The Agency: Chapter 2

I purchased this game having played chapter one and having enjoyed it enough to want to see what was going to happen next. Having now completed chapter 2, I think I'm in a better position to respond to the entire series thus far and, I have to admit, it's a mixed position. Generally I'm a big fan of visual novels and have played my share of them and The Agency has a lot of good ingredients: the story is genuinely intriguing (especially by the end of chapter two), the storyworld is well-developed, the music is fitting, and the artwork is lovely. However, the writing itself is somewhat problematic. The characters are fairly thin and have largely been used to this point in order to develop the world, rather than explore their histories or psychologies (beyond Lansbury, that is). Further, a lot of the storyworld information is given in the form of massive info-dumps that come unnaturally in the middle of conversations. Frankly, I think this game could have used two things: 1. a solid editor who would cut through a lot of the repetition of information as well as clean-up the unnatural dialogue. 2. an 'introductory case' that would have allowed a more gradual introduction to the characters as well as the complex storyworld, so that the dialogue later on could be more focused on character nuance and the developing plot, which definitely stalls-out at times due to the sheer amount of background information that needs to be given. It's a shame, as this game has a lot of good elements. I would really like to see a little more care taken with the writing itself, perhaps even a chapter that involves a 'flashback' involving the Captain and Fio solving a case prior to the protagonist's arrival that helps flush out the storyworld further, while they continue to search for [spoiler]Lansbury.[/spoiler] Although I may play on if I can get the next chapter in a sale, I wouldn't recommend the series.

Geez, where to even start with this game. If you like reading a visual novel in this style then maybe that is an indication of how well this game went through quality control there is very little of it it seems andd the game suffers for it immensely. This game is a continuation of the first chapter. It's still the same visual novel style game, but it's got a lot of improvements visually. The characters and backgrounds are simple but decent. The music is the same. And that's where the positivity ends, sadly. Where the first one was a rather nice attempt at a visual novel, this one isn't. They took the exact same concept and... That's it. The game has some really weak 'choices' that are just optical and have no impact on the story. There is a 'minigame' which is shoving parts of a picture around in order to get to some voice acting and, unlike the first game, there's some really weird point and click (more like random object) 'minigame'. This is really just there to waste your time. It doesn't belong in this game _at all_ The story is maybe 1 hour long. I think I have 2 hours recorded, because I went afk halfway through. The characters' dialogues are... Let's say: Really boring. It felt like they've read 'If My Heart Had Wings' and thought: We can spend 10 minutes talking about the same subject as well. But unlike IMHHW, the conversation is outright boring. It's probably got something to do with storybuilding for the next chapter, but it feels really tacky and forced in. And then the grammar, wording and typographical errors... I'm sure that this 'review' has a couple as well, but this game has something wrong with the text, almost every other line. There's a severe lack of commas and dots. There are silly typos like 'you're' (when they mean your), badd with double d and then some more. If, in your visual novel, you don't know how to write... Don't write. Hire some linguist, use google translate or use the spellingschecker. This is just a really awful and painful read. This 'novel' is about an hour long and I got bored after 10 minutes, then I got a headache a bit later and because of all of these errors, I did not enjoy it. One of the biggest pet peeves of mine, was the 10 minute section about royal marriages, compared to 'let's sneak into the house'. They create a big drama about the sneaking thing, making plans and everything. The next moment? You're in the house and as if they did an ascii shrug, explained 'that was a close one'. Why... Why didn't you write about this? And on top of that, the starting price for this game is 5 bucks? I got it for 2,50 and I still feel ripped off. So yeah, my opinion: Stay away from this one. So many typographical errors, so much time wasted by people repeating what they said (I didn't mention this above, but that's also in here). So much conversations that are just dragging out the game, 'minigames' that aren't rewarding or are in the way... And glossing over huge gaps in the story. The only decent thing this game has going for it, is the art style. Pick it up for the 'story' when it's around 1 buck. But if part 3 gets released, I really doubt you'd have missed anything if you skipped over this one.

yet another perfect game for laundry. insert your clothes, solve some puzzles, go back to put everything to the dryer, read through some steam punk story. puzzles are nice and satisfying btw, which i appreciate. the only problem is, apparently this is an abandoned project, so no more chapters. use this game as a convenient time damp for your daily routine.

I enjoyed Chapter 2 even more than Chapter 1, although there were a few extra typos especially toward the end. If you enjoy visual novels, especially if steampunk-dystopia appeals as a setting, this is worth a read. (Note that my playing time is much higher than actual game time, as usual.) The addition of semi-sort-of hidden object scenes (a handful of them) was a bit odd, and in retrospect I hope that they were intended to be "interactive" more than actual HO puzzle scenes, since they were easy and a little distracting. On the other hand, had the scenes been a little better crafted, they might have worked. My own sense is that they should have stuck with the picture puzzle woodblock games, which are quiet, relaxing, and already part of the overarching story. I like HO scenes, and with care, they could add them as a feature. However, until / unless better developed, I'm not sold on the addition. Overall, a good game, and I found it worth the price of admission, although I got both chapters on sale. The art and story in Chapter 2 is better than in Chapter 1. I agree with the reviewer who commented that a strong editor would have helped the dialogue, but it didn't bother me enough not to recommend the game (even though editing is my own forte). A last note: I'm enjoying getting to know the characters a bit better!

Since I genuinely enjoyed the first chapter, I looked forward to playing the second one. The backgrounds look a lot nicer than in the first chapter as do all the characters. The art styles has improved quite a bit! I still like the codebreaker puzzles in this, but found the "find and click" puzzles to be annoying, since they were neither challenging nor necessary. I also would wish to have the ability to read the text of the voice boxes and dreams, since I sometimes find it hard to understand everything since the background music is almost as loud as the speaking voices. Still looking forward to the third chapter since I'm interested in where the story may lead us.

A great visual novel with an awesome story and characters. Recommended. *p.s. Trading Cards and Gallery would be cool.

Very cool, nice story. Had a bit of a bug in settings, needs subs for some audio only parts. Worth it overall though. Here's waiting for chapter 3!

This game is extremely lame. Not ani,ated at all. It is a series of slided with overlaiid artwork representing some of the characters, and a printe "conversation" which you read but have no influence in.

We’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty

waste of time....