0:00:00.000,0:00:03.137 ♪(Intro music playing)♪ 0:00:03.267,0:00:06.534 So, a few years ago there was the man[br]who went up to the moon, 0:00:06.750,0:00:08.730 there was a wall that got torn down 0:00:08.797,0:00:10.307 and union that got dissolved 0:00:10.321,0:00:13.111 and now that all that stuff is over[br]and done with 0:00:13.225,0:00:15.605 we have this game called Papers, Please 0:00:15.682,0:00:17.552 and it might be the most conventionally 0:00:17.625,0:00:22.827 "FUN" product of this weird[br]post-pop indie workgame movement 0:00:22.931,0:00:25.828 And by conventionally fun[br]I mean to say 0:00:25.904,0:00:27.494 that Papers, Please is technically 0:00:27.494,0:00:28.827 a polished product 0:00:28.827,0:00:32.215 It feels good, is sounds good,[br]it looks (short pause) good enough 0:00:32.293,0:00:34.122 and it has a sense of reward and punishment 0:00:34.132,0:00:35.890 that hooks you into wanting to win 0:00:36.010,0:00:38.449 But that's all where its conventional[br]qualities end 0:00:38.475,0:00:41.372 Winning in this game isn't [br]necessarily glorious 0:00:41.554,0:00:44.301 and given the setting and subject matter,[br]it shouldn't be 0:00:44.494,0:00:46.935 For those who played the free demo [br]back in February 0:00:47.002,0:00:50.062 the core experience of playing[br]the full version of Papers, Please 0:00:50.072,0:00:51.339 is pretty much the same thing 0:00:51.349,0:00:54.448 You're working the border checkpoint[br]of an impoverished communist nation 0:00:54.448,0:00:58.668 in early 80's that's somewhere [br]east of Berlin and west of Beijing 0:00:58.738,0:01:00.856 Immigrants line-up towards[br]an inspection desk 0:01:00.873,0:01:02.169 and hand you a bunch of paperwork 0:01:02.169,0:01:03.297 you scan it over 0:01:03.313,0:01:04.547 checking for discrepancies 0:01:04.577,0:01:06.088 typos and forgeries 0:01:06.088,0:01:09.979 and after violating few of their rights you either let them pass or send them back home 0:01:09.979,0:01:13.381 And that's the whole core of the game, you're literal paper-pusher 0:01:13.381,0:01:17.452 The most basic and common action in this game is just sliding papers around the desk 0:01:17.452,0:01:20.004 And believe it or not - it feels surprisingly good 0:01:20.004,0:01:23.600 Mostly thanks to some really crisp crinkly paper sound effects 0:01:23.600,0:01:27.129 in the sharp pixel art style that filters out all but the most necessary information 0:01:27.129,0:01:31.566 Plus the printer sound effect you get when you make a mistake is really grading 0:01:31.566,0:01:34.154 For some reason that noise drove me nuts 0:01:34.186,0:01:37.000 and it makes screwing up feel that much worse 0:01:37.000,0:01:41.420 As the game goes on the nation's rules, regulations and policies change 0:01:41.420,0:01:44.669 more types of paperwork get out into the pile, so keeping your desk organized 0:01:44.669,0:01:48.348 and free of clutter becomes a secondary objective to processing the immigrants through 0:01:48.379,0:01:51.951 A few twists and turns later, you're suddenly decyphering coded messages 0:01:51.951,0:01:54.391 and actually shooting down trespassers 0:01:54.391,0:01:57.296 But all that is just mechanical, as the demo hinted at 0:01:57.296,0:02:00.630 the full game has a lot of stories to tell on the other side of that counter. 0:02:00.630,0:02:04.311 You're catching glimpses of these characters' lives, while they're at their most vulnerable 0:02:04.311,0:02:08.950 The robotic and almost anonymous bureaucratic actions on your end 0:02:08.950,0:02:09.887 carry heavy emotional weight 0:02:09.887,0:02:12.839 Depending on how you interpret your country's strict immigration policies 0:02:12.839,0:02:18.107 you might break up families of war refugees or inadvertently traffic prostitutes 0:02:18.107,0:02:21.228 You're given two chances to make mistakes before an invisible supervisor 0:02:21.228,0:02:25.346 starts docking your pay and weighing where, when and how let some of these 0:02:25.346,0:02:28.642 characters slip through the wall creates an intersection of time, ethical 0:02:28.642,0:02:30.694 and monetary pressure 0:02:30.694,0:02:33.750 In other words, this game makes processing paperwork way more 0:02:33.750,0:02:36.142 exciting and stressful than it has any right to be, 0:02:36.142,0:02:40.539 because it gives those actions long term mechanical and contextual consequences. 0:02:40.539,0:02:44.547 There are multiple branching story paths that eventually lead to twenty different endings 0:02:44.547,0:02:47.814 And they all depend on who you let throurgh, how many mistakes you make 0:02:47.814,0:02:50.191 and how fast you can push all those papers 0:02:50.238,0:02:52.791 Before long you make contact with a resistance movement 0:02:52.791,0:02:55.968 and diplomats and spies start trying to make their way through 0:02:55.968,0:02:58.754 and suddenly your decisions carry historical weight 0:02:58.754,0:03:02.024 You're seeing recurring characters show-up enough times to develop arcs 0:03:02.024,0:03:04.492 and bunch bunch of minor little details to this unverse 0:03:04.492,0:03:06.116 suddenly become important 0:03:06.116,0:03:09.865 Even names of these cities are relevant to the international politics going on 0:03:09.865,0:03:12.775 which are also influenced by the country's position on the map 0:03:12.775,0:03:16.352 and whether or not you play to the certain fraction that go to your checkpoint 0:03:16.352,0:03:19.720 at critical moments can determine how the rest of the entire story plays out 0:03:19.720,0:03:23.777 But all things considered, this game tells it's story in such unorthodox 0:03:23.777,0:03:28.633 and clever way that I am ready to recommend it based on it's uniqueness alone 0:03:28.633,0:03:31.797 I mean, what genre would you call this thing? 0:03:31.797,0:03:36.387 Is it a puzzle game? Is it a work simulator? Is it a point&click adventure? 0:03:36.387,0:03:40.475 It tells a darkly humorous political satire on a really small stage 0:03:40.475,0:03:45.046 and essential gameplay mechanic is the most boring kind of work imaginable 0:03:45.046,0:03:48.836 But the places it takes you and the things that has you do without ever leaving 0:03:48.836,0:03:53.629 that desk feel so natural in this setting, that it's also kind of creepy too 0:03:53.629,0:03:58.698 so the game is clever and unique experiment into familiar and realistic territory 0:03:58.698,0:04:02.600 and it works! Lucas Pope pulled this off very well 0:04:02.608,0:04:05.351 But the one slip-up in the process might have been the free demo 0:04:05.351,0:04:07.081 he released one year ago 0:04:07.111,0:04:10.036 Mainly, because there is not substantial amount of new content 0:04:10.036,0:04:11.220 added to the final build 0:04:11.220,0:04:14.540 The game is only 10 dollars, but it's still pretty close to the same experience 0:04:14.540,0:04:15.916 you can get for free 0:04:15.916,0:04:19.938 There's a minor bit of audiovisual polish, there are couple of new types of paperwork 0:04:19.938,0:04:23.533 to manage and also an upgrade system that has keyboard shortcuts to the interface 0:04:23.533,0:04:28.074 but it's a four hour and ten dollar game that has you doing the exact same stuff 0:04:28.074,0:04:30.707 you did for free for one hour in the demo 0:04:30.707,0:04:33.133 The problem is that after few of those hours 0:04:33.133,0:04:35.902 the repetition of processing people's papers over and over again 0:04:35.902,0:04:39.962 starts to feel less quirky and ironic and more like actual wrok 0:04:39.962,0:04:43.723 If anything, it doesn't really change or add to the experience of the demo 0:04:43.723,0:04:46.518 it just intensifies it 0:04:46.518,0:04:47.904 Ok, hear me out 0:04:47.904,0:04:50.873 This process gets really hard sometimes for no reason 0:04:50.873,0:04:54.919 On some days I swear every last person in this line is trying to hide something 0:04:54.919,0:04:58.536 So every damn time you don't probe over every little detail 0:04:58.536,0:05:00.239 your supervisor yells at you 0:05:00.239,0:05:01.718 and I get it. 0:05:01.718,0:05:05.797 I f**d up, I admit. But, do you wanna do this job? 0:05:05.797,0:05:08.153 I'm just one guy here, gimme a break! 0:05:08.153,0:05:09.967 This place is a God damn mess! 0:05:09.967,0:05:13.646 It's clear that this broke-ass government has me understaffed and insecured. 0:05:13.646,0:05:16.578 People are blowing each other off right outside my office 0:05:16.578,0:05:19.318 and the criminals are giving me more money than my employers. 0:05:19.318,0:05:23.846 And it's no wonder I take those bribes. It's the only way to keep my kid from getting sick 0:05:23.846,0:05:26.448 every time I wake up and say hi to him in the morning. 0:05:26.448,0:05:28.854 And maybe I wouldn't take them if this bankrupt administration 0:05:28.854,0:05:32.736 just pay these people just to give a damn, but when corruption is the only way to 0:05:32.736,0:05:35.793 take care of my own people, then what do you expect from me. 0:05:35.793,0:05:39.409 So no, I am sorry, I cannot do this job as fast as you think I can. 0:05:39.409,0:05:43.405 Your demands are unreasonable and I am incapable, I am trying as hard as I can 0:05:43.405,0:05:47.940 and I am still losing, so fk you, fk this country an f**k this job. 0:05:47.940,0:05:52.202 So I think that if you go into this game with the kind of precautionary mindset 0:05:52.202,0:05:54.152 then it will still feel worth the purchase. 0:05:54.152,0:05:58.728 Things get pretty frustrating, but not in an inappropriate way. 0:05:58.728,0:06:00.693 There might not be enough there mechanically to justify 0:06:00.693,0:06:02.255 the time and money it takes to play 0:06:02.255,0:06:04.252 But this thing successfully makes a game system 0:06:04.252,0:06:07.702 out of the desperation, frustration and never ending poverty 0:06:07.702,0:06:10.001 that characterized an entire era 0:06:10.001,0:06:12.006 It also makes a historical fictional allegory out of it 0:06:12.006,0:06:14.446 that makes this world seem a whole lot like their own. 0:06:14.446,0:06:17.473 It's funny, it's scary, it's insightful and it's relevant. 0:06:17.473,0:06:20.948 And for that it's a pretty damn cool game. 0:06:20.948,0:06:24.352 And throughout the frustrating repetitive grind that is playing it, 0:06:24.352,0:06:27.292 it earned a hell of a lot of my respect. 0:06:27.292,0:06:30.236 I highly encourage that everyone at least check out the demo, 0:06:30.236,0:06:32.565 but if you are to purchase the full version 0:06:32.565,0:06:34.458 then keep in mind that the kind of gameplay in demo 0:06:34.458,0:06:36.833 might lose it's novelty after the first few hours. 0:06:36.833,0:06:39.294 But after thinking about it for a while 0:06:39.294,0:06:41.440 you might realize that it's kind of the point 0:06:41.440,0:06:47.254 and that it also never really stopped being fun, for whatever fun is supposed to mean 0:06:47.254,0:06:49.147 in this kind of case