The Final Station

[Ross Scott]

Genre: Platformer

Year released: 2016

Ross's rating: Fantastic

Link to game:

https://af.gog.com/game/the_final_station

Free to play: No

GaaS: No

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[MDMaster]

I liked it a lot too, it's a really simple concept but well executed with very few problems, also it doesn't wear out its welcome and that's way more that I can say about most games these days.

[MeowlordKing]

I never would have found this game if not for this list. Very interesting game, was a lot of fun, but the melee attack is kind of ridiculously overpowered, since it sort of trivializes the game if you utilize it well.

[Mancomb Seepgood]

simple and fun... kind of short.

[AtariAlchemist]

The art style of this game is subtle, yet captivating. I endlessly poured over cutaway books as a kid, and this game is no less a feast for the eyes. Every nook and cranny in the game's levels is fully realized; when you open a door, more details pop into existence as if it were a door on an advent calendar. What seems like a small, compartmentalized office building on the surface might actually be a sprawling labyrinth underneath. You feel compelled to explore every inch of this lived in world, soaking up details that hint at other, smaller stories (with the odd supplemental note or computer entry).       

It's like playing inside a little Lego model or a dollhouse, miniaturized and packaged with a story that shows instead of telling you what happened. I won't spoil anything, so I'll just say that intrigue and mystery play a sizable role. Even at the end, some of your questions aren't answered, like "who was on the phone?"           

The game is a little short as some others have mentioned, but if that's an issue, you can always get the DLC levels that follow the story of a new character. Alternatively, you can just play the game again. I'm honestly a little biased because I love the cutaway/hidden rooms atheistic. It's like the rooms are being carved right out of the bedrock as you play! How cool is that?  

 

Other parts of the game that are notable:

 

• NPC characters that you can bring with you on your journey. Or not. 
  • You then need to keep alive in-between levels, feeding them and healing the ones who are bleeding. When they're starving, they also slowly die (kinda annoying)
  • You also need to play little mini-games that keeps the train's systems within "acceptable bounds," otherwise your passengers lose health.
  • The NPCs have little conversations while you do all this, sharing their own perspective on the current situation or their own lives.
  • There are rewards for keeping each of them alive, like money and weapon upgrades.

 

• Resource micromanagement
  • Bullets (Should I shoot him or risk melee? What if I waste my last bullet?)
  • Health items (Should I use a medkit, or save it for my passengers and try to beat this level with half health?) 
  • Food (Should I give the bleeding guy a hamburger?)
  • Scavenging (Nice, I got $12 and a few bullets from that cupboard!)
  • Crafting (Kinda. Resources you find while out 'venturing can be made into bullets or medkits, but that's it)
  • Time (Dang, he's bleeding, I better...wait, the train's vents are....oh, someone sent me a message, wait let me just....everyone stop DYING)

 

• Emotions I felt while playing this
  • Frustration (Dammit, there are too many of them!)
  • Awe (Wow, look at that)
  • Disgust (Wow...look at this...)
  • Uneasiness (....what was that..?)
  • Depression (Great, now what?)
  • *******!?!? (Wait, WHAT)

 

• You get to drive a train! Who doesn't like trains? 

 

All-in-all, a very satisfying "platforming" experience that is a little short, but definitely worth your time.

 

RATING: Fantastic

 

 

Attached: out of the almost 1000 screenshots I have of this game, these 4 are my favorite.

 

Spoiler

Edited September 28, 2019 by AtariAlchemist (see edit history)

[JackTrevor]

I got this game this weekend along with The Only Traitor DLC and beat it all in a day.

 

This game is a fantastic short, narrative game.

 

It takes an old concept of a zombie apocalypse and makes it interesting by following the adventures of an ordinary blue-collar worker running a train through events that are bigger than them. A lot of world-building is done via dialogue and the environment that tells you what you need to know while leaving much to interruption. The gameplay itself truly emulates the truest sense of survival horror in which you have to balance your ammo and resources as you find yourself looking for a chair before you open a door and hope the one enemy you one-shot with it is an elite enemy.

 

I wouldn't recommend it outside of a sale, for both the length of the game and the fact that it's a 75% discount. And once you're done with it, there's no reason to go back outside of achievement hunting. But these are minor nitpicks on an overall solid core.

[Mira]

Mixed feelings. Good atmosphere and visuals, and I felt compelled enough by it to play it through till the end but the gameplay does have a frustrating trial-and-error element to it: The game is extremely stingy in regards to resources and it's best to avoid combat when you can, but the game will frequently lure you into "trap rooms" that'll leave you strapped for health and/or ammo, often with no reward. I found myself reloading to the last checkpoint a lot for that reason in order to maximize my resource efficiency, which got a bit on my nerves in the end.

 

The shelter music is lovely: