A truly insightful and inspiring game. I wish I could forget it and start over from scratch.

It covers three months of the summer of 1996 in a made-up authoritarian regime that has grown stronger after the radical opposition was accused of a terrorist attack. Now it's a broken society headed by an irreplaceable president, and the next election is approaching in a tense atmosphere. Out of habit, fear, and repression, the current president is expected to win. Yet a minority still holds out hope for the protest candidate, while some are preparing to rally against the government, and the most radical ones are making bombs.

During that melting summer, teenagers are fleeing the country, preferring to try their luck on Road 96, illegally crossing the closed border, rather than grow up in such hopeless surroundings. You don't know their reasons, but can only try to help them survive along the way, switching to a new ward after the previous one has succeeded... or failed in any way. In this desperate road movie, you're destined to meet new people, make decisions you'll regret, unravel the intertwined stories of core characters, and ultimately confront a future for the state forged by your choices. Most of the road events are random, so each playthrough will be different. Oh, one more thing... there is a KILLER on the road.

At the same time, it's not too serious. You're free to enjoy road trips, wonderful music, humorous scenes with interesting characters, and some light arcade-style encounters — no need to overthink it if you don't want to. Just savor the summer vibes, or go further, if that's your intention. Because there are also a bunch of serious questions posed: Is every social action political, like the quote "everything is political" from another game suggests? What is the value of one’s life compared to the "greater good"? And you can dig deeper and deeper.

It’s not the ending that matters; the whole thing feels more like a meditative observation of your own reflections along the path.