Divination is a different kind of game. Part puzzle solving, part graphic novel, it’s a game that puts you in total control You have the power to end lives, start wars, inspire an uprising or save humanity. All in the space of 30 minutes. What would you do with such power? This Divination review will set the scene to help you decide.
Set in a distant future, the world is now full of robots and humans living side-by-side. An AI by the name of Mother governed the world, creating laws that kept the robots in servitude to the humans. However, for some unexplained reason, Mother died. And when she did she revealed important secrets about the human government and ruling elite. This is where your interest lies.
However, your day-to-day is much more mundane by these standards. That is, mundane for you, but not for the people who receive your invitations. Your are the diviner. You’re able to speak to people (both human and robot kind) and through a series of questions, plus some fortune telling runes, divine the answer to the questions that pain them the most. From those in attendance you’ll receive nothing but total faith. To yourself, an ulterior motive is more important.
As the diviner you offer nothing but a pair of robotic hands for your customers to interact with. Watching via a remote screen in a distant location, you keep your anonymity and also an air of mystery. No one knows who you are, nor what you are. But also, they do not know why you offer such services, nor why you only accept a retelling of their last dream as payment.
All of this comes together to create a hugely interesting backdrop for the story. However, the gameplay within is very simple. As each customer arrives they will tell you their story, then ask a question. You in turn can ask three questions to attempt to find out more about the topic, before collecting their runes and divining the answer to their question. Once you have the runes, you can organise them in any fashion you so choose before giving the divination. It’s a very simple process.
However, it’s one that’s intended to be performed many times. The game features just four clients, and can easily be completed within 15 minutes. Finding the game’s true ending however, takes a bit more cunning. Analysing the provided news stories prior to each client’s visit is essential for working out what effect the information you gave them had, and on repeated playthroughs you can adjust accordingly.
Divination throws up subject matter like suicide, rape, murder and more with abandon. It’s slick presentation hides an evil underbelly, and one that as the player you can be party to. For that, it’s most definitely aligned with an adult audience. For casual gamers it’s worth noting that a 100% completion of Xbox Achievements or PlayStation Trophies can be earned in well under an hour, even without a guide. But for some that’s a double-edged sword; why would you want to buy a game that can be fully completed within an hour? The answer is because there simply is nothing else like Divination.
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