Abermore, a recently released independent immersive sim built by a handful of developers, is, by most metrics touted by consumers, corporations, and critics alike, not a very good video game. It is a technical nightmare, with see-through floors, inescapable ventilation systems, and visible but functionally non-existent glass through which you can grab valuables which have clearly spawned in the incorrect orientation. The game's mechanics, too, are just a bit off. Servants, guards, and even security matrices are inconsistent and, for the most part, totally unaware—thanks to the game’s extremely binary stealth system. But, for fleeting moments, all of this melts away and Abermore, along with the city of its namesake, sings in a rasping, tired, and beautiful voice.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/m7vnpv/abermore-is-an-almost-great-bad-game