As someone who has played a ton of 'walking simulators' and adjacent games, I feel I am qualified to give my opinion on these types of titles, disliked by many but not by me. That being said, I am baffled this game has a "very positive" rating on Steam. I think it is completely subpar, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you can get it for a huge discount.

So let's start with the positives. Is there anything of value here? Sure there is. The voice acting is pretty OK. The atmosphere of the lake and the surrounding woodlands is nice, at least for the first few days. I quite liked the option to romance one of the characters in the game, even if it was somewhat underplayed. There's different endings, that's cool. I chuckled at some of the VHS references to existing movies. And unlike some games, you can pick dialogue options very frequently, giving you some agency in how you want to respond to other people.

And... that's about it for positives.

First off, the audio. I found the dialogue very wooden and uninspired. And as I have replayed parts of the game, I know that picking any of the different response options usually leads to the exact same result. Way worse is the music. The songs range from decent to forgettable. But the main problem is that there's only like 8 of them. And during the course of your 5 - 8 hour playthrough, these will loop over and over and over and over again. So you'll come to hate them. They play while you have the radio on in your truck, but also during the cut scenes. The game would have benefited greatly from a more extensive soundtrack. But worst of all, the audio is incredibly glitchy. Driving sounds or songs will glitch/suddenly stop, start up again, and cut back out. Sometimes there won't be any sound at all. Spoken lines won't be played. And this happens incredibly frequently. Speaking off, a funny bug I had was Meredith commenting on how heavy a package was. As I replayed that section and picked up the same package, she commented on how light it was. Hmmm...

Then, the graphics. I know this is an indie game, but for one that came out in the 2020's, I think the graphics are pretty lacking. The environments are acceptable but the people look like they have a layer of cellophane on top of them and they're way too blocky. Bugs galore here too. Lips won't move during dialogue, textures will often take ages to load in, and as you're driving around town you can clip into obstacles and people walking the street (who have no regard for their own safety, I might add).

What about the gameplay? Because you're not just walking and talking, you also have to deliver mail. Well, the truck handles like ♥♥♥♥. At least with my controller. Often it didn't want to make turns correctly and it was slow to respond on the breaks. The map is pretty big and many days you have to drive from the town center to the other side of the map for one letter/package delivery. And many of these deliveries just amount to "click A near the mailbox/door". With named characters and occasionally with randos you'll get a conversation, but often you just leave the mail and Meredith will say a recycled line. Or the person won't be home and so you just drop the package on the doorstep. I think this kind of busywork would be fine if it was the minority, with more interesting encounters added in. Or if it was as frequent as it is now, but with a greater variety of side stuff and music, to get a more relaxed atmosphere. As is, the 7 hours I put into the game both is not enough to justify the price tag, considering how unpolished it is, while at the same time feeling incredibly empty.

So yeah, I think this is a huge "swing and a miss". The game needs a thorough clean up on a technical level to just be considered truly finished. And even then I don't think it is worth 20 bucks. If it ever goes on sale for 5 dollaridoos/euros, and you have saintly patience, I guess you could give it a try. But everyone else, buy Firewatch, Gone Home, Neo Cab, or one of the other fantastic story-driven games that Steam has to offer instead.

Neo Cab is one of the best narrative-driven indies I have played in a while. I do like most visual novels, but what stands about this title is the animation. While relatively minor and somewhat repetitive, the characters were constantly in motion, This gives the game a lot less of a static feeling, which tends to make me zone out with similar titles. I also really liked the (minor) gameplay additions, such as having to sort of manage your cash spending and deciding which passangers you pick up. You also are locked out of certain conversation options based on your emotional state. I thought that added a ton of flair to experience.

As expected, the meat of the experience is still in writing, but Neo Cab exells in this department as well. Its story is simple yet relatable. the characters are memorable and deliver some great lines (including a few laugh out loud ones) and I genuinely enjoyed getting to know most of them. The expected social commentary inherent to cyberpunk universes is present, and mostly handled well, albeit not in any new and interesting ways. Something I did not expect but was very impressed by, was the incorperation of a story line on gaslighting and toxic friendship. I did feel it could have maybe used a bit more fleshing out. The finale as a whole was a bit lacking, when compared to the way stronger middle. And the main character Lina, while likeable and entertaining in her own way, was also a bit colorless (not appearance wise! Great design!) when compared to the people she meets.

There is no voice acting, but that is hardly uncommon in this genre. The music however, has to be top notch. And I am happy to say it was. The synthwave and electro music perfectly complemented the aesthetic of the game. Which of course was also top notch. I especially loved the vibrant colors, as opposed to some cyberpunk titles that make everything too dark and grimey. The character models were pretty well done for an indie title, although one or two ventured into uncanny valley territory.

So in conclusion. I unequivocally recommend Neo Cab. A few shortcomings prevent it from being a master piece, but I still had an amazing time with the game and I will no doubt replay it in the future.