Last Stop is a new game currently out on the Xbox systems that made it to the impressive Game Pass library. Although many will consider this as a non-game, it’s actually pretty fun and surprising. Let me explain why this one definitely deserves some love and attention.

Time for a story

Last Stop is situated in Britain and follows three main story arcs featuring Donna, your typical slack teenager, Meena who’s all business and has some fun on the side, and the funny due John (stressed single dad) and Jack (a fly video game designer). As a player, you get to decide which story you would like to start first, but be warned, everything happens in chronological order, so if you want to advance to Donna’s second chapter, you’ll need to play through Meena’s and the boy’s first chapters too. This is an interesting way of telling a story and all benefits the mind-blowing ending where all stories come together as one. If the game didn’t force you to play all characters in chronological order, the big surprise would have been prematurely spoiled. That being said, it’s not a punishment to constantly switch characters as each storyline is rather unique while staying mundane too.

I started my adventures as John, a stressed-out single dad raising a cute yet slightly too curious little girl. The life of John isn’t thrilling at all as he literally has to get out of bed to drop off his little girl at school and continue doing his boring office job with a bullying boss. To top things off, the delivery man constantly messes up by delivering John’s mail at Jack’s place and vice versa. The life of Jack on the other hand isn’t boring at all. He’s a young and energetic game designer that adores working out all while remaining his charming and funny self. Thinks get shaken up for both lads the moment they bump into a mysterious figure at the metro stop. This mysterious man swapped the minds of both John and Jack, forcing them to live the other person’s life. Just like Freaky Friday but different. The story arc of Jack and John is perhaps my favorite one as it’s simply the most unexpected and funny out of all three. Of course, it all gets a lot stranger and complicated along the way but that’s up to you to discover. I wouldn’t like to spoil this adventure.

The second character I started with is Donna, who is a lot more active than John. Donna is your local teenager that likes to hang out with her friends rather than going to school to actually learn something. Her bond with her family isn’t that strong and it’s clear to see that Donna prefers friends over family. Just like John’s story, Donna’s arc starts off extremely normal until she runs into a mysterious man who seems to take home a lot of women who never seem to leave the house ever again. What follows is a story filled with action, deception, and mystery. Just like John’s story, there’s something supernatural about Donna’s arc that will get explained during the game’s grand finale.

And last but not least, I started playing as Meena, perhaps my least favorite character. Meena is a businesswoman who gives everything for her job and neglects her husband and son while doing it. Her job is her world and she really doesn’t seem to care about love. If she wants some action, she visits another man to cheat on her husband, always blaming her work for her late hours. She still has a father figure in her life but both don’t seem to get along very well. Meena isn’t a likable character which makes it rather interesting playing as her. The more you’ll play, the more you discover about her mysterious job and even about her character. She plays a crucial role in the game’s last arc and finds some redemption there, but in the end, I didn’t really connect with her the same way I did with the other characters.

Is it a game?

The three stories are truly the beating heart of Last Stop and it’s crucial to understand that this isn’t your typical game. It’s more like an interactive story where you decided what the character has to say, altering the way of the story while doing so. Besides the dialogue options, there are some occasional Quick Time Events where you have to push the right buttons fast enough in order to advance. Next to that, there’s a lot of walking around but you’ll never be able to diverse from the set path. This sounds rather boring but in all honesty, I got hooked to Last Stop from start to finish thanks to its interesting story and mind-blowing ending.

It also helps a lot that the game looks gorgeous and unique. The art style really elevates this game from being another one of those typical walking simulators/story-driven games. This in combination with the stellar soundtrack will get you hooked in no time. For me, it all just clicked and worked together in perfect harmony, delivering an experience I won’t easily forget.

Conclusion:

Last Stop is a great game in its genre thanks to its unexpected story in combination with a gorgeous and interesting visual style guided by a stellar soundtrack. If you’re a fan of the more story-driven games, this is one you definitely should play, especially if you own a Game Pass subscription!

8/10

Tested on Xbox Series X

Timmy:

Last Stop is a single-player third-person adventure set in present-day London, where you play as three separate characters whose worlds collide in the midst of a supernatural crisis. An anthology drama, Last Stop is three stories in one. Written and developed by Variable State, creators of the award-winning Virginia, Last Stop tells three interconnected tales featuring three playable main characters.

– Donna, a spaced-out high-schooler who feels trapped by her stifling home life and her overprotective big sister. Away from home, Donna seeks teenage thrills with her friends Becky and Vivek but gets more than she bargained for when the trio become unexpected kidnappers in a game of amateur detective gone wrong.

– John, an overworked middle-aged single dad. Burdened with debt and the pressures of being an only parent, John jealously pines after the free and easy life of his twenty-something bachelor neighbor, Jack. When the pair unwittingly fall foul of a vengeful stranger, a cursed artifact threatens to transform their lives forever.

– Meena, a ruthlessly ambitious professional who struggles to find the same satisfaction with her family that she does in the thrill of her work. As Meena vies with an upstart colleague for a crucial promotion, something ancient stirs in the basement beneath her workplace.

Last Stop is fully voice acted, featuring hours of dialogue and a voice cast of dozens, with performances from some of the brightest talents in the UK today. Last Stop features an original soundtrack by BAFTA award-winning composer Lyndon Holland, performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Roleplay as 3 unique characters. Make choices to shape their conversations. Walk-in their shoes and discover where their individual stories lead.

Last Stop is one of those rare games where the somewhat awkward game mechanics do not even matter, this is all about the story. Well, all three of em. I can not stress it enough, this is a masterpiece and currently the best game I played this year. Straight from the start, you got this sense of delight when playing and the game just evolves in such a smart way.

After the beginning, you are given a choice of 3 storylines, each getting a single chapter per time. Once you finish the three stories, you get a new chapter each. This repeats itself six times for what is a marvelous finale. During the chapters, you will see the characters evolve from basic characters to beloved pieces in a masterpiece of storytelling. All stories are well linked to each other in one way or another, but that is up to you to find out.

Now I mentioned the game mechanics, suffice to say they are a bit clunky and especially the dynamic viewpoints of the camera, where the person keeps going in the right decision despite the view being in another direction. Easy at times, annoying at others. You will ignore it towards the end, trust me.

In conclusion, Last Stop is probably my Game of the Year as it stands, sure some really nice games are still to come this year, but holy cow on a stick, they will have to be damn awesome to beat this one.

10/10

Tested on Xbox Series X