Last Stop Reviews
Last Stop is three interesting stories tied to an entirely pointless set of gameplay. The narrative drives the game and holds your interest, while the gameplay veers between pointless and distracting. Overall, it is an enjoyable romp for anyone who's fond of narrative-driven games. It's hard to escape the sense that I would've enjoyed an animated movie or television show more, but Last Stop is a satisfying, if not very interactive, story.
Last Stop may succeed when it comes to delivering a (mostly) engrossing set of stories, but it suffers from a notable lack of substance when it comes to gameplay, with several moments of interactivity feeling like they were included solely only to draw things out.
Last Stop's changes in tone and genre can be jolting in spots, but the characters at the center of such stories manage to keep things grounded for a delightful experience.
Last Stop tells a weak story where your choices doesn't really matter, with minimal and guided interactions.
Review in Italian | Read full review
But the lack of significant choices coupled with the game's awkward structure makes it challenging to get immersed into it. There are three solid experiences contained in Last Stop, and if separated into their own games they could probably all carry the impact they were intended to. Together, though, they come across as competing for the player's attention without adding up to a singular whole.
Last Stop is endearing with its story and characters with a Hollywood caliber narrative design. It just wants to be a movie more than it wants to be a game, but it is entertaining, nonetheless.
Though it may alienate some players due to its lack of gameplay, Last Stop has an action-packed narrative that doesn’t get stale. It beautifully juxtaposes the mundane day-to-day life of three characters against a bizarre science-fiction story. The fantastic voice talent brings a level of charisma and life that unfortunately isn’t matched by the rather stiff in-game animations, although that doesn’t stop the game from being a fun tube ride through an alien-infested London where weird stuff happens to pretty ordinary people.
It’s a structure that ensures different perspectives and voices carousel in and out with pleasing regularity, but also in accordance with your mood. It works to intertwine three stories that are differently enjoyable — Meena’s is the most interesting character study, Donna has the most captivating mystery, John is primarily the comic relief — playing them off each other to make them that much more gripping than they would be alone. Variable State may still not have found the perfect interactive formula for its cinematic talents, but until it does “Last Stop” remains a moderate success.
Ultimately, Last Stop presents itself as a pleasant experience, able to offer interesting things to consider on the reasons that can push a human being to give a turn to his existence. Despite an extremely pleasant rhythm and many twists and turns, the narrative of Variable State, however, fails to really leave its mark on the heart of the player who, thanks to the manifestation of real alternative tracks only at the end of the game, ends up not feeling too much empathy with John's actions, Meena and Donna.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Overall, Last Stop is something of a mixed bag. At its best it's an enjoyable and immersive narrative adventure game, and Paper Dolls is definitely a good enough story strand to have carried the game on its own had it been expanded. However, the different quality of its three stories, and the awkward narrative shift in its final chapter, does mean that Last Stop feels a little like a missed opportunity when all is said and done, and a good game that could've been excellent with just a bit more content and some tighter scripts.
When it comes down to it, Last Stop is an entertaining journey that just goes completely off the rails in its final half, failing to execute on the interesting ideas it comes up with at the start. I know that endings shouldn’t take away from the ride, but when you’re playing a title that is almost completely narrative and character-driven, I just couldn’t help but feel a letdown when credits rolled.
Eventually, each story hurriedly resolves itself, foregoing tidy lessons or ironic endings but still lacking that crucial, elusive sense of lived-in authenticity. For as much effort has clearly gone into voicing and animating these characters within their 3D environments, we never spend enough time to seem like we really know them; quirks of the game’s strict linearity ensure we remain at a distance, observing relationships that are otherwise too thinly sketched to sustain the game’s emotional ambitions. Last Stop eventually arrives at an all-too-familiar game-design destination, hamstrung by its attempts at verisimilitude.
Last Stop should best be reckonned as a strictly narrative game, as its interactive scope is way too clumsy : full linearity, no impacting choices and bland QTE sequences. The variety of atmospheres (comedy, drama, mysteries) makes it intersting to play though, and the game is carried by a nice and fitting soundtrack.
Review in French | Read full review
It's an unmissable work if you like graphic adventures and good series. Its bizarre plot in the purest X-Files style and its characters will take you on a nice journey to the denouement of this story full of green light.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Last Stop has something special in there to share over its six-or-so hours. Well worth having on the wishlist until the time and price are right for you.
Neither lengthy nor particularly interactive, Last Stop succeeds on the strengths of its writing, narrative, and characters.
Last Stop is all about the story, making its three storylines the centrepiece of the experience. Characters introduced by them quickly become staples as their personalities and unfortunate predicaments take hold, all the while the overall plot takes shape and builds to a crescendo. It's disappointing that the vast majority of your decisions have little to no impact, but the ride Last Stop takes you on is worthwhile regardless.
Last Stop’s anthology-based approach to storytelling is great and helps to keep you engaged throughout. Even though your choices don’t really impact the story, it’s a lovely journey that touches on some interesting themes. Unfortunately, the conclusion is disappointing as it delves a little too far into the realm of science fiction. Regardless of this, the grounded characters and interesting cast are worth meeting.
Variable State follows up the wordless weirdness of Virginia with a far more talkative, and more grounded, supernatural drama with Last Stop. The focus on its three protagonists' everyday problems over the underlying odd phenomena helps to make each tale more engaging, and in turn, makes the stranger things that occur feel more captivatingly mysterious in their initially limited use. It's a little light in terms of traditional player control, but Last Stop tells a hell of a good story that you still very much feel like you're in the director's chair for.
Variable State surprisingly managed to create a really unique and vibrant world in Last Stop.
Review in Russian | Read full review