something i appreciate about these games is their insistence on resisting melodrama. mainstream media in general tends to be sensational, which i don't think is an inherently bad thing but i do think can make it hard to honestly portray the true realities of marginalized peoples, where a lot of the struggles and a lot of the joys too happen in the quiet margins of the day that get lost in the big, obvious explosions of drama that are a lot easier and more attractive to write and more fun to watch.

so here comes one night, hot springs, an exceedingly gentle game where the worst thing that can happen is you let your character close herself off from the people who love her.

the game does a really smart thing of tying your ability to select certain, more potentially stressful dialogue options to your character's "health," which represents the way the needles of having to deal with constant social pressures just kind of constantly erodes one's desire and ability to put up with shit. Depending on how well you can get her through the rest of her day, Haru just might not have it in her to deal with a hang sesh with an ignorant but genuinely well-meaning new friend. i think this is a really smart way to gamify the way little anxieties can make it hard to connect with people, even people you know you can count on in a world where that's not a sure thing.

the other big thing this game does from an american perspective is take place in japan and offer a glimpse into a trans experience that is in some ways familiar but in a lot of ways really different from what an american might go through, and i think it's really cool that this is available in so many languages. so much Queer Media is filtered through an american lens and having this other perspective so widely accessible rips.

these games are lovely and i'm very much looking forward to playing the third one soon, and exploring more of npckc's catalogue