We're going to lead with the brief for the sake of others browsing this game - IHY,PS is one the best games we played in 2024, a year we finally got around to games such as Elden Ring, Hollow Knight, Both Portal games, and some other fantastic stuff we aren't gonna inflate this list with. The only reason it isn't hands down our favorite is that it's narrowly edged out by the Dev's previous work Slimes. (Mostly because Slimes linear nature allowed us to experience it with little time lost to trying to figure out what we were doing, but also it's extremely dark tone was simply delicious.)
If you are considering buying this game, you should. This game is nothing short of a masterpiece and it's honestly a steal even at full price.
Now that we've written enough to hopefully be under the read more, lets get into a more full review with some light spoilers. Read further at your own caution.
This game perfectly captures how it feels to be a mid 20s to 30's something without purpose. It's how it feels to be crushed under the weight of capitalist society, how it feels to lose the little security you have, how hard it is to scrap together the pieces in the wake of losing a once stable life, and how meaning is made, not found. All of these themes are iterated time and again throughout not just the main party members, but just about everyone you interact with. It goes into the various ways people cope with such loss, across a spectrum of unhealthiness.
And this is a game about getting better.
There is an undeniable and powerful emotional core here, and it's the kind of thing that will have you rethink your life, asking the same questions the characters do - Am I happy as I am? Can I build a life where I am? Can I grow past my hurt? Can I do it even though it's a struggle?
And what a struggle it is, one that comes across clear to the player. The hardest part of this journey is undoubtedly the beginning - getting the ball rolling in the first few feels a lot like trying to get out of debt in real life, but once you do, once you have people supporting you, it gets easier. And the more people you have supporting you the easier it all gets. It does help that even comes in the romantic flavor, but more on that in a second.
Speaking of, the characters themselves are all masterfully done and memorable. Even many of the side characters are immediately distinct and endearing, or obnoxious/off-putting, as per narrative need. All help further thematic core at the heart of IHY,PS - Building a life where you are happy is painful, hard work, but it is worth it. (also you don't have to do it alone)
We also want to highlight how much it means to us to see so much authentic queer representation in a game that's not really 'about' such a thing. Sure, Ramona, the main character, is a trans woman and often has to deal with transmisogyny and an emotionally abusive mother who doesn't accept her, but the focus always feels focused on building happiness in her life. Three of the four party members are even bisexual and poly - as a bi poly trans woman there were a lot of moments we got all giddy over. The ending we got, Vodka scene, and Imposter fight being absolute highlights. But again, the focus is always on making a life you want to live, realizations of identity are merely the shape it takes, not the pure function of the story.
It's honestly hard to think of any real criticism to lodge with the game. Sure the beginning is easily the hardest part of the game, and getting you first few hundred dollars is a struggle, but it all works perfectly in a ludonarrative sense. Personally, we would have liked it if there was another transwoman besides Ramona given there are three transmasc people, but that's not much of a complaint. A trans woman MC in a game that isn't explicitly about being a trans woman is rare enough. If we had to point out something, it's that occasionally quests would break, and that finding quest NPCs on the randomized floors even with the fast resetting of the smoke bombs quickly gets tiresome.
In all, this was an absolutely perfect game, and we're looking forward to replaying it to explore it's many paths.
This is the part where the review breaks down a little cuz we've been writing this on and off for four days now and have more stuff we wanna say but cant be fucked with, so apologies that this is a bit scattered:
Ramona hits almost too close to home in a lot of ways, and her knife fighting being a weeb thing is fucking hilarious. Kyrie is simply one our fave characters in anything ever and serial killer that masks as girlie pop is just delicious. Devon is a cutie, would love to show him my vinyl collections and talk music, we think he'd really dig our instrumental post metal collection. Jasper kinda grew on us with just wild they are with the whole casual admittance of having been in a cult and other such moments. Becoming broken in the mid to late game feels really good after the struggles of early game. Really liked the various other groups of adventurers and their different dynamics and how this made the world feel alive, especially the soft time limit on random side quests being them taking the quests in your stead. Maybe the first game to get us to do fanart of anything besides Vocaloid.
10/10, S tier game, made us rethink our life. Thank you for the food, and we can't wait to see what you do next~ <3
I was recommended this by a friend some time ago. Honestly not even sure who as it was so long ago, but we threw it in a doc of games, where it sat unassumingly for a few months. I'm a small time indie vtuber, and like to maintain a list of indie games to pull from. Yesterday was my 2 year streamerversary, and I thought doing a variety of indie horror games and some runescape to wind down would be perfect. The listing said this was 3-4, and we were intrigued, so we tossed it in for the first slot.
Eleven and a half hours later, we are sitting in silence as we recover from one of best games we've played in a long, long time.
This game is nothing short of a triumph. The themes of how religion is oft used as both yoke and whip by the abusive and oppressive being present down the very party mechanics had me literally giddy at how good it was. I felt awful in the most wonderful way. I choked up a few times. It was divine.
Trying to think of any actual criticism feels like grasping at straws. We did soft lock ourselves twice by accidentally blocking our way out of the room with the rock slime, but that felts more like a small oversight than anything like a flaw.
The combat was a joy, and the strategy was wonderful. I liked that the touch the characters never grow from their experiences, but they do learn. 5/5. Thank you for making this.
Of course! Oh another thing I would like to see is the MC getting more into the mindset themselves, starting to look for their mommy, feeling overwhelmed and emotional without her, comforted nearby her. There's some of this already in of course, but more is more gooder. Just the mindset becoming stickier and more natural.
Also I'm not sure if this is an error or not, but you have the 'buy now' listed as $1 on the buy now button, but the file costs $5. You should correct one so they match.
this was a [CUTE] little game so far, and very 😳. Would love to see mommy here continuing regress the player, possibly feeding you, giving you stuffed animal, a pacifier (to silence you if you're bratty or for you to enjoy if you're cute), and maybe a few social situations where she mommy's you :3
