This game is weird. I have kind of a love hate relationship with this product as a whole. I won't go to in depth with spoilers except for two specific characters and the "reveals" they do with them.
First of all i'll say the art direction is great in this game. The two halves of this world being the real world and the nightmare world and the real world serves as what you think a modern city is. The nightmare realm delves into different horror type scenarios. Whether through torture chambers where you see fellow sheep falling off the sides to their death, or the gaudy and beautiful architecture that gets introduced later on.
The gameplay overall I enjoyed way more then I thought I would've. I'm a big puzzle game fan but this one shocked me because the puzzles seemed a bit one note at face value but expand the deeper you get in the game. Really fun gameplay loop!
This game's writing was also great! I think other then my specific gripe I think the writing in this game is fun! It got a lot of laughs out of me and the direction of scenes led me wondering what was gonna happen and the different little twists kept me engaged. As a horror fan aswell I'm a big fan of the weird moments of genuine horror the game turns into. I think overall it's a very well written game.
Now with my biggest complaint and where is the only time I'll talk about spoilers. As a transfem I'd be fucking remissed if I didn't mention how much I'd feel just annoyance with the conversation in game about Erica and Rin. I thought at first I could maybe ignore it for the most part but especially with the (true law) ending I got things being mentioned there I felt extra burned. I admittedly never did Rin's route so it may be more healthy in the writing in route but everything else around it I felt constantly rubbed the wrong way about. With the semi frequent little jokes that were made alluding to the fact that Erica is a trans woman (especially with the Toby comment in the end of "the guys knew you as Eric in high school!"). It feels like Erica was kind of treated very oddly and while not the most vitriolic and hateful interpretation of a trans character I've seen in a game, it still made me feel weird. There's also the big reveal of "Rin's actually just a dude who looks like a girl!" and that explained by the fact theyre a fucking alien? Excuse me? From what I've heard they do better with the writing in her route where they do bring up the fact on whether Vincent's relationship with Rin is gay. Either way I just felt really fucking weird and would be lying if I said the weird comments and treatment I've seen of trans character(s?) in this game didn't tick me off a bit everytime I heard them.
Overall I think this game is still a treat! Only Atlus game I've ever actually played and finished LMAO. The puzzle system is very fun, the music is great, and the writing is funny and Vincent I think is the perfect protag for this type of story having him be a loser that tries to redeem himself. I think this game is even worth it at full price of 20$. Pick it up when you can!
First of all i'll say the art direction is great in this game. The two halves of this world being the real world and the nightmare world and the real world serves as what you think a modern city is. The nightmare realm delves into different horror type scenarios. Whether through torture chambers where you see fellow sheep falling off the sides to their death, or the gaudy and beautiful architecture that gets introduced later on.
The gameplay overall I enjoyed way more then I thought I would've. I'm a big puzzle game fan but this one shocked me because the puzzles seemed a bit one note at face value but expand the deeper you get in the game. Really fun gameplay loop!
This game's writing was also great! I think other then my specific gripe I think the writing in this game is fun! It got a lot of laughs out of me and the direction of scenes led me wondering what was gonna happen and the different little twists kept me engaged. As a horror fan aswell I'm a big fan of the weird moments of genuine horror the game turns into. I think overall it's a very well written game.
Now with my biggest complaint and where is the only time I'll talk about spoilers. As a transfem I'd be fucking remissed if I didn't mention how much I'd feel just annoyance with the conversation in game about Erica and Rin. I thought at first I could maybe ignore it for the most part but especially with the (true law) ending I got things being mentioned there I felt extra burned. I admittedly never did Rin's route so it may be more healthy in the writing in route but everything else around it I felt constantly rubbed the wrong way about. With the semi frequent little jokes that were made alluding to the fact that Erica is a trans woman (especially with the Toby comment in the end of "the guys knew you as Eric in high school!"). It feels like Erica was kind of treated very oddly and while not the most vitriolic and hateful interpretation of a trans character I've seen in a game, it still made me feel weird. There's also the big reveal of "Rin's actually just a dude who looks like a girl!" and that explained by the fact theyre a fucking alien? Excuse me? From what I've heard they do better with the writing in her route where they do bring up the fact on whether Vincent's relationship with Rin is gay. Either way I just felt really fucking weird and would be lying if I said the weird comments and treatment I've seen of trans character(s?) in this game didn't tick me off a bit everytime I heard them.
Overall I think this game is still a treat! Only Atlus game I've ever actually played and finished LMAO. The puzzle system is very fun, the music is great, and the writing is funny and Vincent I think is the perfect protag for this type of story having him be a loser that tries to redeem himself. I think this game is even worth it at full price of 20$. Pick it up when you can!