Last Stop

Last Stop's changes in tone and genre can be jolting in spots, but the characters at the center of such stories manage to keep things grounded for a delightful experience.

Variable State rejects one-hit-wonder status with its long-awaited follow-up, Last Stop, a game that feels equal parts arthouse and blockbuster.

A smart and interesting three-story adventure anthology, but one that has about as many underdone bits as it does perfectly executed ones.

Neither lengthy nor particularly interactive, Last Stop succeeds on the strengths of its writing, narrative, and characters.

When the issues of a game are rolled and stomped by its greatness, then it’s something to invest on if you have some spare.

These Londoners are about to have a very bad day.

Last Stop is an entertaining journey that just goes completely off the rails in its final half, failing to execute on the interesting ideas it comes up with at the start. I know that endings shouldn't take away from the ride, but when you're playing a title that is almost completely narrative and character-driven, I just couldn't help but feel a letdown when credits rolled.

Burroughs and Holland do hit on a fine idea: that, if we could peer into the other lives sharing the pavement, like idle channel surfers, we would surely register a jarring shift of genres.

While aspects of the game lack closure and its six-hour runtime sags in spots, the majority of the story is engaging and enjoyable. If you’re into story-driven games and don’t mind limited interactions, or you prefer story-focused games with simple and forgiving controls, Last Stop has moments of depth mixed in with mediocrity.

Interactive storytelling is a difficult genre to get right, as it requires both an interesting story and a story that can be interacted with by the player. You want your actions to have meaning, you want them to matter. In Last Stop this isn’t always the case, and combined with the filler gameplay segments this is the aspect where the game let me down a bit.

London definitely has a distinct vibe; a pub on every corner, black cabs, the tube. There’s also a sense of familiarity for us Aussies as English culture is so entrenched in our own. Last Stop does an amazing job of bringing that feeling of a vibrant, historical city like London to life by making the setting as rich as its narrative. For a gal’ like me, a good narrative is the cherry on top of the...

When you’re not making pointless dialogue choices, you’re walking or performing some quick-time event that offers superficial window dressing to the story. I found myself bored with Last Stop, wondering how the same developer that made Virginia managed to make this game. Even artistically, Last Stop felt like a big step back from Virginia. While the art style and design remained consistent through...