Developer: Puzzling Dream
Publisher: Ultimate Games S.A., Art Games Studio S.A.
Platforms: PC
Tested on: PC
Unlucky Seven – Preview
There are people dreaming of a future where we are able to travel freely in the sky above our head, where you can just jump on a spaceship and go wherever you want to go in the galaxy. Why, maybe even some new species are added to the mix. In Unlucky Seven, you’re able to experience life like this, although Lady Fortuna went on a holiday as the characters in this game are going straight for an unlucky fate.
You’re thrown into the story without much more details up front, making the first encounters into the game really chaotic and confusing. The first scene shows a maid Android called Bella being tortured by her ‘boss’ Robert. The crocodile needs her to help with an extensive plan for a birthday party. Don’t expect many balloons or other festivities, but cutting seven unlucky people up and some other bloody tasks. In the upcoming chapters, the whole narrative takes place but it’s hard to get into this story as the conversations are shallow and chaotic. Even more, the characters are so unlikeable that it’s hard to relate to any of them.
The graphics are underwhelming and although they try to be in the realistic section with the intergalactic space theme, the details feel off and everything looks like it has a blur on it. Movements look really stiff and unnatural, while the addition of furries is fun but it looks rather unrealistic. The items in your inventory look the cleanest but even then it’s not that appealing. It feels like there was more potential on this part.
The same can be said for the sound. The hope to have at least that right is soon crushed from the get-go. The vibe of the tunes fits with the setting but the quality just feels off, maybe because it’s all in the same kind of atmosphere and you start to feel rather bored by it. The sound effects, if even present, don’t do much good either while the voice acting is ok to be on the very positive side. When starting the game, the conversations are guided with some weird Animal Crossing like of sounds or you can opt to go for actual voicing but it all sounds dull.
If you’re still willing to give the game a shot, the gameplay might make you think otherwise. The characters move so slowly and stiff, while the commands don’t respond well. You can only walk back- or forwards at certain locations which are marked with a small arrow, which makes it sometimes hard to miss. Collectible items or points of interest are marked with a small circle. Sometimes there are also puzzles for you to solve, but there doesn’t seem to be much diversity on this part either.
The most tedious part of the game is using the items you received. For example, at a certain point, you need to get three tools from a toolbox and give it to the mechanic. Getting the items isn’t the problem, but the interaction afterward is. Every time you need to position yourself correctly so that the mechanic is ‘selected’ but instead of just talking and giving the items, you need to open your bag, select one of the three items and give it. Which needs to be repeated two more times after and you need to reposition yourself as you’ve lost the highlighting on the character. This makes the game feel really tedious and annoying to play.
Even more, Unlucky Seven has quite some performance issues. It happened several times that the game froze completely for a few seconds and the fans had to be put on max to counter the overheating. For such a small game, this shouldn’t be happening at all.
Conclusion
There is still a lot of work to be done for Unlucky Seven and even after some clean-up it still might not be the best game to explore. The characters feel unappealing and the conversations are dull and simple. The same can be said for the graphics and the sound, which won’t win you over either. Gameplay makes it all worse, making this game very tedious to play and it might be uninstalled faster than a spaceship traveling through hyperspace.
Unlucky Seven - Preview,
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