Reviews for Exit/Corners

[WolfgangDS]

I'm not usually a fan of visual novels, but this definitely has my attention because there's more to it than just "Make dialogue choices and hope for a good ending!" I don't care how great the story is, those are just a waste of time because they aren't engaging at all. This one is because of the puzzles.

That said, the puzzles being tough is only BARELY enough to make up for there being only one per chapter. What's more, there are two problems I have with this. First, the fact that it takes the player back to the menu instead of proceeding to the next chapter- or better yet, asking the player if they wish to continue to the next chapter. It would save people a lot of time.

The second problem is that there's no option to erase your save. Yes, you can replay chapters, but unless you tell us otherwise here, I'm not sure that our paths in the chapters can be changed by playing previous chapters more than once. For instance, I'd like to pick the Red Door in Chapter 8, but I already chose the Green Door. Now it says "Ink refuses to listen." There are three possibilities: Either the Red Door is in chapter 10 and choosing that takes us directly to it; this is the one "choice" that is truly an illusion in the story; or my first playthrough cemented the choice right then and there.

Actually, I'll figure that out on my own by playing on the other site. I'm sorry I won't be able to tell everyone here directly what the result is. Maybe someone who reads this and hasn't written a review yet can message me and I'll give them the info.

Percon responds:

Hey there! Thanks for playing.

I've gotten a couple of comments about wanting to go directly into the next chapter. I'll definitely be taking a look at this in a future update!

I can confirm that playing through any chapter will completely change your options for that chapter - there are no secrets or gimmicks for playing though more than once. There IS a hidden way to erase your save data, and I will tell you that if you shoot me a PM, but take it from me: if you start over from chapter 1 and play through each chapter sequentially, it'll be exactly the same as if your data was erased.

Oh, and if you do decide to replay chapters, holding Enter/Return will speed things up a lot. Make sure to keep an eye out for secrets!

Also, this might be relevant to you: https://www.reddit.com/r/ExitCorners/comments/6nncz6/cant_choose_red_door_in_episode_8/

[ZeoX69]

On the first riddle I'm pretty sure I tried the correct answer before asking the others for help. It worked after speaking with all of them.

Percon responds:

Hm, that's a new one. If something like that happens again, would you mind taking a screenshot and sending it my way? If this IS a big I'd like to fix it.

Thanks for playing (and letting me know)!

[Keihl]

If I could suggest a new title for the game, it would be "Click through the dialog for one puzzle per chapter." And if you think that title is too long, then you should try clicking through endless dialog and reading what is just a cutscene. You eventually get to a puzzle, most of which require some lateral thinking, while others that come later require trial and error.
It would be more fun if the cut scenes were just video with optional audio. The art is decent, but very conventional: derivative of anime and Japanese style art. The game slows to a crawl when the dialog hits, and if you're like me, you quickly lose interest in the story elements as the characters have one note. You have a timid, older girl, an enlightened elderly woman, a roguish young man, a bratty teenager, and you play some androgynous weirdo. None of the characters really change over the course of the story. They just play their one notes over and over.
As gameplay goes, the puzzles are good, and that's the only place where replay value lies. You get the option of skipping recaps at the start of each new chapter (thank god), and chapters are released on a weekly schedule, as the author notes.
The villain basically feels like the teacher from Assassination Classroom, only less cool. The drama between the characters is a bit contrived, and you'll probably get bored reading the dialog.
I would have given this game a higher score if it wasn't for committing the crime of getting tedious and boring: in game-making this is (to me) a crime. If it's not fun throughout, why am I playing it?
I don't want to give it a mediocre score, like 2.5, but the endless slogging through dialog that could have been handled in a cutscene, and the fact that it's all produced, but is just getting weekly releases leaves me unsatisfied as a player. I have to wait another week just to click through dialog, maybe make a different choice, which may have no consequences, only to solve one puzzle at a time?
It's an interesting concept for a game, but the result is less fun than intended. I could probably sit down and enjoy this game in a couple of hours with some wine and some music, once everything is released. But since I played this game with several chapters released, I'm not feeling excited to hear more of the shaggy dog/big fish story involving these characters. I sat through all those seasons of Lost to get some weird "alternate" timeline (which was just the afterlife) where it turned out that the writers were making up the whole show as they went along, and none of the mysteries ever really had solutions.
That's what this game feels like: soapy-melodrama and fan-wanking just to solve a few puzzles. I'll follow the game, but I just hope where you lead us to is worth it.

Percon responds:

Hey! Thanks for the thorough review.

Sorry the story isn't much to your liking. Full-on cut scenes would be very cool, I agree, but unfortunately they are quite a bit tougher to put together than your standard visual novel game. It would take way too much time and money than I currently have. I would like to try something like that one day, but I'm actually still producing episodes for this series so I'll have to put that on hold for now.

If you ever want to revisit to tackle the puzzles and nothing else, know that you can breeze by an episode very quickly by holding enter/return.

[hawk18727]

Good, very good.

A strong entry into the visual novella genre. My main cope with them is that there's usually little interactivity involved, so puzzles help to spice things up somewhat. The four side characters are well written, distinct and, while coming down as a bit cliched (especially looking at that certain spoiled brat), are definitely interesting. Story's good and, while it doesn't make a truckload of sense as of the ninth episode, is fun to follow. I especially love the writing, since it's somewhat clever, with some chuckle-inducing jokes and covering of things that may rise up during the game (like cheating attempts and the like). I do feel that the story could use some more hard hits, and not conflicts that resolve themselves after an episode (like the distrust among the group). Some more advanced development of character's traits during the game, despite them being clearly established, (like Rae's lone wolf attitude, Lisa's distrust or Beth's compassion) would be appreciated even more, but since it's only the ninth episode, the slow pacing isn't the problem.

The puzzles have decent variety, and are not as challenging, but still interesting. The main downside is that you don't even need to solve them, since you can learn the solution from your group almost upright without any consequences and repercussions (though i personally do solve every puzzle without hints). Puzzles range from easy (like the infinity one, or the temperature one) to, pardon the wordplay, puzzling (like #26), and i do feel that there could be less "Negative space" puzzles. Other than that, they fill in nicely. There are choises of course, but, as in every linear novel, there's only an illusion of choice (like "Ink refuses to listen" when you don't choose a green door, not even taking about even less relevant ones). I'd also like to compliment the music: it's very good and not tiresome in the slightest.

I'll defiitely check back in a month or two and finish this up and write another review wrapping up my thoughts about the story and the like. As it stands now, this has very great potential. 5/5, 8/10.

[s]Also, what do standings in the extras do? Hope that'll play a role in the future[/s]

Percon responds:

Hey there! Thanks so much for this thorough review. I'm glad you had fun and I'll be excited to hear your thoughts on the new chapters whenever you decide to revisit the game.

Since some of the puzzles are pretty abstract, I wanted to make sure that no player would get permanently stuck if they simply didn't get it, which is a big reason why I implemented the system in the first place. The balance and rate at which answers are given to you could definitely use some tweaking, though. Kudos to you for solving them all without hints - that's quite a feat! If you ever decide to replay any episodes, keep an eye out for some cheeky jokes and minor backstory blurbs tucked away in some of the hint trees.

The Standings screen shows Ink's current trust levels with his fellow Contestants, Ink's paranoia level, and one other, more hidden element. Trust and paranoia levels change some of the dialogue as you play, and if you've played every available chapter then it has already influenced some of the information you're getting in a number of places. These values will come into play in a more obvious fashion near the end of the story.

[1Yearwonder]

Woah. This is amazing. Normally my reviews are far more in depth, but honestly... I can't find much to give feedback on. I loved the writing, the characters, the art style... the plot pacing was on point to create the perfect amount of intrigue and tension, sound effects perfectly timed and well chosen working to create genuine atmosphere. The attention to detail is really impressive in this game, and it comes together beautifully. Congratulations, this really is an achievement.

Long story short, I really enjoyed playing. It's a wonderfully polished game, and a fantastic player experience. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. I really can't wait to see where this takes you as a game-maker. As a player, I'm so excited to see what you do next.

Percon responds:

Thank you! This is all super encouraging to hear. :)

I've got to finish Exit/Corners before I move on to the next project, but I'm glad I have your interest. I hope you'll continue to tune in as new episodes are released!