‘Mind the Gap’ is a famous safety slogan associated with London’s Underground rail network, but in Last Stop some more useful advice would be ‘never mind the gap, there’s a bloody portal to another dimension down here’. The story is character-driven and focuses on three locals living on a fictionalized Piccadilly line in London. Each of them are influenced by the mysterious gateway deep below the British capital. Although Last Stop’s quick-time events and cinematic camera angles give it some serious Heavy Rain-style choose-your-own adventure vibes, I felt like I had as little control over the outcome as a passenger on the 5 :25pm flight to Heathrow.
Last Stop is divided into six separate stories. The final chapter brings the three stories together to form a single climax. It is impossible to read a single story in one go. You must complete all three chapters before unlocking the next. However, you can choose the order you want to play each chapter. It’s not an easy choice. The stories are largely isolated from one another until the last moments. I didn’t notice a difference in the order I dealt with each chapter. Last Stop could easily have been a series of linear chapters that jumped back and forth between characters, much like a George RR Martin book. It would not have affected the story’s overall flow.
Each tale has distinct tonalities, which adds some contrast to the flow of each chapter. Domestic Affairs is about Meena, a working professional, and her struggles with infidelity, being absent from her children, as well as her rivalry with a young, upstart for an office promotion. Although I enjoyed the adult drama, the lead was a bit self-absorbed.
Last Stop tells three fascinating stories in a vibrant view of London. However, the superficiality of its dialogue options, redundant quick-time events, and the lack of depth in its dialogue options made it feel like I was only pushing buttons to play the next scene, rather than having any real influence over the events that came after. Although there were some memorable scenes, the lively voice cast and the orchestral soundtrack made it worth the effort. However, I felt that the six hours spent on Last Stop could have been used to make a dent in the stream of TV shows blocking my watchlists.