Neo Harbor Rescue Squad | PS5 Review

Publisher: BancyCo
Developer: BancyCo
PS5 Review

*Disclaimer: I was sent the code for this game on PS5 in return for a review, all opinions are mine and mine alone.

If you love visual Novel games but still want to have some control,  Neo Harbor Rescue Squad might be something you're interested in as it includes a mini-game that you have total control over (as long as you're fast and accurate enough). You play as a rookie paramedic who takes on a number of different tasks. Sometimes, you will have to clean your ambulance, and other times, someone's life is in your hands. I wasn't sure what to expect from this game, nor was I prepared to be put under so much pressure when it came to the mini-games. You find yourself playing through timed events, I guess it doesn't surprise me, as time is literally of the essence when it comes to saving someone's life

The main concept of this game is to prove yourself to the egotistical fire department and gain some recognition for all you do. Personally, I would find this really petty as no one should have to prove what they're capable of, especially when you're a rookie and just learning the ropes, mistakes are made. It's pretty fast-paced once you get past learning what you have to do, there are 50 different mini-games all laid out in different locations on the map, some easier than others and I'm not afraid to admit I failed more times than I should have done because I suck at timed events. 

The mini-games have different difficulties, which forces players to get better and faster at what they're doing, some of the things included are CPR, bandaging, treating burns, and removing glass. each has to be done within a certain amount of time. You have to be mindful of who needs help first and how quickly you will act, or they will die. That sounds dramatic, but it happens, and it counts towards your overall score at the end of each mini-game you play. My favourite procedure to play was sticking needles in other people when I myself faint at the sight of a needle. how ironic is that?

I did run into a problem, the game glitched out and merged 2 scenes into one, whilst I was meant to be cleaning my ambulance, it was also telling me to treat an arm when I failed, the timer wouldn't stop and I would just be stuck on this screen. In the end, I uninstalled the game and reinstalled it, forcing it to work again. Luckily, I didn't lose any of my progress, and my save hadn't glitched, which was a relief. There were also times when the game didn't give you enough time to learn what you had to do before you started, I failed these tasks, I'm someone who visually learns better so I needed a little longer than was given.

Repetitiveness is a part of this game, I know people will get bored of this and feel like it has become a drag but it also helps challenge yourself to do better and get a better score at the end of each task. I actually had a great time playing, did I get frustrated at times? Sure, but this isn't usually the type of game I play usually but I felt that the Repetitiveness is what kept me playing.

I enjoyed my time playing; the visuals for me were great, and the expressions used for the characters go well with what the dialogue was saying. When treating patients, the visuals are more minimalistic, the foreground with who you're treating comes into play more than anything so any distractions are taken away which I liked. At times I did feel like some characters were being a bit too dramatic but when it comes to the style of visual novel games it's to be expected really, they like to emphasise what is being said. The game is around 10 hours depending on how fast you're at play, if you rush through the dialogue (you don't need to do that) you will be a lot faster than me. 

Have a cosy day

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