How would anyone know to do this, and furthermore, how did anyone figure such a step out? There is nothing in the game that would advise you to perform such steps and leaves players puzzled and questioning how the original solution came to pass. It gets so questionable towards one point when you’re asked to stare at an alarm clock for a period of time, and then once it reaches a certain time, go and look at a hole in the wall at a very specific time afterword to solve the puzzle. What starts out as a great concept, quickly falls flat on its face as the solutions to such puzzles start to make little to no sense. The game won’t have you picking up blocks or solving for X, but there is a bit of sleuthing involved in the 3 different simulations to try and figure out what will advance the plot further. Puzzles make no sense – Along with the walking sim type gameplay in Asemblance, players are also given the opportunity for some low-level puzzle solving. It’s unfortunate that these endings are so bland and related to one another, as this was a wasted opportunity to give the story meaning. Stopping immediately after finishing one ending can really affect the short play time the game has to offer. The game really doesn’t offer much reason to care about the multiple endings when you hear that they are related. 3 of the endings require just playing through the game and figuring out different things, the 4th will have you jumping through hoops and completing very specific timed objectives in order to unlock. Unfortunately for Asemblance, while the game has 4 different endings to experience, they all are too well related and do nothing in terms of wrapping up the story. Multiple endings – Normally when you hear that a game features multiple endings, that would be a good thing, right? In most cases yes. Granted there are times during a transition to a different simulation where there is a slight half second pause, but not having to wait for the game to load constantly is a good thing. After this initial load screen is finished and you enter the game, you can continue to play through the games story experiencing the different simulations with no interruption from any additional load screens. When you first start the game, immediately after hitting “New Game” you are met with a load screen.

One Load – The one and only positive thing I can touch on for Asemblance, relates to the transitions. As you advance through these different simulations, it’s up to you to pinpoint the exact elements to interact with to advance further in the simulations and unlock more scenarios. A Blue butterfly, a woman who is either your wife or your ex and the office that your character spent 90% of their time. In these simulations, you are met with a limited number of instances that relate to one another. From there, you are given access to different memory simulations of areas from important dates in your life. Immediately after following such direction, you’re advised there was nothing wrong and that it was only a test to make you feel alert. instructs you to interact with a terminal and fill out a one question survey about how you’re feeling. In Asemblance, you play a character with no face or name who awakens to the sound of alarms, and a panicked Artificial Intelligence advising you that something is wrong. Does the game have what it takes to contend with previous titles, or is it probably best to just walk away?

Asemblance is a first person walking sim developed by Nilo Studios all about simulations of the past time and memories. Some of the best games in recent years have been Walking Simulators Dear Esther, Firewatch, and What Remains of Edith Finch to name a few. Many such similar titles branched out around the 1980’s but at that time were labeled as an entirely different genre altogether. The concept behind these games is nothing new despite the genre designation escaping what was once more of a forum insult in years past to a now established term. Walking simulators are the very definition of any game where the only objective is to walk around from point A to point B and experience a story.

Does firewatch have multiple endings