I came in expecting an abstract puzzle game akin to Antichamber or Manifold Garden (both of which I love). Instead I was truly surprised to stumble upon something entirely unique. I am genuinely unsure if I have played anything quite so genre-breaking as Viewfinder. Puzzles are inherently an expression of logic but Sad Owl Studios has managed to make one in the expression of creativity.

I rarely found there to be a "correct" answer in solving these puzzles. In fact, I first wondered if the solution I came up was what I was supposed to do. I've only now realized that it wasn't a question of what I was supposed to do but something I wanted to do. Whereas puzzles are about establishing boundaries and understanding how to operate within them. Viewfinder instead provides paint & a blank canvas.

We're both told to paint a landscape. You choose the ocean & I the mountains. Neither is wrong, none better or worse than the other. Each painting a perfect representation of our individualism.

I never imagined a puzzle game in which all of us are presented the same problem resulting in a variety of solutions all of which are "correct." And each particular method, the product of a singular mind, resulting in a finished puzzle? I can think of little as wondrous a sentiment of human creativity than that.

There is more for me to play but Viewfinder has caught my attention already.

My initial moments with Road 96 were very positive. There's an interesting art style that works well with the environment. The voice acting is very well polished and hits the right emotional chords. The sound design appropriately complements the narrative themes. Even the basic premise of the game is completely unique and relatable. Unfortunately, those were little more than first impressions to be smothered by the disappointing core of the game.

After a few hours there is an unfortunate realization players get that the choices you make in fact have very little impact on the world around you and disappointingly even less-so with the main characters of the story. Road 96 has the illusion of choice.

• Want to rob people to make your journey easier, okay. What if you don't want to rob innocent people? Too bad, the NPCs drag you along anyways. Mission: Beep Boop Beep
  
• Stand up to notoriously evil person in an effort to uphold decent values, okay. Why bother when yes-manning or even just randomly clicking dialogue options has the same outcome? Mission: Crusin'
  
• Don't want to help out a fellow traveler for fear of your own persecution? Sorry, Road 96 doesn't really like to explore moral grey areas so you're forced to help anyways. Well at least the way you help them will have some impact on the result? No. You're merely there to perform some mundane task in order to unlock the next cut scene. Mission: Fire Starter
  
• Don't have money for the last leg of your trip? That doesn't end well. Thankfully, this time around you have all the money you need for this part. Wait a second, this is the same cut scene & quick-time-event. What was even the point of conserving resources? Crossing: Paying the Black Brigand coyote

As previously stated, licensed tracks and decent sound design add a much needed boost to Road 96. This works well with the ability to interact with cassette players with select tracks you discover in the world. This even has a functional impact relating to the story itself by building the immersion of your journey. However, the entire remainder of the game's mechanics leave much to be desired.

• Want to play worse version of Operation: The Board Game?Mission: Short Circuit
  
• Want to feign interaction with the game? Crossing: Breaking into truck & Crossing: Paying trucker to hide in the truck
  
• Want to walk in circles and click on random things? Mission: Walking in my Shoes
  
• Want to move dials back-and-forth to unlock a cut scene? Mission: LFO

The story itself has remarkable potential but, again, unfortunately fails to deliver anything meaningful or interesting.

Having the main villain Tyrak do horrific things (i.e.crush political dissent, send children to labor camps, bomb his own citizens) for the sole sake of being evil is the definition of a flat uninteresting character. There is no exploration of their motivations or ideologies. Worse, is that there is no exploration of the motivations of their followers. Where these themes could be easily used to explore concepts of Tradition vs Progress or Freedom vs. Security it is instead used to mock the followers of Tyrak as out-of-touch, callous, and/or sheep.

On the other side of the coin, the Black Brigands aren't much better. Excluding the mystery surrounding their origin, the organization only touches on one simple subject "Should we kill more people". This in itself isn't terrible, it's just unfortunate that It never grows into or even approaches an in-depth exploration of the more core concept of Insurgency vs. Civil Disobedience.

The real sin regarding the Black Brigand story arch comes with their plan to send Zoe to the other side of the border with the secret government document proving Tyrak murdered his own civilians. Once Zoe is on the other side of the border this key plot point is never heard from again. This was an opportunity to do something meaningful with not only the world plot but the main characters of the game. An opportunity sure, but a missed one.

TLDR: The reality is that Road 96 is a poor excuse for a visual novel that marries pathetic game mechanics with an uninspired story that relies entirely on sound design & voice acting to carry it all. This game could have been great and I'm saddened it's not.