My partner got me this game on day of release for my birthday and it was an incredible gift.

Simulacra 3 explores lore from the previous three titles and weaves it together in new ways, whilst the previous three show a clear escalation of Simulacra in terms of power and malevolence all the elements of the previous games are here in one form or another.

The game is shorter and I dare say has less replayability than the others, I suspect being developed during a pandemic has had the greatest impact on that. I enjoyed exploring as much of the game in one sitting as I could with frustration only at one part where a button didn't work the first time I tried it and reloading the game I didn't think to go back and try it for another twenty or so minutes - but like I said, that was day of release and easily fixable.

I can understand some of the dissatisfaction with the game as a lot of the cult following of the Simulacra series is having know real depth of knowledge on what a Simulacra is, where it came from, what powers it and other such unknowns where snippets have only been revealed to the hardcore investigators in previous releases within this series. This game starts to lift that veil more during the core story line and so far I have not found any Easter Eggs that hint at it being a false narrative or having further hidden clues. It all makes sense as a story and makes sense with the lore of the previous games, including iconic phrases and moments from previous games that put certain happenings from previous games in a new light.

That said the new mechanics are fantastic, the spooks were great and the characters emotive despite their individual isolation. I had a lot of fun figuring out whose social media handles were what person we read about in the news and the lore. If you love the Simulacra series this is a fine addition with the potential for both expansion and further games in the series. I am excited to see what the devs will come up with next and going for the rest of the endings and achievements.

My partner got me this game on day of release for my birthday and it was an incredible gift. Simulacra 3 explores lore from the previous three titles and weaves it together in new ways, whilst the previous three show a clear escalation of Simulacra in terms of power and malevolence all the elements of the previous games are here in one form or another. The game is shorter and I dare say has less replayability than the others, I suspect being developed during a pandemic has had the greatest impact on that. I enjoyed exploring as much of the game in one sitting as I could with frustration only at one part where a button didn't work the first time I tried it and reloading the game I didn't think to go back and try it for another twenty or so minutes - but like I said, that was day of release and easily fixable. I can understand some of the dissatisfaction with the game as a lot of the cult following of the Simulacra series is having know real depth of knowledge on what a Simulacra is, where it came from, what powers it and other such unknowns where snippets have only been revealed to the hardcore investigators in previous releases within this series. This game starts to lift that veil more during the core story line and so far I have not found any Easter Eggs that hint at it being a false narrative or having further hidden clues. It all makes sense as a story and makes sense with the lore of the previous games, including iconic phrases and moments from previous games that put certain happenings from previous games in a new light. That said the new mechanics are fantastic, the spooks were great and the characters emotive despite their individual isolation. I had a lot of fun figuring out whose social media handles were what person we read about in the news and the lore. If you love the Simulacra series this is a fine addition with the potential for both expansion and further games in the series. I am excited to see what the devs will come up with next and going for the rest of the endings and achievements.