Universal Device 6 - (by Simogo)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by Sanuku, Oct 16, 2013.

  1. iPadCary

    iPadCary Active Member

    Apr 17, 2012
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    Civil Servant
    New York City
    Yeccchhh ....

    Yet another ponderous release from Simogo: the people that bought you "Year Walk".
    That right there should be your first heads-up.

    First ya gotta FIND the stupid puzzle.
    Then constant turning of your iPad in order to solve some arcane, stupid MATH PUZZLE.
    If this is your idea of engaging & enthralling entertainment, then have at it.
    Cannot recommend this dull tripe at all.
    Solved in a matter of hours & zero replayability.

    I never can understand the gaming press's fawning over Simogo.
    I suppose it's because there's such a dearth of high quality games in the App Store,
    that anything at all that's the least bit different has a media spotlight thrown onto it.
    But "different" doesn't always necessarily equate with "fun".
    Avoid this garbage, save yer dough & get "Oceanhorn" when it comes out in 2 weeks.

    "ONLY IN THE APP STORE"?
    Thank God.
     
  2. JCho133

    JCho133 Well-Known Member

    Jul 27, 2012
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    Did you have the sound on when you played?
     
  3. Andy C83

    Andy C83 Well-Known Member

    Oct 20, 2010
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    Over the Rainbow
    #163 Andy C83, Oct 23, 2013
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2013
    Device 6 review by Metro Gamecentral.

    "In Short: The text adventure is reborn as one of the smartest and most engrossing interactive stories of the year, and with one of the best touchscreen interfaces ever seen."

    9/10
     
  4. jjjmedia

    jjjmedia Well-Known Member

    May 27, 2009
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    Finishing this game is leading me to watch that old '60s cult favorite show "The Prisoner"! You guys can find it online at crackle.com if you wanna join me. Love that creepy vibe!
     
  5. Andy C83

    Andy C83 Well-Known Member

    Oct 20, 2010
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    Over the Rainbow
    The Prisoner was mentioned in GameCentral's review; sounds like you know your stuff!
     
  6. Mene

    Mene <b>ACCOUNT CLOSED</b>: <em>Officially</em> Quit iO

    Mar 18, 2012
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    This looks great, sadly I just read that you need to rotate the screen a bit, so I will have to skip on this :(

    But I hope everyone enjoys it :)
     
  7. KuangEleven

    KuangEleven Active Member

    Feb 23, 2013
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    Not sure if I'm misreading this but is it an issue with the auto-rotate on your device? You do turn the screen as the text takes a different direction but the format doesn't change.
     
  8. iPadCary

    iPadCary Active Member

    Apr 17, 2012
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    Civil Servant
    New York City
    Of course.
    Wait ....
    You're joking, right?
     
  9. JCho133

    JCho133 Well-Known Member

    Jul 27, 2012
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    Hehe (;
     
  10. lapin

    lapin Member

    Mar 16, 2013
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    BORING. When looking at the style and gameplay I thought this is an interesting game but it's boring and riddles are not even make sense. This game only have some style but thats all. Could be WAY better.
     
  11. Mene

    Mene <b>ACCOUNT CLOSED</b>: <em>Officially</em> Quit iO

    Mar 18, 2012
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    No, the issue is with me haha, I'm disabled and my ipad is in a rather nice holder which makes it easy to use but very hard to rotate as I have to take it out of the holder and as I can't hold it myself for more than a minute tops, I'd rather not move it at all. :)
     
  12. dwerny

    dwerny Well-Known Member

    May 9, 2012
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    Wow what an awesome story. There is a lot of room there for someone to write up the lore for HAT, and what their objectives are. I would be interested in a sequel and/or prequel.
     
  13. KuangEleven

    KuangEleven Active Member

    Feb 23, 2013
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    Ah right, gotcha. Yes, sadly you'd spend quite some time holding it in different positions because some of the puzzles require you to dwell for a while and soak up clues, so it would get to be a pain pretty quickly. You're rotating it every few minutes throughout the story as the character takes changes in direction.
     
  14. chimpman252

    chimpman252 Well-Known Member

    May 8, 2012
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    Front Staff at Chinese Restaurant
    What did you feel didn't make sense about the puzzles? I felt they were very well balanced, and once I understood each solution they made complete sense.
     
  15. y2kmp3

    y2kmp3 Well-Known Member

    Jun 25, 2010
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    #175 y2kmp3, Oct 27, 2013
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2013
    Not having played this developer's previous games, I am left puzzled after finishing Device 6 about the game's art style and presentation.

    I believe I understood the main plotline and the significance of the different devices. What I do not understand is the use of various typographies, iconographies, and annotations (particularly those tiny ones that are attached as captions to visual media). There are NO explanation at all to their significance even by the game's end.

    Likewise, the surveys you complete between each chapter ultimately serve no purpose in the end. While they are compatible with the function of the device, the connection is so obscure that you feel (and later know) that they make little to no contribution to the storytelling.

    For example, even if you buy into the explanation that your iPhone or iPad on which you are playing this game is Device 4, what is the point of playing with the different typographies to use the device? If it is meant to be an administrative controller of other devices (as explained in the story), then there is no reason for this implementation. This is just another example that the game is trying to make some clever self-references, but those references ultimately collide with the internal narrative logic of the game's story. Some players who don't paid attention to these details obviously don't care, but it does not excuse a game for doing so.

    It seems to me that the game adds lots of superfluous details that are either deliberate red herrings or just window dressings in an attempt to elevate the "artistic" style of the game. If it is the latter, then I must say I am disappointed by the game's seemingly pretentious overtone.

    Can someone explain?
     
  16. putermcgee

    putermcgee Well-Known Member

    Jun 4, 2010
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    I didn't have the same problems when I played, but it seems like you prefer a more utilitarian experience. The added style in the game helps create the atmosphere, and I took the different typographies as representing different characters or entities that provided the information therein.
     
  17. baris

    baris Well-Known Member

    Jul 30, 2010
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    My attempt at an answer:
    If you mean the writings in italics, those are the thoughts of Anna slipping through the transcriptions of device 1.
    About the tiny annotations for the pics and the explanations for the devices.. It says somewhere towards the end that something went wrong this time around and more info slipped through to the user of device 4 than it should have - so basically something like a bug.
    Ultimately, once you accept that the process for telling the previous player's story is automated, the different typographies etc. don't feel too contrived to me.
    I would agree that the puzzles themselves add little to the story, but other than that the story itself felt pretty solid to me.
     
  18. y2kmp3

    y2kmp3 Well-Known Member

    Jun 25, 2010
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    Excellent analysis, baris.

    I got the "scribble" part on my own. I suppose that the filename scheme or annotation to the audiovisual materials make sense with your explanation.

    I agree with you that the "meta" story is quite lever. I wonder how many people actually missed that bit and incorrectly inferred the story to be only about Anna.

     
  19. iTester

    iTester Well-Known Member

    Aug 16, 2013
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    Tester
    ios city
    Halloween sale simogo ! Are u guys listening ?
     
  20. Infinity89

    Infinity89 Well-Known Member

    Apr 8, 2013
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    Believe me they don't listen and there games are worth whole price!
     

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