i'm still not sure if i'm going to play this game again. i'm sure there's probably some true ultimate ending i can get if i bang my head at it for a few more playthroughs, but i loved the ending this game gave me too much to do that i think. it's a good game. the kind of game only the people who made it could've made. it's one of those games where every time it comes up in conversation, the people who have played it before will say "dude, you gotta try it. go in blind. just trust me." and that's a sentiment i will echo here, if you haven't played it i think you should!
in formula, this game is a lot like something like the stanley parable or there is no game. you are being directed by a snarky narrator to do something and given the power to either bark along like a good little dog or be a little shit and do what you want. the premise is simple: there is a princess in the basement of a cabin. if the princess leaves the cabin the world will end and everyone will die. you are here to slay the princess. past this point i'll be spoiling the basic twist of this game.
there are a lot of ways you can act when interfacing with the princess. generally, no matter what you will die. then you are back where you started and you notice what's going on. it's a loop. things are a little different though. in the first encounter, the only voices that spoke were the narrator and the voice of the hero, which could easily be understood as the voice of the character you embody. generally this voice was hesitant to harm any princess, but when it saw the princess behaving strangely became concerned. on the next loop though, you will be joined by a new voice. and holy shit there are so many voices it could be, all depending on how you acted. were you skeptical of everyone and everything? meet the skeptic, here to be accusatory and untrusting of everything around it. did you wait until the princess turned her back to do the deed when nobody looked? well let me introduce you to the opportunist! a smarmy, fence-sitting asshole willing to side with anyone or anything that looks remotely advantageous. do you believe every word the princess says and do anything it takes to save her? well now the voice of a dumb asshole desperate to fuck her lives in your ear. it quickly started to remind me of disco elysium, with these different voices giving me new ideas and dialogue choices. it's a really well done system and i'm impressed they pulled it off so seamlessly. also props to the incredible voice actor who plays all of them as well as the narrator, jonathan sims, who i guess did some kind of magnus chase fan-podcast or something.
you're not the only one who changes each loop though. the princess remembers everything each time too, and the way you chose to treat her changes her. stabbed her in the back? she hides in the corner, baring her fangs. saved her like a damsel in distress? now she lays with a hand to her forehead waiting for the brave knight to come rescue her. you get the idea. it makes for a story you always feel like you're steering even if you can't be sure where it will end up. these loops will end though. as soon as you see the princess leave the cabin. to explain further would give away the grander meta-narrative of the game and i don't want to delve into that, but i promise you it's very interesting.
as much as i enjoyed this game, it did almost lose me a couple of times. it's biggest issue is it can come across as far too cute. the player's relationship with the narrator can veer pretty far into stanley parable territory, and as much as i love this game i would get really frustrated at every argument with the narrator turning into comedy bickering of the same tone. i wanted to immerse myself in this game in a way that felt counter to that. at the end of the day, this content only showed up because i chose the "obstinate video game player" dialogue choices, but i think often the game is worse for including those choices at all, even if they can lead to some pretty interesting places.
the thing that assured me i would love this game were some of the first words on the screen.
"Whatever horrors you may find in these dark spaces, have heart and see them through. There are no premature endings. There are no wrong decisions. There are only fresh perspectives and new beginnings. This is a love story."
it makes an impressive piece of prose and a genuinely useful guide for how to play the game. you don't have to worry about wrong choices or missed opportunities. you will have time to explore and make mistakes without severe consequences. but you don't have forever. in the end, it's not a loop. it's a spiral.