Lifeline: Crisis Line

This game has been fun so far, and I like all the times you have to look up information, but I have one issue: I was almost finished with the game when I went back to look at something at the beginning of the story, and I accidentally hit the arrows to go rewind the story. I tapped the x so it wouldn't rewind, but it went back anyway!! And now I have to basically start over and I am so sad. I've been working on this game for like 3 weeks. 😭 It would help if there was an option to go back to where you were before. Then I wouldn't have to go back and re-do 3 works of progress (it takes me so long because I am a full time college student and work 20+ hours a week). Please fix this for the future 😭

I have loved this series since I stumbled on the first Lifeline game. Pros: This one was, I think, longer than the others, which has always been my biggest complaint about them. I really felt invested in Alex, especially because of the rough start I had (I think I killed him three or four times; hint- the ledge doesn't have a gun). I was bound and determined to get him through that crap. Haha. It felt like Alex really appreciated whatever help you gave him. Cons: Oh my goodness some of the waiting times. Like after the house. You know the one. Yeah. That one. I ended up using the fast forward option more than I would normally. That "best" ending was a bit unsatisfying. Totally worth the play through, but man. Now I want there to be more. And last, I want to address something I see a lot of other people are giving one star ratings about: the impact of decisions. First off, it's a computer program. It's not going to give you a customized response every time you choose an option. I would hope that's obvious. When you reach an "end of path" scenario, if you didn't get prompted to join the newsletter, you haven't finished yet. It's not a short story that you will play through in a few hours, especially if you don't have fast forward on, and if you do, then you finishing fast is your own fault. I am going to try one other path and see if my ending is different at all, but most likely I'll be circled back around, because that is the ending you are meant to get.

Totally worth the money, but ends in a cliffhanger, so I'm stuck waiting for the next one. Every character never gets a (true) happy ending, I suppose. But this one, this game- ends tragically. The true ending was extremely sad, but that's not a bad thing. I like that kind of stuff. There are a few problems with this, though. When you click a decision, tapping "X" makes it rewind to that point. It's misleading. Second, it's unbelievable that he can text so much during the story, maybe put on speech to text to make it more realistic? Third, (and this is only my opinion) when you play the other games, you know what's happening, right? Well, why can't we have a option that has us tell the main character what we know? It could really help if you can tell them that you know what the Green-Eyed-Woman is, or that Warping and Wefting isn't as dangerous as running on the fifth floor. That would be great, wouldn't it? Fourth, the soundtrack is amazing. If I could get it, I would. You're sitting on a gold mine! <SPOILERS> I don't think Alex is dead, with Crisis Line and FlatLine aggressively winking that he's alive. Still, we can only hope for the best, right? Maybe Alex and Arika can team up, and V.Adams, Taylor and Wynn be in a separate team also? (The end being where they all come together as a complete team) That would be so awesome, but is only just a suggestion. Anyways, I'll wait for the next game, I'm DEFINITELY buying whatever comes out next~

Although this may be a phone application game, that is the last thing it feels like. You play a Crisis Line listener. Alex is the main character you talk to; he’s a police detective that takes you on the case he’s currently working. I’ve found myself emotionally invested in his story, as well as the actions and decisions he makes. The only problem I have with the game is that I wish there were more options for things to say back to Alex. Nonetheless, I always find myself just checking my phone waiting for his reply. It feels like you’re actually talking to this person. It will definitely leave you on the edge of your seat if you’re someone like me, interested in crime/the paranormal.

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I've played through two other Lifeline games and enjoyed them both. I've recommended them to friends, colleagues and students. While this game seems to follow the same formula for success I began to realize the character dialog is interchangeable across games. Alex, Esposito, etc all have the same quirks, patterns and pop-culture references. I admit I was a little disappointed in the flatness of the character development but the larger issue I had with this particular game is that it lost my progress. Twice. I didn't die and a narrative branch didn't end. I just put away my phone, opened the app and my progress had been lost. Games are an economy of attention and my time is too valuable to be wasted. I got what I needed from these games but won't play them anymore because I don't want to risk losing progress.