Oracle

Oracle is a walking simulator set on a large, open-world island where players explore various landmarks to uncover a fragmented narrative. The game offers a serene atmosphere with calming piano music and decent ambient sounds, aiming to provide a relaxing exploration experience. However, many players found the story confusing, obscure, or pretentious, making it difficult to follow or emotionally engage with the protagonist's monologues.

Graphically, the game has mixed reception: while some appreciate the landscapes and environmental design, numerous reviews point out frequent graphical glitches, floating objects, poor draw distance, repetitive textures, and invisible walls that hinder exploration. Movement speed is notably slow, and sprinting offers minimal improvement, which some players found frustrating. Technical issues such as clipping, lack of swimming mechanics, and occasional game-breaking bugs further detract from the experience.

Overall, Oracle is considered a low-budget, somewhat unfinished title with charm for walking sim enthusiasts willing to overlook its flaws, but it is not recommended for those seeking a polished narrative or gameplay.

Highlights

Players praised Oracle's beautiful and calming environments, including detailed landscapes, water effects, and atmospheric lighting changes from day to night. The ambient music and piano soundtrack received positive remarks for enhancing the relaxing mood. The voice acting, while uneven, was sometimes described as decent and adding to immersion. The open-world design allows free exploration, with 24 landmarks triggering narrative pieces and achievements, appealing to completionists. For its low price, many felt it provided reasonable value as a brief, tranquil walking simulator experience.

Criticisms

Common criticisms include confusing and poorly written story elements that many players found pretentious, incoherent, or difficult to follow. The game suffers from numerous technical issues such as graphical glitches, floating objects, invisible walls, limited draw distance, and lack of environmental polish. Movement is painfully slow with ineffective sprinting, which some found tedious. The absence of swimming mechanics despite underwater exploration, lack of meaningful interaction, and incomplete or inaccessible areas (e.g., buildings, mountain castles) diminish engagement. Several reviewers noted the game feels unfinished and rushed, reducing replay value and overall enjoyment.