than interactive cutscenes, moreso than the rest of the game. Much like you've come to expect, the game has you traversing in first person looking for items of interest and relevant to the story at hand. Unlike Gone home which had you exploring solo, travelling with your Mam means that important objects progress the story at the stories pace rather than your own. The multiple locations mean that there is a definitive start and end to each section. Speaking of the Mam, it's an odd choice that she doesn't appear in the overworld, instead just for important items or lore relevant items that you can summon her over for a bit of extra context and narrative.
The surrounding information in the world is good, the game being set in the early 2000's with newspaper clippings referencing 9/11 and a dead tamogotchi in Tess' bedroom drawers. This is all seen through interacting with items, which is also why the games narrative doesn't work as well as it could. Throughout the game you discover: Tess runs a website design business, she and her dad go looking for long lost bootlegger gold, the grandma ran an advice column but maybe wasn't a great mother to Auntie August, Opal works at a theatre but has issues trusting people because of her ex husband and runaway grandfather. She and Tess' dad are divorced. These are the crux for a lot of the game, but a lot of it would be lost if you didn't interact with the items.
This isn't an issue until the games last car section, where each of these topics is brought up in a row like a Telltale games choice percentage screen. The implication is that a lot of these issues have been under the service for a while but have now come to head due to the passing of Grandma Helen. The problem is that in the two hours we are with these characters, the game can't put all these issues across convincingly. It's a game both about discovering the secrets of Grandma Helen as well as a Mother/Daughter trip to bond and heal wounds. The game doesn't delve into either enough, which it can't really with its short run time.
In the end, the game amounts to little more than a poorer Gone Home. In fact, the game could have done with taking more inspiration from What Remains of Edith Finch or even the Life is Strange games. There is good stuff here and the troubles the studio went through can't be ignored but in the end, Open Roads disappointed.
