Open Roads Review (Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch & PC)

Given the sheer volume of mind-boggling, action-oriented RPGs there are on the market, it does come as a nice surprise to see slightly less demanding games every once in awhile. For good measure, Open Roads Team recently released their story-driven art installation, Open Roads—a “cozy” mystery-thriller that just so happens to take the wholeheartedness of a mother-daughter relationship, and transform it into an interactive adventure that spans a multitude of keystone locations and memoirs. Suffice it to say that, as far as easygoing entrées travel, this is the sort of serotonin fuel that can bear the power to get the cogs turning and the tears pouring. Or at least, that’s just about everything that it wants to encapsulate in its relatively bite-sized vessel of woe and intrigue, anyway.

When I first stepped into the world of Open Roads, I didn’t quite know what to expect, other than a gentle atmosphere and a minimalistic A-to-B progression system that wouldn’t stretch much further than mere dialogue choices and the odd bit of exploration. In my mind, it wasn’t going to be anything more extravagant than a spiritual successor for the likes of Road 96, Life Is Strange, and perhaps even As Dusk Falls. But, as it turned out, I was wrong; it was a lot more than that, and it took me the length of an entire state to realize that I wasn’t running through the same old motions, but another playing field entirely, and one that would leave me with far more memories than I initially would’ve expected.

So, what exactly is Open Roads, and what is it about the basic concept of two beings on a road trip together that makes it so darn inviting? Let’s slide it into gear and open it up a bit.

On the Road Again

Open Roads tells the story of two people—Tess, a young teen, and Opal, her mother who, in the wake of discovering a key hidden in her late mother’s old home, decides to embark on a road trip to unravel a series of love letters written by, to her best knowledge, her real father. In this journey, you have the opportunity to follow the two wayward souls as they make gradual steps towards uncovering the truth behind Opal’s father—a mysterious figure who, despite being out of the picture, has left a breadcrumb trail of clues that reveal the meaning of a long-lost relationship.

As far as storylines go, Open Roads doesn’t aim for anything overly complex; in fact, it’s merely the case of boy meets girl, and girl meets other boy. The question that you’re looking to answer is simple: who was Pierre to Opal? Or better yet, who was Pierre to Helena, Opal’s mother? To answer this question, you must navigate a series of steps that stretch from an old summer home to a private address in the thick of the Canadian boroughs, with each location containing a web of new interweaving notes and keepsakes that paint a clearer image of Helena and Pierre’s life together.

Hidden flames and old memories cast aside, Open Roads is arguably more about Tess and Opal, as well as their blossoming relationship in a world that’s chock-full of unwritten stories and conclusions. Thanks to the game’s stellar choice of cast—credits that include both Kerri Russell and Kaitlyn Dever—both of these roles idle in receipt of some pretty convincing dialogue, of which I came to gel with surprisingly well from the moment I found my spot behind the wheel, to the second I disembarked the final leg of the journey.

Believe You Me

Open Roads could’ve opted for a half-baked, overused, and downright smitten art style — but it didn’t. And quite frankly, I’m so, so glad that the devs made the conscious decision to favor something a little more experimental, as one of the standout features of the entire game, really, is its mixed bag of art styles. On paper, it shouldn’t work, but in a living, breathing world of woe and retribution, it translates phenomenally well, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy gawping at the sweet blend of multi-dimensional artworks and picture-perfect transitions over the course of the ride.

Stunning art style and well-rounded voice cast out in the open, gameplay-wise, Open Roads isn’t anything short of unoriginal; it’s genetic point-and-click aspects and basic navigation gimmicks certainly aren’t things we haven’t caught wind of dozens of times before in other story-oriented iterations. For the most part, goals consist of searching through glove compartments and old homes for letters and other important fragments of information, and scanning through documents to help shed light on an overarching issue that connects one location to the next. Furthermore, there’s choice-based dialogue—moments that lean toward one outcome or another, depending on the statements you make, and the answers you provide. Granted, a lot of this doesn’t make too much of a difference to the climax of the story — but it does, on the other hand, allow you to shape some crucial moments in the narrative.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Like a good portion of indie favorites, Open Roads tends to steer clear of any convoluted themes and drawn-out plot points. Instead, the game bathes in a relatively straightforward progression system that sees you doing a lot of the same things several times over. In a typical scenario, there’ll be a slew of rooms to explore, and a few crucial pieces of information that you’ll need to obtain in order to connect point A to point B, and so on and so forth. Aside from that, there are several mini-game-type situations, which includes weaving through radio stations in the car, and engaging in small talk with your mother—a figure who, despite being one of two poster children of the game, doesn’t have a huge amount to say.

There’s a slight issue with Open Roads, and that is its sheer lack of content. With just under three hours of “open road” to experience, the journey does tend to disengage long before it hones in on its final destination, which of course leaves a lot to be desired from the player’s point of view. Sure enough, the content that it does have is great, but the lack of depth, particularly in the mother-daughter story arc, does make it come across as a little rushed and not nearly as fleshed out as it could’ve been. And that’s a shame, truly, as I could’ve happily had spent another three or four hours unpacking keepsakes and heirlooms whilst rewriting the family’s history. Unfortunately, though, everything just sort of came to an end just as it began to locate its rhythm.

Verdict

If you’ve stumbled into Open Roads with the hopes of unearthing a bullet-brazen RPG that’s equally rife with action and wall-to-wall pandemonium, then you’re going to be disappointed with a lot of what Open Roads Team has to offer. If, however, you’re a sucker for simple setups that don’t take a natural-born genius to weave together, then consider Open Roads a perfect starting point for those with a heart for optimal storytelling. It isn’t the most physically challenging game on the block by any stretch, but that’s sort of the beauty of it: it mostly thrives in easily digestible situations that don’t require a whole lot of patience to unravel or solve. Given the fact that there aren’t a huge amount of challenges to work through, it further reinforces the fact that, die-hard gamer or not, there isn’t a lot to fret about, let alone fail.

Open Roads doesn’t overstay its welcome with a beefy premise that’s crammed to the brim with everlasting twists and turns, nor does it leave any vacant doorways with more questions than answers, either. In fact, the game in its entirety is only three hours in length, which is bit of a double-edged sword; it can be swept beneath the rug in a single sitting, but with little to no reason to return for a second trip, it does beg the question of whether or not it’s worth the price of admission.

When all’s said and done, it’s evident just how much the Open Roads Team know about painting a well-oiled picture that’s as equally pleasant to marvel at as it is teeming with nostalgia fodder for the masses. It isn’t a road trip for the ages, but it is, however, a trip down memory lane that’s clearly worth riding shotgun for.