a super enjoyable, charming experience! wears its influences on its sleeve, but that's not a bad thing. monkey island meets papers, please, lil guardsman has the charm of sussing out who to let in and who to keep out of the sprawl, while also having fun self-aware humor. the solutions to getting 4 stars on certain characters can be slightly obtuse, but it just makes replaying the game to see all the outcomes all the more fun.

some might say the humor is a bit hit or miss, and while i found the first half to be the more miss part for me (mainly the fact that nobody seemed to be more upset that lil's father was making his child cover his shift to illegally gamble) the mid-game shift was a welcome breath of fresh air and makes the second half of the game all the more exciting. i enjoyed the first half well enough, but the second half really stands out. that being said, the first half is still needed, as i think the change that happens in that second half wouldn't be quite as endearing and fun if the buildup wasn't there.

so many choices too! and they genuinely affect certain things! unique dialogue galore, fun characters, i could go on but i'd be spoiling for sure! highly recommend at least one playthrough, if not multiple to get all the fun outcomes you can!