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This cozy PC sci-fi narrative thriller will now be possible on Mobile (Cloud) | Minds Beneath Us

2K View2023-12-22

Minds Beneath Us

8.5

Sci-fiPuzzleStory Rich

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✨Overview

Minds Beneath Us is an upcoming story-rich sci-fi thriller and an interactive adventure game set in a futuristic Asian city. The game explores a society fully automated with AI, with a focus on dialogue choices, relationship dynamics, and immersive storytelling, Minds Beneath Us promises a unique gaming experience. I just played the demo, and while short, offers a glimpse into the game's huge potential, showcasing a compelling narrative and a visually stunning world.

⭐️Score: 9/10

Pocket Playfest: An Indie Celebration 2023 Winter Edition
In a recent hands-on exclusive experience this past weekend, I had the privilege of testing a handful of titles on TapTap's experimental cloud gaming service, setting the stage for this 16-day event where indie game developers show-off their creations exclusively on the TapTap mobile platform — fully playable PC games without the need for an actual PC, Android/iOS version, or the need to download the games and install them. Granted, you’d need to have a reliable internet service to be able to stream these games, and preferably are located in US and Canada for consistent play and latency, at least for now.

🔗Join the Playfest >>
https://www.taptap.io/events/playfest2023winter

📅 Schedule
Dates: December 23, 12 AM PT - January 7, 11:59 PM PT.
Playfest Winners & Player Rewards Announcement: January 8, 12 AM PT.

For my personal cloud gaming experience in this specific, please see further below in the review.

📖Story and Premise

Set in a near-future Taipei, Minds Beneath Us unveils a society where AI, robots, and advanced technology dominate daily life, from quantum computers and smart home assistants to simple holographic displays and floating hair dryers. This game showcases an impressive imagination when it comes to possible future technology. The game explores the consequences of a new industry that replaces traditional internet hardware with linked human brains.

🎨Graphics and Art Style

Minds Beneath Us impresses with its visually stunning presentation, combining hand-drawn animation and smooth camera movements to create a unique cinematic experience. The visuals are a mix of animated 2D and 3D parallax-style environments. The neon-soaked futuristic rendition of Taipei is a sight to behold, even in its 2.5D animated form. They have really done a job well done in setting up the atmosphere and tone of the game. Simply put, I love it.

🎮Gameplay

Minds Beneath Us is basically an interactive cinematic experience with point and click puzzle game elements, and branching out dialogue options. Exploration, observation, and deduction are emphasized. Players are encouraged to scrutinize environments, pay attention to dialogue, and uncover hidden clues in each scene. Unlocking new dialogue choices adds depth to the interactive experience, fostering a sense of agency in shaping the narrative.

The demo is very short, comprising only the first 40 minutes of the game. The initial 20 minutes start out strong, blending near-future sci-fi and dystopian crime mystery elements. Subsequently, the last 20 minutes transition into a much cozier and slice-of-life narrative style, which feels really nice and has immersed me in the story and the lives of the characters involved, all within a span of 20 minutes.

The game is heavy on the narrative side, with numerous branching dialogue options, decision-making, and consequences for your actions. Apart from the usual point-and-click mechanics, there isn't much gameplay here, at least in the demo. Nevertheless, the game teases a "mind-reading" element that will likely complement the crime and mystery thriller tropes of the story, going hand in hand with the dialogue choices provided in the narrative.

📅Release Date? because I’m very excited

Even with the limited narrative and experience presented in the demo, it still got me really excited. I want to know what happens next to the characters in the story. Unfortunately, the release date is still 'To be announced,' so there's no clear indication of when it will be. I don't expect it to be anytime soon. We could be waiting for years, people.

Luckily, the demo I played turns out to be more than 2 years old now, so I bet there's been a lot of progress made since then. Some websites also report that the game is slated to come out in 2024, but take this with a grain of salt.

⚖️Conclusion

Minds Beneath Us is set to offer a compelling mix of sci-fi thriller, mystery, and interactive adventure. The game's futuristic setting, rich storytelling, and visually captivating presentation create a unique gaming experience. While the demo provides only a brief glimpse into the game's potential, it succeeds in getting me excited and anticipating the full release.

Ultimately, it’s a charming game with huge potential to be one of the better narrative indie games out there once it comes out. I do hope it doesn't take so long that I forget about the game entirely.

☁️General Cloud Gaming Experience

This past weekend, I had the chance to be chosen as one of the testers for an experimental cloud gaming service by TapTap, and I must say, it holds a lot of promise. The quality is seriously impressive - we're talking sharp HD resolution, not like your typical streamed game. Looks and feels native and doesn’t feel like its streamed. The performance is also smooth (60FPS), with good frame timing (by visual observation only, as there was no tool to monitor this). There’s currently no way to play at a native 16:9 with black bars, as the screen is stretched out to the phone’s screen.

📶Cloud Latency

In my experience, my latency during the test phase was around 200ms --- only because the servers are currently located in United States for now and I'm connecting from asia. Even then, It’s still a bit playable, especially for games that are not latency sensitive like point and click games or those with simple controls. Having said that, it’s just a matter of server location and having lots of servers. It’s understandable since this is just a testing phase with limited servers. If a datacenter is nearby, I am positive that I’ll have a smooth and fluid experience, same with those living in the US or Canada. It works like a charm on 5GHz wifi, but the experience took a hit on 2.4GHz, so won’t recommend that.

🕹Cloud Touch Controls

Now, onto the user interface. I'm a fan of how each game has its own custom on-screen buttons, tailored to the specific control scheme. It works like a charm for simpler games, but things get a bit tricky with more complex ones.

🔃Cloud Accessibility

Accessing the service is a breeze - the Instant Play integration is right there on the game page, next to Download/Steam/Play buttons. Loading times are impressively fast, and I love that I can minimize the TapTap app and return to the game still streaming. Progress is not yet saved between streaming sessions, so it’s clearly just for testing purposes. Overall, it's been an interesting experience, and while there are some kinks, the potential here is exciting. Definitely surpassed my expectations.

🌩Specific Cloud Game Experience

Minds Beneath Us provides a fully playable experience with a native feel for point-and-click interactions, which is perfect for cloud gaming. While not significantly latency-dependent, some UI elements may be too small for mobile phone screens such as dialogue choices or items to interact with.