We all know that the life of a doctor is very busy and complicated. Fall Of Porcupine comes to show the routine of a young doctor in a small town.
THE GAME
Fall Of Porcupine is a narrative game developed by Critical Rabbit and distributed by Assemble Entertainment. In control of Finley, a novice doctor, we follow his journey in Porcupine, a small town where our doctor works at St. Ursula Hospital. As it is his first experience in the hospital business, Finley begins to understand about the health industry, whether the good side or the bad side. In addition, he suffers the consequences of the hard work of a doctor. Follow Finley's life and see if it's possible to balance your professional life with your private life.
MY IMPRESSIONS
The game itself is simple and well focused on the story. It can feel a little slurred for those who don't like a lot of dialogue, so keep in mind that most of the game is dialogue after dialogue. There are many characters and you can interact with most of them, which enriches the narrative. As it is a game about relationships and problems, paying attention to the dialogues is essential for understanding the game and what it wants to present. Unfortunately, the game is not in Brazilian-Portuguese, which may turn off some Brazilian players due to the fact that the game is text-loaded.
Between one moment and another in the story, we have some minigames, such as administering medication, giving an injection or playing basketball after hours, something that is good to take a break and not make the game so monotonous. Even so, I was exhausted from so much text and interaction with the characters. The minigames are also uninspiring. As the purpose of the game is to tell a story and make you reflect on some issues, it is totally understandable that it has a lot of text. The characters have their personalities well defined and are well written. The art of the game is very beautiful and gives a light air to a story that contrasts with the visuals.
There are two problems in Fall Of Porcupine that are quite annoying. The first one is that there is no savepoint indication, not even a warning. As the game automatically saves at specific points in the story but doesn't tell you when, you won't be sure where you left off if you close the game. That is, you may have done a lot and read a lot of dialogues, closed the game and, when you went to continue, you come back from a point before the one you had stopped, having to repeat all the actions you took before. It's quite irritating. The second problem is that the game has a lot of bugs, some of which even prevent you from progressing through the story. And then you have to exit the game and guess what? You will be taken to the last save point, which you didn't know what it was, as the game doesn't warn you. And there you go doing it all over again until you get where you left off. These two points generate a certain frustration, because the game is slow and, when these problems occur, it gives you a feeling of wasted time.
In general, Fall Of Porcupine has its narrative and visual merit, with a story that wants to hold you, but that in many moments, is lost. It's a relatively long game because of the extensive dialogues and interactions. It will make you reflect and maybe even cry. If you keep in mind that the idea of the game is to focus on the narrative, you will have a good experience.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Fall Of Porcupine has achievements that can be missed, and if you miss any of them, you'll have to play everything again. So pay attention not to miss any details. Take a look at the achievements before starting and interact with everything you can within the game. Doing 100% isn't difficult, but it can become a tiring task.
CONCLUSION
Fall Of Porcupine's slow narrative may put some players off, but those playing for the story are on the right track. There is no shortage of dialogues to enrich that universe. In my case, the rhythm of the game and the problems already mentioned put me off in many moments. I played in short sessions and even then I wasn't excited.
Maybe Fall Of Porcupine is not what I expected, even if it has strengths that I can recognize. It's a worthwhile experience, anyway. The smooth art and characters carry the game well, even if they are overshadowed by the slow pace. Anyway, if you like narrative games, maybe these points won't bother you and you'll be able to enjoy Fall Of Porcupine better than me.
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