Last Stop Xbox Series X Review

Last Stop Xbox Series X Review – A strong narrative

Last Stop is an immersive and amusing narrative-driven game which follows the lives of four people as they bear witness to strange, Twilight-esque events. The game begins by loading the three main characters into the most standard scene of everyday life – a subway train, loathed by many a London commuter. The story follows John, a meek and mild-mannered single father who experiences a body-swap drama with his younger, fitness-obsessed neighbour, Jack; Meena, a no-nonsense robotics employee who is having family issues with her father, son and husband, and also having an extramarital affair; and teenager, Donna, whose story is probably the most compelling of the three as she and her two friends witness a neighbour behaving very strangely and so decide to follow him – and you can choose whose story to play first, in any order.

As a narrative-driven game, you get to select a lot of character dialogue, though it doesn’t really alter the direction of the story, more it affects the scene rather than the overall plot. Set in London, the game greatly captures the drabness of everyday life, plunging four average people into situations not-so-average, at least for John, Jack and Donna. I felt Meena’s story was the weakest of the three, and even though she does end up having the best overall character arc, initially the character isn’t very likeable, what with abandoning her husband and son, her frustrations with her father’s declining mental health, and having an affair. Her being a high-powered employee also doesn’t help make her feel as relatable as John, Jack or Donna.

The story is broken up into 6 chapters per character, and, as mentioned, you can play each characters story in any order. I decided to play as each character per chapter, keeping their stories in line. As you would expect, each character’s story eventually entwines with one another in the final 7th chapter, and while there’s largely an intriguing mystery, sadly things feel a little rushed as the game draws to a close, with stories reaching rather abrupt conclusions and some questions left unanswered. With the latter half of the game giving you a glimpse of what’s in store, hopefully we’ll receive a sequel or two in the future.

Each story offers something very different. John and Jack have to learn to live each others lives, with humorous consequences. They have to learn each other’s routines and skills in the workplace, while pretending to be each other in front of their friends and colleagues. Jack also has to learn to befriend John’s sassy young daughter, Molly, and even has to cope with John’s heart condition. This story even manages to hit some emotional beats in regards to Molly and her father’s health.

“Meena is shown to be a very ruthless person, though is still shown to have somewhat of a caring side, at least for her father. “

Donna’s story revolves around her and her two friends. One of her friends, Vivek, has suspicions about a neighbour who has people over to his house, but who never seem to leave. They end up kidnapping this neighbour, taking in turns keeping an eye on him while trying to get on with their normal lives as they try to hide what they have done. While trying to uncover the mystery surrounding the neighbour, Donna also has to contend with her overbearing older sister, Emma, a police officer who is becoming increasingly suspicious of Donna’s behaviour, all while living with Emma and their mum, who is suffering from ill health, and her sister’s fiancée, Aisling, the voice of reason among all of them, but who is never put to much use.

As mentioned, Meena’s story is the weakest. She is shown to be a very ruthless person, though is still shown to have somewhat of a caring side, at least for her father. Her story revolves around her affair, and finding out who is supplying her father with class A drugs. She’s very forthright, and not at all intimidated by the culprits when confronting them, and even when she is blackmailed. In the workplace, she is also set up against a competitor for an important mission. It takes a while to find out exactly how Meena will connect with the other characters, which is why the other stories are far more interesting as they have already experienced something supernatural, while Meena spends the majority of her story navigating issues with work and family.

Each story manages to convey the stress each character is going through very well, though your choices in conversation don’t always feel as though they are impacting the story.

When controlling characters you point a cursor at a part on-screen and click in that area and the character will move towards it, like a point-and-click adventure. At times though you get to control the characters, though it can be finicky thanks to the quick camera changes when viewing characters from different angles as they walk along, and this happens often. Think of the tank controls from the old Resident Evil games; similar issues arise here. However, controlling characters in their environment makes for a lonesome experience, with faceless NPC’s walking around, living their own lives as the main character’s stories unfold. It feels very desolate and atmospheric, those faceless people completely oblivious to the strange goings-on being experienced by the protagonists.

There’s some variation in gameplay, mixing the mundanity of stirring a cup of tea or eating a bowl of cereal by circling the analogue button with more dramatic sequences, such as having to sneak past an employee that John/Jack doesn’t want to interact with or pressing a number of buttons simultaneously when trying to escape danger. With Meena, she also has the ability to read people’s body language to analyse a situation, and conclude whether they are a threat or not, in Terminator style, fitting for her character. The game has no shortage of humour. Sometimes button presses can feel a bit tacked-on, like the story has played out on its own too long and the developers felt they needed to add more interaction to balance gameplay and story. The story is still definitely prioritised over gameplay, though given that it is very well written and enjoyable to watch, that’s not much of a complaint.

Last Stop Xbox Series X Review Summary:

I had a great time playing and even just watching Last Stop. Every time I stopped playing I wanted to get back to it to see what else would happen and where it would all lead. With things so strong previously, it’s just a shame that the narrative seems so rushed in its dying stages, but it successfully sets up ideas and environments to explore in a potential sequel.