Open Roads Review (PS5) | Push Square
Things haven't been easy for Fullbright, the company that most famously produced Gone Home back in 2013, a slice of indie narrative heaven that won plaudits. After the excellent (but less virally successful) Tacoma in 2017, it's now back with another long-awaited game, Open Roads — except, in fact, the name Fullbright has been scrubbed from the final product after allegations of a toxic workplace culture sprung up a few years ago. The game's instead credited to the 'Open Roads Team'. Delays and slow progress have seen it slip years from its original release window, but the game is here at last: a short and sweet story-driven road trip.
Open Roads begins as high-schooler Tess Devine packs up her room — she's getting ready to move house with her single mum, Opal. Picking up and stowing away the many accoutrements of teenage life in 2003 is a whistle-stop tour through what her life has looked like to this point. It's the most Gone Home-ish segment of a pretty Gone Home-ish game, a similarity that shouldn't be a huge surprise, but this is more of an active experience for the player character than that first title.
Where Gone Home's Katie was uncovering what happened to her sister, and we heard most of the story through the latter's diaries and other notes, Tess comments more on what she sees. She reminisces and theorises, and, crucially, talks to her mum about it all.
In the wake of a family bereavement, and falling on hard times, it's relocation time for Tess and Opal. However, in the act of packing up, they discover a potential secret that sends them on a road trip in the final days before their lives change. This takes us through a handful of short vignettes, each at a new location with a car ride in between, each offering a brief chance to explore the nooks and crannies, uncovering receipts, notes and letters that piece a story together.
It's gracefully done, although if you're hoping for any challenge or branching paths then you might come away disappointed.
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