Review: We. The Revolution

Goutham Jayaraman

Ravencrow Game Review #16

We. The Revolution

https://store.steampowered.com/app/736850/We_The_Revolution/

Genre	Visual Novel
Platform	Nintendo Switch
Developer	Polyslash
Publisher	Klabater
Playtime	Pending (20 hours expected)
Date Completed	-
Date Reviewed	23/5/2021
Overall Grade	S*

 

We the Revolution is a visual novel game that initially pulled me in with images of a courtroom (PHOENIX WRIGHT HELL YES), but turned out to be something far different.

The game is set in the bloody mess that is the French Revolution, a time when apparently dozens and dozens of heads rolled for reasons beyond our modern comprehensions.

You play as Alexis Fidele, a judge of the revolutionary court, fighting not only for justice but also for the safety and integrity of his friends and family.

Despite displaying a courtroom as a screenshot, the game surprisingly enough has zero similarities to the ever beloved Phoenix Wright franchise, but that is by no means a bad thing, for We the Revolution somehow manages to have the most unique gameplay I have seen in a game thus far.

Sure, the core gameplay of the game involves you reading case files, questioning defendants and witnesses and eventually rendering a suitable verdict. However, you will also find a mishmash of other gameplay mechanics including, but not limited to (I mean, I’m more than 10 hours in but barely halfway through. God knows what the game still has in store for me), PERSUASIONS, TACTICAL INVASION, DECISION MAKING, DICE GAMES, RANDOM FAMILY INTERACTIONS, GUILLOTINING LIKE A MIGHTY PINSIR, FREAKING TURN BASED COMBAT.

Dare I go on?

 

What I liked

-          Loved the setting and aesthetics of the game. It sparked my interest to learn about the French Revolution, and I always appreciate the wholesome games that have real-world implications, however small they may be

-          Enjoyed playing judge. More games should do this. *Note to self: Make judge game*

-          The dynamic nature of the game (one minute you’re doing this, and the next minute something else), though that didn’t stop me from taking my own sweet time analyzing the court cases.

-          While following the story was hard, I do still like it and the direction it takes. I will definitely play it a second time to understand it better

-          Having the option to jump back to any day and redo certain choices (though I only ever used it to avoid losing)

What I disliked                                                                   

-          Can’t say I cared much for the gameplay that took place outside the courtroom. It ranged from “Meh” to “Why is that even here?”

-          Having to make decisions against my will because I would lose the game otherwise.

-          Not having background information in the game itself. Would have made the story so much easier to follow

-          Having to worry about lots of random things. I just wanted to read the story and judge people.

Game Mechanics Analysis

-         Courtroom

o   Genuine courtroom feel

o   Important documents neatly arranged on desk

o   Tedious requirement to move papers to read them

o   Need to correctly match pieces of information to get questions to ask

o   Can choose what questions to ask to try and sway the jury

o   Crowd mood mechanic feels counterintuitive as it makes it look like the game doesn’t actually want you to thoroughly question the defendant (which you should certainly be doing in a courtroom

o   Highly varied cast of defendants and witnesses with distinct personalities and motivations

o   Need to answer some questions about the case, but the answers are quite regularly ambiguous (“Was the act counter-revolutionary” and “Did the defendant confess”).

o   Removal of jail option (Could have also allowed players to choose term length, or had other common options like fines)

o   Choosing between two extremes (acquittal and guillotine) for petty cases where parties are obviously guilty but not deserving of death (harks back to removal of jail option)

o   Peer pressure from jury (but you can ignore them)

o   Reputation points (Do not seem significant enough to warrant their existence)

-         Family Interaction

o   Family relations honestly serve no meaningful purpose.

o   Family members generally do not play a huge role in the story

o   Doesn’t make sense how the relationship with a family member can affect the relationship with a huge group of unrelated people

o   Impossible to keep all family members happy

o   Certain forced events drop family relations with you being unable to do anything about it

o   Decisions in court have an impact on family relations. Technically makes sense, but can go against the relations of the groups the members are tied to (i.e. decision in court improves relations with revolutionaries but then decreases relations with family member tied to revolutionaries) Just seems like an overcomplicated mess that didn’t need to be included

o   Could have easily made the family mechanics more similar to what you see in Papers Please, where you fight for their survival rather than a meaningless bar that doesn’t even trigger anything when it depletes.

-         Map Invasion

o   Really seems pointless. You are a judge, not a general.

o   Why are you even put in charge of taking over Paris? And why do you have to undergo inspections? Your only responsibilities should be to oversee trials, issue fair verdicts and look after the family.

o   Doesn’t have any clear effect on reputation or relations (it probably does but not something I paid attention to)

o   Just seems like an empty filler to be honest. Could have easily been removed from the game.

o   Hierarchy seems unrelated to the map. If there are multiple parties with pole positions in Paris, then why is only one of them depicted as your opponent on the map? Not to mention I can’t even clearly see (or pay attention to) who that person is

o   Events on the map just seem very random and don’t always make sense. There isn’t much strategy involved on your part, so even looking at the gameplay alone, it doesn’t seem all that meaningful or great either

-         Persuasions

o   Vibe well with the game

o   But can feel random at times. Regardless, it’s not something I pay much attention to

o   This is a location reputation points are used, but I never once felt the need to bother. I only have so many points, there is a high chance of success either way and there are many such persuasions to deal with, so I wouldn’t bother using points here. Then again, this does make it look like a well-designed mechanic that gives players decisions to make

o   Feel stressful, more so than the trials.

-         Battle

o   I mean… do I even need to say anything?

o   Why are you even in charge of leading armies?

o   Like seriously?

o   And the game mechanics for this game seem very random. The enemies have so far only used one strategy. I mean, the whole thing just doesn’t make any sense at all

o   It’s a fun concept though, so I think its ok to have this in the game, but it really must be better implemented. Maybe focus on important battles or other events during the French Revolution and either find a reasonable way for Alexis to get involved, or have other playable characters etc.

-         Statue Construction

o   Literally didn’t even care about this

o   Seems like a completely pointless gimmick that shouldn’t have any actual impact on the story.

-         Taking over buildings

o   Seemed useful and did have its effects

o   But then, you just get all three within a short timespan. There is no real decision to make. You should instead choose one building to use, and then lose access to it (enemy taken over it) before getting to pick another building. Should not be allowed to pick the same building twice in a row (wait for enemy resistance in the building to cool down)

-         Intrigue

o   Seems well done, and much more emphasis should have been put on this very mechanic to make it more engaging and feature more gameplay, narrative and choices.

o   Because this looks like the appropriate way for a judge to tackle his opponents, drag them into court and deal with them. NOT on an imaginary battlefield, and NOT on a useless map.

-         Faction Reputation

o   On one hand, it certainly makes sense

o   And it creates room for deep strategy and decision making on the player’s part.

o   Players need to be careful about the actions they take so as to not excessively anger one group. Creates tension, which suits the nature of the game.

o   On the other hand, it creates unnecessary problems by forcing you to make certain decisions against your will.

o   Because if one of the reputations drops to zero, you simply lose the game. (But you notice nothing happens when a family relation drops to zero, further highlighting its meaninglessness)

o   It is hard for me to say whether this feature needs to be in the game or not, as it does have its ups and downs. The best thing I can suggest is to offer a game mode where reducing this to zero has other effects rather than losing the game outright so that players can be free to play the game the way they want. At the end of the day, this is not too different from something like Papers Please, which is why I cannot condemn the mechanic

Gameplay 11/20	+ Courtroom style gameplay where you play as the judge is very refreshing and enjoyable + Large variety of game mechanics, while not recommended, is still interesting and commendable + Deep strategy involved in decision making as your reputation must be considered to prevent a game loss later down the road = All the same, I can’t say that I liked the gameplay outside the courtroom. However, gameplay still does feel thematically appropriate - Some negative experiences in having to make decisions against my will. But perhaps could be avoided with better planning in second playthrough - Several useless mechanics could have been replaced with more novelistic gameplay (CYOA style) which would have kept immersion higher by putting more emphasis on the narrative
Game Design 13/20	+ Courtroom gameplay is very well designed. You first have to find all the questions, and then get to choose which ones to ask. You can influence the jury in this manner + “Mini cases” are an interesting addition (though it can be a downer when they negatively impact reputation, and most of the cases are too petty to involve Pinsir and friends) = Faction Reputation was really a hit or miss idea. The problem is that it can cause a game loss, though the player has the power to monitor it and thus avoid any uncomfortable situations. All the same, it does create tension in an appropriate manner. I feel as though the player should have the option to turn it off so they can make whatever choices they want without worrying about this or that. - Removing the jail option was not a happy moment, though I’m assuming it was historically accurate. What would have been nice is having not just the jail option but the option to decide the term length. - Family bonding mechanic seems poorly implemented as I was never able to keep them all happy. Sometimes, certain events forced all the relationships to decline. Game could have done without this. Also have no idea what actual relevance this has. Why would keeping the dad happy suddenly improve relations with a large group of people who don’t even know him? - Additional effects are logged in the diary but paying attention to them just compounds the stress. Probably could have done without them, or at least have them apply in other ways - Some decisions are potentially forced simply because all decisions impact the reputation. You CAN however go against the jury. = Feels like the game is well designed to an extent, and you can tell by its intricacy, but either needs more effort to understand or better implementation.
Graphics 20/20	+ Beautiful yet dreary artwork that perfectly conveys the life and emotions of the French Revolution + Detailed and historically accurate characters + Fairly clean UI + Comic book cutscenes
Audio 10/20	= Doesn’t really have much music. However, it still helps set the grim mood and doesn’t really detract from the experience. All the same, I can’t give points for nonexistent features = Voice acting and ambient sounds are present for some cutscenes but not for all of them
Story 22/20	+ Exceptional writing + Evokes the sensation of the French Revolution + Story is affected by decisions made by you, at least to some extent + Story can be very suspenseful and thrilling for those who can follow it closely + Loose historical accuracy + High level of maturity, dealing with politics, value of human life and civilian issues + Highly unique story - Can potentially be tough to follow, especially for those uninitiated to the French Revolution. - Suffers from poor pacing thanks to all the random gameplay elements
Lore 23/20	+ Fairly solid character design + Wide variety of defendants and witnesses to deal with, each having their own personality and information. Commendable + Background information about important people readily available, including a nice hierarchy illustration + Problems and issues of the French Revolution are conveyed well, both through the game world and through the characters. + Even though I would have never experienced anything even remotely similar, it was still possible to relate to the defendants and appeal to their cause. Sending off certain people to their execution was admittedly painful - Lack of French Revolution facts - Insufficient engagement factor due to pacing problems and inconsistency. It was ultimately hard to become invested in any of the characters.
Value 22/20	+ Solid playtime + High replayability value seeing as some aspects of the game are randomized and decisions can change the course of the story + Extremely unique gameplay experience
Overall Grade 20/20	S*
Score	88

 

Probably the best way I can describe this game is… “A game that has a powerful foundation solidly planted at the base of its skyscraper, but constructed the building a couple floors too high for it to stand comfortably without wobbling in the wind”

I mean… honestly, writing this review is exhausting simply because this game is an absolute mess. But I think I’ve figured out what to say.

From what I can see, this game has been designed to simulate the French Revolution. And at the end of the day, all the weird game mechanics and questionable design choices… still come together to help realize that goal. Sure, I wasn’t a big fan of many of the aspects of this game, but I still was happy enough to give my due attention to them and work my way through.

The game intrigued me, and that’s all there is to it.

I think, as long as you are comfortable with reading, there is no reason for you not to buy this game. It is certainly rough around the edges in many aspects and could have been a much better game, but for what the game provides – a unique look at what life was like in one of the darkest moments of human history - it is worth every penny.

And hey, any game I want to replay has to be a good game. The game has some phenomenal writing and character design and has an interesting story that should peak anyone’s curiosity.

I’m bestowing the S* simply because of the uniqueness of the game and the quality of its setting, writing and character design. It has tons of room for improvement though, just keep that in mind, but I feel like the grade is deserved.

Still, a S* game with a score below 90? Wow. Just. Wow.

[NOTES]

What I liked

-          Excellent writing

-          Solid choice of setting (French revolution)

-          Excellent storytelling (comic book style cutscenes but with mature graphics)

-          Courtroom gameplay feels fresh and interesting (different from Phoenix Wright but still enjoyable)

-          Decision making matters heavily, giving your decisions a strong sense of depth and weight

-          Fantastic diversity of cases, characters and scenarios. Must have taken either a ton of research or a ton of creativity to churn out. Worth respect in and of itself.

What I disliked                                                                   

-          The gameplay aside from the courtroom is really not enjoyable. It just felt like something to slog through in order to keep the game moving. I’m referring to the additional mechanics including the map conquering, battles, and to a lesser extent the intrigue sections and sections where you need to convince another party. All these extra bits and pieces seriously felt like just that, although strangely enough they never felt completely out of place because they were always thematically relevant.

-          The reputation mechanic is stressful and unbalanced. Sometimes you are forced to kill off someone just to ensure the game doesn’t immediately end.

-          Family bonding also feels pointless. You almost always have to sacrifice your relationship with one of them, it is worthless to even try and aim for positive relationships all around

-          Constantly asking whether an action was counter-revolutionary as one of the questions you had to answer. This is not always clear and not even always tied to how the reputation of the revolutionary faction is affected by a decision (inconsistency)

-          Removal of the jailing option was one of the most stressful points in the game. It would have been really interesting if we could have not only kept that option around but also had the power to control how long the sentence would be (this feels like the kind of game where said option would have made sense)

-          Lack of background information regarding the French revolution for those unacquainted

-          Story can be somewhat hard to follow due to poor pacing and inconsistent immersion (sometimes there are elaborate cutscenes and at other times, just a few lines of dialog you’d have to read