“Open Roads” is an adventure mystery-thriller game crafted by the Open Roads Team and brought to players by Annapurna Interactive. It hit the shelves for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on March 28, 2024. The game features Keri Russell and Kaitlyn Dever lending their voices to the main characters. Despite its star-studded cast, Open Roads garnered a mixed bag of reviews from critics.
In terms of gameplay, Open Roads leans heavily into the walking simulator genre. Players step into the shoes of Tess, navigating through an immersive environment ripe for exploration. Objects scattered throughout the world can be examined closely, triggering interactions between Tess and her mother, Opal, often depicted through charming hand-drawn cutscenes. These interactions may involve engaging in dialogue trees where players must select from various options, occasionally influencing subsequent conversations in subtle ways. Some areas within the game may be inaccessible initially, prompting players to devise alternative methods for entry.
Overall, Open Roads offers a narrative-driven experience where players uncover the mysteries of the environment through exploration and interaction. The game’s focus on dialogue and exploration adds depth to the storytelling, inviting players to immerse themselves in the unfolding narrative as they traverse the world alongside Tess and Opal.
In 2003, 16-year-old Theresa “Tess” Devine, portrayed by Kaitlyn Dever, assists her single mother, Opal, played by Keri Russell, in clearing out their Greenville, Michigan home following the passing of Opal’s mother, Helen, and the subsequent sale of the house. While sorting through items in the attic, Tess stumbles upon a hidden compartment containing a small key and a postcard addressed to Helen from an unidentified man, hinting at a romantic relationship after Helen’s husband Leo’s death. Tess deduces that the key may unlock something at the family’s summer house and persuades Opal to embark on a road trip to investigate, despite Opal’s initial reluctance. Along the journey, their conversations reveal Opal’s struggles to plan for their future living arrangements and her reluctance to share details about her divorce with Tess.
Upon reaching the dilapidated summer house, Tess and Opal use the key to open Helen’s old rolltop desk, discovering a note with an address in Ontario, Canada, and a revelation suggesting that the note’s author, Pierre Lautrec, might be Opal’s biological father. Encouraged by Tess, Opal agrees to extend the road trip to Canada. During the trip, tensions rise as Tess inadvertently upsets Opal by revealing her plans to visit her father, with whom she shares a close bond. In response, Opal discloses that she divorced her husband due to his aspiration to become a professional poker player in Nevada, a decision that Tess learns of for the first time. Upon reaching the Canadian address, Tess and Opal find an abandoned houseboat, littered with clues indicating Pierre’s anticipation of Helen’s arrival and his possible involvement in burglaries in Michigan. Discovering a mailbox key, Tess locates a letter from Pierre confessing his role in the burglaries and revealing that he is, in fact, Leo, who faked his death with Helen’s cooperation to start a new life in Canada. However, Helen backed out at the last moment, leaving Leo alone and desolate on the boat. Though Tess suggests that Leo may still be alive, Opal decides to return home, grateful to Tess for prompting her to confront the truth about her past.
