I’m not a fan of visual novels. Not because I despise them, of course, as this sentiment stems from a lack of seniority in the genre. I am a veteran, though, in deeply emotional stories, so Schrödinger's Call was definitely up my alley.
What I came across exceeded my expectations. Who would have thought that a graphic novel could make you feel like battling one of the hardest bosses in far more interactive games? And all of that thanks to the gut-wrenching topics Schrödinger's Call touches upon during its duration.
Story and Gameplay
Schrödinger's Call takes place during the last 21 nanoseconds of humanity during a world-ending event. Stuck in a superposition between life and death, you play as Mary, the “world’s last confidant,” whose only purpose is to save the souls of those troubled by the weight of their lives and their often-faulty decisions, all through a last-minute phone call.
A visual novel, the game is as story-driven as it gets, meaning that the gameplay’s extent is exclusive to a few clicks. Those, however, are very impactful, and as the game spoon-feeds you more and more revelations, you’ll soon encounter tense and emotionally complex moments that can very well keep you on the edge of your seat.
That said, this is a particularly linear game, in the sense that your choices, which you might expect to have ramifications, are not really that important. Mary will take notes based on what each of the callers tells you, and when prompted, you will have to remember each of these details (thankfully, your notebook is available at all times) to dive deep into their stories and to interact with other individuals who played a part in them.
Should you pick the wrong bit of information, however, you’ll just be instructed to keep trying.
Graphics and Sound
Schrödinger's Call is a very surreal experience thanks to its art style and graphics. While very grounded at times, once the emotional stakes begin to rise, the visuals will melt into a cacophony of colors and kaleidoscopic designs. With that said, the game is limited to a 1080p resolution, apparently due to budget constraints. The art style might not justify a crisp 4K experience, but some cutscenes and clips do seem very compressed.
Sound-wise, though, the game is flawless. The music goes from cozy to haunting to emotional in the blink of an eye, and I really think it complements the tragedies of each of the callers perfectly.
Feedback
My two main points of contention are illustrated above. Meaningful branching narrative would have made the difference to me, but I understand why that would be a nightmare to include, especially for an indie developer who needed to limit the game to a lower resolution.
Still, I felt some of the chapters had a bit of bloat, in the sense that the same topics and dialogues are repeated over and over again. However, the emotional impact was never diminished too dramatically by this.
Verdict
Overall, Schrödinger's Call is a very moving experience. As I said above, I’m not a visual novel player, but this one had me hooked from the very start. And while the “Schrödinger” bit of its title is limited only to the setting rather than how impactful your choices may be, you will find its linearity well-crafted. Also, there’s a cat, so the game definitely won me over from the get-go.
