Last stop manages to bounce from petty personal drama to world-changing wonder pretty smoothly because there are natural moments of awkward interaction between characters that don’t end up feeling like actors trying to dish out quippy one-liners and cool catchphrases, but normal people, telling shite jokes, and making the same kind of casual observations you’d hear down the pub, or at work, a thousand times. It’s about the only time Last Stop takes a bit of a detour from trying to tell you its characters’ stories, but not enough that it derails anything.Īnyway, handling things with a bit of humour is necessary. That section later manages to have a dig at crunch culture and workplace harassment as well. During a section where a clueless John tries to cover Jack’s job as a video game designer there’s an amusingly egotistical proclamation from Jack about his game’s emotional core, and deep understanding of the human condition that’s dealt a withering put down by John’s daughter, who strongly feels she knows what games should be (‘Your game doesn’t sound very good, Jack’ she says with a genuine pity in her voice).
Not that Variable State isn’t averse to a bit of self-deprecating humor. As the game went on, I found myself going back and forth on things Variable State’s game gets right that the Detroit: Become Human developer consistently struggles to despite its high production values.Įven when on occasion Last Stop dips its toes into cliché and supernatural guffery, it owns that, and ensures it’s presented without mealy-mouthed excuses for their existence.
In many ways, the approach taken here makes Last Stop the first really good execution of the Quantic Dream formula. Last Stop revels in indulging in low-key conversations and humdrum day-to-day tasks, and the commitment to it is largely why it succeeds. Remarkably, however, there’s little in the way of that here. That’s a real gamble for a game, and on the surface, this choice would seem somewhat pretentious. This means there’s little in the way of exploration, but it means a proper focus is put on making you care about these characters. In much the same way Virginia would keep the story moving by cutting to the next scene like a film, Last Stop gives you control only when it matters. The choice-based dialogue is the meat of the game, with the odd QTE thrown in for good measure. With that in mind, Last Stop is a massively story-driven adventure, with a light touch given in terms of player control. The otherworldly green glow that crops up repeatedly is the catalyst for the trio’s eventual meeting though, and while it impacts each person’s life, the focus is nearly always on the lives themselves instead of the supernatural element, and it benefits the stories as a result, because Variable State understand the need for believable, relatable characters to make the weirder stuff work. For example, Meena’s husband teaches at the school Donna goes to, and the doctor she’s having an affair with is John’s GP.
She’s flawed, stubborn, an absolute mess of a person in dealing with domestic issues, but also a ridiculously cool head in a crisis.īeyond the use of sickly green light in each mysterious act that occurs during the opening chapter of Last Stop, it’s not immediately clear how these three stories connect, but there’s some brief connections between the characters that they are unaware of. While I like all the leads, Meena’s story, and her personality is by far the most fascinating of the lot.
LAST STOP COM PROFESSIONAL
Just as her conscience implores her to break off the illicit relationship, so her life both personal and professional begins to unravel. Meena contends with high-stakes rivalry at work, but becomes increasingly distracted by the impact of her affair with a doctor. Finally, there’s Meena a former soldier and now a working mother who clearly has a very important, and clandestine, job.
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