Played on: Xbox Series X, PC
Boy, I've assembled quite a backlog of these at this point. I'm about eight or nine games behind when it comes to the write-up portion, but fortunately, I've got plenty to say about the past several games I've played through, starting with Annapurna Interactive's Open Roads.
Open Roads is actually pretty new, barely being a couple of months old at the time of writing. It's the first time in a little while that I've played through a game relatively close to its release date. Of course, it also helps that Open Roads was made available on Xbox Game Pass from day one, making it easy for me to try both its Xbox and PC builds.
I'm on something of an Annapurna bender this year, as those well versed in indie games will start to see if they're reading these. Maybe it's some of my lady friends' influence (Sarah is particularly fond of Annapurna's games), as much as most of them are into lengthy, sprawling open-world games and RPG's, rather than cozy indies. Maybe it's a mood I'm in at this point in the year. Whatever the case, Open Roads got my attention through a combination of a promising story premise, and some surprising Hollywood talent in the lead roles.
Open Roads is a period piece that takes place in 2003, and puts you in control of Theresa "Tess" Devine, a 16-year-old girl who discovers a potential family secret with her mother, Opal Devine. Tess is voiced by Kaitlyn Dever, best known for Booksmart, Dear Evan Hansen and Dopesick, and soon to be seen in HBO's The Last of Us series. Opal meanwhile is voiced by Keri Russell, best known for The Americans, The Diplomat and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. There's an innate prestige to having two highly talented Hollywood actresses in the lead parts of Open Roads... But unfortunately, that's probably the most noteworthy element of the game.
Sure, the 2003 atmosphere feels authentic (I would know, as I'm merely a year or two younger than Tess, also placing me as a teenager in 2003), and the story itself is pretty solid... But there's something about Open Roads that just feels incomplete. Perhaps this is a testament to the fact that it was developed by former employees of Fullbright (their previous game, Tacoma was another game played on my 100 Video Games Challenge this year), after breaking away from their company, due to toxic workplace allegations. There's clearly a vision behind Open Roads, but considering how paltry, linear and shallow the whole experience is, I have to wonder if there is a significant amount of this game that was left on the cutting room floor.
So, how does one actually play Open Roads? Well, it's less of a 'walking simulator' in the sense that Tacoma was, and is more like a linear interactive drama. You move between a series of small environments, picking up and investigating objects, occasionally solving a simple puzzle, and then moving on to the next part of the story. You can also make some branching dialogue choices, which occasionally tweak the overall tone, and can positively or negatively impact the relationship between Tess and Opal. Sadly, not a lot of these choices truly feel like they matter though, with the end result of the story always feeling more or less the same.
This approach does at least help Open Roads succeed as a breezy, undemanding playthrough, if you just want its quick, simple batch of achievements/trophies, or simply want a quick, yet reasonably evocative short story that happens to be interactive. Even then though, both Annapurna and Fullbright generally deliver much more noteworthy games than this. Tacoma, for example, felt like it had a more intriguing mystery and a more clever payoff behind it, not to mention a more novel environment through which to explore and toy around with.
That's really all it takes to sum up Open Roads. The road trip shared between Tess and Opal feels strangely uneventful in too many places, and aside from a heavy air of nostalgia geared toward both millennials and gen-X alike, Open Roads struggles to stand out. It's all fine, but in a literal sea of impressive indie games that are designed exactly like this one, Open Roads doesn't feel like it's presenting or saying anything that you can't experience in so many other, better realized games.
As a Game Pass freebie, Open Roads is a satisfactory, if disposable experience. If you're paying full price for it especially though, you'll likely feel a little disappointed. If you like these road trip-themed indie games (which, legitimately, are becoming a bit of a subgenre lately), this is nonetheless fine, but Open Roads deserved to be more than fine. Maybe female players would relate to it a bit more, since so much of Open Roads is framed from an explicitly female perspective, but according to critical reception, it sounds like even women were left a bit wanting here, and that's unfortunate.
On a quick note, having moved between the Xbox and PC versions during my playthrough of Open Roads, I will say that I had a much more enjoyable time with the PC version, in this case. The Xbox Series X version functions and performs just fine, but in forcing you to use a controller, it also subjects you to this weird 'sticking' mechanic whenever you even move near objects of interest. This keeps throwing off your navigation every time the game forces you to look at certain objects, and trying to move off of them can even be met with bona fide resistance, with pretty much no way to turn this feature off. Fortunately, on PC, I was able to play with a mouse and keyboard, and the experience was FAR smoother and more reliable as a result, with that 'sticking' issue never occurring while navigating with a mouse. It feels like Open Roads is designed with a mouse and keyboard in mind anyway, so, while it's playable with a controller on Xbox and other consoles, the PC version of Open Roads is probably the most comfortable to experience, if you have that option.
Overall though, for a game called Open Roads, this experience just doesn't feel all that open in terms of exciting possibilities. Still, I hope the former Fullbright folks are able to pull together again, and make an experience that they don't have to pick up after a major office exodus. I still enjoy their games, and I still feel like these developers are plenty sharp when it comes to environmental storytelling. Maybe the Hollywood expenses should be cut out next time?
IF I HAD TO SCORE IT: 6/10
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