Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

A game is defined by its gameplay, not by a good story or its presentation.

After just a few minutes playing The Long Reach I could already see its enormous potential. The game does something different from what we are used to, mixing genres and unusual presentations to tell a very interesting story. But unfortunately the final product fails to develop its full potential, and TLR ends up becoming a dull and repetitive experience.

Story: 8.5

The strongest point of The Long Reach is its story and, especially, its atmosphere. The game tells the story of survivors of a scientific experiment gone wrong, which drove all the town’s inhabitants mad and turned them into beasts. Touching on controversial themes such as the clash between faith and logic and the limits of ethics in science, the plot is impactful and manages to hold your interest and attention.

On top of that comes careful work to create a dark and oppressive setting. Both the scenery and the insane characters convey incredibly well the impression that the world really is ending. The map is full of posters, notes and computers for you to read and slowly understand what happened and what is still happening to the people and to the whole world… And what can be done to save humanity from this catastrophe.

Mechanics: 4

This is where the premise of The Long Reach falls apart. Using the gameplay of a 2D sidescroller to deliver a point-and-click adventure experience, you will collect an immense variety of objects that you can use as tools to advance through the maps and the plot.

The idea is good and at times it seems it could work well, but the simple, unambitious design eliminates a good part of the exploration – making it practically a linear experience. To make matters worse, a good part of the puzzles make little or no sense: you will rarely work out which item to use in each situation, relying on luck or simple trial and error. The impression you get at the end of a play session is that you simply advance to the next “puzzle” and try every item in your inventory until one works and you move on to the next narrative scene or another “puzzle”. The gameplay is repetitive and tires quickly, making you seriously wonder whether it is worth your time just for an interesting story.

Audio and visuals: 7

Following the by now overused rule of indie/obscure games, The Long Reach uses pixel art visuals. What sets it apart and makes it interesting is its sobriety: everything is made trying to respect realistic proportions, colors and notions, so that the most supernatural moments and the encounters with human-monsters are quite impactful and even shocking. In contrast, the more macabre content and the gore are softened by the pixelated art, making it clear that the art direction was indeed very well judged.

It may sound strange, but the game’s audio stands out precisely by not standing out during play. The sound work complements the tense mood well, from the use of sudden noises that scare you and keep you alert to the low, lifeless melodies themselves that reinforce the setting of a catastrophe that could mean the end of humanity.

Final thoughts

The Long Reach is a game full of good ideas. Its story is surprising and engaging, and at times its mechanics fit together naturally and feel familiar, despite being a very unconventional mix. Unfortunately the uninspired level design and its puzzles that border on the esoteric turn a great plot into an endurance test, where your biggest challenge is facing the repetitiveness and the discouragement.

Score

Story = 8.5

Mechanics = 4

Audio and visuals = 7

Worth the 15 dollars? No. The frustration with the gameplay is too much to justify the desire to follow the story, however well written it is. If you want to see the interesting world created for the game, wait for a sale on Steam or a generous deal on HumbleBundle.

Overall: 6.5

Played on the Nintendo Switch version