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Throughout the five hours I was introduced to six major characters, each of whom have really interesting backstories that felt great to slowly gain an understanding of. I really appreciated the way it trusted me to find bits and pieces of a person’s life out of order, and figure out how they all fit together without holding my hand. Rapture’s cast enters and exits the story in the same way characters do in a skillfully directed ensemble movie. It felt just as great when a turn of events proved me wrong as it did when one proved me right. I really loved how my theories regarding the mystery kept evolving throughout my playthrough - I continually oscillated between hypothesizing that the events were rooted in religious, alien, or human-caused reasons.
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I felt compelled to explore every nook and cranny, as doing so almost always added another piece to Rapture’s impressive, mysterious puzzle. Tiny details litter the environment that help add depth to the characters, world, and story: a pair of crutches lay abandoned outside a church, a picnic sits half-eaten on a hillside, and tennis rackets lay strewn about a court as if abandoned mid-game. Well-written audio diaries, fantastic character interactions, and environmental storytelling clues all come together to build a great, mysterious tale. From the beginning, Rapture utilizes a slew of effective storytelling techniques to get across its intriguing and affecting tale of a quiet English village whose inhabitants suddenly begin to disappear into swirls of light.
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