THE GREAT PERHAPS Review for Steam

Take a second to imagine yourself drifting through the cosmos, as an astronaut aboard a space station. Now imagine a catastrophic event taking place back on Earth. An arduous journey away. Imagine being unable to do anything to check on the family that you left behind. That sense of helplessness. Then picture entering a cryochamber to sustain your life, only to stumble out of slumber a hundred years later. Now, you find resolve and steel yourself for the journey back to Earth, with nothing but your suit and an artificial intelligence to accompany you. This is the premise of The Great Perhaps, developed by Caligari Games and published by Daedalic Entertainment. Follow the story of the protagonist as he finds his way back to his home to discover what exactly happened.

One of the principle aspects of The Great Perhaps that immediately impact the player is the general mood of the game. From the opening cinematic sequence, to the tone of the musical score in the background, to the events in the game, all of it is laced with a heaviness that took me by surprise. Going into this game with a blank slate was the best way to appreciate the story’s darker tones and the game’s more intense moments. The voice acting aided in this, with the only voices belonging to the protagonist and an artificial intelligence companion. The interesting dichotomy of the human’s emotional and tender voice and the A.I.’s robotic voice grows more interesting once the player starts paying attention to the contents of what they are saying. The human protagonist progressively becomes more matter-of-fact and straightforward, while the A.I.’s mentions things such as loneliness and humor. A fascinating look into how loneliness and hopelessness manifest and how the game conveyed that.  

Gameplay wise, The Great Perhaps creates challenging situations that the player has to solve in order to progress. Being a puzzle adventure game, the player has to interact with objects found in the world to survive this post cataclysm shaken world. After spending some time on Earth, the player discovers what can only be described as a strange lantern. Without spoiling too much, this lantern adds another layer to gameplay by allowing the player to go into the past to help solve puzzles. Conceptually, it’s intriguing to compare and contrast the state of things pre and post the end of the world. Mechanically, the puzzles can be clunky and are not always executed in the best manner. There is a timer on the lantern’s use, which adds an unnecessary stressor that often times just impedes the progress rather than add suspense to gameplay. The player can also only ever hold one item, reducing many of the puzzles to run around errands rather than utilizing the tools at one’s disposal.

Despite its less polished sides, The Great Perhaps has an eye-brow raising premise and score that bring decent depth to the game. The controls and puzzles may end up being more frustrating than engaging and could end up taking away from the experience. I am of the opinion that games deserve a fair shot, so I recommend experiencing the creepy and time-bending ways of The Great Perhaps yourselves.

Score: 7.8/10

Check Out The Great Perhaps Video:

The Great Perhaps will launch on Windows PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam tomorrow, August 14, 2019.  You can add it to your wishlist right now.