(Review originally written for MAY WOLF 2024)

The production values are impressive for a game jam project – the sprites are plentiful and detailed, music & background images suit the story, and the fully custom UI is a nice touch. The prose feels good to read, too, with the English version repeating words sometimes being the biggest nitpick I can point out. (I particularly appreciate having the option to change the language right in the title screen, since God's silliest game engine Ren'py just hides it in the settings by default...)

The plot feels meaty but never overstuffed; there are a lot of scenes, characters, and locations, but everything serves its purpose. The jam theme is interpreted creatively, although you could grumble about the game not really engaging with the image itself that much. Still, it's just a very solid piece of writing, competently put together on a technical level and constantly enjoyable to read.

I think the biggest question mark is Roy just being so, so, unlikeable from the first time you meet him. It makes TUNING OUT read almost as an anti-narrative subversion of its classic VN premise – you hang out with the manipulative bad boy childhood friend, an archetypical character on several counts, and keep waiting for that moment when he gets complexity or some kind of explanation... and it just never comes. Even the most straightforward interrogation of why the protagonist is so into him only happens close to the end of the other route. I get the idea and enjoy the story a lot overall, but Roy's stuff does feel more compelling as an intellectual exercise in genre deconstruction than a dramatic narrative – it makes the point early and doesn't really elaborate on or complicate it in what follows.

(Fair warning: the game gets pretty labyrinthine with its choices, and I'm pretty sure I completed both main routes, but I can't say if I missed anything crucial!)

(Review originally written for MAY WOLF 2024)

The writing is generally pretty pleasant to read and feels polished; character voices are adequately distinct, descriptions do their job. In terms of pacing and structure, the opening feels quite weak – no need to do the whole "I just woke up" routine if there isn't life-savingly important setup in there – but the story moves fast enough after that.

Mostly, I think it just felt kind of impactless? While I get that the premise itself doesn't come with the highest of stakes, the whole thing feels so devoid of conflict and tension. Not every scene feels like it really progresses the central relationship, and both Callum and the protagonist feel ultimately quite flat as characters.

I think this kind of lowkey slice-of-life thing lives and dies by its style and flavor, and Beginning Anew with You might not quite be there. The writing is detail-oriented, yes, but it spends a lot of time talking about fictional video games and comparatively little fleshing out the setting and the characters. There's nothing straight up unenjoyable in the game, but for being more than 10 000 words long and having plenty of space to make its point, it feels like it's missing a hook, the memorable thing that makes it interesting to read.

A well crafted story, comfortable in the voice of the piece, and yet the pacing isn't quite right for the ending we arrive at. We needed more about the relationship whether by a bit longer of a story, or less focus on other elements. The visual part of the visual novel was a bit spartan, but I think the clean writing and understanding of what your plot needed to do to hit your payoff and mostly stick the landing is laudable. 

A promising satire on the "genre" that isn't willing to commit to the bit, bowing out early from embracing the surreal question of "why are the most beloved characters the flattest?" and other similar inquiries, instead proceeding to negate that line of inquiry with a commentary on fears over a date vis-a-vis  a dream.

Best enjoyed prior to the ending, just like the namesake's preparation (al dente).

It has two references to me, was the only entry to use the Rudderbutts after all the trouble I went through and leveled up my foot/paw…

(Review originally written for MAY WOLF 2024)

The Canis Convalescence is brief, but not to its detriment; it feels appropriately scoped & paced and has a clarity to its arc. Only the middle section comes off as kind of rushed – with such a long in-story timeskip, I feel like the relationships could have been developed further, although I like the endings. There's a "grounded and understated drama... in space!!!" vibe to it that I really enjoy, and the 4th wall breaks feel tasteful and carefully placed enough to not detract from it.

Not a lot of polish issues, either – the writing voice is fine and even makes the unconventional 2nd person feel quite natural to read, and the art is nice. Background images being different aspect ratios looks a little weird, though; I feel like all of them could just have been cropped. Also, the complete lack of audio (unless my computer was acting up) is kind of a shame.

Just a very solid game overall – as a jam entry, it occurred to me just now that I didn't actively think about the theme while reading and am not sure how, if at all, it was implemented?

(Review originally written for MAY WOLF 2024)

First of all: oh my god, this thing is so stylish? Definite jam winner material at least in terms of production values; the attention to detail is amazing, and the entire medium is explored and used. A very jarring background image showing real-life humans might be the only visual misstep, as painting furries over photos is relatively common. It really feels like an oversight.

Though unfinished, the story's patient pacing and its willingness to go for big swings already show a confidence in storytelling I always appreciate. The direction is also just so sharp; visuals are always used with purpose and to emphasize what the narrative is saying. Something feeling like a cheap gimmick or too melodramatic is a risk when you have this much stuff going on, but One More Light remains steadily tasteful and controlled. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the amount of pauses – less could be more in this case, especially when the numerous animations already stop the flow of text every so often.

The prose is pretty good, too, despite typos and such being common enough to betray the fact that the game was made under a strict time limit. Character voices come with a sense of grounded realism, and I think the narration avoids feeling too flowery despite playing with a lot of different images and metaphors. The writing is pleasant to read all around and clearly pulling its own weight.

What else is there to say – very good, and very impressive for a game jam project. I have to confess to having liked the moody opening slightly more than the VN going all plot mode, but don't count that as me not being excited for more.

(Review originally written for MAY WOLF 2024)

Mostly, I think, the game's briefness works against it – with so many surreal non-sequiturs and scenes of characters telling what they're like instead of it being shown, it didn't really feel like as if they had actually been on a date, you know? Even this sort of primarily comedic piece benefits from an impression that you've been on a journey with the characters and witnessed things happen. RIP Harmony ultimately feels more like a collection of admittedly funny contextless moments than a narrative. I didn't really get the framing device, either.

Can't really say I had a bad time playing the game – it's engaging enough on a line-to-line basis. Such a short length just demands more of a clarity of purpose to every element for the final product to not feel entirely weightless.

(Review originally written for MAY WOLF 2024)

The premise feels fresh, and the prose is sharp – the opening line is great, one of the better ones I've seen in the jam so far. Without spending a lot of words, Wraith also manages to establish a striking mood and paint fairly believably character portraits. The biggest writing adjustment I'd make is keeping the lines a little shorter on average; some are long enough that they don't fit in the UI, and in general, I think visual novels read a little smoother with tight sentences that really drive you forward to the next text block.

Presentation-wise, the game is pretty plain. How the sprite is positioned unfortunately looks somewhat goofy, and the unedited backgrounds – many of which don't necessarily look like they belong together – don't really help avoid the impression that you're looking at a bunch of stock photos. The credits sequence is a nice bit of visual flair, but I would have liked seeing more of that in the actual story, too.

(As for the jam's theme: ??? maybe i'm just bad at reading but i didn't really notice anything that felt relevant)

(Review originally written for MAY WOLF 2024)

My apologies to the New World Symphony team, but the first "centerright" was possibly the funniest thing in the game, if not the jam in general. Though I was aware of the find-replace mishap, it slipped out of my mind after I got into the story and caught me off guard so hard I laughed until there were tears in my eyes. Sincerely, thank you all for this beautiful moment that perfectly embodies the spirit of game jams.

As for the actual content of the thing: the roughness of the prose (in terms of typos, grammar issues, etc) aside, I thought the writing was very good at sprinkling in little details and finding novel ways to phrase things. The characters, their relationships, and the dialog felt impressively textured and specific, and there was some genuine tension and drama to the final moments! All in all, though a careful editorial touch could make the VN a lot smoother to read, it has a voice, and that's always the most important thing. (That's enough caps lock, though.)

My biggest gripe is probably how the story is structured. It kind of unevenly slides from the first big scene to the second, not really feeling like an effective, fast-paced montage but not giving things enough time to breathe, either.

What else... the music, although pretty subdued, is nice, and I like how bold the CGs were with their use of color. How the jam theme is used feels so literal and on-the-nose it kind of loops back into being good? Pretty solid entry overall, and definitely has its charms beyond the already-iconic centerright/centerleft issue.

(Review originally written for MAY WOLF 2024)

I appreciate the boldness in sticking to a fairly monotone color palette and the clean, sleek UI. The VN is simply pleasing to look at despite having somewhat of a lean towards minimalism, and it gives and all the carefully scripted sprite animations and animated scenes a nice extra punch.

Narratively, A Rebound From MARS! takes a while to get going due to waiting for what feels like slightly too long to establish the stakes and the mechanics of the whole thing. Luckily, the comedy, the lush descriptions, and mining the conceit for some smart character moments keep it a breeze to read in spite of the gargantuan – by the jam's standards – length. Maybe it's just this being the first installment in my MAYWOLF2024 journey, but I didn't peruse the Itch page that thoroughly and was genuinely surprised to see this almost hit the word count limit.

As a jam entry, I think the game misses some opportunities to use the theme more thoughtfully; I can see the idea, so it wouldn't surprise to hear all that just didn't fit in.

Recommending a double feature with: UNDER THE SKIN (2013) dir. Jonathan Glazer

(Review originally written for MAY WOLF 2024)

Okay, can't lie, Macrophobia is more than a little rough around the edges in terms of visuals – see: the low-quality backgrounds & edits, the standard Ren'py interface, the title screen. But its kinetic, frenetic energy is nevertheless fun to see in a medium traditionally not built for those things. The premise of the story is a very visual one, and it's a big factor in the game's favor that this is reflected in the presentation as well.

With only what feels like the basic starting point to read at this point, it's impossible to judge the plot fairly. I will say, though, that the writing comes off as hurried and burdened by its concern for lore & logistics, with a lot of "as you know" dialog and dream sequence backstories and comparatively little characterization or depth. For something that makes the setting its central attraction, I wish it spent less time in exposition mode and had more room for the detailing and the vibes of the world to settle in.

Just sort of difficult to enjoy in this state, edging the reader with not much grace towards a payoff that never comes.

(Review originally written for MAY WOLF 2024)

It's what we like to see: a well-flowing story that uses a lot of classic tools (the three-act structure, the food/sex thematic intersection) to a great effect. There's a tangible sense of specificity to Donut Holes, too, both in how it considers the furgonomics of making donuts and how it portrays running a food truck in general.

The cartoony art style fits the vibe perfectly, and the character designs feel purposeful in their use of color & animal characteristics. Although the interpretation of the game jam's theme is not the most creative one, I like the effort & care put into its visual implementation – the thinnest variant feels almost unbalanced in how lanky it is, which really makes the later sprites pop. Simply a solid, thoroughly enjoyable package.

(Review originally written for MAY WOLF 2024)

It's nice to see something this formally ambitious in the jam. The result feels slightly clunky and underplaytested, however; how vague the feedback is and how easy it is to misinterpret as the game misleading you means that it's too easy to lose track of what you're doing and what you already tried. How much new text there is across iterations, tricking you into thinking you discovered something new or are on the right track, doesn't help. Simple as the underlying mechanism may be, the game doesn't communicate it well enough to provide compelling puzzle gameplay – I spent more time wondering how exactly this thing works (do you need to exhaust all options & see all text? do you need to make whatever the correct choices are just once, across multiple iterations, or during a single one?) than "solving" it. (as in, looking at the script because it was really just not fun anymore and i was afraid i had somehow misunderstood the point)

The prose gets points for style, even if the dialog in particular feels overwrought and rhythmically weak at times. Between that and the image choices and the audio design, there's definitely a mood successfully established. I don't mind the character portraits remaining quite thin – it feels purposeful. Those two guys who show up sometimes not amounting to a lot or not leaving much of an impression maybe feels like a slight misstep; there was room to exaggerate them a little just to juice up the character interactions.

As for the ending, I feel like it lacks the proper buildup to land as an anticlimax. The tension dissipates away in the "gameplay" portion, at least if you're spending a lot of time stuck in it, but it doesn't feel like this is taken into account – the story essentially goes from 0% to 100% and the abruptly ends. There's nothing too surprising or incongruent about the general nature of the climax, but it just doesn't feel like it follows from what comes before tonally.

Apathesis deserves praise for taking a big swing and its strong sense of style, but the final product is often too frustrating for its own good.