Mars – Mars Underground‘s protagonist – could be worse off: a new school means there’s an opportunity to make new friends and leave what was/happened behind. Because everyone has something they’d rather just wasn’t, didn’t happen, or some such. Unfortunately for Mars, something causes him to relive the same day, over and over, the world ending with the arrival of nighttime, everything resetting the following morning.
Unless Mars finds a way to break that vicious cycle, of course, which is going to take some serious doing. Oh, and chances are, it’ll also involve several ‘resets’, to get everything ready. At least that’s what I’m thinking, based on the fact that the demo emphasizes how, in the full version, you won’t actually lose everything each time the world ends. Intriguing, and likely… a tad confusing.
On a related note, there are quite a few things/people to interact with, as well as plenty of choices to make as you go along, attending school and visiting the various available areas. In a way, unless I’m mistaken, said choices actually define available actions and locales, your behaviour determining exactly what you can and can’t do over the course of that one day.
Hence my comment regarding completion requiring several ‘resets’, as you simply won’t be able to get everything done in one… well, playthrough. Simpler actions like leaving the TV on or visiting a specific house might not change the world, but there are those that will open up new paths – including certain dialogue options. You’ll likely see what I mean sooner rather than later.
Oh, and don’t forget that being stuck in a time loop like this, where everything resets on a daily basis, means (almost) nothing will have lasting consequences. Except for, you know, items picked up and notes acquired. But getting hit by a car, pissing off the wrong person, and other things you’d normally never even consider? All up for grabs. Just don’t forget that there’s also a plot to progress, in Mars Underground.