This one was heartbreaking to have to decide not to finish. When I say "I wish I could have loved this game," it is not an exaggeration. Cross Channel should have been catnip for me. I love radio waves, unreliable narrators, senses of unease, and mental illness. I'd been meaning to play it for years before finally biting the bullet and giving it a try.

It fucking sucks. I wish I had a better way to phrase that, but gentler phrasing doesn't get my point across as well.

My issues don't lie with the different translations, they lie with the writing and plot itself. Cross Channel cannot set the mood or keep tension during the scenes that truly need it, and the plot isn't good enough to look past it. It feels like the people behind it tried to make a serious story, but ended up making the equivalent of a fourteen year old Kaworu kinnie on Tumblr's vent blog circa 2015.

The only reason I gave it this high of a score is because there seemed to be some genuine feeling behind it, and honestly? I'm a sucker for seeing an author pour out their soul. But that can only carry a game like this so far, with the fundamental issues it has.

Cross Channel feels like it tries to say something heavy but buckles under its own weight while trying to do so. I'm still sad it sucked so bad. Wouldn't recommend.