your turn to die is often compared to games surrounding death and murder like danganronpa, zero escape, and ace attorney. while it's true that the premise isn't new, i feel like yttd is much more successful than its predecessors. in fact, yttd is genuinely one of the best games i've ever played, and there are many reasons why i think so. (essay incoming)

1) every choice feels like a moral quandary
yttd toys with your emotions and makes you feel the weight of your choices. there are multiple paths the game could take, depending on whose death you voted for, and that looms over your head constantly. even knowing that some deaths were unavoidable, it still makes you feel like you could have prevented it. honestly, parts of this game can be slightly traumatizing for the player. but i loved that aspect of it. i felt incredibly guilty for even playing the game because it kept making me feel like i was hurting people, which is an attest to the incredible writing and intention behind yttd.

2) the characters are traumatised by their situation and every death feels real
unlike danganronpa, in which some executions can feel too fantastical or even meaningless, and some characters a little flat, the cast of yttd is so rich and their bonds so palpable that even with characters that die early, you can genuinely feel the void left by their deaths. their spirits live on through the remaining characters' trauma and grief, and dead characters remain relevant to the plot throughout the rest of the story. (i'd argue that in danganronpa, a lot of the characters that die early become irrelevant and/or are forgotten pretty quick.) it helps that the cast is smaller in yttd, allowing you to get invested in them a little more, but they are also just written better, in my opinion. which brings me to my next point...

3) it's impossible to not love these characters
as i just mentioned, it's easy to get invested in the cast of yttd, but you don't really understand just how much you'll grow to love these characters until you play the game. the more i got pulled into the story, the more attached i became. i felt immediately attached to keiji, joe, and gin, but i didn't realise how much i'd come to love the entire cast. sou and ranmaru, and everyone else too... to the point where i felt my real life would be ruined if they died. all in all, i felt a unique intensity for these characters that was missing from the other death games i've played.

4) the horror elements are genuinely scary despite being made in rpgmaker
yttd was made in rpgmaker. and while rpgmaker horror games (such as ib or yume nikki) are limited in what they can accomplish graphically, in yttd's case i think it acts as a strength. yttd does not rely on gruesome cutscenes with high production value to shock the player. instead, it evokes subtle horror through situations, using limited graphics to its advantage by combining it with excellent juxtaposition of music, sounds, and clever writing to generate a sense of fear and foreboding. the stress and anxiety i felt was very real and i was a little nervous playing it in the dark.

5) the story and gameplay mechanics don't feel formulaic
yttd's gameplay is actually quite varied. at its base level, the player solves point-and-click puzzles while they explore and investigate (quite similar to ace attorney), then participates in "the main game" where, after a "discussion," they make a vote to sentence someone to their death. however, this never feels repetitive, as there are so many plot twists that occur throughout the game that make it wildly unpredictable. furthermore, game mechanics are repurposed in engaging ways. the "discussions" (in which players extract statements from characters to have a debate) aren't just used during a vote but can pop-up in the middle of an investigation, and later become a method of team combat against monsters. new mechanics are added to the game as you progress through each chapter, but not in a way that overcomplicates things. it always feels playable and easy to follow. to add to that point, the mini-games in yttd don't feel obtrusive and are actually fun... aside from memory dance

6) the art direction is just as strong as its predecessors
despite being made in rpgmaker, the art is amazing. all of the character sprites and CGs are stylish and beautifully drawn without feeling out of place against a pixel backdrop. the character designs are also really good, retaining whimsicality without being too over-the-top. while some characters in danganronpa suffer from same-face syndrome, yttd does not run into that problem, as all of its characters carry distinct qualities without being one-note. the steam version of the game comes with a lengthy artbook with all the character designs and bts sketches, it is amazing so def check it out but only after you reach chapter 3 (it has spoilers!)

7) the low budget music is actually good???
to top it off, the music is unbelievably catchy. the entire ost was made using garageband loops which is ridiculous. i had no idea that those loops were actually good. i'm usually very picky about music so it's kind of embarrassing that i was impressed by a bunch of garageband assets. just goes to show that a game does not need a high budget to have an impact on people.

overall...

your turn to die completely surpasses all expectations of the death game genre, surprising players with its quality despite being available to play for free on web browser. it puts us through emotional turmoil as we are forced to kill off characters we love, an all-too-familiar feeling for fans of danganronpa, but yttd somehow multiplies that emotion tenfold.

surely this game is for masochists. but this isn't to say that yttd is filled with only pain and despair. there are moments of joy along the way, lots of genuinely funny and cute moments that really make the losses hit even harder. i cried for real. it's crazy this game was made by one person, shout out to nankidai for your genius and dedication.

𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘, 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐀 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓.


There's a cheapness in the thrill of being on the verge of death. Risking something as valuable as life itself just to get a kick out of it is really the dumbest thing a human can do; then why is that an hour in I was feeling that exact same rush? In the cold comfort of it being fictional, having my heart pound with excitement as I put these people in harm’s way, there’s nothing quite like it.

The thing about Your Turn To Die is that the premise in of itself isn’t really unique. Completely ignoring the obvious comparisons one could make to that one video game franchise with the talking bear, “death game” as a genre is something that’s existed long before many of us were even alive. That is exactly how this game deceives you, making you think that what you’re about to experience is a by-the-numbers tale you’ve experienced many times before; but to chalk up Your Turn to Die as that is to box it in a cage that’s completely ignorant of the bigger picture. Because underneath this game’s bleak atmosphere is a tale of the exploration of the human condition, as it’s seeking an answer for why we do the things we do by putting us on the cusp of death. In a way, it's exactly what you've come to expect from experiencing the contemporaries of this sub-genre yet that's why this game works as well as it does, why it's willing to go the extra mile.

The level of deception this game operates on isn’t just something that exists in regards to the way of how it presents itself to the player or the narrative in of itself, it extends to game mechanics themselves. Whereas one could see the way every choice in Chapter 1 being inconsequential as cheap, I view it as a mockery of your abilities. To fully make you realise just how out of your depth you are here, which only serves to make the later chapters hit as hard as they do due to the newfound resolve you earn at the end of Chapter 1 earns you the right to change the course of the game both narratively and mechanically. It’s character development in the truest sense, where the effects are felt in also how you play the game, as second guessing becomes natural for you; it's not out of need to survive yet due to a want to protect those you hold closest to you, even if it means not having complete faith in them.

The character of Sara Chidouin in many ways feels combative against many other protagonists who’ve been placed in similar situations to her. It’s the same old tale of heroism, morality and hope. Trying to be an example even in the roughest of times yet Chidouin is deeply human. “I don’t want to die” is understandable sure, but sprouting up the same old message about “truth” seems to feel redundant when it’s going to deeply hurt the ones you care for. This is why Keiji Shinogi works so well with her, easy to see him as this game’s stand-in for a Maya Fey archetype, a policeman who can’t even hold a gun, but here the effectiveness of these two depends solely upon how much trust they place in each other. Their trust weaponizes itself, as it takes Sara being the finger and Keiji ironically being the gun in their dynamic to let them move past any difficulty they may face, and they may have faced, letting them grow with each passing argument. With the arguments themselves being mechanically comparable to the trial segments in Ace Attorney. While not as complex or difficult, it sets itself apart with it’s own mechanics, trying to bite further down into your mind as it makes every line thrilling. It’s exactly what the character of Sara Chidouin would do, and that’s what sets this apart from the rest. That every lie, misinformation, contradiction and even truth the itself is irrelevant; it’s completely irrelevant if she can’t even save one life.

Your Turn To Die breaks down those concepts of heroism, morality and hope I mentioned, but not out of cynicism. It goes to greats lengths to reconstruct them from the ground up; showing why such childishness and stubbornness is necessary for you to keep moving forward. Everyone’s got a reason to live and with each passing trial you have to wonder if death would be preferable, if it’d be better if you died in their place to make sure your hands stay clean, but thoughts like that are irrelevant. You still live, you still breathe, you still eat, you still sleep, so what’s the harm in living in another day?

It’s not Your Turn To Die. Not yet.