Road 96 test: the road trip simulation lacks a spare wheel

« Travel shapes the young “, it seems. However, the youth of Pétria, a fictional and authoritarian country which serves as a backdrop to road 96, has no choice but to cut the road to hope to live a normal life.

Made in Montpellier by DigixArt, Road 96 presents itself as the representative of a new genre. A “procedural narrative game”, trumpets the studio. In reality, the title imagined by Yoan Fanise and his comrades offers nothing less than the ultimate experience of the video game road trip. With each run, new encounters and a new route. All to reach one and only goal: the border of Pétria, beyond which greener grass awaits us.

But anyone who has ever hit the road for a long trip knows that almost nothing ever goes as planned.

Road 96 test: the road trip simulation lacks a spare wheel See the priceRead the conclusionRoad 96

An attractive concept…
A quality soundtrack...
Well-written “VIP” characters
Some refreshing moments of madness in the gameplay

… but difficult to put into practice
… but used anyhow
A very directive adventure
Endgames without staging

Hit the road, Jacques

Presented for the first time at the 2020 edition of the Game Awards, Road 96 immediately caught our eye. With its landscapes (and its title) summoning the images of Epinal of wild America, its neat soundtrack and, above all, the pedigree of the creators and creators of 11-11: Memories Retold and Unknown Soldiers: Memoirs of the Great War, DigixArt's game already ticked a number of boxes.

And that's without even mentioning its intriguing concept. At a time when rogue-likes follow and resemble each other, the Montpellier studio is having fun twisting the genre to apply it – at the margins – to a first-person narrative game. Because yes, in Road 96, we don't just play a teenager on the run. We embody them all, in a certain way.

As we have said, the objective is to reach the border and leave Pétria, where President Tyrak (inspired by Trump, Kim Jong-Un and Putin) is about to be “democratically” re-elected. But the government, authoritarian and police, is to say the least reluctant to any form of emigration, so the roads are unsafe for runaways. Especially since it is rumored that the teenagers who are caught end up in "the pit", a forced labor camp. Vibe.

We therefore quickly understand that reaching the border of the country will not be an easy task. Especially when you're on foot, you only have $3 in your pocket and you haven't eaten anything for several days. At least on paper.

remember last summer

Road 96 is thought of as an anthology TV series. Each game, or rather each run, will occupy you between 30 and 50 minutes depending on the choices you make. But despite the grandeur of the landscapes that parade in the background, it is very difficult for the player to get out of the rails imposed on him.

The explorable areas have nothing open and, choice of dialogues aside, we don't really feel like we have any control over our destiny. In fact, we don't have much to do except go around looking for a coin or a cereal bar, before moving on to the next one. Most of the time, we will be asked to choose between continuing on foot, hitchhiking, waiting for the bus or calling a taxi. Each mode of transport consuming more or less stamina (reaching zero signs the game over), and conditioning what type of encounter will ensue.

Each run is thus broken down into ten tables, each of which brings you closer to your objective. We sometimes start on foot, sometimes at the wheel of a stolen car. But the progression, the "real", is only made when you meet one of the seven "VIP" characters on the road.

Because if Road 96 aims to let the player tell his own stories, there is indeed a backdrop. And the scenario unfolds precisely by advancing the narrative arcs of these famous VIPs. Rather varied (a gifted kid, a policewoman with a big heart, the star presenter of a fake news channel and so on), the character gallery is probably what we will remember the most from the DigixArt game.

JVFR

Road 96 has 7 key characters that advance the game's story.

This is also where the diversity of the gameplay of Road 96 is hidden: each time you come across a character of interest, the skit will lead to a kind of mini-game. Never very rocket science, and even less very well put together although sometimes a little crazy, they have the merit of renewing the experience and getting us out of a certain torpor which, after several dozen runs, ends up settling in spite of everything .

Indeed, Road 96 may well promise us an infinity of roads and junctions, it does not have much to tell us. Or, at the very least, not enough to keep us going for more than ten hours.

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Encounters with VIPs lead to quite a variety of mini-games.

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The dialogues are quite well written.

Another Brick in the Wall

This is due to several things, and the fact of being only a pawn in a struggle that is beyond us is not the least. As we said, Road 96 is told through its secondary characters. But it's actually more than that: we are only the spectators of their stories.

So yes. We can indeed have an importance in the unfolding of events. Throughout the game, we will be asked about our preferences or our opinion regarding the politics of Pétria. We can respond to it in three distinct ways, one favoring the emergence of the revolt, the other encouraging the citizens to have Florès elected (Tyrak's opponent in the next elections) and a last one - more selfish - allowing us to increase our chances of fleeing as individuals.

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Zoé is one of the VIPs but above all another runaway, like us.

But even the flight, which is nevertheless presented as the ultimate goal to be achieved, leaves an aftertaste of unfinished business. For any reward, you'll get a cutscene (the same every time) reminding you the quest for freedom is the noblest of fights. But that, “for dozens of other teenagers, it's just getting started. »

And then ? Then, we start again by playing a new teenager who, he, perhaps, will begin his adventure alongside John in his 38 tons baptized Grizzly, or in the back of the salad cart of Fanny, the policewoman we were talking about above . We will then learn more about their motivations, their projects, or who they will vote for on September 9th. With a little luck, they will give us one of six permanent bonuses that allow us to rummage through garbage cans, pick locks or obtain additional dialogue choices. But basically, we'll end up in exactly the same place 50 minutes later. To choose if you want to attempt the clandestine crossing on the back of a trailer, by climbing the mountain or by paying for the services of a smuggler. Whether we succeed or fail is of little importance: we are only pawns.

JVFR

A bad meeting can sign your death warrant.

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Whether or not you succeed in crossing the border is of little importance in the end.

Out of gas on the 96

One of the main attractions of Road 96 lies in the infinity of possibilities it promises us. During the same game, you will never be confronted with the same situation. Enough to ensure that, over the 6 to 7 hours that a "complete" game lasts, you only see new script elements.

However, a few grains of sand slip into the timeline. Searching for his biological parents, Alex in my part discovered their names on July 20. However, when I met him again playing another runaway teenager on July 23, he admitted to me that he did not know who they were. In the same way, I happened to be picked up by John, the truck driver, even though he had just left the motel in which I was resting.

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The story of Road 96 is untold... during the first run.

Small "bugs in the matrix" that show the limits of the system imagined by DigixArt and which, you can imagine, harm our immersion when they have the bad idea to occur. Keep in mind, however, that we had access to a test version quite early (we've been playing the game for almost a month), and that this kind of problem can be corrected via a patch.

Where we are more upset is when we launch a "New Game +", and we find that the game (and its algorithms) have reset. Indeed, if Road 96 makes sure not to show you the same skit twice, it only applies to a complete game. By restarting the game, we can therefore meet the same characters in the same order, or be confronted with situations that we have already experienced.

This is what happened to me during my two games. And the most embarrassing part of the story is that even when I tried to change the way I played the game, I got the same ending (more like “chaotic bad”, if you want to get an idea). And unfortunately, nothing really makes me want to launch a third. As if I knew in advance what awaited me at the end of the road.

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A missed opportunity to shine

Road 96 is pretty, but it's not pretty. Or not often. Its graphic style is most respectable, with its slightly coarse polygons and its warm colors that evoke the American West. The game is also particularly flattering in its night scenes. But the character design, on the other hand, left us totally unmoved.

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DigixArt manages to create delightful nocturnal atmospheres.

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But, visually, the game is very dated.

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Most NPCs look alike like two peas.

Except for the VIPs who are rather neat (and still…), we quickly notice that the same NPC model is applied to almost all the other characters you will meet on your way. And that's without even mentioning the extremely dated animations that bring the various inhabitants of Pétria to life. Chopped and imprecise movements, lip-syncing on the pick-up and completely random pathfinding… there are plenty of opportunities to raise an eyebrow or two.

But the biggest disappointment, as far as I'm concerned, probably comes from the Road 96 soundtrack. others), it is never properly used in-game.

It's simple: Road 96 is totally obsessed with its soundtrack without ever succeeding in doing it justice. He throws us the same tracks over and over (sorry Cocoon, but I can't SUPPORT your song anymore), sometimes even twice in a row, and occasionally to the detriment of what is happening in game. I will also avoid dwelling on the mix that literally drowns out all the other sounds behind the music as soon as it kicks in. Want the truth? I ended up turning it off to listen to my own music while gaming. It is at this point yes.

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You can collect cassettes corresponding to the titles of the soundtrack. But, anyway, the game will loop them for you without you asking.

Road 96 : l'avis de JVFR

We would like to be able to forget Road 96 to retain only the images that we had projected ourselves after seeing its first trailer. Certainly, the promise of a procedural road trip is kept, but it is one of the ideas that works better on paper than when put into practice. Paradoxically very dirigiste, Road 96 fails to give importance to its player by delegating the narration to secondary characters certainly well written, but who ultimately do not have much to tell us.

Unfortunately for him, DigixArt also struggles to fully capitalize on its artistic side, systematically drowning us in the same music and giving us the impression that the country we are trying to escape from is reduced to large stretches of nothing. Still, at a time when the video game industry is holding back when it comes to talking about “politics”, we can rejoice that Road 96 is doing the exact opposite and going all out. It's as daring as it is poorly executed, but it commands respect nonetheless.

road 96

Road 96 just teased us how memorable it could be. Unfortunately DigixArt never really manages to materialize its first idea. The fault with a scenario in background which hardly authorizes side step, and with the inevitable redundancy which ends up settling. Attractive, but perfectible.