3/5 ★ – PhatBaby's review of That's not your Neighbor.

It's a neat concept, just a little too bare-bones. It's hard, cause when you're trying to create a fun nod to Papers Please, you're up against a gauntlet of really damn creative and interesting games, and this IS interesting. It's just not got the escalation that makes these kinds of games fun. They're supposed to really test your observation skills, but after a few runs, you have everything you need. Look at one thing, look at another thing, check it past stored information and then accept or deny. I think the major problem is that Papers Please not only invented this concept, but also went on to pose compelling, morally probing questions that completely tear down the gamification of it. It says, okay, your observation skills will be tested! Be observant, accurate and precise! And just as you're getting that down, it's like, okay, but now what if I told you this passport belongs to a refugee that hasn't eaten in three days, lost their entire family to a war your country started and doesn't quite have the documentation to get through the border? Now, should you be precise and flawless? Your family need to eat, but so does this refugee. So, do these video games rules you've been told to follow matter at all? It makes the games inspired by it always feel like they're missing the beating heart of why that inspiration was such a masterpiece. And this does TRY to replicate that. There's an entire mechanic that focuses on your mistakes leading to people in the building dying. But it's so hard to make a mistake in the first place, and when you do, there are no ramifications. Their neighbours and their loved ones don't care. Hell, a young girl in my game bit the bullet and her sister rocked up the next day lookin' like she'd just won the lottery. Maybe she absolutely hated that little shit, I don't know, but it feels like there was more here that could've made it something special. But it's definitely not bad. Art style is fun, the doppelganger shtick is a sweet lil' spin and, even if Lucas Pope isn't making me question whether I'm a boot licking slave to the whims of a corrupt dictatorship, there's something very entertaining about checking some good ol' documents. Yes, I'm so cooked that verifying paperwork is now more engaging to me than shooting aliens in the face with a rocket launcher.