Road 96 Reviews
Road 96 is a procedural narrative adventure that stretches across different protagonists and several miles. Travel through Petria’s corrupted landscape and make decisions that will determine your freedom and survival, and the fate of your country.
DigixArt’s Road 96 is an impressive indie effort to deliver an interesting narrative-driven title with an original branching plot mechanic.
Clocking in one whole run of about six episodes took me seven hours. After dabbling in New Game+ for a little bit to complete my relationship bars and discover all of the collectibles, I expect to invest another seven hours. Road 96 offers a unique style and storytelling that the gaming industry desperately needs right now. I worry that this one will float under many people’s radar as it’s by no means an edge-of-your-seat story with larger-than-life actors. This is a chill game with cozy vibes mixed with a little bit of social unrest to shake things up a bit. Conflict! At any rate, if you have the need for this sort of title in your life, Road 96 scratches the itch well.
Making your way from point A to point B with a lot of personal exploration along the way.
I was wary about Road 96 because survival games aren't exactly my thing and usually I don't like randomly generated games as well. But this one amazed me. Each time I failed, I was motivated to try again. And each time I was successful, I felt nothing less but pure joy.
Review in German | Read full review
Road 96 is a fascinating and frequently tense adventure that manages to keep its story on track despite the odd bump in the road.
A beautifully structured, poignant, procedurally generated road movie, that's packed with character and intelligence.
Road 96 is an adventure that will delight those who put storytelling before gameplay. Good dialogues and situations, varied, with many minigames... It's playable and has some interesting ideas, though it often leaves the feeling of being somewhat corseted.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Road 96 is an adventure game that’s stuffed with fascinating characters. Everybody has a story, and the game does an excellent job at weaving those stories together in an interesting way. The use of music and the game’s art style also helps to elevate the experience. Road 96 is a bit bogged down by some UI issues and framerate drops, but that didn’t stop me from really enjoying the complete product.
Road 96 is a brilliant and clever take on choose-your-own-adventure game. Thanks to its complex, but coherent narrative which works on multiple runs, Digixart succedes in telling the story of pride, revolution and hope through intimate moment and a interesting cast of characters.
Review in Italian | Read full review
I like premise of Road 96. It sets you up for endless adventures on the road, where each situation can either get you miles further toward your goal or thrown into the slammer … or worse. While you’re vulnerable, your destiny is in your hands.
Much like the real world, everyone’s hopes and dreams are different, and it’s this uniqueness that makes them so undeniably beautiful. It’s a poetic struggle, and stopping to appreciate the instances of silence on a road filled with tragedy and heartbreak helps Road 96 feel like something I’ve never played before. Road 96 feels like an experience created by a studio that understands the fragility of the world we exist in, seeking to project these issues onto a fictional world where comparing them with our own is all too easy. Subtlety isn’t the objective here, and by pulling no punches, this game manages to say something well worth listening to.
Road 96 is a brave step forward in the world of narrative-driven video games. The snippet style structure superbly interweaves the diverse cast of characters creating an incredible journey through an authoritarian world. Although there are performance issues, this is an experience like no other and a must for fans of story-based games.
On the whole, though, Road 96 remains a genuinely innovative game. It’s approach to storytelling and narrative branching is unique. Despite a few relatively minor issues, playing Road 96 is an engaging experience. The moral ambiguity of its characters and their choices feel true to life, even if the game’s conceit is a little less compelling.
Road 96 is a special title well worth checking out for anyone with an itch for adventure.
Overall Road 96 really surprised me, as I'm getting older, purely story driven games don't grab my interest as easily.
Whether I was being threatened by Jarod, having deep personal conversations with John, or being made audience to the circus that is Stan and Mitch, I found myself continuing to go back for more over and over with Road 96. If you want a deeply political and sometimes downright scary experience, this is the place to be. Add to that a fantastic soundtrack of both folk style music and electronic synthwave that really hits the '90s vibe, and Road 96 is an experience you will not soon forget.
If your country is a burden to you, like ours is to us, playing Road 96 might lighten the load by reminding you that, there are always people who can make a difference.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
While Road 96 doesn’t have quite the level of freedom of choice that it advertises, it doesn’t matter. This is a moving, thought-provoking adventure that’s filled with obscure moments, dark comedy and characters you won’t forget in a hurry. Its heavy political slant won’t be for everyone, but if that doesn’t put you off, you’re in for one hell of a journey.
While Road 96 lacks consistency in its quality and its approach to politics is occasionally superficial, it's a necessary game that raises an important topic of discussion. There are few products that deal with politics and its consequences so directly in this media. The innovative take on the theme highlights this game amidst an avalanche of good offerings, justifying the experience. Road 96 isn't perfect, but it has great ideas and a spectacular soundtrack!
Review in Portuguese | Read full review