MINDHACK isn't ready for you yet

Mindhack (Reviewed)

Developer: VODKAdemo?

Publisher: VODKAdemo?

Released: 5 April, 2023

Price: $13 USD

Mindhack is an Early Access, visually appealing visual novel with a fascinating storyline, you take on the role of a brilliant doctor with mind-altering abilities.

Your task is to distinguish between the "bugs" and a patient's personality because the world has become infested with a world ending bug that lay dormant inside peoples body and minds, effecting them or sometimes not.

Your initial exposure to a  class-1 FATAL ERROR incidence, one of the deadliest bug encounters, causes you to become unexpectedly more distant.

Will you contribute to preventing the class-0 FATAL ERROR from wiping out humanity with the help of the facility AI "FORMAT" or be one to help the errors?

Early Access

The game isn't even finished

The story has been really endearing, enjoyable, and engaging up until chapter (3), which is presently 3/8 of the anticipated chapters which are not available.

I really don't support using Early Access games when they are still in the early stages of development as in not even complete. It has a little gameplay, but when you have to wait months for new "episodes," it gets really irritating.

Particularly when it's uncertain whether the game's makers will abandon it or finish it within the allotted 1-2 year timeframe they specified.

But since the game is reasonably priced and simple, I can overlook this once. However, if you do want to purchase this game, you should be aware that you are paying for a partially finished game that will not be finished until 2024-25.

The game is only 1 hour long

This is fortunate because if a person decides they don't want the game after less than two hours of play, they can just request a refund. If you're on the fence about testing it out, you shouldn't be worried about being unable to do so.

Gameplay

Hacking

This game's hacking mini-game works in a manner that will be familiar to anyone who has played games like Typing Dead or Epistory.

Since there are no timers or other barriers in your way you simply need to write the words to complete the hack, it's actually pretty linear and doesn't seem like much of a challenge, which is quite a let down, though the story is strong.

To make this feel less monotonous, I think it would be fascinating if they added a level of difficulty—or, at the very least, punished you for making mistakes.

Patients

The patients personalities will change once they have been altered.

The fact that you may not defy commands and act in accordance with your moral convictions rather than what you were ordered to do by an AI makes me believe that this should have at the very least been given more consideration.

I'd prefer more or less a choices matters kind of storytelling. This would open up many more opportunities for a curious player like myself, though with the game being in Early Access, this isn't something that is completely off the table. 

Charm

In order to avoid boring the reader or turning them away due to repetitious, drawn-out dialog, a visual novel should be both engaging and charming.

I truly enjoy how the characters are presented. They all have their flaws as well as their strengths. In the future growth of this game, I want to see more of these.

It might sound silly, but I would like to build a rapport with each character by going to see them or conversing with them in your leisure time to go to places or simply to check in on them occasionally to observe how people are reacting to you and your decisions over time. The world would have more life as a result.

Presentation

It does well

Since it is a visual novel, it must be distinctive. The only thing you ever see of the doctor are his hands, even when everyone else is in plain view.

It makes you feel uncertain or suspicious about yourself, as though you may not be who you first appear to be or that there may be hidden issues that you are unaware of. The game does a good job depicting the doctor's passion. Flowers.

The soundtrack is also excellent, providing just the right amount of tension when needed without being overpowering or bland. Similar to this, the music succeeds when the mood is more laid-back or upbeat.

Conclusion

I have mixed feelings

The one thing that really worries me about this game is that it's being published in pieces over the course of the next two years. When it comes to Early Access games, I don't enjoy this format, largely because I'll probably forget about it eventually and maybe never play it again due to games filling up my library.

Even if other games have done this well, those ones at least provided some resolution and had a compelling beginning that left you eager to play the rest of the game when it released. Even still, I find this kind of development annoying. 

I don't think it will take more than 5 hours to finish the full game upon release, unless they up the difficulty or add in extra features like relationships and multiple endings and what not, I personally would wait for the full game to be released so that you could actually binge the entire game in a single sitting.

It would be worth it then, but as of right now it's nothing to be too excited for.

This concludes my review of this game, while my opinions may be met with criticism, that's what makes gamers unique, you don't have to like the same things that others do, nor do you have to agree with them.

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- Pawkt