"Last Stop" is a game about the extraordinary things that happen to ordinary people. Set on the streets of London, the game features four very different characters whose ordinary lives are suddenly caught up in a supernatural phenomenon. It is an offbeat mixture of the mundane and the fantastic: one minute you are making a cup of tea, and the next you are tumbling through a portal to another dimension. It's also one of the most authentic depictions of England I've seen in a video game, and the realistic, understated setting makes the moments when things turn strange seem all the more eerie.

Developed by Variable State, the studio behind the minimalist detective adventure Virginia, Last Stop is a game with a linear, tight narrative. You tell the characters what to say through dialogue, occasionally moving them through heavily choreographed scenes, and not much else. In this sense, the game is very limited. Interaction is minimal and, for the most part, almost meaningless. So much so that I wish I could just sit back and enjoy the story without lifting the controller or turning the analog stick pointlessly to make the character scoop cereal out of the bowl with a spoon.

"Last Stop" has the feel of an anthology, with three loosely connected stories that intersect in the final chapter. John and Jack's story is the funniest, as is the playful episode of "The Twilight Zone." John is a middle-aged single father with heart problems and a government job he hates. Jack is a hilarious, fitness-loving, 20-something video game developer. And for reasons too complicated to explain, their brains are swapped. Their acceptance of this, their attempts to live each other's lives, and their search for a way to regain their physical bodies is a source of great comedy. But there are also powerful emotional developments, especially when John's health and his daughter are involved.

Meanwhile, high school girl Donna and her friends follow a mysterious man to an abandoned swimming pool and discover he has inexplicable psychic powers. This story is not compelling. I never quite understood why they were keeping this man locked up and what they were going to do with him. But Donna's relationships and family issues are much more interesting and relatable. Weird magic stories aside, "Last Stop" has a knack for telling small, human stories that feel real and natural. I truly felt an emotional connection to Donna's unrequited love and anxiety over her mother's illness.

Meena is a former soldier, working for a technology company that has a lucrative contract to supply robots to the military. But I like that this aspect of her life is not the main focus of the story, which is largely an affair with a doctor. Meena is a great character. Meena is a great character. She is tough, cynical, self-centered, selfish, and mostly indifferent to it all. It is refreshing (and surprising) to play such a fierce, flawed, sexually autonomous older woman in a video game.

When the three stories finally collide, the tone of "Last Stop" changes so abruptly that one wonders if they are playing the same game. The ridiculous final chapter is certainly a fun and unexpected ending, but I couldn't help but feel that it was so outlandish that it cheapened a bit the nuanced and heartfelt drama that led up to it. The Last Stop ultimately fails to strike an elegant balance between the more outlandish elements of the story and the interesting people at the center of it all. But despite these difficulties, it's a story that I've been thinking about long after I've finished watching it and the credits have rolled. I really love these characters.

I just wish there was more to the story. The QTE-style interactions felt clumsily added and did not give the sense of actually controlling the character. Interactions such as tapping a bumper to sprint or rotating a stick to stir a cup of tea lacked tactility. The cluttered environments with a compelling sense of life are great, but there is no opportunity to explore them to uncover details about the story or the characters. There are so many things in Jack's bedroom that I want to read or pick up, but all I can do is walk incessantly to the trigger of the next scene. So the world feels disappointingly static, despite being rich in sharply observed details that are especially familiar to anyone who has lived in the UK.

"Last Stop" is one of the least satisfying narrative games I've played in terms of the mechanics that underpin everything. It's really basic compared to the earlier Telltale games. But everything else is great: an engaging plot, stylish direction, natural-sounding voice acting, small, snappy production values, and a sublime orchestral score. So it's really hard to tell. If you're expecting a highly interactive, open-ended story where your actions have an impact, you'll be disappointed. But if you're just happy to be told a fun story with a realistic depiction of modern London, sprinkled with a little spooky magic, there's a lot to like in this production. Just be wary of its ending.