The Great Perhaps

The Great Perhaps, developed by Caligari Games and published by Daedalic Entertainment, offers players an emotionally charged narrative-driven adventure that explores themes of loss, memory, and the fragility of time. At its core, the game tells the story of an astronaut returning to a post-apocalyptic Earth, only to find a world devastated by natural disasters. This bleak setting sets the stage for a reflective journey as the protagonist discovers a mysterious lantern that allows him to travel back and forth between the present and the past. This mechanic is central to both the storytelling and gameplay, giving players a unique way to engage with the environment and unravel the mysteries behind the world's collapse.
The narrative unfolds gradually, with the player piecing together the events that led to Earth's destruction by shifting timelines. This time travel element is cleverly used to provide context and emotional weight, allowing players to witness moments before catastrophe as well as their aftermath. It encourages exploration and careful observation, rewarding players who pay attention to subtle environmental storytelling and details. The story itself is introspective and contemplative, leaning heavily into a melancholic atmosphere that invites players to reflect on themes of regret, hope, and human resilience.
Visually, The Great Perhaps impresses with its hand-drawn art style that perfectly balances beauty and desolation. The backgrounds are richly detailed, vividly contrasting the vibrant past with the desolate present, and evoking a deep sense of nostalgia. Character designs are minimalistic yet expressive, allowing the emotional undertones of the story to resonate without distraction. The visual design supports the game’s atmosphere superbly, creating an immersive world that draws players into its haunting narrative.
The audio experience complements the visuals with a haunting and evocative soundtrack that enhances the game’s emotional tone. Music swells during pivotal moments, guiding the player’s emotional journey without overpowering the gameplay. Subtle sound effects provide necessary cues and enrich the world’s ambiance, making the experience feel alive and cohesive. Together, the visuals and audio form a compelling sensory backdrop that elevates the story’s impact.
Despite its strong artistic and narrative presentation, The Great Perhaps has received mixed feedback regarding its gameplay mechanics. While the time travel concept is innovative and holds great narrative potential, some players and critics have found that the puzzles and interactions feel simplistic and occasionally underdeveloped. The gameplay often takes a backseat to the story, which may disappoint those looking for more complex or challenging gameplay elements. Additionally, the game’s pacing can feel uneven at times, with slow sections that may test the patience of players seeking more action or engagement.
The game is undoubtedly tailored for players who prioritize atmosphere and story over traditional gameplay complexity. Its appeal lies in its thoughtful storytelling and emotional depth, rather than in providing extended gameplay variety or difficulty. For those who enjoy games that are reflective and narrative-driven, The Great Perhaps offers a rewarding experience, but it may not satisfy players looking for more dynamic or intricate gameplay systems.
In summary, The Great Perhaps is a visually striking and emotionally resonant indie adventure that explores profound themes through its use of time travel and a post-apocalyptic setting. While it may falter somewhat in gameplay depth and pacing, its compelling story, beautiful art, and evocative soundtrack make it a memorable experience for those willing to engage with its somber tone and introspective narrative. It stands as an example of how games can convey powerful emotional stories, even when gameplay mechanics take a simpler form. For players interested in a contemplative journey through memory and loss, The Great Perhaps is a worthwhile exploration.
Rating: 8/10

This was cute and humble in its story and time-travelling mechanic. But, perhaps... it would have been a great adventure game if the developers would iron out the kinks and bugs, and movement controls... a great perhaps.

I'm going to give this a recommended because I did enjoy it overall. The game's tone and narrative are really good, coupled with some emotional voice acting and an atmospheric soundtrack. Unfortunately, there is one very important thing that anyone looking to play this needs to be aware of: It ends on a cliffhanger. A big one.

Mechanically, The Great Perhaps offers some really neat ideas by having the ability to see into/shift back and forth between the past and the present via your little lamp. It allows for puzzles and a bit of exploration, and feels appropriate for the time travel story being told. It also enhances the mood, because seeing the devastated location you're in full of life and knowing what it actually looks like now lends weight what's happening and Kosmos' desire to figure out how to stop it.

The game is broken up into 14 "levels" as you travel between the landing site and different locations within the city. Along the way you'll encounter subway tunnels and a residential area, even going through a bank at one point. Seeing people freak out briefly as Kosmos spontaneously appears in front of them is amusing, except when those people have guns, of course. Get ready to hear L9, his computer assistant, say "oh no, you died" rather a lot at times.

This is probably the game's biggest problem; it wants to have action but you control a very clunky fellow. Shifting requires holding down the button for a moment, so there's a delay, and if you need to do so in a hurry because you're running from something the timing can be very inconvenient. Same with warping back to the present, as the lamp will only let you stay in the past for a short time. While you can use the lamp endlessly, sometimes you need to travel back and forth to navigate an area. This can lead to you not quite making it across a gap, or returning into a solid object.

Regretably, the checkpoint system is not that great. One area has a puzzle that isn't entirely obvious at first and if you mess up at some point you have to return through the area and try again. Thankfully, that only happened to me a couple of times, but it's worth noting and I've seen some comments regarding it.

The game is also quite short considering the $10 asking price seeing as how it took me about 3 hours to complete the whole thing and there's not much in the way of replay value. The lack of an ending leaves a rather unhappy feeling, and so the length and knowing it may never have a resolution is.. difficult. I do genuinely think this is a good game, or I wouldn't be giving it that Thumbs Up, but it is very much a flawed gem.

Control are super janky, not a good ending, mid game at best. Only reason for the thumbs up is the price, for a $1.40 you get what you pay for.

Challenging platforming at times.

This is a 2D scrolling platform game.

The graphics, voice acting and music are good.

I'm hopeless at platforming but managed to eventually work through it with a lot of frustrating do-overs.
For anyone adept at this genre it probably would be easy going. I used mouse and keyboard, maybe a controller would be better.

I didn't encounter any of the bugs reported in the forum and other reviews.

The Great Perhaps is a graphical adventure with a clever time-travel twist and an engaging post-apocalyptic sci-fi theme; I wasn’t usually into this genre, but the story and atmosphere won me over, making it an 8/10 and a solid pick for adventure and narrative fans. It’s really a short game (took me 3 h to complete) but worth to buy on sale.

The whole concept is pretty cool and the graphics are pretty cool. The puzzles are well put in. The story though is not really interesting, at least for me. The premise is a typical time travel slash dystopian slash spacey which is not really mine. The price is ok, could be a bit cheaper. All in one pretty nice, but not a must play. I can recommend it