Expelled! Review

Developer: inkle Ltd

Platform: iOS, macOS, PC (Reviewed), Switch

Genre: Adventure, RPG

Publisher: inkle Ltd

Expelled! is a narrative-driven investigation game developed and published by inkie Ltd. The same developers previously made a game called Overboard! but rather than someone being pushed off a boat, the school prefect has been pushed out the window! The review was done on Windows, but the game is also available for Switch, iOS, and macOS.

In Expelled! You play as a scholarship student named Verity Amersham, who is being framed for pushing the school prefect out the window. Suspicions fall on Verity as she always tried to be good, making her the perfect person to be responsible for the death of the school prefect. Every action made in this game will truly change the course of the ending the player receives.

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With the use of a controller, at times, the game would not progress forward when pressing a button, which did get a bit annoying. I did, however, find that the game plays just as well on the keyboard as not much interaction is required besides having to choose dialogue choices and look at information for the items in your inventory.

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Expelled! has a vibrant art style that resembles something out of a comic. The game itself is set in 1922 and is brought to life by the clothes, hairstyles, and speech each character entails. Expelled! does a splendid job at creating character portraits with expressive details that match their dialogues. Without the game being fully voice-acted, having stunning character portraits alongside the text really gets the tone of the message across, which is highly important in understanding how each character interacts. The game features beautiful artwork that has soft brush strokes, shading, and linework to bring out the storybook charm. The visuals almost seem like stickers coloured in with fine pencils that add another depth to the game. I do, however, love the choice of the colour palette, which creates a vibrant atmosphere in some scenarios to a more gloomy, dark tone.

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As I said earlier, the whole game is not voice-acted except for the main character Verity, who is voiced by Amelia Tyler from Baldur’s Gate 3. I thought the voice of the character matched nicely with Verity’s design, and not having her read each and every dialogue was quite a nice balance. The game is filled with stellar music and classy, hyped jazz melodies that fill the background as you read through several conversations. In most cases, I felt as if I was reading a book with my headphones on that worked seamlessly well.

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The aim of the game is for you to be a good student by being completely perfect. Depending on the choices you make, you can easily become not-so-perfect, which is tracked through a counter at the top left of the screen. As you progress through the game, you can also choose to pocket items that can be used later on. One of the features I like in this game is that after certain interactions, you get an overview of what the other character feels. For instance, I had initially made some not-so-perfect choices, but because I attended the chapel, my perfect counter was reset, which was very interesting. Morality is a big part of this game as you are keen on seeing these big red choices, but that can bring Verity closer to expulsion, which gives players several choices and paths to choose from. The game has the same in-game time system where you move from one location to another, which will allow you to meet various characters at different times.

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A main feature of Overboard! is a time loop, which allows players to learn about past mistakes and get an idea of how to take on the next run. Expelled! features the same repeatability where a playthrough of each run can last between 30 to 45 minutes. The repeatability aspect of Expelled! is what keeps the player interested. After completing one saint run that keeps Verity from being expelled, you can easily make alternative decisions that will get Verity expelled. The game has several pathways, and this gives the game a great replayability factor. There is a slight downside to that replayability where, after several runs, you do run into the same conversations, but that is bound to happen if you wish to uncover every secret event/ending.

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At first Overboard! and Expelled! seemed like stand-alone games, but there is more to what meets the eye. As you begin the game by uncovering the mystery the school has to offer, you start learning more about the cross-links between the two games which are unexpected and thrilling. I do have to say that the developers never disappoint when it comes to telling a story that keeps the player wanting more. Being able to have full control over a story that uncovers all sorts of secrets in a school is fascinating. I would 100% recommend this game to anyone, as you get great value out of a text-adventure game!

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Expelled! is an outstanding narrative-driven game that keeps You from being expelled for something you were not even responsible for. The game features stunning storybook-like visuals, a thrilling story, an insane amount of replayability and a jazzy soundtrack to keep the players on their toes. If you have played Overboard! previously then you need to look into this game. And if you have never heard of either game, be sure to check out Expelled!

Overall: 9/10