I finally got around to playing this (thanks @rei), and while I’m glad I did, it didn’t hold a candle to Gone Home for me. Technically, it should probably be regarded as an improvement, but it just didn’t connect with me.
Walking simulators are, pretty much by definition, devoid of mechanics to judge. So what’s left? Well, most people would jump to narrative, but I think Gone Home proved that needn’t be the case. The atmosphere, tone, and setting all provided that game with a feeling that made the narrative - one with a twist! - secondary. In fact, the atmosphere they were going for was what made the twist effective in the first place. Without that strong sense of dread that they tried to instill in Gone Home, the story wouldn’t have stuck the landing.
Tacoma tries - and fails - to do the same thing (at least for me). It’s a good story, but perhaps too predictable, too pat in presentation. I mean, if you’ve seen Moon (or a lot of other science fiction that shares some DNA with it), then you’ll know what to expect. Maybe that’s the disconnect for me. Gone Home felt fresh, and felt like it really used the expectations of gamers to subvert everything once you’d been through the whole story. Tacoma didn’t, really. I mean, it’s well written, the characters are really nicely done, and the little touches and personal things you can find add depth.
But it was missing a real sense of place, and with it, an atmosphere and distinctive tone that I could latch on to. It was flat; the art style didn’t contribute or detract, the station itself didn’t really feel … lived in or like anything other than a set. Maybe that’s on me; Gone Home presented a house that was intimately familiar to me because it was my house. The video cassettes were the same; the mix tapes were ones I’d made. I’d sat on that furniture. I couldn’t connect the same way to the Tacoma station. I don’t know that it’s any failing from Fullbright. Sometimes, fiction and audience just doesn’t mesh. There are a lot of well regarded authors whose prose I just can’t grok, so they leave me cold. In this instance, I think that’s what happened.
I enjoyed my time with it, but unlike Gone Home, I won’t be thinking about this one for days.