A few years ago, the game Buckshot Roulette got my attention. It was a strange game in which you tried to outlast an opponent in Russian Roulette. The key difference was that you were using a shotgun instead of a pistol. So, when I heard about Final Sentence, I was instantly intrigued by its concept. This time, they took the idea of Russian Roulette and put you in front of a typewriter. Instead of a one-on-one duel, you’re competing against other players. The best typist wins. While the concept is great and the execution is on the mark, the game lacks a few things to keep you engaged.
Wake up in a room with a typewriter and a strange man with a gun to your head
The entire scenario in Final Sentence puts you in a room at a desk with a typewriter. The instructions are simple: type what’s in front of you. You’re not alone. There are other typists, all with the same instructions: type and hope you don’t die.
Now, every time you make a mistake, that puts you one step closer to a potential bullet in your head. By default, the battle royale mode gives you three mistakes in a section before a bullet gets added to a gun. So, you can make more than one mistake. But the stress of making a mistake can turn into many.
Sure, you can type at a slower rate to avoid mistakes. Unfortunately, you’re competing against other people, and their speed and efficiency matter. Because the person who finishes typing first wins. Because of that, you’re also hoping that your opposition makes mistakes so you can keep up.
A Battle Royale against bots
The developers created Final Sentence to be a battle royale. You’re meant to type off against up to 100 players. Yes, the developers designed the matches to accommodate up to 100 players. Unfortunately, you may never go beyond 40 players. Worst of all, chances are you’re competing against bots.
This game doesn’t have an audience at the moment. Looking at SteamDB charts, since it launched back in April, it’s only ever reached a peak of 335 players. On the days I was playing, we never had more than 14. Only a handful of times did I ever encounter another player in my match. Bots fill up the majority of the competitors. Because of that, winning is very easy as long as you don’t make too many mistakes.
On top of that, there is no narrative here. Even if this were a solitary 30-60 minute experience, it should keep the player engaged. Here, once you complete the round and survive, the match ends, and there is no incentive to continue. The game doesn’t explain why we’re in this room.
Needs a community or some content creator help
I was expecting the text to reveal something akin to a story. There are a few that seem like they are telling a story. One involves the Russian playwright, Anton Chekhov. But, because there are so many random nonsensical scripts, it’s hard to tell. If there is a story you reveal as you play, the game does a bad job of laying this out to the player.
A game like this would be a blast to play with friends. As a party game, I could see people enjoying competing to see who is the better typist. There are a ton of different scripts for you to copy. Some are lines from famous memes; others are random bits of gibberish. I once encountered a match that had me write in Latin. In another, we had to write out binary.
But most of all, this game needs players. This is the kind of game that needs to set a time frame for people to jump in and play. Most of all, it needs a social boost, with a content creator (Twitch Streamer) to play this with their audience. Under the right circumstances and audience, this could be a lot more popular. At the moment, there isn’t enough of a novelty to entice people to try it out.
I need more
Final Sentence is a great concept. The execution and lack of players hurt it. As a multiplayer-focused game, there aren’t enough people to play with. Bots don’t cut it, and there is no story for the solo player to engage with. If this game picks up and gains traction online, I’ll be back to play more. While this is worth checking out for the novelty, it will only hold your attention for 10-15 minutes.
