This game markets itself as a deconstruction of the visual novel genre, and when you play it you realize your playing a fairly standard visual novel narrative. Everything in this game is touched on superficially to induce shock or discomfort, but it doesn't actually want to examine these things beyond the initial moment. Like your best friends suicide, your friends abusive household, Monikas bizarre nihilistic interpretation of "veganism". Nothing in this game has substance, its a deconstruction of what? You could have told me every single plotpoint in this game before i played it and nothing would have changed. Play Zero Escape.

shes so me

okay no joke the secret video message you get for unlocking all endings is one of the most touching pieces of high school media that anybody ever showed me

Long live Nicoleism.

bullet list of things in no particular order cause i fucking hate this game. how the fuck do you fumble both elliot page ad willem dafoe?


TRIGGER WARNING (SA)

- The potential of this games main mechanic are poorly though out, confusingly depicted, and are completely wasted in terms of narrative potential. Jodies abilities seem to be able to do ANYTHING or NOTHING, whenever the plot demands it. Aiden is such a nonsensical entity in the sense that everything about him is inconsistent: Both he and Jodie have powers that seem to arise in a specific instance and then never again, Aiden seems to selectively help Jodie despite their fates being intertwined, I initially thought that Aiden was meant to be an allegory for the player and that was the reason for the lack of communication but throughout the game he communicates non-verbally effectively. Why is he so inconsistent about everything? This is a major part of this games narrative and it has no boundaries or rules, Aiden can solve everything thrown at him except for major plot beats because he lacks any meaningful agency or limits and this makes all the stakes of this game shallow.

- The threat of sexual violence is a reoccurring aspect of this and many other David Cage games, i think this is due to his idea that the constant fear of assault at any moment is in his mind "a womens issue" and it will somehow appeal to the wider fanbase he wishes gaming in general would have and establish some form of personality for women he doesnt know how to write. That's at best though, at worst hes just a fucking pervert, because these scenes are generally uncomfortable and serve virtually no purpose other than to superficially shock the viewer. It was the same way in Heavy Rain, and its the same way here, save for one later cutscene being slightly different this scene is never touched upon nor does it have any thematic meaning as far as I can tell. I think David Cage is just fascinated with the concept of violence against women in general, and that a core part of our lives revolve around dealing with this threat constantly, the fact that this chapter is also titled "Like Other Girls" also leaves a fucking HORRID taste in my mouth (also while its not in the final game in the scene in question the player initially had the option to let the assault continue should they, out of some sado-voyeuristic urge or morbid curiosity, simply not do anything, this was found in the audio files of the game and while its not in the final product keep in mind that the initial scene was made with this choice in mind)

-In fact while were on topic the entire game has this really strange tone with Jodies depiction once shes a teenager onwards. I don.t know, a lot of it is just inhumanely cruel, or melodramatic. For example, during The Party chapter a 13 year old Jodie can choose to slow dance with and kiss a 17 year old boy named Matt and display her powers for the rest of the teens attending. Regardless on if either happen or not she is labeled a "slut" and a "witch" by everyone for making the mistake of giving a shitty gift to a girl she has literally never met up until this point. Considering I made neither choice on my first playthrough I was genuinely shocked they were reacting to Jodie with such vitriol, to the point it took me out of the game. Remember the assault chapter? While there is a way out of it before it actually occurs you seem somewhat forced into it your first playthrough, I personally had no clue avoiding it entirely was even an option until the post-chapter "HERES WHAT OTHERS DID" breakdown. Also this chapter plays out when Jodie is fifteen because Cages mind works in mysterious ways. When Jodie is 17 she is cruelly ripped away from her sense of family by a man named Ryan, who is nothing but mean to her and is thirty. The only reason I mention that is because Ryan later becomes a forced love interest regardless of what the player wishes. This world is unnecessarily cruel in Jodies formative years, I should learn about the character at this time but theres just an overwhelming absence of humanity. I learn nothing about Jodie save for the cruelty she must experience, all I know is she has supernatural powers and wants to be normal, that's pretty much it.

Im honestly just exhausted to even continue listing points uhhh:
-suicide is okay if you want to see your loved ones again

-Ryan (who is both jodies boss and met her when she was
17) lies to and manipulates her constantly and regardless of the character and players actions Jodie still likes him for some reason.

- the navajo chapters are pointless and have no narrative purpose, the chapter in Somalia is needlessly contrived and just stupid i think cage just wanted a war scene in the game (ryan who is solely to blame for all events in this chapter is completely absolved of any wrongdoing by the endgame anyway)

-how do you weaponize the infraworld? can it like give people their own Two Souls like Jodie? who knows because the game certainly wont tell you

-HOW THE FUCK DO YOU BLUNDER THE SKILLSET OF BOTH ELLIOT PAGE AND WILLEM DAFOE??

god im exhausted, its a shitty fucking game made by a perverted manchild who can just string movie scenes he saw once and thought they were cool together with his own touch of pre-production sexual harassment and weird ass romances along the way