New Game Network
6.0While some walking sims have evolved, Open Roads is stuck in the past. Its two good characters cannot offset the bland interactivity and mystery that is as flat as the game's 2D conversations.
Open Roads
Fullbright · Mar 28, 2024
About
One fine fall day, Tess Devine and her mother, Opal, discover a cache of old notes and letters carefully stashed away in the attic of their house. Hints of deep-rooted family secrets, decades-old burglaries, a lost treasure somewhere near the Canadian border... What they uncover suggests a much darker mystery, best left well enough alone.
But that’s not going to happen.
In Open Roads, Tess and Opal embark on a road trip adventure to explore a series of long-abandoned family properties, unearthing the past. They’ll search the ruins of these places that hold buried memories, things Opal has tried for years to forget. And in this search, they'll discover not just the truth they've been seeking, but each other.
Trailers & screenshots
Scores by platform
Critic reviews
- PlayStation Universe7.0Open Roads often feels like a game at odds with itself, that probably would have been best served in a different genre. Whilst it starts off strong, it progressively loses what makes it good and feels more disconnected. Despite that, the two main characters have an engaging mother, daughter relationship that make the game worth playing, in no small part thanks to the excellent actresses, and their performances.
- Game Rant8.0The game is a snapshot of the lives of three women, uncovered over the course of a few days, the discoveries they make about each other, and how the whole experience brings them closer together. And like most people’s lives, it’s not all action, dungeon crawling, and loot collecting. It’s mainly emotions, arguments, secrets, heartache, and love; in other words, what the game has to offer simply won’t seem very interesting to everybody. But for anybody looking to spend a relaxing afternoon with a heartwarming tale, taking a brief road trip with Tess and Opal in Open Roads may be just the answer.
- Siliconera4.0I very much wanted to care about Open Roads, as it seemed like my “thing.” But there’s just so little to it, and it becomes near impossible to care about Tess, Opal, and their trip together as a result. People who often play visual novels will be let down by the narrative (or lack thereof). People who wanted this to be like Gone Home will despair in the fact that it isn’t fun to pick through these people’s things. It’s just a disappointment.
- NoobFeed7.0Overall, Open Roads is a brilliant change of pace for those who want just a story and a little mystery after some intense gaming. However, this might not appeal to everybody due to how slowly the story progresses, giving you only the smallest pieces to run with. If you can look past that and the minor issues with the voice acting, you’re definitely in for a treat with how this story unfolds and getting to see how Tess and Opal build a new bond.
- NintendoLife7.0If you’re interested in a three-hour narrative adventure in the vein of Gone Home and Tacoma, and you can justify the current price, then there’s a memorable-enough time to be had with Open Roads. There’s not a wasted detail in the game’s storytelling and there's a lot to appreciate in the subtle and skilful way it leads you through its tale. We enjoyed the little moments of character growth that came from Opal and Tess throughout. By the end, we felt as if we knew them. The game’s ending also, genuinely, surprised us, which is an impressive feat. There’s a heartfelt originality to Open Roads. But, yes, the gameplay is also limited. The ‘pick up an object, have a conversation’ repetition only has a temporary appeal. Whether the game is for you or not depends entirely on how you feel about the genre as a whole.
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