4 years after The Fall, Over the Moon returns on February 13 with The Fall Part 2: Unbound, a direct sequel to the adventure of A.A.I.D, an artificial intelligence in the form of combat armor that will have to solve puzzles to survive.
If you have never played the first one before (direction the1st test), you can read this article, there will be no more spoilers than in the trailers broadcast.
It is obvious that it would be impossible to grasp all the subtleties of The Fall Part 2 without having done the 1. Especially since it is a direct sequel, a "previously" will still be broadcast to you at the very beginning of the game but it is only there in my opinion to refresh your memory and not to fill your gaps.
Has.A.I.D, we missed you…
4 years have passed since the first episode, and if for me at the time it was already an excellent game, I had no doubt that this episode could please me. I like to keep the whole surprise of this kind of small games where the story plays an important role in your adventure, the only thing I knew was that we were going to recover Arid, an exceptional entity to which it is difficult not to attach oneself. This is how your new adventure with Arid begins, after the events of 1. This new episode offers a new way to play. Arid will unfortunately suffer an attack by "The user", she will have to retreat into the network to survive. If in the 1, Arid had to scrupulously follow the rules induced by her programs, here she has totally emancipated herself and will be able to create her own rules, and evolve throughout the game.
You will evolve through the network, the network will allow you to find the user and fight him to recover all your abilities. There will be many more fights in this episode, but they are usually very satisfying and not very difficult. The difficulty will lie rather in moving in the network that looks like a maze and you will not have a map, so you will have to be concentrated for certain passages that require the use of your memory to avoid going around in circles. Arid will eventually find other I's in the network.Has. that she will decide to use to serve her cause "Save herself". Arid's goal is to survive, no matter how, even if she has to break the hosts in her path. Arid certainly loses his beauty to have no qualms when it comes to survival, if it can lack empathy we can probably find a human side to it. How many men and women would be willing to become violent or even kill in order to survive? Certainly more than we think.
Arid will find several hosts, all different. To achieve its goal, it will have to juggle the limits of their programs and their perspective, to find their flaws. Observation will be the key to getting what she wants from them. So you will not only play Arid, you will meet other I's.Has. that may seem uninteresting at first, but gradually you will realize that they all have this little something that will make you love them. Just like in 1, Arid found a friend who in my opinion was just as much a main character that I had learned to love without difficulty. I was afraid that I could not feel affection for another character than Arid in this new episode, but I was wrong, you too will end up seduced by the new formula. All I.A met will allow you to advance in the story, find the user and destroy him. If I do not advance more in the story it is that there are several twists, and even in relation to The Fall (1), and it would be a shame to talk about the scenario in detail at the risk of spoiling the surprise and the interest of making the game.
Gameplay question, the game is much less rigid than its big brother, it may make you think of Metroid at times. On top of that, it's really beautiful and the soundtrack is interesting. In addition, it is fully dubbed in English, and the entire interface is in French. The translations look much better than in the previous one. You will also find newspapers to read that will enrich the world in which you evolve and the game will push you to think on many points, such as ethics, morals, limits or relationships. The puzzles are much less capillotracted than in The Fall 1, they are even simpler at times which gives you a very appreciable feeling of fluidity in the adventure.
In my opinion, Over the Moon has managed to transcend its first game, not only has the gameplay evolved in an ingenious way, we can in no way say that we are playing a clone of the first, on the contrary, The Fall Part 2: Unbound has its own identity. It offers a different experience in many ways, just the new gameplay is a success. The use of hosts is a treat, we appreciate being able to change our point of view and ideas are exploited in depth. The scenario also has a real evolution, if the first episode could have ended without continuation, sufficient on its own… This opus offers you a finally logical continuation a small "it would have been too easy". The Fall is the type of indie game we love because we don't know what sauce we're going to be eaten. Usually the game says what it will do, and does what it says. But, there's always this little doubt in your head, is the game lying to me or is it really going to do that? If in the first one the game does not lie to us, in this one you will always wonder if this is how it will end. Whether there will be a happy ending or not.
The Fall Part 2: Unbound is a success! If I had to give my preference to one of the two games, it would go back to Unbound. We come out after 9 hours of adventure (see more!) with the feeling of having really experienced something strong and rewarding. The game pushes you to an interesting reflection and takes you into a world that could exist! Over the Moon has succeeded where many studios break their faces, they have not played easy or laziness, they have created a better game on all points brilliantly.
PS: The Fall 1 is currently available in the steam bundle with the purchase of The Fall Part 2: Unbound!
