I loved Gone Home, I loved Takoma, but I was disappointed with Open Roads. As a walking simulator, I found the story and setting less interesting. The game feels dull and unnecessarily slow.

The setting feels empty and superficial. For example, many of the objects I wanted to explore were non-interactive, which took me out of the mystery exploration. As for pacing, I found the dialogue system too distracting from the main experience I expect from this type of game. For example, all the car scenes, where the walking disappears.

Cute graphic styling but this game was literally 2.3 hours long, fairly boring, and not worth the money, even 30% off. $13.99 for 2 hours of gameplay is a ripoff, and I would have been even less satisfied had I paid the whole 20 bucks. When I read the credits it said that it was developed over years... for what? I don't see how this could have taken so much time and resources for what little was delivered. Buy it if you have money to waste and are easy to entertain, otherwise spend it elsewhere.

This visual novel/walking simulator has a nice visual style, good voice acting, and a good enough story to make for a decent diversion if you're a fan of the genre and get the game for a decent price. Probably not worth paying full price though, definitely get it on sale.

It's by no means the best you can find in the genre, however. The story is pretty sort, and very linear. There are no branching paths, alternate endings, etc. The dialogue choices don't seem to matter, really. The really good examples of this type of game, like Gone Home, have items and clues off the main story path that give you glimpses into side-plots and other people's pasts, not just the main story. There are a few instances of "extra information" that you don't need to complete the game and paint a bit more of the larger picture, but they're pretty scanty.

It may sound like I should have thumbs-downed this game, but as I said, it's a decent enough game for the time it takes to play, so long as you get it at a good price.