Last Stop Review: Just One More Chapter

Initially, I wasn’t sure Last Stop was working for me. It felt like a means to an end to tell a story. However, the more I played, the more I didn’t care about that anymore. Last Stop is admittedly an extremely simple game in terms of mechanics and gameplay, but the writing absolutely saves it. It’s not without its fair share of holes and not every beat hits, but the ones that do, cheeky or not, managed to hook me. The lack of engagement in terms of meaningful choices or gameplay is overshadowed by a narrative that had me saying, “just one more chapter.”

Presentation

Within moments of each individual character’s opening, of which there are three, the player is graced with thrilling tracks that are honestly, if I may say, pretty fire. Smart song choice continues throughout, as I was never once disappointed in terms of the music. In fact, it really stood out. Some tracks were reminiscent of Harry Potter, Star Wars, or even Goosebumps. I thoroughly enjoyed these performances in terms of setting a scene, but also in a subtle sense of nostalgia.

An additional musical element I enjoyed was the fact that each opening theme differed drastically enough by character-matching their personalities and predicaments respectfully. This was actually quite surprising to me in terms of how crucial it was for this type of narrative. I will get into the narrative in detail very soon, but establishing how these characters are unique proved essential in a narrative with three intertwined moving parts. After completion, I appreciated this subtle touch much more.

Last Stop’s art style didn’t wow me overall. Some scenery was absolutely breathtaking, and a lot of the game is more than serviceable, but this sort of style seemed to actually favor scenery rather than people. The facial and running animations in particular seemed a bit off or almost comical at times. While this led to a few laughs, it didn’t seem intended. Unfortunately, solid VO performances ended up cloaked by these faults in facial animation.

Last Stop is more than adequate in terms of its presentation. Smart choices are made in terms of scenery and subtle choices in detail or direction, but some missteps in terms of facial and running animations lead to admittedly comical but unintended laughs.

Gameplay

In terms of gameplay, Last Stop isn’t going to win any awards. The basis of your time is spent walking, running, doing mundane tasks, and choosing dialogue options. They do manage to place dramatic choices in times of turmoil effectively however. For example, you are tasked with making choices mid-chase at times, or while at gunpoint. These moments shine in terms of getting your heart pumping, but even then led to some awkward pregnant pauses. 

The mundane tasks mentioned above really bring it down. In some games, these tasks prove as a meaningful way to invoke a sense of purpose, or lack thereof for the player. Whereas here, they don’t serve anything. Woefully, the choices do seem like different variations of the same decision around ninety percent of the time.

One unique form of gameplay comes in the form of Meena “scanning for weakness”. These moments are reminiscent of RDJ’s Sherlock Holmes where time stops and you hear him devise a plan to dispose of an enemy. These junctures with Meena should have been enjoyable, but I found them super odd. It broke the flow of the game for me, but I feel it could have been avoided if each main character had their own unique form of gameplay akin to Meena’s. One shining moment was a cheeky piano rhythm segment. I can easily see this part falling short for players because it is very random, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

As I mentioned above, no awards will be awarded. The walking or running around as well as completing mundane tasks serves no purpose and are unnecessary. However, even if they are too few and far between, there are moments that get your blood pumping. Similar dialogue choices may bob and weave into different branches, but end up at the same destination.

Story (Spoiler-free)

Now, to the saving grace of Last Stop; the narrative. While not perfect, the writing here really did me in. Last Stop features a story akin to that of early Telltale.

Our story starts in suburban London in the year 1982. For a single set of scenes, you control Peter and Samantha as they flee the police by running into the subway. Why? I cannot tell you and honestly, it is never touched on again to the extent that it irked me. The plot thickens, our time with Peter and Sam concludes, and we jump to present day and the bulk of the narrative. 

From here, there are a total of three controllable characters each featuring six individual chapters. Once you play each character’s first chapter, completing episode one, you can move on to individual chapter twos in the same manner for episode two. Last Stop presents three characters to choose from - John; your everyday, middle-aged single dad with a heart condition, Meena; a complete shrew of a human being with a badass side, and Donna; a teenager right in the middle of a love triangle. I chose Meena first. You quickly learn she works for a private security or tech company that requires clearance levels. More importantly, you learn some deep dirt involving her home life. 

Without spoiling too much, John goes full Freaky Friday with someone at some point. A little later on it dawned on me; this body switching thing could be completely genius down the road as it would explain why my player character doesn’t actually know the answers to any dialogue options. Yet, this moment never comes to pass and really seems like a squandered moment for this style of game.

Surprisingly, chapters are short and sweet, but very effective in establishing their characters. The overall pacing is done very well. In a three part intertwined narrative, it could have easily been wasted. Yet here, the pacing in particular seems more like a crowning achievement. These short chapters, with regard to writing and length, had me saying, "just one more chapter” on several occasions. And in regards to humor, while I was never ecstatic, I felt it was more than serviceable and gave me a few chuckles.

The overall plot feels very much like a CW show in terms of the supernatural element, the mystery behind it, the drama, the tailored performances, etc. It also covers a lot; family issues, infidelity, drugs, fatherhood, workplace behavior, crunch, etc. The supernatural element takes a bit to fully reveal itself, as it is ultimately sprinkled in here and there until the final chapters. This could have been annoying, but I never got that feeling thanks to effective pacing. While John and Donna's tales feature subtle and not so subtle supernatural elements, Meena's is just a mature story right up to her final chapter. I liked this distinction. It lends itself well to differing characters from each other like I mentioned above. Meena’s mature story reminded me of Heavy Rain and that level of narrative writing. Considering I adore Heavy Rain a bit more than the average consumer, that’s a big compliment from me. 

Regarding the finale, the way in which everything comes together felt a bit anticlimactic and a bit predictable. A lot of questions are left unanswered for arguably the most interesting side character, and it’s a bit upsetting. However, even more upsetting is the fact that they try to redeem a character that blatantly cheats on their spouse. The narrative kind of glosses over it in the end which didn’t sit right with me personally. 

Luckily, I can say that the finale does pose meaningful choices that dictate each individual ending. Neither of these choices are black and white. This moment of turmoil in decision making is totally earned thanks to the game’s writing up to this point.

At the end of the day, the writing in Last Stop absolutely won me over. While plot holes and interesting choices stand out as noticeable flaws, too much is done well to overshadow said flaws. The plot is very digestible, paced well, and engaging in place of its lack of meaningful gameplay. I cannot stress enough how much I was left thinking, “just one more chapter.”

 Breakdown

Game: Last Stop

Developer: Variable State, Annapurna Interactive

Availability: PS4/5, Xbox Series S/X, Switch, PC

Reviewed on Xbox Series S

Pros:

+ Superb character writing

+ Engaging digestible plot

+ Fantastic music

Cons:

- Meaningless choices

- Lack of engaging gameplay

Conclusion

Overall, Last Stop doesn’t have a lick of engaging gameplay. The choices ultimately don’t matter, and the movements you perform are comical at best. However, strong musical choices shine throughout and support the character writing. A compelling and digestible plot, not without its faults, lands on its feet and ultimately overshadows what it lacks in gameplay. I've said it more than once and I’ll say it again; this game had me constantly wanting more in the best way possible.

Reviewed by Austin Ernst