Fang is a typical 18-year-old dinosaur: they’re more concerned about their band going viral than they are about what happens after graduation. But they’re about to have much bigger problems. Will they find time to figure themselves out? Can they balance a potential apocalypse and a budding romance? During hard times, what do we owe each other? Goodbye Volcano High is a cinematic narrative adventure about the beginning of a love story... and the end of an era.
Reviews View More
I enjoyed this game. The story was just the bit of slice of life I needed. Cute, but sad. The only con is it doesn't have too much replay value.
Nope. This one was just not very gripping for me. The time it took to finish the game was pitiful. The rhythm sections were not enjoyable, and the songs included for the game are bland, repetitive slop. The story was mildly enjoyable, but only because I knew that they were all going to die in the end. I don’t know how someone who is not a corporate conglomerate came up with this idea.
Там метеор летит, а они типа динозавры поняла да. На самом деле, игра хорошая. Я люблю такие игры где можно поплакать и подрочить
It’s decent. The hate it gets is dramatic.
Reed is my favorite definitely. Wish it cut the dnd shit and gave the game an extra 2 hours.
The controversy around this game will always puzzle me. The fact some gooner on 4chan made a whole ass detransition story and wasted their time on it is fucking crazy. But that’s all I’ll say over that train wreck of a “fan” game.
Designs of the characters? Great.
Music? Great
Story? Definitely had its moments. The final dnd epilogue despite me hating it all way through had a nice monologue conclusion by Reed.
The pacing takes a train wreck hit at the end making you choose to talk to these characters on the beach. But I guess I liked the characters I chose (Sage and Reed) for it to not be a big deal.
Fang and Naomi’s relationship suffers from this pacing. The dnd stuff really needed to be cut so they could give time to them or something.
Fang and Reed’s voice actors gave it their all. I really liked their performances.
Maybe this is the game I need. Along with night in the woods, Being almost a senior in highschool in about a month. So I resonate with it a bit.
Shame this game had potential and is still good but kind of needed more time in the oven.
Never show them front facing again
That ending was disappointing though. Felt like I wasted my time paying 22$ for this when I could’ve just watched it on YouTube dot com
Reed is my favorite definitely. Wish it cut the dnd shit and gave the game an extra 2 hours.
The controversy around this game will always puzzle me. The fact some gooner on 4chan made a whole ass detransition story and wasted their time on it is fucking crazy. But that’s all I’ll say over that train wreck of a “fan” game.
Designs of the characters? Great.
Music? Great
Story? Definitely had its moments. The final dnd epilogue despite me hating it all way through had a nice monologue conclusion by Reed.
The pacing takes a train wreck hit at the end making you choose to talk to these characters on the beach. But I guess I liked the characters I chose (Sage and Reed) for it to not be a big deal.
Fang and Naomi’s relationship suffers from this pacing. The dnd stuff really needed to be cut so they could give time to them or something.
Fang and Reed’s voice actors gave it their all. I really liked their performances.
Maybe this is the game I need. Along with night in the woods, Being almost a senior in highschool in about a month. So I resonate with it a bit.
Shame this game had potential and is still good but kind of needed more time in the oven.
Never show them front facing again
That ending was disappointing though. Felt like I wasted my time paying 22$ for this when I could’ve just watched it on YouTube dot com
Full disclosure: Watched a full let's play, did not play myself, but it doesn't seem like it matters considering you don't get to actually choose in the majority of the places where dialogue options show up. In terms of technical shit, this is a train wreck, terrible persective on the art all over, assets loading in incorrectly, late or not at all, failing rhythm sections have no consequences, audio clipping, abrupt audio cutoffs, audio failing to load in at all, almost every technical aspect of this game is flawed in some way. I liked the soundtrack overall though it's not anything I feel compelled to revisit on its own. Some of the character designs are cute but most have atrocious perspective and animation errors as previously mentioned.
None of that is super important for a game like this though, what really matters is the writing, right? Unfortunately that too was underwhelming for me. I can see how some people could really connect with something with this tone though. I had the same sort of reaction to this as Night in the Woods, where I get why this setting and tone could really gel with some people, but for me personally, I just don't.
None of that is super important for a game like this though, what really matters is the writing, right? Unfortunately that too was underwhelming for me. I can see how some people could really connect with something with this tone though. I had the same sort of reaction to this as Night in the Woods, where I get why this setting and tone could really gel with some people, but for me personally, I just don't.
(Disclosure: I was given a "special thanks" credit.)
This is one of those games that, if you're receptive to the kinds of characters and stories it's striving to present, it's going to stick with you. I had been following this game since it had been revealed in the PS5 showcase stream back in June 2020. I thought it looked okay at the time, but I didn't think it'd so thoroughly root itself as one of my top five games of all time.
Visually, it looks like no other game out there. It looks like a 2D animated television series, with the kind of lighting and detail you'd expect from an anime. The character animation is 2D as well; the characters are both emotive and fun to look at, bolstered by some truly superb voice acting. Many of these characters are some flavor of LGBT+, and each of them feels like they were made with love from people who have lived their experiences. Complementing all this is wonderful, catchy music, whether it be instrumental tracks playing through a scene, or beautiful songs played during the rhythm sections. There are a handful of visual hiccups and sometimes stiff animation, but none of it so damning that they break the game or the immersion.
The choice-making mechanic takes the genre in a great direction by giving visual cues on the emotions behind every choice, so it's always clear where the character's headspace is. This is coupled with additional mechanics of "Resistance" (you need to hold extra buttons to confirm an emotionally difficult choice) and "Hesitation" (if you don't fully commit to a choice, you might lose the opportunity to make it). They work so great at integrating the narrative into the gameplay that I'm shocked that other narrative games haven't tried them before. There are also rhythm game performances sprinkled throughout the story, with a simple but engaging gameplay format that always makes me look forward to them. There are also photos and flashbacks you can unlock as you play, but not every photo can be earned in one session; you WILL need to play through a few times to see everything this game has to offer.
But narrative games live and die by their story, and that's where this game truly shines. There's a real emotional weight to the struggles the characters face: trying to plan for their futures when they might not have one, while also figure out who they are to each other as their lives slowly fall apart. In a genre that typically makes all your choices so powerful that they write out multiple endings based on what you do, this game paints the illusion of player control over the narrative, and then rips it away over the course of the story. This game could ONLY have one ending -- they're dinosaurs and there's an asteroid, after all -- but your choices influence everything leading up to the end. Certain scenes can play out differently based on your actions, or you might unlock special scenes based on who you befriend. Through all this, you get a compelling story that leaves an impact on you. It's quite hard to do a rhythm game at the end of the world with tears in your eyes.
Goodbye Volcano High is a beautiful, thoughtful, memorable game that strives to show what this genre of games can really accomplish. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
This is one of those games that, if you're receptive to the kinds of characters and stories it's striving to present, it's going to stick with you. I had been following this game since it had been revealed in the PS5 showcase stream back in June 2020. I thought it looked okay at the time, but I didn't think it'd so thoroughly root itself as one of my top five games of all time.
Visually, it looks like no other game out there. It looks like a 2D animated television series, with the kind of lighting and detail you'd expect from an anime. The character animation is 2D as well; the characters are both emotive and fun to look at, bolstered by some truly superb voice acting. Many of these characters are some flavor of LGBT+, and each of them feels like they were made with love from people who have lived their experiences. Complementing all this is wonderful, catchy music, whether it be instrumental tracks playing through a scene, or beautiful songs played during the rhythm sections. There are a handful of visual hiccups and sometimes stiff animation, but none of it so damning that they break the game or the immersion.
The choice-making mechanic takes the genre in a great direction by giving visual cues on the emotions behind every choice, so it's always clear where the character's headspace is. This is coupled with additional mechanics of "Resistance" (you need to hold extra buttons to confirm an emotionally difficult choice) and "Hesitation" (if you don't fully commit to a choice, you might lose the opportunity to make it). They work so great at integrating the narrative into the gameplay that I'm shocked that other narrative games haven't tried them before. There are also rhythm game performances sprinkled throughout the story, with a simple but engaging gameplay format that always makes me look forward to them. There are also photos and flashbacks you can unlock as you play, but not every photo can be earned in one session; you WILL need to play through a few times to see everything this game has to offer.
But narrative games live and die by their story, and that's where this game truly shines. There's a real emotional weight to the struggles the characters face: trying to plan for their futures when they might not have one, while also figure out who they are to each other as their lives slowly fall apart. In a genre that typically makes all your choices so powerful that they write out multiple endings based on what you do, this game paints the illusion of player control over the narrative, and then rips it away over the course of the story. This game could ONLY have one ending -- they're dinosaurs and there's an asteroid, after all -- but your choices influence everything leading up to the end. Certain scenes can play out differently based on your actions, or you might unlock special scenes based on who you befriend. Through all this, you get a compelling story that leaves an impact on you. It's quite hard to do a rhythm game at the end of the world with tears in your eyes.
Goodbye Volcano High is a beautiful, thoughtful, memorable game that strives to show what this genre of games can really accomplish. I wholeheartedly recommend it.