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A rich and meaningful narrative experience | Full Review - Pitstop in Purgatory

623 View2023-02-26

Pitstop in Purgatory is a visual novel / adventure game full of story and thought-provoking ideas. Originally made for PC in a surprising two-month timeframe, it is now available as well for Android.

You play as Astrid, a frustrated young actress who recently died. She wakes up and finds herself in the afterlife, but it’s not Heaven or Hell. It’s something close to a Purgatory, sothat’s what they call it for her. At the start, she doesn’t remember her death and is in a state of confusion.

🟩Pros

+Thought provoking story

+Explores heavy and serious themes

+Beautiful dreamy art-style

🟥Cons

-Unresponsive touch controls

Astrid has to navigate her way through a strange and unfamiliar world. As Astrid progresses through the game, he learns more about the nature of purgatory and the reasons why she is there. The plot is simple yet very imaginative and mysterious that unfolds beautifully as you play it, and It keeps the player engaged from start to finish.

At the start, you are at a loss to what happened, even the cause of death of your character is not known. It stimulates your curiosity, naturally you’d want to know more about it and compels you to play and play.

The presentation of the game is in a visual novel style, with a beautiful art-style that is both loose and unstable-looking. The art-style fits perfectly with the theme of the game, as it feels messy and muddy, as if it was from a dream or a near-death experience. The visuals are complemented by a playful soundtrack that sets the mood for the game, although I feel that the background music doesn't exactly line up well with the themes explored in the game.

You can tell it was originally made for PCs and it shows. The touch controls have some accuracy issues due to how small the control buttons are in the UI. The font is kind of small and that doesn’t bode well for the lots of reading, there is no voiced dialogue, except for the occasional impactful and important lines which are voiced, and some grunts and laughs from the characters.

In the purgatory, you can interact with other souls and even befriend some of them, and it can lead to finding more about them, and their life on Earth. A modest romantic option is available for two of the characters, but it’s not really the main focus. Your main goal is to find your purpose and feel at peace.

One of the game's biggest strengths is its themes. The game explores some heavy and depressive themes related to death and the afterlife, but it balances this with a lighthearted tone that keeps the game from feeling too heavy or overwhelming. The ethical questions that the game poses are also thought-provoking and add to the overall depth of the story.

While the story tells like a visual novel, it plays like a point-and-click adventure game, with items and very surface level puzzles and riddles present that are essential in advancing the dialogue, story, and progression as a whole. The puzzles and riddles add to the overall immersion of the game. They are not too difficult, but they require some creative thinking to solve. At its core, it is primarily a visual novel.

Pitstop in Purgatory is a captivating and unique game that explores themes of death and the afterlife through a well-written story and interesting characters, all presented in a fitting beautiful art-style.

It is a short but meaningful game that will take you around two hours of playtime to finish a regular playthrough. However, you are missing the full story that way. As the game features three different routes — not endings, routes — that you can take during the latter part of the playthroughs, leading to three widely different outcomes that are all worthy to experience. The game definitely didn’t overstay its welcome and is well paced throughout the playthroughs.

Conclusion:

At four dollars, Pitstop in Purgatory is definitely a good deal considering the depth and thought-provoking nature of its story and overall experience. While the game may be short-lived, its impact can be profound and have far-reaching effects on the player. For the price, players are getting a rich and meaningful narrative experience that is well worth the cost.

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