Road 96

 Switch
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
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  1. PLAY! Zine
    Nov 16, 2021
    70
    In order to enjoy this game to the fullest, you’d have to be a teenager, still trying to find yourself while having a clear political view. Sounds terribly specific? No sweat. Loving adventures and rogue lite games should also prove useful when it comes to liking Road 96. It’s a good game, just not for everyone.
  2. New Game Network
    Sep 3, 2021
    70
    Road 96 is an engaging and timely adventure, but the title's poor performance on the Nintendo Switch makes it a rougher go than it should be.
  3. Finger Guns
    Aug 20, 2021
    70
    Road 96 is an atmospheric experiment in procedural storytelling that is successful more often than not. A dynamite retrowave soundtrack and some interesting characters don’t quite excuse a story that lacks a cohesive framework and too many minigames.
  5. Nintendo Enthusiast
    Aug 16, 2021
    70
    Road 96 is a road trip that doesn’t feel as procedural as it makes itself out to be, which is a compliment to its unpredictability and strong writing. Player dialogue decisions and actions shape the outcome of the teenage protagonists attempting to flee to the border and the wonderful characters you’ll meet along the way. Varied and fun scenarios keep the game feeling fresh and engaging from one scene to the next. However, on Nintendo Switch myriad technical problems hold the game back from reaching the full potential that its fantastic premise and characters create. It’s a journey worth taking, but unless you’re willing to put up with its shortcomings, it’s one that I’d recommend you play elsewhere.
  6. Washington Post
    Aug 16, 2021
    65
    As it stands, “Road 96” feels like a preview of a better future in which another game grafts more sophistication onto its sturdy template.
  7. Starbit
    Aug 19, 2021
    60
    Road 96 brings an original approach to adventure games by putting its experience on the road and structured along episodes and vignettes as the characters attempt to flee the rule of an authoritarian despot. The game features an array of interesting characters and a marvelous art style, but it's also harmed by unsolved issues, as well as by development choices. The game's structure makes it vulnerable to an inescapable feeling of repetitiveness, which coupled with some inconsequential player decisions ends up preventing Road 96 from living up to its potential, despite an innovative take on the adventure genre.
  8. Gameblog.fr
    Aug 17, 2021
    50
    Road 96 offers a non-Manichean adventure on the roads, looking for a brighter future on the other side of the border. Despite some uneven mini-games and some brutal cuts in its narration, the game still offers some interesting cast and landscapes, carried by a strong soundtrack with delightful 90's vibes. Too bad this Switch port suffers from such a big downgrade once grabbed on the go.
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  1. Kotaku
    Sep 3, 2021
    It’s making the right points—that people will so easily believe what they want to hear without a hint of scrutiny, that they’ll dismiss any dissent with a smarmy phrase, that the widespread tendency to do so has serious and very visible ramifications on how a modern society can function. But the reductiveness of it all is so on the nose that any statements are functionally toothless. The things Road 96 wants to say might have been profound several years ago, when the game was presumably gestating in pre-production.

Awards & Rankings

53
#53 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2021

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 41 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 41
  3. Negative: 6 out of 41
  1. Manga64
    Aug 17, 2021
    7
    If you are into narrative style games, this is one to check. Graphics is a bit rough around the edges and the frame rate dips can be quiteIf you are into narrative style games, this is one to check. Graphics is a bit rough around the edges and the frame rate dips can be quite annoying and distracting. But overall, it does enough to keep you hooked for at least a few journeys.… Full Review »
  2. Nintenderek
    Jan 8, 2022
    9
    Road 96 is a fantastic game with a fantastic story. If you are a fan of games story driven games where you make a lot of choices like Life isRoad 96 is a fantastic game with a fantastic story. If you are a fan of games story driven games where you make a lot of choices like Life is Strange and Telltale games, this game may be for you. And if you have had trouble getting into those types of games, this one may still be worth giving a try as it's much more interactive than those types of games usually are.

    Each segment usually has you making a few choices, interacting with a different character and playing a few "minigames," as one might call them. At one point this involves playing air hockey against one of the other characters and another one of them has you helping a character find the right broadcast signals for their TV by moving the antenna around. These types of interactions really help liven up the game a bit, making it more interactive than your typical "interactive movie" style game. In fact, even though it's a choice driven game, I'd have trouble referring to it as an "interactive movie," because there is so much actual gameplay involved.

    The characters are easy to connect to, with a lot of strange personalities and humor. You take several trips across the country that the game takes place in and each trip is completely random. You'll never take the same trip twice. This sounds more impressive than it actually is however, as it's mostly pulling from the same 80 or so scenes and putting them in a random order, however the randomness of that order can affect how those scenes progress, giving more reason to come back and replay the game. There's also several endings and I have at this point replayed the story of this game four times trying to get every ending. There is a lot of replay ability here. The story itself is also quite interesting and I find myself intrigued by the political aspects, which are quite heavy within the story.

    And it would be wrong of me to not mention the soundtrack. I'm not usually one to notice sound tracks in video games but this one is particularly good. I find myself humming the tunes in every day life, even when I'm not playing the game. However, when it comes to the graphics, there's not much particularly impressive. Some of the environments are pretty and nice to look at, but there's a lot of pop-in and the textures, while certainly not horrible, aren't particularly impressive either. Graphically, this almost looks like something out of the Wii/PS3/360 era. I however did not notice any issues with frame rate or performance and it seemed to do quite well on the Switch.

    All in all, I was impressed that such an amazing game could have been made by such a small team and this game is the perfect example of how good an indie game can be. The main story is probably about 10-15 hours, but there's so many reasons to go back and at this point I've probably spent closer to 30-40 hours on the game. Would strongly recommend to almost anyone.    … Full Review »
  3. SmogUA
    Aug 22, 2021
    10
    Great game, I like the storytelling way and soundtrack. I am enjoying the journey in this game.
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