[ENG] Erica and The Unusual Option
(Polska Wersja Dostępna Tu - [PL] Erica i Nietypowa Opcja)
Erica, as we already established, is an interactive tale where we follow a titular girl named Erica in her journey to discover the truth behind her father's mysterious killer and... Well, what she finds out forces her to question everything and everyone she knew. I guess we can classify Erica as a horror/thriller, the game isn't particularly scary about anything, but the overall climate and constant feeling of 'there's something wrong here' is quite enough to either make us feel uneasy or interested (depending how easy it is to scare us).
(Reflection...)
Erica isn't an outstanding title, nor it is a terrible one. The story and presentation are decent, nothing more and nothing less. It's also quite short since we can complete a single playthrough in about 2 hours, but here's what makes this game a bit more interesting. Choices. There are quite a lot of illusory choices, I mean – the game gives us for example 4 different options to choose from, but ultimately we end up in the same place. But fortunately there are few choices that can change the outcome of the entire game or show us entirely new turn of events. The illusion of choice can be a bit annoying, but it's nothing unbearable.
I think the biggest selling point is that constant feeling of mystery – throughout the game we very often get even more questions than answers and... The very first playthrough and the story reveals can be surprising. Every playthrough after the first is... Well, certainly not as surprising, but we can choose other options and observe what will happen. Plus, we get a nice comparison to the previous playthrough (not physically, but we ourselves can compare what is different between choice A and choice B). It's physically impossible to get everything in one playthrough, even game says that at the start. But it takes only a few playthroughs to discover most of the things (I'd risk saying that Erica can be 'completed' fully in somewhere around 8-10 hours).
(After 3 playthroughs of the game - I can say with certainty that it's true)
There is a one main gimmick that made me quite interested in Erica. It's nothing big of course, but since I have never seen that option implemented in... Frankly any of the games I've been playing. This option is Play Link. What is it? Well, ability to control what is happening in the game by using an external device like a smartphone. It's nothing big, you just swipe on your phone depending on what's happening in the game (If we're talking about Erica).
As I said, it's nothing big but Erica is the first game where I noticed that the game forces... Well, not exactly forces, but highly suggests that you should download an Erica Companion App before starting the game. The app itself isn't really big and it only serves like a huge touchpad since... There is barely any graphical layer and as I said – the screen only shows you where/how to swipe to choose a certain option that is currently on your main screen.
(The game very clearly shows when we need to use an Companion App)
It was a very short article, but... Well, Erica is very short game as well and it's hard to say anything more without venturing into spoiler area. I just wanted to share my thoughts and... Well, mainly share the unusual Play Link option that was implemented into the game. I am not expecting that a lot of games will have this sort of option, but I tip my hat to the creators. Of course, it's nothing outstanding, but I wish more games would experiment with features like that.
Discover the truth hidden behind Erica's past and decide her future.
Kind Regards,
Wing.
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