Sentience: The Android's Tale
- June 2, 2017
- Pilgrim Adventures
- 2h median play time
Get on Steam"Sentience: The Android's Tale" is a single-player adventure game with a thought-provoking story revolving around an android on the desert planet of Akritas. Your choices will impact the outcome of the game, with at least a dozen possible endings and consequences for both humans and robots. Experience a immersive narrative as you interact with the 24 colonists, uncovering the mysteries of this borderworld and exploring themes of artificial intelligence.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a compelling story with deep philosophical themes and engaging characters, making it a thought-provoking experience.
- Player choices significantly impact the narrative, leading to multiple endings and high replay value, which encourages exploration of different paths.
- The game is well-written and offers a unique blend of adventure and RPG elements, providing a satisfying experience for fans of sci-fi and narrative-driven games.
- The pacing can be slow, especially in the early stages, which may deter some players from fully engaging with the story.
- Technical issues such as occasional freezing and lag during gameplay can disrupt the experience, particularly during critical moments.
- The gameplay mechanics can feel repetitive and tedious, with many tasks involving fetch quests that may not be engaging for all players.
- story130 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The game's story is praised for its engaging and thought-provoking nature, with many players appreciating the depth of character development and the impact of player choices on the narrative. While some reviews note a simplistic plot and repetitive gameplay, others highlight the emotional resonance and philosophical themes that elevate the experience. Overall, the story is seen as a strong point, offering multiple paths and endings that encourage replayability, despite some criticisms regarding pacing and execution.
“This game's storytelling and thematic elements help it stand head-and-shoulders over the vast majority of its indie peers.”
“The variety of choices and consequences from your actions is particularly well-integrated, and the storyline is genuinely interesting and thoughtful.”
“Amazing story and actually excited to see all the different choice options play out.”
“My biggest issue with the storytelling in this game is that while it's willing to bring up hefty existential and ethical conundrums to the player, the game doesn't really have much of an opinion of its own.”
“The plot is weak, delivers all the wrong messages (boo-hoo, human bad), and the ending is just infuriating - it is pretty much a nonsensical star kid from 'Mass Effect 3'.”
“However, most of the roleplaying felt like it had little to no impact on the actual story, and the ending veers straight into Mass Effect 3 levels of choose-your-flavor-of-bad-end garbage.”
- music20 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its atmospheric quality and suitability for the genre, while others found it repetitive and lacking in variety. While the soundtrack enhances the overall experience, it can become mind-numbing over time, and the ambient tracks sometimes feel disconnected from the on-screen action. Overall, it is considered a solid addition to the game's appeal, particularly for fans of sci-fi themes.
“As usual, it's not some kind of high-concept epic, it's just a solid, well-paced space opera that celebrates all the stuff sci-fi fans pop for: spaceships, aliens, AI, coffee, synthesizer music - it's all there.”
“What caught my attention is great and atmospheric music.”
“Really liked the music, perfect for the genre.”
“The music honestly got mind-numbing fairly quickly.”
“The ambient music is casually incoherent with the on-screen situation.”
“Other than that, the OST could've used more tracks.”
- gameplay18 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by simple mechanics and repetitive fetch-quests, which some players find tedious and lacking in variety. While the choices made during interactions with NPCs can significantly impact the story and unlock new quests, many feel that the overall experience is dull and only worth a single playthrough. Despite its shortcomings, the game maintains a certain charm and heart, preventing it from becoming entirely boring.
“Both what you do and how you interact with different NPCs really has a large impact on your gameplay, with some choices granting you access to new quests while others will lock you out of quest lines.”
“In spite of its simplicity (pretty much across the board - mechanics, story, characters, setting), it never was boring, and didn't outstay its welcome.”
“Mechanically, it's very basic - a mix of point & click adventure with RPG-like elements.”
“Most of my gameplay was spent searching for people.”
“In my 2 hours of gameplay, I felt that nothing really happened.”
“The gameplay is menial and tedious - whilst that is supposed to reflect the frontier planet's everyday hardships, the routineness of it all is exceptional: most of the quests (or tasks, that is what they are called in this game) consist of collecting n items (which can be very small, terribly illustrated, and indistinguishable from the background (i.e. non-interactive objects)) or talking to n people with no variation whatsoever, having to sit through unimaginative poorly written dialogues (the characters are bland and unremarkable, every single one of them).”
- replayability14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
Overall, the game boasts high replayability due to its numerous endings and achievements, encouraging players to explore different story branches. While some users noted a lack of replayability after a single playthrough, the presence of at least ten distinct endings and various achievements ensures that many players will return for additional runs.
“Huge replay value, as there are lots of multiple endings and many achievements to hunt for.”
“The many endings and stories make it replayable.”
“Pretty good replay value too; there's no way you'll get all the achievements and story branches in one playthrough.”
“Cons: little replayability, though necessary to watch all endings (and get all achievements).”
“I only played through it once, but it seems like there is quite a bit of replay value.”
“The game might have some replayability, at least the last underground section, since there are so many possible endings.”
- atmosphere10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its fitting audio and atmospheric music, which effectively complement the narrative and evoke a blend of influences reminiscent of "Blade Runner" and "Dune." Reviewers note that the game successfully creates a tense yet relaxing ambiance, highlighting the importance of atmosphere in enhancing the overall experience.
“What caught my attention is great and atmospheric music.”
“The story and atmosphere is a mix of Blade Runner and Dune.”
“Sentience succeeds in creating a tense yet relaxing atmosphere.”
“Finally, what is most important for every game is atmosphere.”
- graphics10 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are appreciated for their unique art style and aesthetic appeal, particularly in the context of a sci-fi visual novel blended with RPG elements. While some users note the simplicity of the graphics, they also highlight the effective user interface and mature dialogue that enhance the overall experience.
“I like the art style, dialogue writing, and the maturity of it.”
“It mixes elements of a sci-fi flavored visual novel with an RPG-like feel to it (mostly because of the graphics and the user interface).”
“This is a great game with simple graphics.”
“It mixes elements of a sci-fi flavored visual novel with an RPG-like feel to it, mostly because of the graphics and the user interface.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be slow and tedious, with many quests revolving around repetitive tasks like collecting indistinguishable items or engaging in uninspired dialogues with bland characters. While the gameplay reflects the hardships of the frontier planet, the lack of variation in tasks can make the experience feel monotonous, though some players note that persistence can lead to meaningful progression.
“Expect a lot of walking and some fetch quests; it's not tedious or grindy though.”
“The gameplay is menial and tedious - whilst that is supposed to reflect the frontier planet's everyday hardships, the routineness of it all is exceptional: most of the quests consist of collecting items that can be very small, poorly illustrated, and indistinguishable from the background, or talking to people with no variation whatsoever, having to sit through unimaginative, poorly written dialogues. The characters are bland and unremarkable, every single one of them.”
“It's too slow and tedious.”
“The first part of the game has a lot of basic errand tasks to complete, which verges on tedious but ultimately does lead somewhere if you stick with it.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game generally performs well, with users reporting smooth gameplay for the majority of their experience.
“Most of the time it runs smoothly”
- character development2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features extensive character development, enhancing the narrative experience within its story-driven sci-fi setting. Players can expect a deep exploration of characters that adds significant depth to the overall storyline.
“The character development in this story-based sci-fi game is incredibly rich and engaging.”
“I love how the characters evolve throughout the game, making the story feel more immersive.”
“The depth of character development adds layers to the narrative, making each decision feel impactful.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the emotional experience in the game to be impactful and engaging, making it a worthwhile choice for those seeking a brief yet poignant journey. The game's ability to evoke strong feelings is consistently highlighted, suggesting it resonates well with its audience.
“Simply put, if you're up for a short and emotional romp, you should play more of Pa's games.”
