Capsule Review: Creatures Such as We
A ChoiceScript game set in a near future in which you play as a tour guide on the moon. Your character’s job is lonely and dull and so they pass the time with video games, their favorite being a sci-fi action game with zombies and ghosts. Then your next tour group turns out to be the designers of that game on a work offsite. This setup is used to provide a varied cast of characters you can choose to romance, but more importantly serves as a backdrop for rich coversations about game design, philosophy of art in general, life and death, love and isolation, and more.
Everything about the game feels impressively grounded and real, from the large cast of characters to the mundanities of working on the moon. There’s plenty to think about, with some themes being explored one way in the game-within-a-game and explored another way in your character’s real life. There’s also plenty of drama, prompting some of the most agonizing-in-a-good-way choices I’ve had to make in a game.
This game fully engages both the mind and the heart, and I was awed and captivated by it.
I Stopped Playing When: I finished the game after about four hours.
Five Stars: Favorite. This is one of my all-time favorite games that made a significant impact on me or that I've returned to time and again.