This morning, I hadn’t checked Itch.io in a while and finally returned to see that Chattercap made a new game! A game that’s a take on Pygmalion and Galatea but in Chattercap style? Let me at it!
So, I bookmarked it for after work and it didn’t disappoint.
—Spoilers—
So, because the ‘point’ in the description is to be the ‘perfect girlfriend’ I played the role the first time. I knew a guy who was …exactly like this dude so it was hilarious to see her reactions to all the things he would say and do…but it was also interesting playing this route first because I missed the loop mechanics (forgive me for calling them ‘loop’ mechanics, I just played two other games with similar mechanics this week and all three are so good ahhh!)
Of course, when I got to the end, I chose to live my own life, because I couldn’t do that to my lovely protagonist TT_TT. Imagine my surprise when I restarted for the other endings and realised exactly how he’s been tweaking the AI. Literally, brutally and…almost incompetently? removing your choices one by one because he lacks the competence to convince you or to even realise what the actual flaw is. It mimics violence (I assume this is the point) because rather than changing your mind, he’s removing your options–an entirely different and more sinister thing. So, the second ending I got was the outcome of repeated abuse. It’s depressing and fantastic and makes perfect sense. You’re literally trapped in a box with nothing to interact with aside from him, of course that’s the outcome to brute force.
So, then, admittedly, I went back and checked how many endings there were in case there was more than one left. With only one left, the final route became obvious and to me, this route is the most normal/common. Due to the pressure you’ve faced from all aspects of life, you are too afraid to leave. It’s such a common situation that so many people find themselves in and why I think it’s brilliant that you began the conversation about makeup–another thing that women often feels traps us. This game as a whole, is a fantastic statement on what it means to be a woman, and is also quite queer coded. I could see a trans person relating with the idea of being a doll, shaped like a femme, shaped like societal expectations. As a dark skinned woman of color, I’m often rejected from feminine society, by both women and men, so it’s definitely something I’ve had to think about. It makes me relate to the AI–not being ‘real’–I often feel like I’m not a woman, 😅 and like I need to work extra hard to fit in (well, I used to, anyway.)
I noticed that you never see the masculine figure, which I think was brilliant, while also thinking it’s brilliant that you do see the feminine because the entire point is that body. Between the man wanting a perfect body for his ‘wife’ to the AI wanting to escape the box and have it’s own body, to how that body is treated depending on your ending. It’s chef’s kiss.
The last time I played a game about Galatea I was like, 12, and it was also a text adventure. Pretty cool. Thanks for a great game as always, Cattercap! Sorry for the long post, and I didn’t even bring up the art aaa
EDIT: AAA I forgot to mention the Aspect Voices (sorry, didn’t know what else to call these) but it’s so cool that each identity had it’s own voice! NOW I’M DONE FOR REAL AAA