Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today (2015)

Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today (2015) developed by Fictiorama Studios, published by Daedalic Entertainment

It's the standard waking up with no memory of anything that has happened before opening when Michael finally opens his eyes after nightmares of people calling out for him, urging him to remember. The world has gone to hell in between his awakening and the point that caused him amnesia. It doesn't take long for him to learn from his host Rod, who nurtured him alive, that he is what is known as a blankhead, a form of amnesia caused by the Great Wave, an anomaly perpetually visible in the sky, which has shredded the world as we knew it before. 

Michael finds himself in a concentration camp meant for people with no other people to go to. The army has rounded up anyone with no housing or significant skills to the camp, nothing else to expect but their demise, be it on violence, sickness or disaster. The army doesn't really care which. 

From the first step outside, Michael learns the lay of the land. He sees a man shot dead when the cleaning unit forcefully takes a sick person contracted with Dissolving, a nasty disease caused by the anomaly which in the end liquefies people. Those with the sickness are the only ones, who the army doesn't want among the general populace, but once they take them, they are not seen again ever again.  

The first task Michael gets from his gracious host is to find a fabled cure for the Dissolving. Rod's son Colin has been affected by the disease, so Michael does feel obligated to help on the grounds of Rod saving his life. With that goal in mind, he slinks deeper into the chaos that is the cruel, dystopian world after the Great Wave. Soon he finds out, that the old morals don't apply anymore, so to find out who he was and if there is a cure, he finds himself doing what is necessary.

Dead Synchronicity is not, as you might imagine, a feel-good adventure romp. It's a dark and grim tale about humanity at its worst. A post-apocalyptic dystopian story laced with violence and insanity just as the stories of this nature usually are. It is a world where the strong lord over the weak just because there is no one to stop them.

Overall, Dead Synchronicity is a well-made game with fairly logical puzzles and a solid narrative and good voice acting. I would recommend it for any fan of the genre if you can stomach a story of this nature. The biggest bummer about it is, that the story ends with an abrupt cliffhanger, as this was meant to be the first part of an episodic release. There was some talk about a sequel a couple of years back, but one has not yet materialized, so it might take a while before continuation.

If there's something negative, it's that the game structure requires quite a bit of walking back and forth between the same locations. This isn't a huge problem as such, as you usually have a good idea of what you need to do in order to solve a puzzle, you just don't know when you are going to get the things to actually solve the puzzle. As the story is divided into 4 chapters, you might find a puzzle as early as in the 1st chapter, so all you can really do is to try and keep an eye on the possible solution.

The story that sets in motion does have an ending of sorts, but the greater mystery of the world gone to hell as well as the time travel elements of it are mostly left unexplored, waiting for the sequel. And while it would be nice to say, that a sequel is on its way to conclude the story in full, it is possible, that it won't happen.

Despite that, I'd recommend checking it out. While it is only the first part of a larger story, it should offer around 5 to 6 hours of content. And maybe, perhaps, hopefully, at some point this tale is concluded at some point in the future. The game is available for most Windows, Linux, Mac's, PS4, Andoird and Nintendo Switch, so feel free to pick a store of your choice.