Finished, and unfortunately I can only give it 3/5 score, and will hesitate to recommend to friends. The artwork is quite good, story heart-warming (not epic, but worth reading), nice concept too. But the game is way too short and too simple (same reason I will only give Monument Valley a 4/5 score). I get it, it's a storybook so I don't expect very challenging game play. However, normally visual novel games should be longer, like I expect a couple of hours reading (with multiple ending). I would rather devs just drop the mind-numbing mini "games" and focus more on extending the story. The games seem to me like just stalling time to make the game feels longer. Also a minor complain. The guy is just waaaay too hairy. Geeze he even has hair on his throat! He looks more like a hobo street artist than a cello player. I'm quite uncomfortable looking at him...
Thats actually one thing I adored. I didnt have to try and block off 20 hours! However, by the end I so wanted more because the characters were incredibly compelling. Im always astonished when creators are able to include no dialogue and still create a connection like this. Lol okay
absolute gem. been telling all my friends about this. truly amazing and relatable, especially being asian myself. hopefully everyone buys and play this amazing experience.
Ok hun, read reviews and descriptions before buying something. This game is an interactive story, Those type of games are usually short. Mountains is also a very small studio, so do not expect for them to release a long game. Yes, the game is simple. Because this isnt Monument Valley. This isnt a puzzle game. Florence is supposed to be an experience. It is not a type of game to work your brain out, if you want something more challenging by Ken Wong, try Forgotten Shores. I havent played that part yet but a lot of people were saying it is challenging So basically, to anyone who expects a long and challenging game here, you will hit a wall in Florence. About the fact that you are uncomfortable about looking at Krish, not sure what to tell you LOL.
Has anyone encountered a bug in chapter 7? It’s when she notices something on the floor but I can’t progress the story, tapping around, etc. Playing on iPhone X. Love this game so far. It’s like a wonderful little graphic novel.
First of all, interactive stories aren't always short. Actually the text based ones are usually quite long, especially considering multi-endings (which we don't have here). Even for the visual ones, they usually has a lot more content. This one is quite short by interactive story standard. And I don't think it's fair for normal players to guess the length of a game based on the size of studio (which I don't know and why should I care?). Second, if you have read my comment, you will see I said clearly I don't expect challenging game play (Monument Vally is not challenging at all, either, but its innovative). However, the game play here is simply so brain-dead that I feel like I'm just wasting my time doing those for the sake of moving forward. IMHO they should drop the mini games completely, as it serves no purpose other than stalling time. I just read the TA Game of Week artical, and it seems like those "games" are kind of some metaphor? Like piecing the puzzle = piecing the mind of that guy? LOL sorry I totally didn't get it then (and still don't now). I have enough challenging games in my backlog so I'm not desperate to fulfill my need in this one, but I do get quite annoyed. All in all, I think Florence is trying to do "everything" in one tiny package. Good graphic (check, except the hairy dude XD), good music (not too bad, so I guess check?), good story (sorta check if you ignore the length), good game play (booo), innovation (eh no), delivering an experience that makes player savor for a long time (don't think so, the story is nice but not THAT touching). To me, they bite too much than they can chew, and left me with a mediocre impression with the overall package delivered. With all the hypes and perorder, I feel somewhat disappointed.
I am not going to argue with you here in the TA Forums about that you are uncomfortable looking at Krish, that you think the story isn't that touching, that you were disappointed by the gameplay, and all that since that is your opinion. So I won't criticize them. But I honestly think that this has a great level of innovation, even if it is not the most innovative game in the world. In the insanity of the gaming world with first persons shooters, horror games, and all that, I think this is a much needed game to sit in the couch and just relax, as there are not that many gameplay elements (This is an interactive story after all.) About the length, I don't think we should rate games by how long and short it is. It is FAIR to say that this is the studio's FIRST game, so they probably wanted to know how well it does. Even Ken Wong said the game does not want to waste your time. I was disappointed by the length too a little bit, but I think this whole entire "It is a short game, so I am going to deduct points." Is getting out of hand. All in all, It is okay if you didn't enjoy the game, I can't make you enjoy it after all. I am just pointing out here a few things you probably just didn't notice or learn.
I agree we should not argue anymore whether this should be classified as a good game or not. It's quite subjective. However, I can't help but wondering what are the things I didn't notice or learn? Your previous post made 2 points: 1) story book games are usually short so player shouldn't expect more, and 2) the game play are not supposed to be complicated. As I have pointed out, your first point is quite incorrect, and the second point I am already aware of, but "simple" doesn't equal "making even a 4 year old feels boring". Game play can be simple, but at least they should be interesting, which is absolutely not in in this case. So if you could enlighten me? Wow, did he actually say that? Sorry with all due respect, I think that's just a big excuse of not wanting to put more effort. Did he mean that the game is so perfect that adding any more content will only make it worse? Ironically, I do felt like wasting my time when going through those mini games :/
Maybe you can take your pissing contest and developer insults to private message so we all don't have to suffer through them? I am so tired of people somehow being surprised this isn't a traditional game. Never has it been presented as anything other than an interactive story. The mini games aren't designed to be challenging, they're designed to be interactive and add impact to the characters and story. If that didn't resonate with you, then fine, get a refund and get your precious three dollars back and move on with your life. That sounds like a MUCH more productive thing to do instead of endlessly arguing with anyone who will listen why this game isn't a game or how you feel so slighted or whatever.
I agree. It's even explicitly stated in the App Store description that Florence is an *interactive* storybook--not a game. It doesn't claim to be anything else. It's okay to say that the mini-games don't help you engage with the story, but it's different to claim that the games are 'boring' and not 'challenging enough' when gameplay was never the focus in the first place.
It is not those, it is the not innovative part that you mentioned, and how to not deduct points because of the length. Ok now I think we should stop the debate all together, before it goes out of hand.
