The Indie Informer

I look around my room — what’s still left unpacked of it anyway — and my eyes alight on points bright with memories, like little stars shining in the sky as the sun sets on the life I knew. In the first few minutes of the game, there’s already so much quiet pain, so much anxiety. But it’s wrapped up in hope, comfort, and affection. It’s this perfectly handled blend that makes Open Roads a powerful experience.

The problem is packing isn’t just a metaphor. The developers have honestly set in front of me the task of sweeping Tess’ nostalgic, early-2000s room of all important keepsakes. Like, I can’t just not put everything away after that. Even though there is a very well-communicated way for me to simply move onto the next part of the narrative, I have to finish the task.

It’s not just my own impulses as a human being, but how well the game stuffs in its narrative elements. Picking things up in my room — and throughout the rest of the game — results in genuine, absorbing dialogue. I’m always afraid of missing even the smallest observation. Even objects the main character has no verbal reaction to can be thought-provoking — like seeing an empty walker in my deceased grandmother’s bedroom shower. It’s a recipe for disaster for someone like me that can’t leave stones unturned. Open Roads has so many brilliant stones to turn.

Relationships are also painted with a deft, all-too-relatable brush. If it’s possible to say the game is about one thing in particular, it would be about the relationship between teenager Tess and her mother, Opal. There’s a lot of love, support, and humor shared between the two. But there’s also misunderstanding, hurt, and history. Conversations can swing from lighterted joking to uncomfortable confrontations in a way that feels wonderfully natural.

with all the attention to detail poured into the feel and look of the game, it’s easy to gloss over some of its less stellar technical aspects. Sometimes objects I pick up seem to drop when I choose to put them back and there are moments when my focus snapped unnaturally onto an object nearby. These gaffs took me out of the action from time-to-time, but ultimately aren’t enough to spoil the story-led adventure.

Open Roads has the writing and narrative most games only dream of. I felt for and felt like the protagonist and her mom throughout the journey, sympathizing with their human struggles. The hand-drawn art blended with 3D environments is flawless, even if that’s sometimes hard to focus on with the game’s few technical rough patches. The title, though short, is full of twists, turns, and authenticity.