This review contains spoilers
I usually start out my reviews by giving a general statement about the developer, some thoughts about this game, etc. The truth is with this one I really can't do that, because to me this is more than a game, this was an art piece. I mean don't get me wrong, it is a point and click game with puzzles, and gameplay wise you go through all of that stuff that feels kind of weird to get used to but makes sense once you do it. I'm going to be honest, I used a guide because the truth is I was told by people that it was a heavy game and I wanted to experience it without too much frustration over my suckage of puzzles because I suck with them. I'm gonna post a guide, but I'm sure there are others around as well:
https://the-cat-lady.fandom.com/wiki/Game_endings
It's solid for the most part but there are multiple endings. I'm not gonna tell you about the game's plot to be honest because this game deserves your time and it's a really heavy game. Gonna throw out a trigger warning that this game does talk about and show stuff like depression, suicide, mental illness, the male gaze, etc; there's a whole laundry list to unpack here and it does it all well and has you thinking. Instead all I can really tell you is how I felt, as someone who does deal with depression and anxiety and frankly thinks that life sucks sometimes.
It was highly visceral, poignant, and honestly relatable in a lot of ways. The whole game has you fight through Susan's mental well being while also dealing with some of the worst people in society that you could ever think of really, mixed in with warped and macabre imagery and a soundtrack that's honestly great (buy the album by the way); I legitimately think that it's on par with Silent Hill 2 in just how sad and depressing it can be, with several times where I was stunned at how thoughtful and sincere the writing. Susan struggles through this game, not only just to die but even just to go through her day; in Chapter 3 you literally spend your time trying to avoid things that would help trigger Susan and upset her in a place where EVERYTHING will remind her of her past, which is easier said than done with anyone who deals with that stuff in real life. I know a lot of people and even myself to a lesser extent also deal with that stuff and when you end up caring for a well written character like Susan (and later Mitzi as well) you WANT to make sure that she's ok. But that's what depression is, a constant struggle in which you will always fall down but you have to pick yourself back up and deal with the aftermath of it, and a lot of people can't do that but that's the point; and that's a lot of what Susan deals with. Trauma from her past, the creeping male gaze of people who want to potentially/will try to harm her even; there's multiple times where I squicked and cringed at some of the dialogue here, and for all the right reasons as this game is written really well. I think for me what really hit me and made me tear up was the final part, where spoilers if you give Mitzi the gas mask, you come back alive for the final time and confronting the final antagonist; Mitzi aims a gun at the last parasite, The Eye of Adam, with the intent to kill. Her whole backstory being that her boyfriend Jack died after Adam encouraged Jack to kill himself, and now she planned on killing him. As Susan tries to talk her down from killing him (as there are Oxygen tanks everywhere and they would all surely blow up except Susan who could come back to life) Mitzi says "I might as well kill him, it's not like I have anyone to live for!", cue the silence and one line: "I care about you". I'm gonna be honest, I don't know how to explain it well but it hit me like a pile of bricks, and it felt validating to hear such positive thinking. Now this is the Golden Ending, themes might change depending on your route but honestly to me this felt cathartic and even validating for someone who feels like sometimes no one really cares about you. It has a lot of moments like these, a couple of comedic moments sure, but a lot of moments where you're rooting for Susan and her friend Mitzi throughout their struggles. I'll even say I was f u c k in rockin out when in Chapter 4, you finally shoot the wife of the Pest Control parasite, who is himself an awful human being, with a gas mask and a shotgun after she burnt out Susan's eyes with bleach and blamed you for trying to "steal" her disgusting, pervert serial killer husband. It really knew how to make me feel in certain situations, and honestly it's too long to even really put here because again there's a lot to unpack. The only thing I could complain about plot wise is how [spoiler] they focus a bit on Joe Davis during Chapter 6, he's the main protagonist of the previous dev's game and the next game/remake Downfall, and some fan service is cool but having been aware of it beforehand it kind of felt like it was just sort of teasing a bit for the next entry, and that's cool I guess but felt kind of weird cause I never played that game and only really remembered a bit when I looked it up later.
The soundtrack is amazing and really fits with everything going on; though don't expect Akira Yamaoka, expect some somber pieces of music, some really tense tracks and maybe a mid 2000s I don't know what to call it sad rock song or two. But to me it fit perfectly for what the game was going for, and I couldn't complain about it. The voice acting can range between great and kind of off mic quality/accent wise but truth be told I wasn't bothered about it. The art style is freaky as hell, depressing and haunting even but beautiful at the same time.
I guess if I had any final thoughts to put down it would be this: again, this is an Art Piece of a game, one that I'll be straight up with you I won't be playing any time soon or possibly ever again. It's depressing as hell, deals with various themes, and with it's content alone this game to me personally stands out as timeless in a sense. But like The Heilwald Loophole, I'm gonna be thinking about this for a long time and will most likely give the developer's next two games Downfall and Lorelai from the Devil Came Through Here trilogy a shot. I don't know how to recommend this game to you, nor in which mental state to play it in; but if you even have a vague curiosity about the game or you want to play a game that tackles serious issues then yeah I would recommend it 100 percent. If I have anything to add later I'll do it in post but honestly I don't really know what to say other than two things:
As of the time of this review there's about 17 hours left for the Steam Spring Sale and it's like 3.39 so buy it.
if you're ever having feelings of depression or suicide you're not alone, and to please reach out for help wherever you need to because life is a struggle and there's no shame in how you feel. My apologies if this wasn't written the best as with everything this is free form but I'm not really sure how to go about it and worse comes to worse if I can better explain I'll edit the review later.
From Steam Reviews: https://steamcommunity.com/id/gamemast15r/recommended/
https://the-cat-lady.fandom.com/wiki/Game_endings
It's solid for the most part but there are multiple endings. I'm not gonna tell you about the game's plot to be honest because this game deserves your time and it's a really heavy game. Gonna throw out a trigger warning that this game does talk about and show stuff like depression, suicide, mental illness, the male gaze, etc; there's a whole laundry list to unpack here and it does it all well and has you thinking. Instead all I can really tell you is how I felt, as someone who does deal with depression and anxiety and frankly thinks that life sucks sometimes.
It was highly visceral, poignant, and honestly relatable in a lot of ways. The whole game has you fight through Susan's mental well being while also dealing with some of the worst people in society that you could ever think of really, mixed in with warped and macabre imagery and a soundtrack that's honestly great (buy the album by the way); I legitimately think that it's on par with Silent Hill 2 in just how sad and depressing it can be, with several times where I was stunned at how thoughtful and sincere the writing. Susan struggles through this game, not only just to die but even just to go through her day; in Chapter 3 you literally spend your time trying to avoid things that would help trigger Susan and upset her in a place where EVERYTHING will remind her of her past, which is easier said than done with anyone who deals with that stuff in real life. I know a lot of people and even myself to a lesser extent also deal with that stuff and when you end up caring for a well written character like Susan (and later Mitzi as well) you WANT to make sure that she's ok. But that's what depression is, a constant struggle in which you will always fall down but you have to pick yourself back up and deal with the aftermath of it, and a lot of people can't do that but that's the point; and that's a lot of what Susan deals with. Trauma from her past, the creeping male gaze of people who want to potentially/will try to harm her even; there's multiple times where I squicked and cringed at some of the dialogue here, and for all the right reasons as this game is written really well. I think for me what really hit me and made me tear up was the final part, where spoilers if you give Mitzi the gas mask, you come back alive for the final time and confronting the final antagonist; Mitzi aims a gun at the last parasite, The Eye of Adam, with the intent to kill. Her whole backstory being that her boyfriend Jack died after Adam encouraged Jack to kill himself, and now she planned on killing him. As Susan tries to talk her down from killing him (as there are Oxygen tanks everywhere and they would all surely blow up except Susan who could come back to life) Mitzi says "I might as well kill him, it's not like I have anyone to live for!", cue the silence and one line: "I care about you". I'm gonna be honest, I don't know how to explain it well but it hit me like a pile of bricks, and it felt validating to hear such positive thinking. Now this is the Golden Ending, themes might change depending on your route but honestly to me this felt cathartic and even validating for someone who feels like sometimes no one really cares about you. It has a lot of moments like these, a couple of comedic moments sure, but a lot of moments where you're rooting for Susan and her friend Mitzi throughout their struggles. I'll even say I was f u c k in rockin out when in Chapter 4, you finally shoot the wife of the Pest Control parasite, who is himself an awful human being, with a gas mask and a shotgun after she burnt out Susan's eyes with bleach and blamed you for trying to "steal" her disgusting, pervert serial killer husband. It really knew how to make me feel in certain situations, and honestly it's too long to even really put here because again there's a lot to unpack. The only thing I could complain about plot wise is how [spoiler] they focus a bit on Joe Davis during Chapter 6, he's the main protagonist of the previous dev's game and the next game/remake Downfall, and some fan service is cool but having been aware of it beforehand it kind of felt like it was just sort of teasing a bit for the next entry, and that's cool I guess but felt kind of weird cause I never played that game and only really remembered a bit when I looked it up later.
The soundtrack is amazing and really fits with everything going on; though don't expect Akira Yamaoka, expect some somber pieces of music, some really tense tracks and maybe a mid 2000s I don't know what to call it sad rock song or two. But to me it fit perfectly for what the game was going for, and I couldn't complain about it. The voice acting can range between great and kind of off mic quality/accent wise but truth be told I wasn't bothered about it. The art style is freaky as hell, depressing and haunting even but beautiful at the same time.
I guess if I had any final thoughts to put down it would be this: again, this is an Art Piece of a game, one that I'll be straight up with you I won't be playing any time soon or possibly ever again. It's depressing as hell, deals with various themes, and with it's content alone this game to me personally stands out as timeless in a sense. But like The Heilwald Loophole, I'm gonna be thinking about this for a long time and will most likely give the developer's next two games Downfall and Lorelai from the Devil Came Through Here trilogy a shot. I don't know how to recommend this game to you, nor in which mental state to play it in; but if you even have a vague curiosity about the game or you want to play a game that tackles serious issues then yeah I would recommend it 100 percent. If I have anything to add later I'll do it in post but honestly I don't really know what to say other than two things:
As of the time of this review there's about 17 hours left for the Steam Spring Sale and it's like 3.39 so buy it.
if you're ever having feelings of depression or suicide you're not alone, and to please reach out for help wherever you need to because life is a struggle and there's no shame in how you feel. My apologies if this wasn't written the best as with everything this is free form but I'm not really sure how to go about it and worse comes to worse if I can better explain I'll edit the review later.
From Steam Reviews: https://steamcommunity.com/id/gamemast15r/recommended/