SIMULACRA 3 12+

This game was incredible. The voice acting was superb, sound effects were of high quality and realistic, the video effects were engrossing, the dialogue between characters was enriching and last but not least, I felt like I was there. I felt like the character I played was me and I really had someone else’s phone in my hands! I felt like this whole situation would only be resolved by my choices. That’s another amazing aspect! Your choices matter. Ever decision you make has an effect on the experience. So choose wisely. I learned that the hard way. The only thing that was a disappointment was watching the credits roll and my tears could not be held back any longer. I’ll miss all the characters for a long time. Cheers to you Paul, Ruby and the game developers! Cheers to you.

While the intimate and voyeuristic "Simulacra" experience is mostly preserved, this game really highlights how much better Simulacra 2 was. Instead of focusing on a specific character and their immediate circle as in the previous game, this game tries to encompass the entire scope of a the enigma plaguing a whole town. While ambitious, the end result is weaker because the sense of immediacy and the dynamism of character personalities as seen in the second game is just not there. Compared to the memorable Murillo and Maya and friends, the protagonists of this game are...just there. And there are no other speaking cut scenes with any other live actors besides Ruby and the bland Paul, which makes the whole experience seem cheaper.

Pair those shortcomings with an arguably worse phone interface with clunkier design and less interactivity than last time, and you get this overall underwhelming third installment. Perhaps the most disappointing thing about this game is that the humor and pettiness seen in characters that made the last game so much fun is virtually nonexistent this time around.

In short, this game, even with its economical runtime, ends up feeling less immersive and downright boring at times (those extended Ruby videocall sequences are a drag). Hopefully these things can be remedied if there is a fourth game.

I absolutely love every Simulacra game so far, sitting down with a notebook & pens and just going to town on these games is something i’ve very much enjoyed doing across all three games.
This one has to take the cake on the most interesting, innovative and just kinda downright cool these puzzles were. the mural puzzle??? oh my god, genuinely loved them.
only thing i struggled on was the last part of the game, with the “past to the truth” part. the solution still makes no sense to me, but then again it’s hard to find any decent walkthrough pages or videos on this game.

I’m very excited to see what else comes out in the Simulacra series! one of my favorite horror series 🩵