Jesus, this game…
I’m not even sure what to say about it. Where do I begin? This game has made me feel things that no other games are really capable of. There’s something so special about being able to relate so much to a game that i… genuinely didn’t expect. It’s honestly one of my favorite experiences in years for so many reasons.
A simple one, for me, is the style. Classic UIs are my fetish, I swear to god. Nothing kills me more than old Unix/Windows operating system styles, and I’m not even sure why. I just love them to death and hell, this inspired me to start working on setting up a similar look on my Linux install [XFCE].
The way the story is presented, along with the story itself, is just… horrifically relatable. Like, as someone who’s incredibly socially awkward myself, Alex is such a mood- half of her responses, I don’t even want to give out of fear of looking dumb or seeming awkward or creating a bad situation or being too overbearing, all those kinds of things, which means it’s DEFINITELY working.
The situations you end up in, such as being torn between going with Andy to his game, doing the traditionally masculine thing, or going and watching what I can only assume to be budget Sailor Moon to crack your own egg.
Even through all the anxiety the game threw at me with everything that was going on… I felt something. I had a deeper connection to this game than literally any other in ages. And that was incredible.
-Inhale-
And then it became a horror game.
When your dad pops in for the first time, I practically shit myself. The Pony Island-esque grunts, squeals and screeches of the computer had my heart racing the entire time. If it weren’t for that, I’d have seen her dad as an asshole sure, but… Because of those additions, I was scared. I was scared. Literally just having him there felt unsafe, and I just wanted it to go away. Thanks to those additions, you feel every bit of the fear and anger yet defeat that Alex feels. It’s such a simple and obvious concept and yet it works SO WELL.
To repeat what I said just before- even through the constant onslaught of emotions and anxiety, it was probably the happiest I’ve ever been in a while, playing this game. Every bit of anxiety, or fear, or happiness that Alex felt, I felt. And it’s something I really needed.
Y’see, I’ve known about my OWN gender for almost two years now, if not more. I don’t even remember correctly. But since then, it feels like that innocence, that freedom that came from realizing I could just… be a girl, had disappeared. And before I even got to transition, as well.
But… playing through this, the onslaught of anxiety or fear or happiness or confusion, it all made me remember how amazing it first felt when I knew what I could really be, what I really was. And I honestly needed that more than anything.
I’m not even done with the game. But I get the impression that it’ll probably become one of my favorites, ever.
10/10, hundred percent.
