In 1995, journalist student Kathy Rain learns that her grandfather has passed. Its been over a decade since her mother dragged her out of their hometown and Kathy's more than a little guilty that she never tried to reconnect with her kindly grandparents. Returning to Conwell Springs, Kathy soon becomes intrigued by the strange, vegetative state her grandfather was in during the final years of his life. As she begins to investigate the wider circumstances, her hometown reunion takes a few turns for the bizarre...
Its been about five years since I played the original Kathy Rain so I had forgotten most of the details of the plot. Still, I largely followed a guide since I was retreading ground, so I probably finished this about half the time I would normally. All that in mind: I still like this game! Its a gritty little Twin Peaks piece, with punk vibes, stunning music and visuals, and an engaging story.
Kathy herself is a really enjoyable protagonist. A gritty punk protagonist is always a great underdog premise for a character. Generally bitter and sarcastic, but self-aware enough to have a laugh at her own expense when someone makes fun of her angst. Secretly dorky enough to genuinely enjoy playing scrabble with her Christian roommate on nights off. And the game is willing to go to some grim places about her past that does give you a sense of the wider tragedies and problems in her past that she's trying to move on from.
That said, at times this can be somewhat hamfisted and dangerously close to exploitative. The game touches on themes of abortion, abuse, and mental illness and I'm not often 100% sure its qualified to do so. It feels generous to assume the 90s setting could explain some people's reaction to the concept of mental illness, but I don't want to dismiss it either. There's also the depiction of Nathan, a disabled man with a childlike mentality. On one hand, characters are always kind to Nathan and it never feels like he's the butt of a joke. On the other hand, his disability is never fully explained and he's given a connection to supernatural forces that are... dubious and unclear. Its possible he merely strolled through the supernatural plot and was lucky enough to be ignored. But its hard to get a read on that plotline.
Still, my real curiosity returning to this game was how it worked as a Director's Cut. While much of the game is unchanged, the new version takes the time to expand on details that were confusing or left hanging. In the original game, Nathan's mother Sue abruptly vanishes as Nathan's subplot kicks into overdrive and Nathan's story ends as soon as it begins. Here, Sue and Nathan are given more time to breathe and get an actual ending. The game adds a montage to the climatic finale that features various characters, including Sue and Nathan, heal from their decades-long struggles. Its a nice moment and it makes me believe in the sincerity of the devs.
Finally, and hardest to explain is like... Kathy Rain is probably supposed to a lesbian? I just look at her and go "well yeah, that's a lesbian" even if the game doesn't seem to know she is. And that was easy to ignore five years ago. But the thing is, two years ago, Clifftop Games released a Nordic cyberpunk noir game called Whispers of the Machine. And that's a great point and click on its own, but it ALSO features a protagonist who is obviously a lesbian yet is inexplicably straight. That game even has an ending where Vera can run away from her old life with another woman, except she's hallucinating her dead boyfriend the entire time and trying to reenter a relationship with that maybe ghost. And after both of these games its like, what's going on here Clifftop? Its like they're really into lesbian aesthetics but don't understand its a lesbian aesthetic. I don't know what to do with that. I could just be projecting, but its so unbelievably jarring.
Anyway, despite this being a lot of complaints, the game is good. Twin Peaks style point and clicks are good.
Its been about five years since I played the original Kathy Rain so I had forgotten most of the details of the plot. Still, I largely followed a guide since I was retreading ground, so I probably finished this about half the time I would normally. All that in mind: I still like this game! Its a gritty little Twin Peaks piece, with punk vibes, stunning music and visuals, and an engaging story.
Kathy herself is a really enjoyable protagonist. A gritty punk protagonist is always a great underdog premise for a character. Generally bitter and sarcastic, but self-aware enough to have a laugh at her own expense when someone makes fun of her angst. Secretly dorky enough to genuinely enjoy playing scrabble with her Christian roommate on nights off. And the game is willing to go to some grim places about her past that does give you a sense of the wider tragedies and problems in her past that she's trying to move on from.
That said, at times this can be somewhat hamfisted and dangerously close to exploitative. The game touches on themes of abortion, abuse, and mental illness and I'm not often 100% sure its qualified to do so. It feels generous to assume the 90s setting could explain some people's reaction to the concept of mental illness, but I don't want to dismiss it either. There's also the depiction of Nathan, a disabled man with a childlike mentality. On one hand, characters are always kind to Nathan and it never feels like he's the butt of a joke. On the other hand, his disability is never fully explained and he's given a connection to supernatural forces that are... dubious and unclear. Its possible he merely strolled through the supernatural plot and was lucky enough to be ignored. But its hard to get a read on that plotline.
Still, my real curiosity returning to this game was how it worked as a Director's Cut. While much of the game is unchanged, the new version takes the time to expand on details that were confusing or left hanging. In the original game, Nathan's mother Sue abruptly vanishes as Nathan's subplot kicks into overdrive and Nathan's story ends as soon as it begins. Here, Sue and Nathan are given more time to breathe and get an actual ending. The game adds a montage to the climatic finale that features various characters, including Sue and Nathan, heal from their decades-long struggles. Its a nice moment and it makes me believe in the sincerity of the devs.
Finally, and hardest to explain is like... Kathy Rain is probably supposed to a lesbian? I just look at her and go "well yeah, that's a lesbian" even if the game doesn't seem to know she is. And that was easy to ignore five years ago. But the thing is, two years ago, Clifftop Games released a Nordic cyberpunk noir game called Whispers of the Machine. And that's a great point and click on its own, but it ALSO features a protagonist who is obviously a lesbian yet is inexplicably straight. That game even has an ending where Vera can run away from her old life with another woman, except she's hallucinating her dead boyfriend the entire time and trying to reenter a relationship with that maybe ghost. And after both of these games its like, what's going on here Clifftop? Its like they're really into lesbian aesthetics but don't understand its a lesbian aesthetic. I don't know what to do with that. I could just be projecting, but its so unbelievably jarring.
Anyway, despite this being a lot of complaints, the game is good. Twin Peaks style point and clicks are good.