Sometimes you have to respect good PR writing. When this code popped in to the Xbox Tavern’s tavern, the blurb immediately acknowledged the fact that releasing the same week as Elden Ring DLC was not the best idea but ‘what the hell’.
I admire that gusto and whoever wrote that endearing press release seems to have either been involved with the writing for the game, or harnessed that same energy.
Times and Galaxy is a 2D side-scrolling game where the player takes on the role of the first robot reporter (you can pick from one of three preset character models) aboard a newspaper space ship. The competition is fierce with other reporters trying to muscle you out of your scoops, tricky human photographers throwing snark, and indifferent editors giving out the worst stories to cover.
Before picking up a new assignment the player is encouraged to wander the ship talking to humanoids and robots alike, finding out more about how the ship is run, solving a few simple point-and-click puzzles, and flirting with anyone that comes along (yes, finally robots can flirt). Once on the beat, as the professionals call it, the player must navigate the area and interview people to try and get the enough information to write the story. There multiple choices provided that may lead the article in specific directions and provide a few chuckles along the way. Once each story is concluded it is down to you to decide what angle you want to take. Drum up paranoia? Deliver the news? Or a little bit of both?
The player is presented with a number of preset possible choices for the headline, the content, the reveal, and the conclusion, these are rated by how well they attract an audience, impact the paper’s reputation etc and it is fun trying to optimise the outcome.
The events themselves are goofy like a cat show, where everyone unquestioningly votes a dog as the winner of the show. All the characters have tons of dialogue and pushing for certain questions or making certain comments will unlock different paths for the newspaper report.
Being a space game full of aliens and robots, there is also a really diverse storyline with the game taking a humourous but thoughtful look at identity, journalistic integrity and even worker rights. It never gets dour but there is stuff to chew over.
There are also side quests and elements of romance that again, given that it is a story about a robot being a journalist, feels both irreverent and respectful. My personal favourite was getting to know the weight-lifting obsessed journalist.
With all of the narrative stuff being strong, I do have some reservations about the gameplay. The way each level is set up – the reporter can talk to anyone in any order, and the depending on the dialogue choices different venues will open up. There are hints as to what the player should do, but it does feel like a bit of a crapshoot with the dialogue options. Maybe this is intentional, talking to people in real life doesn’t guarantee a straight answer, but in a game it is frustrating to feel like you are picking choices seemingly at random.
There are also some weird moments with inputs, while skipping through dialogue I would sometimes find myself also picking a random choice before I had time to read it, like there was no delay before accepting button presses for key choices. This only further makes the options feel unfair and random.
That is not enough to diminish the fun that can be had in Times and Galaxy but it does add a few caveats to the experience.
Conclusion
An engaging sci-fi comedy with a lot of laughs. For fans of the point-and-click genre this will be a blast, despite some minor foibles.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
