Kathy Rain

[JSH]

[embed=960,540]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oxhUgUhq3g[/embed]

Official Website

Buy on Steam
Buy on GOG
Buy on Humble Bundle
Buy on Green Man Gaming

Buy on iOS
Buy on Android

The game is available on either Windows or Mac and has full subtitles in German and French! If you are unsure about a purchase, try the free demo on GOG or Steam!

Soundtrack:

iTunes
Google Play
Amazon
Spotify
Bandcamp
Groove Music

Synopsis:

Set in the 90's, Kathy Rain tells the story of a strong-willed journalism major who has to come to terms with her own troubled past as she investigates the mysterious death of her recently deceased grandfather. Armed with her motorcycle, a pack of cigs, and a notepad, Kathy begins to delve into a local mystery surrounding her hometown that will take her on a harrowing journey full of emotional and personal turmoil.

As she follows a trail of clues he left behind, questions emerge... What was Joseph Rain really looking for that night all those years ago? What turned him into a mere shell of a man, confined to a wheelchair? What secret did a suicidal young artist take with her to the grave, and why are so many people in Conwell Springs going mad? The truth is dark and sinister...

Features:

320x240 (4:3) resolution with crisp pixel art graphics
4,000+ lines of dialogue
Full English voice acting directed by Wadjet Eye Games' Dave Gilbert
Original soundtrack
40+ hand-drawn environments
Compelling narrative with eerie plot set in the 90's

Notes:

Kathy Rain is being developed by Clifftop Games, a small indie studio located in Stockholm, Sweden. Published by Raw Fury Games!

Team:

Joel "JSH" Staaf Hästö - Writing, puzzles, game design, coding and project management
Shane "ProgZmax" Stevens - Art direction, character art and animation
Nauris Krauze - Background art
Tove Bergqvist - Portrait art
Daniel Kobylarz - Music
Dave Gilbert - VO Direction

[Stupot]

Congratulations on the release of this great-looking game. This will be my payday treat

[Cassiebsg]

Congratulations on the release!

[CaptainD]

Grats on the release, looks great!

[selmiak]

YAY! Congrats on the release!
This game is just awesome!

[AnasAbdin]

Congrats on the release
what a wonderful time to be alive

[Fitz]

Almost pulled an all-nighter there last night! Once I started playing, I couldn't stop & stayed up till past 4 am, went to sleep, woke up 6 hours later and finished it It was fun and exciting all the way. Obviously, the best thing about the game is Kathy herself, with her big hair, crazy make-up, and snarky humor hiding a deeper, multi-faceted character. Her adventure made me thing of Twin Peaks a lot -- with cryptic messages and guests from a different, ominous realm. I loved that a pinch of Scooby-Doo, too, in the form of the geeky, overzealous sidekick The story also reminded me of "The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair" -- a novel I read a while ago. Quite a few familiar motifs:

Spoiler

1. Death of a girl following her descent into madness.
2. A priest that's not the nice guy everyone believes him to be.
3. An old, rich man with a somewhat suspicious interest in paintings and said girl (that is later proved not to be as sinister in nature as you'd initially suspect).

[close]

Overall, a great game that I thoroughly enjoyed: there's suspense, there's drama, a few shockers, too -- and some comic relief every now and then.

Also: what Eileen said at the end... Does thst mean what I think it does?

[JSH]

Thanks everyone! It's been a long four years, thanks for sticking with me and Kathy Rain Sometimes I had my doubts this day would ever come.

Also: what Eileen said at the end... Does thst mean what I think it does?

Probably means what you think, yeah, but try to see it as more as a wish and intent on our part rather than a promise It highly depends on whether or not the world embraces Kathy Rain!

[Fitz]

Figured as much. So... fingers crossed for that to happen!

[Mandle]

AWESOME! I'll be picking up my copy and watching for my name in the credits after replaying this spectacular game!

[Blackthorne]

Big congrats on your release! I saw Kathy Rain when we were at PAX East too; just super excited for you all.  Great work!


Bt

[Blue Bee]

Just completed.

I cannot recommend this game enough. by far one of the greatest adventure games of the century.

Characters, story line, puzzles everything was perfect.

do yourselves a favor and go buy this now.

Well done guys and thank you for this absolute gem.

[JSH]

Thanks for the compliments, everyone

As you may have noticed, Kathy Rain has not done too well in terms of sales, so a sequel is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future. Clifftop Games has got something new cooking though, which will hopefully fare better. Stay tuned

[Fitz]

Awww, that's just so sad With Shardlight, Until I Have You and Kathy -- three awesome commercial games -- I thought 2016 would be the a breakout year for AGS. Makes me even less confident about making sequels for my little games...
In any case, I'd love to see more of Kathy someday, in whatever form. A comic? A detective novel, maybe? Or at least her twitter!

[Mandle]

Kathy Rain has not done too well in terms of sales,

In the age we live in you never know though, of course. A single spark, like the game being promoted by a famous website/blogger/youtuber/etc, could send sales rocketing up.

I think the game is solid enough to not rule this out as a possibility...

Best of luck in either case!

[Fitz]

That's a great point. It's not like the game disappeared from the shelves, it's still there on Steam and GOG, and anything can happen. It may seem like it's been ages -- heck, the game itself felt like quite a journey -- but it's been just over two weeks since the premiere. So maybe people are still just busy playing, writing reviews or recording letsplays.

[Blondbraid]

In the age we live in you never know though, of course. A single spark, like the game being promoted by a famous website/blogger/youtuber/etc, could send sales rocketing up.

Quick, someone send a copy to Pewdiepie!
But yeah, I agree with Fitz, many games and movies have started with modest sales that grew slowly but steadily. Especially with Steam games many wait until the game is on sale.
I myself have a long list of games that I wanted to buy, but have postponed it until I have more time on my hands.
Many things can still happen, I wish you luck!

[JSH]

In the age we live in you never know though, of course. A single spark, like the game being promoted by a famous website/blogger/youtuber/etc, could send sales rocketing up.

Quick, someone send a copy to Pewdiepie!
But yeah, I agree with Fitz, many games and movies have started with modest sales that grew slowly but steadily. Especially with Steam games many wait until the game is on sale.
I myself have a long list of games that I wanted to buy, but have postponed it until I have more time on my hands.
Many things can still happen, I wish you luck!

That's a great point. It's not like the game disappeared from the shelves, it's still there on Steam and GOG, and anything can happen. It may seem like it's been ages -- heck, the game itself felt like quite a journey -- but it's been just over two weeks since the premiere. So maybe people are still just busy playing, writing reviews or recording letsplays.

Heh, Pewdiepie did walk past the booth at PAX PRIME last year, but didn't end up checking it out I could've tied him to one of the chairs, but I doubt it would've had the desired outcome But yeah, sure, we could get lucky and a big youtuber could pick up the game. It's not a very common occurence though, adventure games are not popular on youtube to begin with, and if a youtuber would pick a game like that to play, they have a lot of options.

The two first two weeks after launch tend to be the most crucial though, and very rarely does the trend change after that timeframe. The only major exception are weird games which go randomly viral in one way or another. Undertale for instance, I think did quite bad after launch, then totally exploded after a couple of weeks.

Anyway, when the next project is done and launched, we'll re-evaluate KR, it's possible that the fanbase and awareness of Clifftop Games will have grown organically to a point where a sequel is feasible to do

And yeah, Fitz - Doing something with Kathy Rain in a non gaming medium sounds cool too, if making another full came does not become an option! I'd love to make a comic, if I could find an artist to partner up with. A novel might work too, although it would play right into the hands of all the people who say I rip off Jane Jensen

[Mandle]

It's not a very common occurence though, adventure games are not popular on youtube to begin with,

There are these guys: They only do adventure games and they livestream every week, and then upload to youtube.

They did Gemini Rue in the past, so they are familiar with AGS and sometimes do indie games:

Mostly Walking

[shaun9991]

Finished Kathy Rain a couple of days back. Easily one the best adventure games I've played, period! Up there with Gemini Rue as my favourite games born in AGS

I wouldn't be downhearted about the sales at all. A lot of people will be holding out for discounts, wading through other games first etc. I think the good thing about adventure games in terms of commercial stuff is they have have a very long shelf life, sales will tick over for years to come!

[faerieevenstar]

Try Pushing Up Roses or Lazy Game Reviews. They are Youtubers I watch regularly. and I *think* they're fairly popular (not pewdiepie level, obviously, but yeah) They both love classic adventures too.

https://www.youtube.com/user/pushinguproses?&ab_channel=PushingUpRoses

https://www.youtube.com/user/phreakindee?&ab_channel=LazyGameReviews

[Blackthorne]

I know sales are sluggish out the gate, but adventure games have a pretty long tail.  Hang in there.


Bt

[Fitz]

Try Pushing Up Roses

She actually did a "first impressions" video already -- and seemed to love it so far So indeed, people are still only finding out about the game -- and the viewers seem to love it, too.

[JSH]

There are these guys: They only do adventure games and they livestream every week, and then upload to youtube.

They did Gemini Rue in the past, so they are familiar with AGS and sometimes do indie games:

Mostly Walking

Thanks for the recommendation, we've reached out to them now!

Finished Kathy Rain a couple of days back. Easily one the best adventure games I've played, period! Up there with Gemini Rue as my favourite games born in AGS

Wow, thanks for that compliment

I wouldn't be downhearted about the sales at all. A lot of people will be holding out for discounts, wading through other games first etc. I think the good thing about adventure games in terms of commercial stuff is they have have a very long shelf life, sales will tick over for years to come!

I know sales are sluggish out the gate, but adventure games have a pretty long tail.  Hang in there.

Yeah, it's true that these games do have a long tail, and the additional platforms should help too. The problem was that we totally overestimated the target audience, and adapted the budget for that. We spent way too much money on three major gaming conventions, professional translations and quality voice overs. God's Algorithm will be done quite differently.

Try Pushing Up Roses or Lazy Game Reviews. They are Youtubers I watch regularly. and I *think* they're fairly popular (not pewdiepie level, obviously, but yeah) They both love classic adventures too.

https://www.youtube.com/user/pushinguproses?&ab_channel=PushingUpRoses
https://www.youtube.com/user/phreakindee?&ab_channel=LazyGameReviews

She actually did a "first impressions" video already -- and seemed to love it so far So indeed, people are still only finding out about the game -- and the viewers seem to love it, too.

Yeah, I met PUR myself at PAX PRIME last year, and she liked the KR demo we exhibited so we knew she'd upload a video Sadly, the release coincided with her surgery, so her video was a bit delayed, but it was a nice one!

Also, Adventure Gamers finally put up their review, they loved the game! http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/30532

[Mandle]

The problem was that we totally overestimated the target audience, and adapted the budget for that. We spent way too much money on professional translations and quality voice overs.

I cut out the "gaming conventions" part (as I have no experience with that) but what I do know believe a bit about is investments that seemed to not pay off in the short run, but gained gradual value over time...

The money you invested in the translations and voice acting is not going to have an immediate effect on sales in the short run, but it WILL have an incremental effect over time in making the game a potential classic of its genre...

And isn't that why we do this at the end of the day?

Yeah...money, income, laws, distrubution, bullshit, taxes, bullshit, bullshit...Without all that you cannot publish...

But wasn't the reason we all sat down to make a game because of some driven belief in the genre of games to give the player something born from our mind and yet a unique experience for every individual that plays it?

Otherwise, just paint a picture or film a movie, or do anything else that remains static once the artist steps away from it...

This is why I look at Triple-A games and feel more and more of a disconnect between publisher and player...

I'm planning a thread on this topic, so I won't get into it in depth here...

Anyways: a bit of a ramble that I didn't plan on doing, but:

I personally love you guys for producing Kathy Rain to completion and consider your game a classic of the adventure game genre...

But classics take time to become known as such...

[JSH]

Mandle - The discussion is going off topic, I'd be happy to elaborate in that planned thread you are talking about

[Snarky]

I've fallen way behind in my adventure game playing, and don't anticipate having time to catch up any time soon, but hearing that a well-received and promising-looking AGS game isn't selling, I felt I should buy it now rather than wait until whenever I get around to it. Purchased!

(I wonder if it wouldn't have done better if published through Wadjet Eye, with their established audience and PR connections. Though of course it's good to have some game makers go it alone or choose other outlets, so it doesn't become a monopoly for commercial AGS games.)

[Stee]

Hi Guys,

Found a little bugsy

Spoiler

When getting attacked by papa zombie, I pressed escape in my panic (to pause the game whilst I worked out what to do - which it didn't do of course) to find that he fell through the floor. Because the menu screen was still up, when the amended postcard arrived, it did not offer me a return button, and thus Kathy lived an eternity, brokenhearted, staring at a postcard of her long lost father. The End.

[close]

I nearly cried when I realised that I hadnt saved in hours. Thankfully autosave wasn't too far.

Also, I would like to say that I indeed purchased the game and played it (over other adventure games in my backlog), and whilst it wasn't what I expected, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm surprised to hear it is not doing so well. I'll be honest though, I only found out you had completed the game by luck, as I don't come on here very often anymore. If I had visited a few days earlier, I might not have picked up this game for a few months.

I don't know much about what point and click adventures make, what you have made, and what you expected to have made (although I am curious to know if you are willing to share, via reply or pm), but in my instance it's a PR issue - I just wasn't aware the game was releasing / was close to releasing and since I last saw the GiP thread about a year ago (I know they get updated, but I don't religiously read them) the game was at the back of my mind.

My I also suggest that mobile markets might get a bit of interest in this, if you can optimise it correctly and get some pr behind it.

[Andail]

Seems I haven't written a congratulatory post here yet, so... Congrats!

About the money part:
There hasn't been a lack of exposure or PR for Kathy Rain (compare the amount of top-tier reviews with recent WEG titles, for instance), the economic situation is mostly due to the production being relatively expensive, and a bit drawn-out.

I'm optimistic about KR's longevity though, as it's a very carefully crafted quality product.

[JSH]

I've fallen way behind in my adventure game playing, and don't anticipate having time to catch up any time soon, but hearing that a well-received and promising-looking AGS game isn't selling, I felt I should buy it now rather than wait until whenever I get around to it. Purchased!

Thanks for the support, Snarky

(I wonder if it wouldn't have done better if published through Wadjet Eye, with their established audience and PR connections. Though of course it's good to have some game makers go it alone or choose other outlets, so it doesn't become a monopoly for commercial AGS games.)

It's possible, but Raw Fury has done a lot of other amazing things for Kathy Rain and Clifftop Games, such as: http://rawfury.com/the-measure-of-success/. Having the fortune of being able to sign with them was an incredible stroke of luck that I'm extremely grateful for. Also, since Wadjet Eye Games is such a well known brand, both as a publisher and a developer of point and click games, having Kathy Rain be part of their catalogue could've compromised the awareness of my own brand, Clifftop Games, and potentially hurt the studio long term, especially since Kathy Rain is the debut title.

Found a little bugsy...

Thanks for the report, will take care of this if we patch again!

I don't know much about what point and click adventures make, what you have made, and what you expected to have made (although I am curious to know if you are willing to share, via reply or pm), but in my instance it's a PR issue - I just wasn't aware the game was releasing / was close to releasing and since I last saw the GiP thread about a year ago (I know they get updated, but I don't religiously read them) the game was at the back of my mind.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to give out this information due to contractual obligations with my publisher, but you can always check out steam spy for some rough estimates on the sales part. And concerning the PR bit, yeah, that's something we hear from players on a daily basis. Despite being blessed with some high end press coverage, it seems that many potential players out there are oblivious to the game. Since the Raw Fury PR people are veterans on the scene, my theory is that traditional games PR might simply not be as applicable to indie point and clicks as your average game.

My I also suggest that mobile markets might get a bit of interest in this, if you can optimise it correctly and get some pr behind it.

Working on it!

Seems I haven't written a congratulatory post here yet, so... Congrats!

About the money part:
There hasn't been a lack of exposure or PR for Kathy Rain (compare the amount of top-tier reviews with recent WEG titles, for instance), the economic situation is mostly due to the production being relatively expensive, and a bit drawn-out.

I'm optimistic about KR's longevity though, as it's a very carefully crafted quality product.

Thanks, man And yup, pretty much hit the nail on the head. The sales aren't horribad compared to similar games, but we overestimated the playerbase and blew the budget out of proportion, so we needed a bunch of sales to recoup that.

[DBoyWheeler]

DAYUM!  I might have to put this game on my Steam Wishlist!

[Mandle]

DAYUM!  I might have to put this game on my Steam Wishlist!

Get it or regret it...

[AndyfromVA]

I just purchased this awesome-looking game.  I'll report back once I get into it.
I really like games with retro graphics (as long as they look good as this does) as I don't exactly have a "gaming" PC and the more mainstream 3D games don't run well.  Also I like supporting new gaming talent and Clifftop looks like an up and comer.

[KyriakosCH]

Very nice!!!

Reminded me of Gabriel Knight 1!

[AndyfromVA]

I finished Kathy Rain and I liked it a lot.  Interesting, fast moving story, good voice work, nice retro graphics, good combination of easy and tough puzzles (good thing there's a walkthrough).  I loved the psychological elements (like Sanitarium, one of my all-time favorites).  My only quibble is this:

Spoiler

I was confused by the ending - was the crimson man good or evil?

[close]

But overall I enjoyed Kathy Rain very much and I hope there's a sequel.

[linus]

I immediately got Kathy Rain when it came out, it took me some time to finally play and finish it, though.

Well, I'm glad to say I really love this game, mostly for its characters (Kathy, Eileen and Goober were really fun, really brought to life by the amazing voice actors and expressive portraits), its atmosphere (moody backgrounds and music) and mid-90s setting. The story kept me interested too, although the ending feeled a bit rushed and unsatisfactory.

Spoiler

While there was some intruiging development for the character of Kathy Rain, not much of the actual mystery is uncovered, which is a bit of a letdown after the captivating premise. I easily accept that Kathy let go of her father and shrugged off the feelings of guilt towards her mother and unborn son, those are very strong resolutions. But we still don't know what happened to Grandpa (couldn't she at least ask him?). Also, why was he waiting all the time in the nightmare world? What were the rules he said he broke? Why was he even able to? Why could Eileen escape the nightmare world? Was she even there, too (at least the phone book suggested that)? If so, why didn't Kathy meet her there? What parts did Charles Wade and Cocky have in all this? When Isaac was opposing the Crimson One, why did he seem to be following similar goals? Why is Ethan so fond of the Crimson One?

[close]

The puzzles were a bit on the easy side, but that's not a bad thing necessarily. I really liked the notepad system for the dialogues and there were some very ingenious puzzle ideas (e.g. computer puzzles on day 2).

The game reminds me of Twin Peaks (the early 90s TV series by David Lynch) in many respects. This is probably the most Lynchian adventure game to date, with some neat little nods to Gabriel Knight and Full Throttle as well.

Hope we will see more of Kathy Rain in the future. I'd buy a sequel any day.

[JSH]

linus & Andy - Glad you liked the game!

I also wanted to mention to you all that Kathy Rain has been released on iOS and Android! The game is a premium app, available for $4.99 or your regional equivalent:

iOS: http://apple.co/2geSoHA
Android: http://bit.ly/2gw58Nb

Enjoy!

[Two Tales]

I rarely find time to play full length adventures on PC at home because that time is usually spent developing my own games. Now that it is on Android I can play it when I'm away or 'on the go', so I will definately be downloading. Good news!

[The Last To Know]

I finished the game on android the other day and I really enjoyed it. Great graphics, good controls, overall very atmospheric. I liked the story too. I think it is not necessary to answer all questions that have been raised. Hope it sells good enough to see a sequel in the future.

[JSH]

I finished the game on android the other day and I really enjoyed it. Great graphics, good controls, overall very atmospheric. I liked the story too. I think it is not necessary to answer all questions that have been raised. Hope it sells good enough to see a sequel in the future.

Thanks, glad you liked it!

On another note, we have released the soundtrack now!

iTunes
Google Play
Amazon
Spotify
Bandcamp
Groove Music

Enjoy!

[JSH]

Hey guys, as you probably know, Kathy Rain was nominated in eleven(!) categories in the AGS Awards!

The voting is now open, so if you enjoyed the game, I'd be very grateful for your support!

[KyriakosCH]

A very stylish game, with interesting story and a lot of characters. Very professional-looking

[Galen]

For those of you with Twitch Prime (free if you have Amazon Prime already), Kathy Rain is now one of the month's freebies until the 13th.

Congrats on getting in there, devs.

[luisdementia]

Hey guys, as you probably know, Kathy Rain was nominated in eleven(!) categories in the AGS Awards!

The voting is now open, so if you enjoyed the game, I'd be very grateful for your support!

I am very glad that Kathy Rain made it into the nominees! Such a nice adventure game. Looking forward to seeing more of this author.

[JSH]

A very stylish game, with interesting story and a lot of characters. Very professional-looking

I am very glad that Kathy Rain made it into the nominees! Such a nice adventure game. Looking forward to seeing more of this author.

Thanks guys, glad you like it

For those of you with Twitch Prime (free if you have Amazon Prime already), Kathy Rain is now one of the month's freebies until the 13th.

Congrats on getting in there, devs.

Thanks! All the credit goes out to Raw Fury games for scoring this deal

Btw, speaking of awards, don't forget to vote for Kathy Rain in the 2016 Aggie Awards, too!
http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/32151

[Snarky]

Congratulations on Best Game and all the other AGS Awards, as well as on all the Adventure Gamers Aggies and Readers' Choice wins!

I finally got around to playing Kathy Rain yesterday (it's the first time in years that I don't have any huge deadlines hanging over my head, so I hope to catch up on some AGS games over the next few weeks), and I thought I would offer some feedback, hoping that it can prove helpful. I should say up front that I'm going to be fairly critical, because while there was a lot I liked about the game, I also have significant reservations. If the game wasn't so critically acclaimed and award-winning I might go easier on it, but in the midst of all the praise I hope the complaints of one player won't be too tough to stomach.

Positives
Still, to put it in perspective, let me start off with some of the things I really liked about the game. The main strength IMO was the dialogue writing, which is snappy and feels natural. In particular, the repartee between Kathy and Eileen was a high point for me, and I really liked their dynamic as friends and partners in investigation. The voice acting also contributed to this, as the actors for the two main parts were (fortunately!) particularly good.

One of the things that makes Eileen a good character is the way she builds on but transcends stereotype, and there were a number of moments like that in the game, where the world comes alive a little bit more by going against expectations. Nice!

In terms of gameplay, there were a few quite clever puzzles. I particularly liked the hacking sequence, as well as the image and audio analysis mini-games. That these were just one-offs felt like a bit of a missed opportunity (while on the other hand the fact that everyone recorded voice notes onto mini-cassette tapes feels a bit too convenient). I think a bit more puzzle brainstorming around these tools could have led to several more creative puzzles; for example, what if you found a tape that seemingly contains static, but if you load it into the computer and rename the file from .wav to .bmp, it turns out to actually be a picture file which you then have to enhance and analyze? Still, a nice bit of variety.

Finally, overall I think it's a very solid, professional product. I encountered no bugs or serious glitches (the only thing I noticed was a walkbehind issue with Kathy's bike, where she phases through it as she gets off, and with the "fourth wall exit" in some rooms, where she's hidden behind the "cutaway" blackness), no typos or misspellings, no names that were incorrectly or inconsistently pronounced (though I was a little puzzled by the mix of accents, a very common phenomenon in games VO)... Everything seems to work as designed. Little touches like the sprite font (with gradient shading), dynamic weather, parallax scrolling in the motorcycle screen, etc. adds to the sense of polish.

OK, so those stand out as positives in my mind. Now let's move on to the negatives. (Actually, let's put it behind a spoiler tag so people who aren't interested can just skip it.)

Spoiler

Gameplay and Puzzles
First of all: Yup, I still hate the verb coin UI! I won't rehash all the problems I have with it, just note that I see no reason whatsoever why this game couldn't have used a two-button UI. "Look" and "Think about" don't need to be separate actions (if needed, you can just trigger one on the second/repeated clicks), and apart from that were there any things at all in the game that used more than one action? The inventory was also particularly clunky because of this: I can't tell you how many times I clicked on an item to try to combine it with something else, forgetting that I had to then choose "Use" from the verb coin. On top of that, having to open/close the satchel (even during conversations) to bring up/hide the inventory was unnecessarily fiddly (why not just have it pop up when you move the mouse down to the edge of the screen?), and having the inventory scroll-right button on the left makes no sense. Also annoying: that missing a click or trying an unsupported action would de-select an inventory item. All in all, I felt like the UI got in my way a lot, adding a significant frustration and probably a noticeable length of time to my playthrough. Something like this might be necessary for touch screens, but for desktop please give me a sensible, well-optimized UI.

On the other hand, the way the game would close off dialog options after you had asked about them once often made me worry that I might have missed or forgotten something. Strangely, this wasn't consistent, allowing me to repeat some topics over and over for no discernible reason. However, since I didn't apparently miss anything essential, I think this made the game both quicker and easier, in a way that I'm not sure was for the better. It did ensure that conversations were never inconsistent with the progress of your investigation (e.g. asking who someone is after you've already met them), but on balance, I would rather want to be able to rehear the conversations, or some summary/paraphrase of them.

Overall the puzzles were very easy, and not anything very exciting: they felt like puzzles I've solved before in other games (or sometimes in this game, as a couple of puzzles were repeated verbatim, e.g. distracting the cop). In fact, several puzzles are obviously lifted from other games (the image analysis from Blade Runner, the tape manipulation from Gabriel Knight 2, the interrogation of the psychic from one of the Discworld games, etc.). I got the sense that they were there more out of obligation than genuine enthusiasm. To some extent it's fine to focus more on the story, but with the "A Detective Is Born" subtitle I think players are entitled to expect a bit more in terms of detecting. One thing I did like was that the game seemed to be a bit lenient in the exact actions it would accept as solving the puzzle, as long as they clearly indicated that players had grasped the general idea. At least that was the impression I got, since there were a couple of occasions where I expected to have to be a bit more specific in my actions before I could proceed.

Writing
I'll double-spoiler this section to discuss the plot freely:

Spoiler

That sense of "seen it before" extends to the story, which I'm afraid struck me as quite derivative. Obviously of Gabriel Knight and Twin Peaks, but also the Blackwell series and other Wadjet Eye titles (e.g. some bits of Resonance). Some of the character details and story beats (aspiring journalist, mother in an asylum, story is kicked off by the death of a relative, visiting a bizarre, hallucinatory other plane of existence...) almost made it feel like a Blackwell-knockoff.

I also don't think Kathy Rain herself is a very strong character. The snarky attitude to hide vulnerability has been done a lot at this point, and I don't get a clear sense of her personality beyond "a mix of April Ryan and Rosa Blackwell" or about a hundred other female adventure game protagonists, not to mention heroines like Veronica Mars. While there is some specificity to some elements of her character (e.g. her being a biker), it doesn't really go anywhere, and feels fairly arbitrary and superficial. I'm not sure to what extent this is intentional, since it seems clear that much of her attitude is a pose, but if so I think there should be a stronger contrast as that mask is lifted. In Full Throttle, I know why Ben is a biker: it's a fundamental part of his character and of the story. Here, I don't know that it would have made any real difference at all to her characterization if she wasn't a biker, wasn't a smoker, didn't have purple hair and a piercing...

It also doesn't seem to inform how other characters relate to her, apart from the priest and maybe Mrs. Myers out by the lake. Everyone seems to judge her more as “the little Rain girl” than based on her style (the only one who seems prejudiced against her at first only talks with her over the phone, so that's unrelated), which raises the question: if her being a punk biker chick doesn't make a difference to the story or her character, why make her a punk biker chick? (Along similar lines, the 90s setting also seems fairly arbitrary. One suspects that the only real reason for it is to exclude cell phones and Internet searches.)

Her background also gives me a bit of trouble: She was raised by a mentally ill, likely substance-dependent, small-time-criminal single mother who's now institutionalized, without contact with the rest of her family, and she's currently a journalism student. How did she end up there? Was she exceptionally driven to become a journalist? (Apparently not. She just parties and then skips class for a whole week.) How can she afford it? Does she have a job? (Clearly not.) It doesn't seem to add up. Why is she studying to be a journalist? What does she want to do? Does it motivate her investigation in any way? I don't feel I can answer those questions, and that's a problem IMO.

Her unclear motivation also leads to a lack of stakes for the story. There's quite a lot of digging she has to do before it's even apparent that there's anything interesting going on at all. Then for a while it seems like there's going to be some big dark secret: You have hints of links to the military, a powerful rich man with possible skeletons in the closet, a family history that may be darker than imagined, a girl whose suicide might not have been a suicide… but: The military link comes to nothing, the rich guy turns out to be on the up-and-up, there isn't much more to the family history than what we knew, and the girl really did commit suicide (though she tricked her mentally challenged brother into helping her, which… not cool, Lily!). What are we left with? A crazy preacher who I guess has been drugging random people (none of whom are individually identified or appear in the story apart from Eileen) â€" which is SOOO rote â€" and a bunch of freaky ghosts (or whatever) goofing around being all cryptic and shit. It doesn't feel very consequential.

Much as I wasn't quite sold on the The Samaritan Paradox [SPOILER!] twist; at least it adhered to the convention of the modern “socially aware” mystery that the investigation should shine a light on the dark underbelly of society: peek behind the facade. I also think it's part of what makes the weirdness of Twin Peaks work: the Black Lodge is a reflection of the evil and madness that is found under the surface o “normal” small-town America. Here it's basically picket fences all the way down, and without that thematic link, the machinations of supernatural forces don't have much weight, particularly when they're so obscure that you can't tell which side you should be rooting for.

I'm frankly wondering whether the “almost everything is more or less what it seems”-nature of the story is because it was cut down from a longer draft where we learned more about Joseph Rain's dark side, Charles Wade's shady links to the Lily Myers drowning, and so on. There are a lot of loose ends and things that seem underdeveloped, such as Joseph Rain's interest in mathematics, the relationship between Joseph, Charles and Cocky, what the hell was going on with Lily, and the whole "glowing orbs"/Crimson One thing in general. I'm particularly curious about Charles Wade, because he's the focus of so much of the early part of the investigation and backstory, but then you just talk to him once, and he disappears completely out of the case. As it stands, he's something of a dead end or red herring, story-wise, and I can't help but wonder if the story wouldn't have been better served by focusing more on the Rain family instead, since that has a direct impact on Kathy but is only dealt with very obliquely.

I wanted more about that; about Kathy's childhood, about why she never went back to Conwell Springs; about her grandmother's reaction â€" her uncomplicated “nice to have you back” without any reservations or conflict whatsoever is a bit pat, and after their reunion you don't really get any sense at all that they've been estranged for 15 years. (In general, the grandmother's character doesn't seem to go deeper than “nice grandma who only gets up from the couch once in the entire game”. She'd be much more interesting if there was anything more to her than that, like how Eileen isn't just "chipper Christian goody-goody". E.g. if she still spoke to Kathy like a little girl, or if she was grieving more openly, or if she was addicted to soap operas, or if she was carrying on an affair with a neighbor â€" or hey, maybe with Charles Wade â€" that would explain why he is still in town, which is otherwise awfully contrived... Anything!) Since the family stuff is what ends up being the climax of the game, I think you need to lay more of the foundation earlier.

Finally, I don't think Conwell Springs provides a good sense of place. Even just in physical terms, I don't have a good sense of what it looks like. We only see a few exteriors (some silhouettes on the horizon in the graveyard, an empty field while riding the bike, a dingy street outside the clinic, and the lake house), which all seem rather different. The presence of an air force base and a very wealthy family (living… somewhere around there) are referenced, but don't seem to have any impact on what we see. The church doesn't seem like it really fits. It doesn't all come together as a real place. A few more exteriors, a map screen, or let's say a cutscene showing Kathy riding into town, would do wonders to tie the whole thing together.

On the sociological side, I feel like the mix of so many things (snooty rich folks, biker gang, weird church, middle-class stability, air force, magic trips in the forest) makes it hard to get a bead on what kind of town this is. Like I said, the general lack of reaction to Kathy's style is surprising, and not really in line of what you might expect from a small town. A couple of touches (e.g. the cop who knew Kathy as a child) do try to make the town seem like a community, but for example, if Joseph Rain was such a beloved figure in town, why isn't there any kind of wake for him, or people coming by to pay their respects to his widow? IMO the best indie adventures are informed by a strong sense of place (the Blackwell games are very much set in New York, The Samaritan Paradox makes good use of Gothenburg, etc.), but here it all seems a bit thrown together.

[close]

Graphics
You've put together a talented team of artists, but I'm not convinced Kathy Rain represents their finest work. The bit I think works best is the character portraits, which are very appealing. But when it comes to the character sprites, it often seemed like they didn't match the portraits (or vice versa, I suppose). Take Eileen:

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/Tdx0pwB.png[/imgzoom]
From the character sprite, I would think she looks something like:



Or Charles Wade:

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/fq1EYbo.png[/imgzoom]
Again, to me the character sprite looks more like this than like his portrait:



And finally, Kathy's grandmother:

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/qY3mpNb.png[/imgzoom]
Who, judging only from the character sprite, looks something like:



It's… disconcerting.

As for the backgrounds, I found the downscaling artifacts (fringes around edges) pretty distracting, and the look was often more photo-collage or 3D render with some Photoshop filters than true pixel art. I don't mind that so much, though.

I understand that you had budget constraints and stuff like that. However, in my view these compromises do compromise the game experience. Perhaps the game is a little bit more ambitious in terms of scope than you were quite able to carry out.

[close]

Let me finally say again that I'm being critical because the game has been getting so much praise, and I think its flaws are being overlooked in the general enthusiasm. This is not a balanced review: I wouldn't devote so many words to the problems and so few to its strengths if that was my goal. Because as a first game, this is really good. The fact that you were able to finish such an ambitious project at all, basically all by yourself, is astounding to me, and that it comes together as well as it does is impressive. However, as a commercial release, Kathy Rain needs to be evaluated as a professional product, against the classics of yesteryear and the best commercial indie titles of today. And I think it falls just a little bit short. But apparently my opinion is the outlier, since people have been calling it the best adventure game in ten years, a triumph, etc. So once again congratulations! And when the time comes for a Kathy Rain sequel, maybe you'll consider some of my comments. I want to love the next game in the series!

(2021 Edit: fixed spoiler tags broken by forum update)

[KyriakosCH]

Well done for the win!
A very stylish game, looking much like older classics ^^

[AndyfromVA]

A wonderful game, which will stay with me a long time.  A well-deserved award winner.

[MiteWiseacreLives!]

Oh Snarky.. your so damn snarky...
In light of your notes I have decided to get in there and see for myself, a little conflict is a healthy thing 
From what I did get to play in beta, I can assure this title is a labour of love and had every right to be in the company of Game of the Year.
Now to get to seriously playing [and paying] for this title...

[kconan]

  Just bought this on Steam, the high praise (best game!) and that cool motorcycle screenshot sold me.

  Also, congrats to the developers for taking home Best AGS Game 2016!

[SilverSpook]

Loving this game!  I think I'd love it even more if I was an alt-chick from the 90's!  Which is why I'm recommending it to my wife, because she basically WAS Kathy Rain in '95, minus being a detective.

Awesome job, Clifftop Games!

[Mandle]

my wife, because she basically WAS Kathy Rain in '95, minus being a detective.

Pfft, she figured you out, didn't she?

[SilverSpook]

Touche!  As an aside, just showed her yesterday and Mrs. Silverspook loves Kathy's eyebrow piercing.

[selmiak]

Kathy for President!

[SilverSpook]

So I've just finished Kathy Rain which was fantastic, and written up a free-form review of sorts.  My Kathy Rain Review AKA 'I love surrogately-hating on the Titanic!'

[DBoyWheeler]

Congrats for getting that award!

[JSH]

Thanks, folks!

In other news, the one year anniversary of Kathy Rain is coming up on tomorrow Friday (May 5). To celebrate, yours truly will hold a dev playthrough stream of the game on Twitch at 19:00 CEST! Hope to see all of you there

[Athanor]

Congratulations! A well deserved triumph. Kathy Rain is easily one of the greatest adventures I've played in my life. Every single moment of it was a pure treat. The story is fantastic and the whole atmosphere is unsettling in a subtle way I only know from the Gabriel Knight games. Music, voice acting and graphical design are of an extraordinaire quality too. Definitely one of the very few adventures I'll play again.

[Mandle]

Congratulations! A well deserved triumph. Kathy Rain is easily one of the greatest adventures I've played in my life. Every single moment of it was a pure treat. The story is fantastic and the whole atmosphere is unsettling in a subtle way I only know from the Gabriel Knight games. Music, voice acting and graphical design are of an extraordinaire quality too. Definitely one of the very few adventures I'll play again.

I agree 100%!!!

We need more of Kathy and her friends and enemies in our lives ASAP!!!