The good:
+ Great story
+ Multiple endings, although some bad ending ended abruptly
+ Fun/lovely characters. Of course that include my friend, traffic light 195.
+ Fairly good retro-adventure pixel artstyle
+ Great soundtrack, although doesn't always fit the scene
+ Solid surreal/fantastical atmosphere
+ Clever puzzle, with fairly-balanced difficulty

The bad:
- There's interesting hidden lore which only can be unlocked through brute force.

The ugly:
* Single manual save. It's not problem for most people since the game create additional save before story branches off. But for completionist, you could spend extra 1H-4H.
* Mediocre replayability value. Unless you're completionist and wish to analyze story/lore in more detail, you probably won't enjoy second playthrough. Unable to skip some conversation/scene makes it worse.

Some parts of the game are rough, but overall i had nice experience and i can feel passion of the developer. If you're fan of atmospheric/side-scrolling or RPGMaker game (such as To The Moon, OneShot or OMORI), it's likely you'll enjoy this game as well. But it's a shame the trailer and game description doesn't do justice to this niche game.

---

This part is a bit messy since it's difficult to talk about UNREAL LIFE without spoiling or giving away hint.


The story is about trip between Hal and traffic light called 195 in order to find Miss Sakura. Just like most adventure game, they meet various character along the way and took some detour. The first half could feel slow and leave you many question. But it gets more interesting and make sense on second half of the story. Personally i strongly prefer game with longer duration, so i feel some parts of the story (such as entire chapter #5 and #7 ) should be longer and there should be more cutscenes about Hal past, especially about time between Hal and Miss Sakura .

It seems weird traffic light is one of the main character of the story. But i grow to cherish both Hal and 195 over time, especially during 2nd half of the game. I would never expect traffic light could be great companion. The side character are also unique and have quirky personality. But while there are some fun/heartwarming moment with them, they only have short screen time which doesn't leave much impression.


Character and story are most important part of UNREAL LIFE, so there aren't many lore in this game. However there are some intriguing, yet missable lore on UNREAL LIFE which could give deeper understanding of the story/character.

What really annoys me is, the important lore is hard to discover and can only be unlocked through brute force. To be specific, i had to unlock locker with a key (during chapter #3) until it fits where i have to spam button Z S Z Z many times. In the end, i decide to write short script to automate the process . It's very tedious process where only ~17% player who see true ending know about this lore (based on global achievement stats).

You can discover most of missable lore by visiting library on chapter #7 and unlocking achievement Singularity/The truth


Retro-adventure pixel artstyle is what hooked me initially to UNREAL LIFE. With bluish surreal/fantastical atmosphere and diverse amount soundtrack, there's no stale moment during my playthrough (except when i stuck on certain puzzle). Borrowing term of another review, mimicked voice through Morse-code like sound give nice touch to conversation and bring the character to the life.

The cutscenes are simultaneously eye-catching and thought provoking. While the artstyle is decent, the soundtrack/sound effect clearly outshine the artstyle most of the times. My only nitpick is since use 320x180 base resolution, i feel few cutscenes doesn't show body/facial expression well enough.

This game let you choose between smooth or pixelated text. But obviously pixelated text fit better with game atmosphere. You also can change sound volume of music, game SFX/sound effect and character voice if you wish to do so.


There are 3 unique game mechanics in this game. Hal has special ability to see memory of some object. It can be used to either solve puzzle or progress the story. With help of 195, she can remember everything she touched along with all past conversation and her thought about the trip. It's really handy mechanics since you could avoid re-interacting with same object/character. Unfortunately there's no skill progression of Hal special ability, which could make the puzzle more challenging/entertaining.

The puzzle itself is rather clever and blend fairly well with the environment. Most of them could be solved easily as long as you pay attention to the dialogue and notice the subtle hint. Although it's easy to miss small part of the puzzle if you didn't try interact with certain object multiple times or forget what you've already touched. The only problematic downside is puzzle on chapter #6 require some memorization/trial-and-error which break the immersion during important part of the story.

While other review mention some awkwardness with the controls, i do experience such problem with keyboard. I didn't try playing with console controller, but i had terrible experience with mouse. Personally i do not recommend playing UNREAL LIFE with mouse under any circumstance. If you don't have console controller, just use keyboard where you could play only with left hand.


As fan of UNREAL LIFE, i'd say it's worth to spend $20. I even bought the original soundtrack at full price shortly after see the true ending. But if my review and other review still doesn't convince you, please consider buying this game during sale and remember Steam have generous refunds policy (less than 2 hours gameplay or before 2 weeks after purchase).

• Most achievement can be unlocked by exploration or interact with object/character more than once. Some puzzle also require you to do same thing.
  
• Don't forget to use 3 unique game mechanics and check item on your bag if you stuck at certain puzzle.
  
• Use headphone and make sure you can see your screen clearly for better experience.
  
• Avoid guide/walkthrough unless you really stuck at certain puzzle.

The good: + Great story + Multiple endings, although some bad ending ended abruptly + Fun/lovely characters. Of course that include my friend, traffic light 195. + Fairly good retro-adventure pixel artstyle + Great soundtrack, although doesn't always fit the scene + Solid surreal/fantastical atmosphere + Clever puzzle, with fairly-balanced difficulty The bad: - There's interesting hidden lore which only can be unlocked through brute force. The ugly: * Single manual save. It's not problem for most people since the game create additional save before story branches off. But for completionist, you could spend extra 1H-4H. * Mediocre replayability value. Unless you're completionist and wish to analyze story/lore in more detail, you probably won't enjoy second playthrough. Unable to skip some conversation/scene makes it worse. Some parts of the game are rough, but overall i had nice experience and i can feel passion of the developer. If you're fan of atmospheric/side-scrolling or RPGMaker game (such as To The Moon, OneShot or OMORI), it's likely you'll enjoy this game as well. But it's a shame the trailer and game description doesn't do justice to this niche game. [hr][/hr] [h1] In-depth review [/h1] This part is a bit messy since it's difficult to talk about UNREAL LIFE without spoiling or giving away hint. [h2] Story/Character [/h2] The story is about trip between Hal and traffic light called 195 in order to find Miss Sakura. Just like most adventure game, they meet various character along the way and took some detour. The first half could feel slow and leave you many question. But it gets more interesting and make sense on second half of the story. Personally i strongly prefer game with longer duration, so i feel some parts of the story (such as [spoiler] entire chapter #5 and #7 [/spoiler]) should be longer and there should be more cutscenes about [spoiler] Hal past, especially about time between Hal and Miss Sakura [/spoiler]. It seems weird traffic light is one of the main character of the story. But i grow to cherish both Hal and 195 over time, especially during 2nd half of the game. I would never expect traffic light could be great companion. The side character are also unique and have quirky personality. But while there are some fun/heartwarming moment with them, they only have short screen time which doesn't leave much impression. [h2] Lore/world building [/h2] Character and story are most important part of UNREAL LIFE, so there aren't many lore in this game. However there are some intriguing, yet missable lore on UNREAL LIFE which could give deeper understanding of the story/character. What really annoys me is, the important lore is hard to discover and can only be unlocked through brute force. To be specific, [spoiler] i had to unlock locker with a key (during chapter #3) until it fits where i have to spam button Z S Z Z many times. In the end, i decide to write short script to automate the process [/spoiler]. It's very tedious process where only ~17% player who see true ending know about this lore (based on global achievement stats). You can discover most of missable lore by [spoiler] visiting library on chapter #7 and unlocking achievement Singularity/The truth [/spoiler] [h2] Visual/Audio [/h2] Retro-adventure pixel artstyle is what hooked me initially to UNREAL LIFE. With bluish surreal/fantastical atmosphere and diverse amount soundtrack, there's no stale moment during my playthrough (except when i stuck on certain puzzle). Borrowing term of another review, mimicked voice through Morse-code like sound give nice touch to conversation and bring the character to the life. The cutscenes are simultaneously eye-catching and thought provoking. While the artstyle is decent, the soundtrack/sound effect clearly outshine the artstyle most of the times. My only nitpick is since use 320x180 base resolution, i feel few cutscenes doesn't show body/facial expression well enough. This game let you choose between smooth or pixelated text. But obviously pixelated text fit better with game atmosphere. You also can change sound volume of music, game SFX/sound effect and character voice if you wish to do so. [h2] Gameplay [/h2] There are 3 unique game mechanics in this game. Hal has special ability to see memory of some object. It can be used to either solve puzzle or progress the story. With help of 195, she can remember everything she touched along with all past conversation and her thought about the trip. It's really handy mechanics since you could avoid re-interacting with same object/character. Unfortunately there's no skill progression of Hal special ability, which could make the puzzle more challenging/entertaining. The puzzle itself is rather clever and blend fairly well with the environment. Most of them could be solved easily as long as you pay attention to the dialogue and notice the subtle hint. Although it's easy to miss small part of the puzzle if you didn't try interact with certain object multiple times or forget what you've already touched. The only problematic downside is puzzle on chapter #6 require some memorization/trial-and-error which break the immersion during important part of the story. While other review mention some awkwardness with the controls, i do experience such problem with keyboard. I didn't try playing with console controller, but i had terrible experience with mouse. Personally i do not recommend playing UNREAL LIFE with mouse under any circumstance. If you don't have console controller, just use keyboard where you could play only with left hand. [h2] Is it worth to spend $20? [/h2] As fan of UNREAL LIFE, i'd say it's worth to spend $20. I even bought the original soundtrack at full price shortly after see the true ending. But if my review and other review still doesn't convince you, please consider buying this game during sale and remember Steam have generous refunds policy (less than 2 hours gameplay or before 2 weeks after purchase). [h2] Some tips for new player [/h2] [list] [*] Most achievement can be unlocked by exploration or interact with object/character more than once. Some puzzle also require you to do same thing. [*] Don't forget to use 3 unique game mechanics and check item on your bag if you stuck at certain puzzle. [*] Use headphone and make sure you can see your screen clearly for better experience. [*] Avoid guide/walkthrough unless you really stuck at certain puzzle. [/list]