Open Roads: A Good Story and Compelling Mystery

I had a lot of fun with Open Roads, though probably not for the reasons the developers intended. I’m from Michigan, and some things in this game made me smile. The game takes place in 2003 and refers back to events in the 1960s.

In this walking simulator, you play as Tess and go on a road trip with your mightier, Opal. You also text your dad and your friend Fran. It is an enjoyable adventure game that tells a fun story. You have to solve a mystery!

The game plays like Firewatch and Killer Frequency. It is fun, but it is a bit short. The characters deal with real-world problems, and they’re very relatable.

TLDR: A fun story about unraveling a family mystery.

Narrative

The game allegedly takes place in Michigan. As someone who lives in Michigan, I can safely say that one of the towns mentioned is located in Michigan—about twenty minutes from where I live. This was fun for me, but most people probably won’t care.

We start with Tess packing up her room. She and her mother are losing the house they live in. The home belonged to Tess’s Grandmother, who died recently. You also learn more about the family as you explore the house. At some point, Opal and her husband divorced, and Tess planned to visit him in Nevada.

 Tess’s aunt, August, asks them to find a book for her. This leads you to the attic, where you find a hidden suitcase. Inside, you find evidence that the Grandmother, Helen, was having an affair. We also get a little information about a crime spree.

This leads to a road trip to the family’s summer house. After some snooping around, Tess learns more about her mother, aunt, and someone who claims to be her real grandfather. This is also where we get more information about a crime spree in the late 1960s.

They eventually find an address in Canada. The road trip continues, and we learn more about Opal and her husband. The relationships between Opal, Tess’s father, and August are further explained.

The trip to Canada leads to a houseboat. After some investigation, we find out what is going on. It is an interesting twist, and I like the ending quite a bit. We end with the car ride home with some hope that everything will be okay.

Gameplay

The gameplay is very simple. It is similar to Firewatch’s, but with more focus on the story and less exploration. It is also shorter than Firewatch. In some ways, it reminds me of Killer Frequency.

There are a few locations for you to explore. There are a lot of things to pick up and look at, including a 30-year-old pornographic magazine. Thankfully, you don’t flip through it. I have a story about this, which is a thing I never expected to I would have.

Some key items progress the story. The game prompts you when these things are picked up. These led to conversations between Tess and Opal.

There are a few spots where you can make dialogue choices. This is where you get to control the plot a little, and you can probably get a different ending. The gameplay is minimal, but the story carries you through it.

Visuals

There are two things to talk about here. When you’re walking around, the game looks pretty good. When the conversations between Tess and Opal start, you get some cartoons that don’t match the rest of the game. I like them because they remind me of a few cartoons from the 80s and 90s.

I was trying to figure out what the drawings reminded me of. Sometimes, they remind me of Heavy Metal; other times, they look like a Hannah Barbara cartoon, like The Pirates of Dark Water.

The rest of the game reminds me of Dear Esther. It looks fine and is easy to see what you can pick up. You can’t get lost in the game.

This is a small game. While it looks like a large area to explore, you’re confined to a small location in each stage. Open Roads does a decent job of showing what a car ride with your parents can be like.

8/10. The story is the real star of this game. The gameplay is kept to a minimum, and you focus on exploring, solving simple puzzles, and unraveling a mystery.

Pros

• Fun Story
• Good Characters
• Simple Gameplay

Cons

• Short
• Minimal Gameplay

Conclusion

Open Roads is a fun game, but it is relatively short and doesn’t let you explore as much as I would’ve liked. It is like a more relaxed version of Killer Frequency with fewer puzzles. I like this type of game, but this one could use more content.

It might be fun to go back and see if there are other endings. The dialogue options offer some chances to change the narrative a bit, and I’m guessing you could get a different ending, depending on your choices.