During a night of searching on Steam for something decent to purchase and play without regrets...I was able to find this little Indie game, I saw it before when it was released a while ago, and I thought it was different...but different I meant a dating simulator. I thought it was odd that Steam would release something like that, but after nothing else I decided to pick it up. Was it worth it, even the small $10 price?

Story: You begin with a small message at the beginning indicating your main objective: Find a ship that had a colony completely fade away without any knowledge of what happened. You're sent to find the logs of the ship and download them all and just return. After finding out the logs are password hidden, you're forced to interact with the AI, which is actually still working. She...well "it" is quite happy to see someone new and you dive right into what happened and who was on this ship. The tales of what's told can be emotional, heartbreaking, and completely gut-wrenching as you read about some of the events that occurred. Most of it being focused on a woman named the "Pale Princess" of course once you find the password you can simply just download and leave the game, lasting around 10-15 minutes. Of course that's not supposed to just be the game, exploring everything and every log is what you're mainly to do, and interacting with the AI can get you more info. I found myself trying to unlock every log or to see what happened after the horrible events that happened before. It twists with a different AI who seems to have a different take on the first, the name being *Hyun-ae, unlocking more events and different takes from different people and events that can leave you horrified, ending in multiple endings based on your choices.

Gameplay: The gameplay is based off of course, reading, as this is indeed a visual-novel style. As you find out more, the AI will give you more logs to read, unlocking more parts of the different stories of the families or notes they wrote, or the diary of the Pale Princess herself, explaining what's going on and how she's being treated. Along with reading you'll occasionally be able to click on a little chat box, bringing up the AI and her...ahem "its" take on the current log, and occasionally be asked a question, and since you can't answer with your own response it usually ends up in a "Yes" or "No" style of question, based on your response the AI will answer on how they feel of the topic as well. Usually being rude results in a rude reply, or even worse if you're too mean, an automatic disconnect from the server. Resulting in a game-over style of screen, there’s not much to it besides the slightly confusing terminal. But not like it takes away any of the game, since you'll be more interested in her- I mean it- screw it. I honestly feel like "it" is a, even though she's an AI, she's truly one that you'll be feeling for every step of the way.

In all honesty, this is probably the first Indie game that actually took me by surprise by how entertaining and good it was. As I was wrong and probably should have looked into it more before judging it to be a dating game. The only drawback I can think of it is the length, it's quite short and be able to finish it in an hour or two. For one play through, and probably won't have much reason to go and read-through it all again. Unless you're willing to just for the different endings, of course there are multiple saves, but it's honestly worth it to read through it again to hear about their lives and what Hyun-ae has actually been through. An amazing game for a small $10 price, even if it is a bit short. I still love it and can't wait for the sequel.
9.0/10 A near perfect title

This is ancient history now, but for a while, back around 2005 or so, there was a perception, largely created by a single translation group, that the "visual novel," a format of linear text adventure that grew out of the Japanese PC games scene, might actually have something to offer beyond cheap titillation. They chose short, indie works like narcissu, Planetarian or OMGWTFBBQ, melodramatic stories of finding that last emotional connection in the moments before your early and miserable death. And then they pretty much stopped doing it (at least for free), because, hell, translating this stuff is a pain, and that was the end of that.

Analogue feels much like the promise of those earlier works. Written in English by a native speaker and skilled writer, with a great sense for how to use the interactive features of the format to really draw you in, in a way that "an ordinary book" can't. It's smart, somber, and complicated; it's a well-told story, and not just "for video games." And really, I just have a thing for simulated terminal interfaces.

Its like a choose your own adventure game mixed with a visual novel and I loved it. I usually treat VNs like the plague but this game right here is something special. I really felt like I was Sherlock Holmes mixed with Indiana Jones on a mission through time discovering the myster of the space station you found. It was very engaging having to dig through all the files piecing together the lives and politics of the people who had once lived there. The twists and turns and trips and burns are all very interesting and kept me going along wondering what I would discover next. This game is pretty amazing and if you dont mind lots of reading and anime chicks then I definitely recommend this game.

This is a really really nice vn (visual novel). The story is great and you kinda get attached to the characters of which there's two you kinda have access to. Story-wise, I ain't gonna be saying anything much that you don't already know going in the game. Basically, you play the part of an 'investigator' who have radio contact with a ship which was basically lost for thousands of years and suddenly reappeared. There is a lot of reading which makes sense considering this is a vn. You get to learn of the what, how and why things happened as they did.

There's different endings - five to be exact, each giving you an achievement which is kinda nice. Not like you really need much excuse to play and get all the endings. Truth to be told, the first time you get one ending, the story you get feels abridged. There's plenty of loose ends but another play-through with different choices nets you more unveiling of the story. There is a sequel out - Hate Plus, which I hear lets you continue your story from the different endings you have (though you can always start from scratch). I will be giving it a go soon hopefully love it enough to recommend!

Analogue: A Hate Story isn't the kinda thing you'd normally expect to pop up on Steam. It's a visual novel, which means there's loads of reading, some pretty graphics and sounds, and very little in the way of what some may think of as actual "gameplay." Don't let that detract you if you like a good narrative that slowly unravels itself from the middle as you access various log files and interact with two very distinct AI personalities to uncover their pasts as well as the truths behind their society's downfall.

Saying much more would ruin the experience, so just take my word for it (because I'm awesome, so why wouldn't you?) that Analogue is definitely unique and immersive enough to merit more than a passing glance.