Whilst I enjoyed the concept, I had huge difficulty with the story. I didn't see why it was necessary for the protagonist to be doing anything, or what he was really doing there at all. Seems to me that if your accomplice has been murdered, your choices are to either escape the train as soon as possible, or try to find the murderer. Cooperating with anarchists, terrorists, arms dealers and various other misfits seems to have no tangible connection to achieving either of those aims, and were totally ancillary.
It just didn't make sense, and that is why I never finished it (the last straw was when I found an egg that transforms into a magic golden bird, which apparently meant little at the time).
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To answer the comment above, I think Cath does the whole arms deal/firebird/gold thing in order to pass off successfully as Tyler. He wants to remain on the train to solve the murder, and in order to do that he has to pretend to be Tyler, thus the whole plot. The Magic Golden Bird though IS very much from left field, many agree.
Back on topic, I agree with the review. The characters and dialogue are the best part of the game, and the scheduling system makes the cast feel really alive. The plot itself is not the best, but it works (aside from the much-mentioned firebird). I think it's a game worth getting, for there is none other like it.
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A well-crafted and unusual game
To start on a shallow note: this game is really pretty. It's got an Art Noveau art style which is quite nice to look at and contributes to the period feel (and did I mention it was nice to look at)? The stylization also helped the game to age gracefully — it was made in 1997, but could easily be mistaken for something more recent. The voice acting and music are also quite solid.
Although it's an adventure game, the gameplay doesn't rely on the genre's usual stock of inventory puzzles and soup cans. You're never carrying many items around, and it's usually clear what needs to be used where; as for the more abstract kind of puzzle, there's only one and it's reasonably justifiable in plot terms. Instead, most of the challenge comes from figuring out where you need to be when in order to get the information you need, whether by talking to someone or sneaking into their room while they're out in order to paw through their private documents. The game's time keeps on moving no matter what you're doing and the NPCs all have their own agendas and schedules to follow, so it can be easy to miss things, but the game is very forgiving about letting the player go back and redo things.
The NPCs are nearly all fleshed-out characters in their own right, and they have their own stories, which may or may not relate to the overarching plot. The NPC Scheduling adds to the impression of them being people rather than devices who are there to serve a function. There are lots of little details that add to characterization; even the way they pass you in the corridor says something about them. The characters are definitely one of the best parts of the game, if not the best part.
It's a good thing that they're interesting, since the early stages of the plot are a bit slow-moving, though it picks up speed about halfway through. Overall, it's an engaging and well-researched espionage/political intrigue/murder mystery story, and the disparate threads come together fairly well. It's a shame that the Sequel Hook caused them to leave a number of dangling loose ends which will now never be resolved, but the story is still enjoyable in its own right.
For $6, this game is more than worth the price, and I highly recommend it, whether or not you're usually a fan of adventure games.