i'm struggling to rate this one, because i loved it. this game is so unique, and uncovering the mysteries within was so deeply satisfying as the story went on. i am a zoomer, but i still get so nostalgic for the early internet because i got a tiny glimpse of it as a kid. while i was heavily supervised and couldn't do much, i had a facebook and a myspace page that i decorated and used to talk to my cousin. forum boards were before my time, but when i got older i browsed tumblrs and google plus accounts and livejournals and so on and so forth dedicated to my nichest interests and while geocities was something very different, hypnospace outlaw brought me right back to that.

all the side stories with the teens, the fucking censorship cartoon, mind's eye stuff... ALL of it was so interesting and fun to watch change. everytime the os updated i was excited to see what had developed and changed since i last saw everyone, and i rehashed out hidden pages after hidden pages because i knew it would be fun to follow up with.

despite all this, the third act/final chapter really dragged for me. i had already caught onto the twist coming and i didn't like being forced to backtrack through pages for secrets i had... already found... when i was already so thorough during my normal playthrough. i get the point of it within the narrative, but after such an interesting and strong start and middle, this game really failed to stick the landing. even once i'd beaten it and saw the credits, i couldn't help but feel a "that's it?" after feeling so immersed for the hours i put into it. it's a really big shame, because i think it ruined the game a lot for me even though i still feel overall positive about it.

an easy recommend, and i am so excited to keep an eye out on the dev team behind this game to see what they'll release in the future. really glad to have finally ticked this one off the "to play" list! i've always heard nothing but praises for it and i'm glad i can understand why.