I often find that a game can win me over based on the visual style alone. Give me something visually interesting and I’m sold. I’ve shown my love for the PS1 visual style with many titles, but I can’t deny that something unique is even more appealing.

Frank and Drake won me over from the first trailer as the beautiful rotoscoped animation made it look like a game unlike anything I’d ever played before.

But is the game any good?

Many thanks to the publishers for the review copy.

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Frank and Drake is a narrative adventure game that puts you in the shoes of the two titular characters. Both of them share an apartment, but don’t really see each other due to how each of their lives work. Frank is the building superintendent who so happens to suffer from amnesia (a trite plot contrivance to be sure, but one that later proves to serve its function); whereas Drake is a bartender that happens to be allergic to sunlight.

Even though they never meet due to their circumstances, they both experience visions and have mysteries surrounding their lives that may be resolved by working together via a series of sticky notes. It’s a supernatural mystery at its heart, and one that proves compelling right until the very end. The multiple pathways mean that all the questions may not be answered by the end of your first playthrough, but the game encourages you to replay in order to piece everything together by making different choices.

Screenshot

The main selling point of the game, other than the intriguing narrative premise, is the aforementioned visual style. Using rotoscope animation (where they trace over live action video to create a sense of realism), the game has that uncanny look that brings back memories of old adverts and music videos. It’s a really appealing look that is particularly unique considering that it never really gets used these days.

What makes the rotoscoping works so well is that it bleeds into the gameplay too. The game feels like a simplified point and click adventure where you can pick up and examine objects as well as interact with the environment, and the rotoscoping’s shimmering effect is used to highlight interactable objects. It’s really subtle and makes it obvious where to click without ever feeling like it’s a big arrow saying ‘click here!’

That’s not to say that working your way through the game is a complete breeze. It’s true that it is more of a narrative experience, but there are moments where your path forward isn’t overly clear. Some baffling design choices resulted in me scratching my head and clicking everything until I finally found a way forward. These moments are quite infrequent, however, although they do break up the flow of the game when they do happen.

Set over an in-game week, your time with Frank and Drake won’t take too long to clear; however, your first playthrough is only part of the story. With branching paths frequently throughout, it’s a game that encourages you to play through multiple times if you want to experience everything. It’s slow paced nature deterred me from doing so straight away, but I know that having that available will make me return to it at some point to experience something different. 

VERDICT
Frank and Drake tells a slow-paced story of two troubled individuals that are destined to never meet. It may not offer anything particularly innovative or interesting in terms of gameplay, but the visual style alone definitely makes this warrant a playthrough for those looking for a supernatural mystery that will keep them hooked until the very end.