I would like to begin, reasonably, with the confirmation that I am a lesbian. I love women, I love transgender women, I love every aspect of being a dyke. Knowing that is more than randoms on a video game website deserve, but it feels necessary so that this isn't misconstrued as reactionary hatred.

-

As every fancy and imagination presents itself to unto thee, consider (if it be possible) the true nature, and the proper qualities of it, and reason with thyself about it.

I have talked before about people making video games, and thinking that they want to make video games.
Sometimes, it is collaborative. People of all sorts are hired by studios, small and large, to work in concert to create a multi-disciplinary final machine. All well and good.
Other times, and increasingly more frequently, games are developed by one or two people. They are people who describe themselves as multidisciplinary artists or designers, working a great variety of interior machines of thought and skill together to create another final machine. It is this sort of game I want to talk about.

There is nothing innately wrong with a solitary project, nor with hobbying or dabbling. It is a natural compulsion for a great number of people to happily try and test their affinity for all kinds of new things- hell, I'm one of those people. It would be hypocritical of me to say that dabbling is inane.

My complaint with SLARPG (awesome acronym, by the way) is not the furries or the gays or the cutesy bubblegum aesthetic- it's none of that. My problem is that it is a video game. More specifically, I do not even resent that it was created as a video game, but I resent that the elements I engaged with were arranged to be a video game.

Plenty of other positive reviews make note of the game's lack of invention, that it is largely a derivative machine with parts copied from plenty of things that have come before. While repetition itself is not innately destructive to construction of a meaningful artistic machine, classic JRPG mechanics are infamously tired and contrived; they are relics from a time of limited equipment and the awkward nascence of a new machine medium. Turn based combat does little to make itself more interesting as the game progresses. Navigating the world is largely unengaging and flat.

Of course, there is the draw of nostalgia for old machines. In fact, that's probably one of the main reasons I found things to enjoy this game; it reminds me of other things that I liked more, in a context where these awkward components and arrangements were more eccentric and novel than derivative. Still, there is comfort in it, and I can absolutely see why the draw of nostalgia with the ovation of being a gay woman would make this game so readily beloved.

So, in being an engine for nostalgia and a vessel for the art and writing of the creator, SLARPG is fully competent. If that is what you want, go with every blessing from every divine mote of being and be joyous.
But of course, I want to talk more about the game as a vessel for the art and writing of the creator. The solitary creator who works within multiple disciplines to construct a machine.

Inevitably, my question is: why a video game? How are these characters served by existing within the tropes of a JRPG? Why build their world within that context? All the most meaningful portions of the game largely came from the interplay between personalities and the foibles of each of the characters, and I cannot point to a single encounter or stretch of navigation within the overworld that felt more meaningful than reading some of the text boxes that would pop up on the screen to, obviously, convey the conversations and events of the story.

Naturally, the answer to my question could be that it's simply what the creator wanted to make, or that the skills involved in its creation are the particular skills that interested the creator. But then, why not make a visual novel? I've played a few visual novels that worked within a lot of the same themes that delivered their stories together with far more art and far more direct ovation than SLARPG.

Expanding upon that, one could argue that maybe the creator specifically really loves JRPGs. Again, totally reasonable- but still, here sits the machine of their finished labors, in all its confused contradictions.
It is dated and shallow in terms of actual game engagement. The nostalgia it works within oozes a kind of sleepy saccharine comfort, but it still attempts to heighten drama with expression of anxious ideas and problems in love. This sort of comfortable malaise is never really cut through, so the emotions never really land. In this way, it's a frustrating game that tends to lessen the impact of its own story and writing.

SLARPG is something made by someone with passion, and for that I am full of admiration. I am glad this game was made, that the creator in particular made it, and that gay girls enjoy it.
I did not enjoy playing it beyond the fact that I am a gay woman, and I love gay women. Though even that became a point of frustration for me- I found the relationships between the characters to largely be toothless and unrealistic- sanitized and pleasant, but boring.

I saw that the creator made a prequel webcomic for this game, and I read it. I liked it more than the entirety of this game that I actually got through.

Really well-made. The writing is consistently thoughtful, with a good pacing in the plot and well-earned character development for the main cast and a handful of important secondary characters. The humor often lands too. I have some problems with the leveling system, especially when it caps at 30 quite a while before the game can even be beat. When you hit the level cap, the only real thing fighting enemies is good for is gold - which almost becomes a non-issue once you get into the final stretch of the game. Not to mention some quirks with skills and star power gains/usage (please just attack Jodie when I use taunt! Please! I beg you!!!) is admittedly frustrating. But on the other hand, even these bumps present their own fun challenge in how you can approach fighting. While the final bosses aren't the most difficult (the four optional ones in the final act are by far the most challenging), you still have to be smart about how you play them to win. Not to mention how much I appreciate the Easy difficulty even though I only checked it out once to see the difference, having gone back to Normal the fight after. More games really should have optional stuff like that as nice quality-of-life changes. The soundtrack also needs to be given a shout-out - it's consistent in both quality (not a surprise to me) and, most surprisingly to me, in tone. With all the tracks throughout, you'd think there'd be more dissonance between areas and themes, but a concentrated effort was made to keep things tied together. I even didn't dislike my sole contribution to the soundtrack after years of not listening to it.

Speaking of; I had played Super Lesbian Horse RPG back when it came out, at the time I was most invested in My Little Pony and the brony fandom, so I've known Bobby to be talented and dedicated to making art for a while now. Playing through this game felt like a nostalgic trip down memory lane, except that this is simply better in every department. It makes sense when you put years into a passion project. So I'm a little biased here, I can't deny it. But I did feel emotional numerous times playing through because of all the above, and even if I wasn't already biased towards it, I wholeheartedly believe I still would have loved this game. It's one of the better RPG Maker games I've played, and reminded me why I had fallen in love with gaming years ago before falling out of it. Even if I felt lukewarm towards it, I would still appreciate its existence. But I do love it, somehow even more than I already expected to, and it makes me happy to have experienced it.

DANGER

I started playing this about a week after going to Furry Weekend Atlanta, a convention where I basically fell into a, for lack of a better word, star-crossed love of my life. We've been sappy fucks up to and including today, and I decided to stream this in front of her as our relationship continued to develop together.

It makes every line, emotion, and bounding heartfelt aura of this work speak so loud, to an almost deafening level. I feel Seen in too many respects to name. Melody's self-confidence, difficulty with communicating, trying to be HONEST but not wanting to HURT. Relationships built barely against fears and anxieties, colorful weavings of trying to be earnest and sincere while what feels like world-threatening issues rain on you. Each one of the main cast's troubles holds my talon and makes me stare at what I have worked on, what I need to continue working on, what I should be working on.

It's special. It fucks me up how much of this is a game I wanted to make. I had a whole ~Witch Coven~ story between a cast of stupidly sapphic lovers that I've yet to really make see the heart of day outside a silly AO3 prologue I wrote while frustrated with myself. This work is everything I could've ever wanted to yell out.

It's comforting to have a work that knows exactly what you want. That knows exactly what it is that makes life special in a way you do. SLARPG gives me power and reaffirmation of the happiness I've been through and continue to discover.

I love my girlfriend!! She's fucking amazing!! I love her so much ;-; I can't wait to see the rest of our future together!!! Here's to another adventure!!!

A neat little game I got from an itch.io sale a while back, feels very similar to no straight roads in terms of what I enjoyed and what I had issues with. The game has a consistently hilarious and enjoyable story that isn't necessarily the most groundbreaking thing ever, but does what it tries to do well. The characters are mostly really charming, funny or interesting with only one exception I'll get to later. Melody is just like me for real. The soundtrack by Beatrix Quinn is a highlight, with no real weak tracks and with the boss themes and all Javis related tunes in particular being amazing. The visuals are delightful, I particularly enjoyed the way corruption is represented visually and the way the final area and the astral plane look.

Where the game falters a bit is with the actual gameplay. It's mostly pretty standard rpgmaker fare with some inventive new ideas thrown in to the mix (the spellbooks being equippable subclasses is really interesting and I wish there were more of them, star power adds more variation to strategies since you can never use your strongest attacks on turn 1), but the game is far too easy for most of it's runtime. I don't necessarily have a problem with a more laid back approach to difficulty, but in this game's case it often leads to the honestly really inventive boss gimmicks being ignored due to many overpowered options like scrap shield, the entire cronomancy book, the charm that lets you keep star power, Allison dual wielding, faith's shield, etc completely invalidating them. I often had to hold back my strongest strategies so I could let some bosses show off their thing before they died (Especially Javis and gumball goliath), but the fact I was willing to be so charitable with the game is a testament to its charm. The gameplay shines the most with a few extra difficult optional fights, which I did the moment they became available and had a lot of fun with, and I will definitely steal their mechanics for a pathfinder encounter one day!

The main cast is comprised of three really enjoyable characters with interesting ties to each other and the main conflict, and Jodie who is also there. Don't get me wrong, she's a fun character and all of her interactions with Faith were really great, but she feels a little out of place towards the end. I found myself far more invested in Claire's guilt, dynamic with Melody and fun romance subplot, Melody's relatable insecurities and anxiety issues, relationship with Allison and quest to figure herself out and gain confidence, and Allison's relationship with Melody, her mother and figuring out how to be less focused on herself.

The antagonists are delightful, with both an understandable, redeemable villain that poses a genuine threat and a funny incompetent tape man whose shenanigans were always entertaining. The game is a good time if you can handle a fairly easy experience that isn't really trying to reinvent the wheel, or if you are queer, a furry or both, I guess. Excited to see what Ponett makes next!