Reviews from

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Original gameplay mechanics that are well executed, strong concept and defined atmosphere, but sadly "Who's Lila?" ultimately lacks depth when it comes to the actual text. I was also negatively surprised when the credits rolled and saw that most of the faces had been AI generated. Immediately asked for a refund.

This review contains spoilers

Let me preface this review by saying if you believe in solipsism or tulpas, then you need to be boiled in shit.
"Ah, but you see. You can't say with 100% certainty that the mind-" - the girl reading this, right before being boiled in shit.
Honestly I'm not sure where this game could have gone if it didn't introduce the supernatural stuff. It could have been a comfy cozy neurodivergantpilled simulator. But not, it had to add ARG shit.
"B-but saying it has ARG is a spoiler!"
Shut up. I'm tired of buying games and having the rug pulled with tumblr mechanics. Its not even necessary. It could have been completely removed and we'd be missing like, a few endings at best. Half of them suck anyway. If anything the dev is risking Elon Musk fucking X.com up and having dead links in his game.
The only times I felt legitimate fear or discomfort were the 'normal' interactions at school. Everything else sucked.
I guess what I'm trying to say is if you like homestuck, then give it a go. Also if you like homestuck I have some space reserved in my cauldron of boiling shit specifically for you.

Some clumsy, awkward game and ARG design gets in the way every now and then. Worth it for the rest of the dread.

ощущения, как после прохождения диско элизиума!

философская пойнт-энд-клик адвенчура с элементами ARG. очень понравился сюжет, поднятые темы, визуал и звук. местами очень пугающая!

геймплей немного подкачал, гиммик с выражением лица быстро надоедает, Вильям очень долго и медленно ходит, иногда не очень понятно куда можно и куда нельзя идти.

но сюжет супер!
3 геймплею 5 сюжету в среднем 4


You smiled, it was convincing

Scratched the exact itch I had for a neat little indie mystery/horror game with its bizarre-yet-intriguing narrative and ARG elements that strike the perfect balance between making the player go out of their way to see everything and not being too convoluted to follow.

Two complaints: one, the point-and-click controls are not nearly responsive enough to carry two entire stealth sections; and two, the game's main mechanic, that being the face-stretching feature, isn't as integral to the plot as the game's marketing would lead you to believe. The feature is totally superfluous to most of the more lore-intensive endings, which is a shame, because I think it's a really cool idea that could carry an entire game's worth of content, with or without the ARG stuff that I liked. Just food for thought.

There are various forms of death to be found in Who's Lila?
Physical death ?
Ego death ?
Author's death ?

The facial deformation mechanic might be underused from a gameplay perspective, however, it's absolutely not from a symbolic one, Who's Lila? is without a doubt one of the most focused games out there thematically speaking.

A game somewhat about social anxiety, probably about the free form of self, and, of course, about a dead girl wrapped in plastic.

goosebumps every time. this is peak

One of the creepiest atmospheres in any game ever. Unpleasantly so. Eerie sound. Beautifully artistic game but some persistent game-breaking bugs hold it back. Thrilling experience otherwise, simply uncanny

Sem dúvida, este é um dos jogos mais criativos e interessantes que já joguei. Desde a mecânica de comunicação por meio de expressões faciais até o próprio mistério, não há um único elemento que não tenha, no mínimo, aguçado minha curiosidade para continuar explorando.

Jogá-lo até o fim é uma experiência que realmente vale a pena, mesmo com o uso de guias e possíveis spoilers. Isso se deve ao fato de que certas mecânicas e diálogos, disponíveis em loops menos intuitivos, contribuem significativamente para a compreensão do contexto e do mistério de Lila.

No entanto, como ponto negativo, devo ressaltar que tive dificuldades para encontrar a expressão facial correta no tempo determinado pelo jogo. Por isso, acabei optando por ajustar o tempo padrão para o máximo disponível.

Enfim,

Really really interesting story

Haven't finished the game yet because it's longer than expected... A pretty intriguing prompt that may not answer many questions and will raise quite a few instead. Will get you thinking for a while after closing the game. Using external files to enhace the experience is very interesting as well!

Wow, what a game. It will be hard to really leave a review of this game effectively, without spoiling anything. I feel this is an experience best had without any knowledge of what to expect. Just know that you should definitely be playing this on a PC and not your steam deck or anything else.

This review contains spoilers

it's literally just an information hazard in video game form how could i not love this
also if you read this review without playing the game f u you're stupid. and you have now been infected by lila.

O jogo mais macabro que já joguei, tanto pela história quanto pela manipulação das emoções do personagem, onde você luta contra a vontade de mostrar a real intenção dele. Tem mecânicas muito legais que engajam em muito no jogo e que são de cair o queixo do quão criativas são.

I recommend using a guide if you get stuck, like i did, because it was still satisfying to go through all the main endings. Better than leaving the game unfinished. I recommend it if you like mystery games!

archétypes jungiens, tarot et discussions pseudo-philosophiques : j'en ai mis partout

Who's Lila não consegue existir em qualquer outra mídia sem perder uma parte importante de si. É um deleite do começo ao fim cair no buraco do coelho e desvendar seus mistérios, mas também é de ressaltar como o jogo utiliza de sua não-linearidade, todas as rotas sempre te dão mais uma migalha de pão para correr atrás e a maioria dos finais criam mais dúvidas do que as respondem.

É também minha interação favorita de "use coisas fora do programa do jogo" que eu já vi, nunca liguei muito pra ARGs no geral mas tudo o que Lila oferece é engajante, bem feito e te compele a pensar em seus temas sobre a realidade do eu lírico em jogos interativos.

Meu único problema com o jogo.

aesthetically this goes absolutely raw but unfortunately that's not good enough to make up for the wikipedia armchair philosopher storyline and extremely tedious gameplay

Simplesmente incrível. Um jogo intrigante, com um mistério que nunca é revelado de forma esdrúxula na sua cara, fazendo com que você realmente se sinta investido em desvendá-lo. Além disso, o criador conseguiu pensar totalmente fora da caixa para te apresentar uma proposta única. Realmente é uma experiência que só pode ser alcançada por um jogo de PC, e nenhum console seria capaz de replicá-lo em sua integridade.

Além disso, é muito criativo com seus temas, e consegue subverter suas expectativas a todo momento. Me lembrou muito de jogos antigos que pediam para você checar algo no manual ou na caixa do jogo, mas adaptado para um cenário moderno. Só por isso, já mereceu 4 estrelas.

Esse jogo respira, vive além dos bytes que o compõe (o que é engraçado, considerando o tema dele). É uma prova cabal que desenvolvedores independentes carregam nas costas toda a criatividade da indústria de jogos, arriscando para entregar algo nunca antes experimentado e fora do comum.

A verdade é subjetiva, multidimensional. A certeza do eu-jogador é falsa e seu ato uma rebeldia mecânica; tomar as rédeas de si mesmo configura um esforço desesperador. Quem vê através de meus olhos? Toda decisão que tomo é consciente? O que acontece se sou apenas um passageiro do meu piloto automático, ou de alguma outra coisa (uma ideia, uma crença, uma vontade)?

Who’s Lila levanta muito mais perguntas do que se interessa em responder, ainda que não economize em revelar, das mais deliciosas formas, faceta após faceta de seu quebra cabeça recursivo. Sabe atiçar: é misteriosa, obscura, mentirosa até, porém nunca perde o engajamento, incitando a curiosidade através de um caleidoscópio de pontos de vista que mantém um retrato da realidade que é nebuloso, vivo, em constante fermentação. Pode ser que você saia um pouco diferente disso.

I literally devoured it in one day... the day before my upcoming exam, yey...
I was expecting some gimmicky game about making the right expressions, and laughing at the most ridicolous ones. Couldn't have been farther from the truth. I played Oneshot yesterday, and still, the game managed to blow my fucking mind. Cryptic, toughtful, atmosferic, simply amazing. I hope the industry will follow the same approach, 'cuz in my opinion videogames express their full potential when following this approach.


A fascinating, ornately Lynchian horror art piece. The use of the repeated traversal through a single day with Stanley Parable-esque branching decision points leading to different stories and perspectives marries fantastically well to the surreal abstraction of the game's story. The ARG stuff is cute as well, although it's certainly a shame to think that this game will likely be unplayable in ten or twenty years.

My one complaint with this, which is simultaneously a nitpick and a major issue, is its use of GAN-generated "photos" for the human faces. Even if this is an intentional artistic choice, so-called "AI art" is antithetical to the practice of art as a whole and should be given no oxygen whatsoever. It would not be infeasible to take portraits yourself if you needed them, and it's a shame that this holds me back from wholeheartedly recommending this game.

truly a game that's hard to explain. a highly unique experience with arg elements and so many interesting concepts that i genuinely cannot get into without spoiling. try to go in as blind as you can. my one complaint is from an achievement hunter perspective, but that's barely enough to dent my overall enjoyment. a story that can potentially be nonlinear if you happen to stumble into certain revelations early. look at the hierophant card last.

I got this game as a Christmas gift and it did not disappoint!

one of the only video games i loved, am giving a rating, and will never finish. if you've played this game, you already know why. i will admit, i should have quit earlier, as i continued to get a couple more endings after i had already figured the mystery out. oh well. at least i got to see the projector, that was cool.

who's lila has got to be the most interesting use of the ever-pervasive metahorror cliche. it uses it to create something i have been dying to see from more games since i played lainpsx: a mystery that you, the player, are solving, instead of some character in the story. i've always hated how mystery stories tend to have this structure:
1. setup
2. minor hints
3. dramatic detective shit
4. ending that divulges literally everything
i understand why this structure is so common. people love watching sleuths dissect crazy cases or being kept on the edge of their seats by a wild thriller. but particularly in the case of books or interactive media, these endings always seemed pandering and lazy. if this is truly a mystery, set up some solid clues and let me figure it out myself! who's lila uses its meta elements to make good on the promise of a mystery-solving game. it's super tight shit and i never felt restricted in the slightest.

however, none of this clever bullshit would mean JACK if the game wasn't interesting. on all cylinders- music, writing, graphics, gameplay - who's lila is popping off. i haven't felt this immersed by a video game in too long! i think signalis came close, but i completely forgot that i was playing a video game by the midway point. don't dismiss the visual style as some hackneyed throwback to ancient pc games; combined with the droney music and minimal sound design, it makes the spaces and characters feel crazy alienating. and damn, those are some believable characters! i replayed a couple endings just to try out the branching dialogue options, cause there isn't a single line wasted here. for as much as i praise the mystery-solving aspects, i wouldn't care half as much if i wasn't emotionally involved in the characters. shoutout to the nighttime walk scene hurting my feelings.

who's lila short, and by design has absolutely ZERO replay value (and i say that as a firm non-believer in games needing to offer a new experience on replays to have replay value). though if i haven't made it clear, it's damn well worth your money. just play it already.