Let Bions Be Bygones Review Summary

Appealing and immersive visual style: The game features a distinctive and appealing visual style, with detailed pixel art, neon lighting, and well-integrated graphics that create a captivating cyberpunk/noir atmosphere. Reviewers consistently praise the game's aesthetic and its contribution to the immersive experience.

Engaging story and characters: The game features an engaging story, with many reviewers highlighting the captivating narrative, interesting characters, and tough choices that drive the plot forward. Some reviewers noted that the first act or first half of the game was particularly strong.

Well-executed cyberpunk world-building: The game's world-building is well-executed, creating a consistent and immersive cyberpunk setting with noir elements. Reviewers appreciate the detailed environments and the integration of the world into the story.

Extensive and well-done voice acting: The game features extensive voice acting, which is generally well-received and enhances the immersive experience. The quality of the voice acting is considered a significant positive, especially for an indie game.

Interesting and well-written characters: The game features interesting and well-written characters with depth. Player choices appear to have consequences on these characters, at least in the short term.

Rushed, confusing, unsatisfying story: The story feels rushed, disjointed, and confusing, especially in the later acts, with an abrupt and unsatisfying ending. Reviewers noted missing explanations, unresolved plot points, and a lack of emotional investment. This makes the narrative difficult to follow and ultimately unfulfilling.

Game is buggy and unpolished: The game suffers from numerous bugs, glitches, and technical issues, including soft locks, progression blockers, UI problems, and save corruption. Many reviewers felt the game was released prematurely and lacked polish. This widespread issue significantly impacts the player experience.

Poor writing and many typos: The game contains numerous typos, grammatical errors, and awkward writing, which detract from the overall quality and immersion. This issue suggests a lack of polish and attention to detail.

Inconsistent and buggy audio: There are inconsistencies and issues with the game's audio, including mismatched voice lines, missing audio, poor sound mixing, and amateurish voice acting. These problems detract from the overall presentation and immersion.

Poor animations and movement: The game suffers from poor animations and sluggish character movement, making the gameplay feel clunky and unresponsive. This issue detracts from the overall experience and makes it difficult to control the character.

Meaningful choices shape narrative: Player choices significantly impact the narrative, character development, and available options, creating a branching storyline with multiple endings. The game features a personality assessment system, influencing dialogue and narrative paths, similar to Disco Elysium. However, some reviews indicate that the personality mechanic's implementation is lacking, and its effects are not always clearly visible to the player.

Cyberpunk detective point-and-click adventure: The game is a cyberpunk point-and-click adventure, set in a dystopian sci-fi world called Terrahive, where the player controls a private detective named John Cooper. Gameplay involves exploring the city, gathering clues through dialogues with NPCs, and solving side quests in a neo-noir setting.

Simple point-and-click gameplay: The gameplay is a straightforward point and click, without inventory or puzzles. Some reviewers wish for more interaction with the environment.

Designed for multiple playthroughs: The game encourages multiple playthroughs to deepen understanding of its unique terminology and complex problems. Logical thinking and attention to detail are required to solve the mystery.

Prompt accessibility issues: Some reviewers note that it can be difficult to get to the prompt sometimes.

Loud audio spike during dialogue: One player experienced a very loud audio spike during a dialogue scene, even with the audio settings lowered. This suggests a potential issue with audio balancing or a specific bug related to sound playback during certain scenes.

Frame rate locked at 60fps: The game's frame rate is locked at 60fps. While this may be sufficient for many players, it could be a limitation for those with high-end hardware who prefer higher frame rates.

Playable on Steam Deck with configuration: The game is reported to be playable on the Steam Deck, but it requires key configuration. This indicates that while the game is compatible, some adjustments are needed to optimize the control scheme for the device.

Generally recommended; good value: Many reviewers recommend the game, praising its narrative, gameplay, and overall quality for the price. They consider it a worthwhile adventure and encourage supporting the developers. However, some recommendations are contingent on tolerating minor glitches.

Good for specific genre fans: The game is particularly recommended for fans of specific genres like noir, cyberpunk, and detective stories akin to Disco Elysium. Reviewers highlight the strong writing, art style, detailed setting, and voice acting as appealing aspects for genre enthusiasts.

Potential with future updates: Reviewers express hope for future updates to address bugs, add more story content, and further polish the game. A recommendation might be possible in the future if these issues are resolved and Act 3 is released.

Wait for significant price reduction: Several reviewers suggest waiting for a significant price reduction, potentially half-price, and further development before considering a purchase. This recommendation stems from concerns about the game's current state and the need for more content or improvements.

Impressive for small studio: Reviewers acknowledge the game's impressiveness for a small studio, while also noting shortcomings in other areas. They express anticipation for future games from the development team.

Good atmosphere and setting: The game has a compelling atmosphere and well-executed pixel art. The setting is also praised as being great, contributing positively to the overall experience.

Ambitious project, design struggles: The game is described as an ambitious project developed by a small team, but it struggled with the realities of game design. This suggests potential limitations in scope, polish, or execution due to resource constraints or design challenges.

Placeholder text present in-game: The game contains placeholder text, such as "pan camera," indicating incomplete implementation of planned features. This breaks immersion and suggests a lack of polish in the final product.

Plot relies on long dialogues: The plot relies heavily on lengthy dialogues. This may be a point of contention for players who prefer more concise storytelling or gameplay-focused experiences.

Chinese localization feedback requested: The game features an official Chinese localization, and the developers are actively seeking feedback on localization issues. This indicates a commitment to supporting Chinese-speaking players and improving the game's accessibility.