Land of Screens
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Critic Reviews for Land of Screens
Land of Screens is a short and sweet romcom experience that is ultimately too reductive to deliver its message meaningfully.
Ultimately, Land of Screens may serve as a helpful reminder for a few players, but most people already know that it’s important to look up from their devices sometimes. As a non-developer, it’s difficult to see how Serenity Forge could have relayed its message in a more engaging manner, but there are developers who have successfully sneaked a societal call to action into their games. This is usually accomplished by focusing on gameplay first and sprinkling the message throughout for people to uncover themselves. Instead, Serenity Forge has made the entirety of Land of Screens about the message and only marginally concentrated on anything else. This has resulted in a flat experience that lacks the ability to inspire.
There are definitely people out there who could get a lot out of Land of Screens. Maybe they too are struggling with themselves after a breakup. Or maybe they are having a bad time with social media. I get it. I’ve felt those feelings. But nothing about the Land of Screens brought me to a personal catharsis. I can see where the developers are coming from, but they did not convey their message in a way that applied to me. With a more interesting execution, perhaps this could have been an exciting, moving indie narrative. As it stands though, there are better things you can do with your screens than play Land of Screens.
Land of Screens tells a short, hokey, on-the-nose story about disconnecting from technology and reconnecting with friends and family, and it's not remarkable in any way. Fortunately, the art and sound are excellent, making it a decent way to spend a couple hours.
Land of Screens has an interesting storyline, but there's no depth to it or its characters. The music is fun and it'll keep you busy for about an hour but that's about it.
I could only think of a couple of times where you can make a choice in the game and the only thing it would affect is a handful of dialogue responses. As far as I know there aren't any alternate endings, so there isn't much of a reason to play through it again. It did leave me interested in the other games from the publisher already available on the eShop. If you are looking for a chill, short, impactful game with a great story, Land of Screens comes highly recommended.
Land of Screens is far too one-note for its own good, repeatedly hammering the message that screens are pure evil. Its heart is in the right place, but its execution leaves something to be desired.
Land of Screens is a charming indie that extols the importance of getting off one’s phone to live in the real world sometimes. Thankfully, it’s not over the top or egregious about the topic, failing to demonize people who like social media. Instead, it allows for a more balanced message of taking it in doses and not forgetting that our problems that can seem so big online might be smaller than we think when we take some time away to reconnect to loved ones in real life. I would definitely recommend this title, particularly to people who enjoy talking to characters, solving problems, and the genres listed on this game.
