The Gallery

Today, much like mullets, the FMV is a niche prospect, but it is growing in popularity again. It's becoming a better fit for purpose in tandem with improvements in technology and streaming services, allowing for some more interesting and convenient delivery methods for the medium, blurring the lines of what a passive and interactive piece of media can be. The Gallery presents a compelling story, with some good tension, interesting concepts and even some decent jokes smattered in there, but it's the core concept of how the details shift through the two timelines that is its most compelling aspect. The marriage of content and the medium. Certainly, it would be recommended for an evening in with friends, which is a fair metric to judge it by.

An Insightful and Engaging Exhibition

A well-thought-out FMV experience is available to a broad spectrum of gamers regardless of your chosen format. Currently priced at £11.99 on the PlayStation store, it is definitely worth checking out. Let me know in the comments section below what you thought of The Gallery and whether are you a fan of this FMV experience. Personally, I enjoyed it more than I expected but there were a few things that I almost wish that I had not noticed. Not a game for everyone’s tastes as there are some sensitive topics. It is for this reason that The Gallery gets the coveted Thumb Culture Gold Award

I really enjoyed The Gallery. For a while now I have found the FMV genre a great palate cleanser between bigger, more gameplay-heavy titles. The story here is good, and it plays out with mostly good acting from a recognisable cast. Certain areas of the story can be picked at, and depending on your decisions you may not get the ending that you want, but I think you’ll enjoy the ride.

The Gallery is a game that appeals to FMV lovers and can be played at least 4-5 times. However, it should be noted that it won't be the first alternative for those who are newcomers to the genre.

Two different and tense stories from different eras come to life in this well-acted FMV game

Yet another success for Paul Raschid, The Gallery is a unique, poignant and often powerful FMV game set across both 1981 and 2021. With an engaging branching narrative, top class acting talent and quality of life tools to keep you playing, it’s a high quality entry into the genre. There are a few endings that fall flat, but when there are so many endings to unlock, this feels negligible.

Despite its flaws, there’s no denying that The Gallery is well made, and Paul Raschid continues to cement his position as a leader in the FMV space. We perhaps didn’t enjoy this as much as his other projects due to its sometimes-slow pacing, and its focus on art won’t be to everyone’s tastes. But in terms of production values, it’s hard to criticise. And it leaves us intrigued to see what Raschid is working on next.