UPDATE:

Ahhhh..... dammit.

Okay. Okayokayokay. Having played past the first chapter—then all the way to the end—I'm forced to admit that...

...actually this was really enjoyable?

Let's be clear: The "game" part of the game is... very slight. I know FMV games are often considered just interactive movies, and that's definitely the case here—even if the actual interactions aren't impressive. As other reviews have pointed out: The very first puzzle is jaw-droppingly dumb. The very last puzzle is overly complex AND aggravatingly obtuse. And the ones inbetween? Mostly just a matter of "find the next thing to click to progress the story".

But weirdly enough, everything beyond that? Surprisingly damn compelling, to be honest. Yes, the story has a decent amount of cheese. A couple of characters are fairly hammy. But the sets look good, the dialogue can often sound pretty genuine, and the lead actor absolutely elevates the material.

Plus?

Holy crap that's some shockingly impressive queer representation back in friggin' 1996!

In the end, I wound up enjoying this WAY more than I could have imagined.

Give it a try. You might too.

————————

(Original review posted after only playing through Chapter 1):

What the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥ is this nonsense.

Try to look away from this confounding car crash.
I dare ya.
I triple dare ya.
You cannot.

Do I recommend this experience?
Well.
The word "recommend" would be debatable.
But it is definitely... an experience.















((69,105 thumbs up for Blob the Rat)))

Brain bendy in all the best ways.

A danger with logic puzzles is that you don't know until you attempt them whether the puzzles are fair, or more along the lines of "how TF was anyone supposed to figure that out?"

This one? Hard—but fair!

I have bought and played hundreds of games on Steam.

I have never requested a refund before today.

Learning the names of objects and then remembering/reciting them back? That I can get behind.

On the other hand, expecting players to hear an entire sentence and then later recite it from memory, WHEN IT HASN'T TAUGHT YOU THE INDIVIDUAL WORDS, is staggeringly stupid. Are we expected to hear a sentence (spoken rapidly) and somehow store in our memory *dozens* of syllables—with NO context whatsoever? In the correct order and with correct pronunciation, even?

The premise is so colossally wrongheaded that I'm (appropriately) speechless.

The meat of the game is a pretty fun and interesting metroidvania with some unique mechanics.

Unfortunately, as has been mentioned in other reviews, the boss battles are *punishingly* hard, with a difficulty curve that goes almost vertical. You'd better be skilled at using one stick to dodge all the threats in a *very* small space, another stick to frantically aim at the enemy at the exact same time, and firing on top of that.

If that sounds fun for you, have a blast. After retrying the same boss fight more than a dozen times, I noped out.