izigame.me

Sad to leave this a negative review, because I really liked the premise and general concept. Even the game experience itself was for the most part decent - the interface/controls were a bit rough around the edges and the voice acting (for the characters that weren't intended to sound robotic) was a bit flat at times, but I'm more than happy to make a few allowances for small-budget games, especially if it looks like they're trying something new or they're clearly putting a lot of effort into telling a good story.
And for a while, it felt like this was what The Uncertain was going to deliver - I found the blend of Telltale-style story game, point-and-click adventure game and hacking/electronics-themed minigames interesting, and could also see a lot of nuggets of cool worldbuilding sprinkled throughout, so was starting to get invested and hopeful that it could all lead to a nice payoff and the sort of game that could find its way onto my favourites shelf. Then, it just... stopped. Not just "this was a fun game, but I wish it lasted longer"-stopped - rather, it set up a wide range of plot hooks and expectations, then after all of 4 hours (bearing in mind I like to go through games at a leisurely pace and take my time reading every note, looking at all the things, etc.), gives you a nebulous "to be continued" screen for your trouble and nothing else. I am aware there's a sequel, but judging by the reviews, it has all-new characters and covers the same, very brief timeframe from the point of view of a character you only catch glimpses of in the very last minute of the final cutscene, so I'm not hopeful about all of those questions and story threads somehow being miraculously answered.
It took a little while to put into words what bugged me the most about how the game left me - it wasn't the length of the game, or the lack of polish, or even the money spent. But eventually it hit me - it didn't feel like a standalone game - it felt like either a demo, or the first chapter in an episodic, Telltale-style story game, but being passed off as a complete experience. I mentioned this to my partner, and he confirmed it when he noticed that if you search for The Uncertain, one of the results that pops up is The Uncertain Episode 1: Last Quiet Day. Which, when clicked, now redirects to this page, sans *any* indication that it was supposed to be part of a set. So it was, indeed, being developed as a part 1, but when, for whatever reason (funding, company issues, etc.), development stopped, rather than being up-front about this being an incomplete experience, they removed all references to the above fact and tried to pass off the same package as a self-contained game.
I understand that funding for small gaming companies is hard to come by, and I know that a lot of games don't make it all the way to where the devs hoped they would. Honestly, if I had been told from the start that this was an unfinished game I might have tried it anyway, just with tempered expectations, and maybe even left a more positive review or tried out the sequel just to show some support for what the devs tried to do, and I think there's a good chance other folks might have felt the same. Now, though? I have no idea if the company is still operational, but even if it is, and the next thing they release seems perfectly tailored to my interests, I doubt I'll be sending more money their way. Tricking people into buying your unfinished project is not how you build a fanbase,