Tentando buscar um objetivo que molde a rede de nonsense, decido chegar em todos os finais. Tal ato me força a rejogar cada cenário algumas vezes, repetição de seu onirismo calcificando uma bizarra escultura em minha cabeça, revelando modesta clareza - um flash epilético por vez. Michael Jackson, Death Grips; o destino do universo. Um dos finais era um pouco complicado e busquei guias na internet, o único que achei disponível só em mandarim - a tradução bizarra e perdida parecia uma extensão da experiência. Efeitos explosivos que me assustavam e botavam pra rir logo depois. Depois que terminei, tive que ir visitar Michael Jackson uma última vez. Não há nada como ele por aí.

i think some people are gonna write this off as a "style over substance" game--and it certainly is, clocking in at around 2-3 hours, with no really outstanding sense of game design--but there's a lot of depth and value here if you're willing to look beyond the dithered pixel art and electronic music surface. plus this is the only game where you can save the planet by stealing some guys spicy indian food and giving it to the prince of mars who promptly becomes your best friend. so score on that front!

Eu achei esse aqui muito massa.

É um jogo que faz uma mistura bem interessante de visual novel com puzzle, além de contar com uma história bem maluca e psicodélica; no entanto, o que realmente brilha aqui é essa apresentação super estilosa que eu pelo menos nunca tinha visto em outro jogo.

Eu gosto que a história tem vários pequenos capítulos cheios de finais diferentes que podem ser abordados em qualquer ordem, e em meio disso essa história maluca vai aos poucos fazendo sentido já que vamos montando as peças desse quebra-cabeça. Tem viagem no tempo, alienígenas, além de vários outros conceitos legais.

É muito daora, mas é um tanto curtinho demais, já que dá pra terminar em 100% em 3 horas e meia. Definitivamente vale a pena ficar de olho se entrar em promoção caso você goste desse tipo de jogo.

Eu quero mais disso, namoral.

While its aesthetics and visuals are absolutely bonkers and I DO love that.

Critters for Sale just kinda stays in a weird space for me.

It's too consistent in terms of world building (while, yes, insane) for me to just embrace the aesthetics, feel and interpret the game in my own way.

While at the same time, i feel its world building isn't as well established or well executed for me to immerse myself in it, be it in a way where it makes sense within this illogical world's boundaries, be it in a way in where it's intentionally fuzzy and dissonant.

The ending feels a bit off, maybe for being anticlimatic, maybe for being inconclusive in any way, shape or form, maybe because i just couldn't really care too much about what it has done in terms of world building.

It's charming, it's visually interesting, but i just really didn't connect a lot with it.

Would still be interested in playing a new game by Sonoshee, I do believe in the potential of their work and of this series (?), as i presume from the final bit of text.

Embora o jogo afirme que cada capítulo possa ser jogado em qualquer ordem, e, de fato possam ser, existem alguns finais de capítulos que são impossíveis de serem obtidos sem conhecimento prévio dos outros, incluindo o único final do último capítulo. Além disso, senti falta de feedback visual para quais ações o jogador poderia realizar ou não no decorrer do jogo, mas esses dois pontos são as únicas coisas negativas dele. É uma aventura muito interessante e fascinante. A história é instigante, em alguns momentos assustadora, e, mesmo assim consegue ter um bom senso de humor enquanto possui um estilo artístico muito charmoso (que me atraiu pro jogo) e uma trilha sonora muito boa. Vale ressaltar que Michael Jackson está no jogo.

I'm actually kind of in two minds when it comes to this game. On one hand it's an absolute stylistic achievement; the way everything manages to appear fluid and expressive while also looking like the entire game was passed through the Game Boy Camera, the soundtrack which is at times catchy and other times genuinely kinda haunting, some interesting character designs, one specific moment of pretty effective horror, and a few decent gags all make this hard not to at least recommend giving a try, but like, on the other hand, it's surprising to me how difficult it was for me to stay interested during the four or so hours it took to play.

The game's appeal, for me at least, starts and ends at its aesthetic, and those aforementioned scattered moments of horror and decent humor. None of the five episodes here have especially interesting setups or satisfying payoffs, and I kind of feel like the game at times kind of suffers from not taking itself too seriously? Like man the episode where you start experiencing increasingly strange events while wandering through a desert could have been kind of unnerving and may have managed to draw me in if it wasn't also like "heh... and get THIS... your travel companion is FREAKIN' MC RIDE!!!!" Like I feel as if Monkey is the most effective and interesting chapter simply by virtue of the fact that it leans into the disturbing quality of some of the game's visuals and sound design without throwing in too many wacky, zany irreverent moments!!! That may just be me wanting something out of the game that it's not aiming for, though; for me, it's just difficult to get invested in the deliberately confusing time travel occult narrative the game is trying to convey when the writing doesn't seem interested in making that story compelling or even telling it without falling back on a bunch of internet culture references.

Give it a try if it looks interesting to you, though. I genuinely do feel like this could end up clicking really hard for a lot of people who vibe more with its sense of humor.

I knew this game would be exactly up my alley, and sure enough it completely blew me away. I'm such a sucker for point-and-click games with a dithered and detailed pixel art style like this, especially when translated into psychedelic blends of surrealism and cosmic horror. the way the visuals melt and explode through mysterious layers of visual horror is so insane that you really just have to see it for yourself. also, using icons (won't spoil anything) from pop culture to represent characters in between these worlds was quite genius honestly, and left me very happy in one specific moment. I do think some of the puzzles towards the end are slightly too obtuse, and replaying each story for all the endings is slightly tedious, but overall this game fucking rules. huge props to the dev for making something entirely original and effective.

Really cool.

Easy to see this as a young guys homage to the Internet culture he grew up with, and the complicated feelings those permenately embed in one's psyche. We get that made manifest in the wacked out visuals, distortions of photography made to move via digital effects. The writing is flavor text, but reveals anxiety about climate change, the 1% ruining the world for their own short term gain, and the comedy all this chaos generates.

This almost works as a music video for a lot of great music too. All those times you picture a lil video to a song you love, this guy made that real. One should put live death grips concert footage in their game.

Also why does the second top review here say: "but there's a lot of depth and value here if you're willing to look beyond the dithered pixel art and electronic music surface"? I have many quibbles with this, but what does it even mean? Isn't that a lot of the game, it is extremely deliberate and gives most of the game it's affect?? Why would you need to look beyond it, and why are visuals and music a "surface" to games? What happens when we gaze at that very surface?

More proof that people should like my far superior reviews.

Slightly torn on this. Aesthetically? One of the best things ive ever played. A+ in every regard. Some of the greatest funny lookin guys in vidja history in particular. Perfect in every way. Constantly surprised with how much cool shit it does.

Story wise? I dunno. I think it's pretty blatant that there's no real grand overarching theme or much of a consistent narrative, just a collection of fun little vignettes, and I think I'm okay with that. I would've liked if there was more of a method to it's madness, but just being along for the ride is enough when it's this constantly captivating. Nary a dull moment. Reminded me a lot of The Silver Case as a whole, with it's often loose story being told thru a series of questionably connected chapters (tho TSC does it a lot better in a macro sense), the very strong and striking sense of visual storytelling, and how chapter 2 is easily the worst part.

Speaking of chapter 2 the death grips stuff is bad and feels bizarrely out of step with the rest of the game. I wouldve not had a problem with it if it was just stefan being a character in narrative for no real reason like MJ is, but it double / triples down on it and its very, for lack of a better word, cringe. i wouldve tolerated it if this was made in like 2015 or something but near current year is too late to be talking about being noided n shit. easy lowpoint of the game

Games that feel haunted are so cool to me and usually something that will immediately make me appreciate it, and Critters For Sale is no exception in this regard. The mishmash of surreal, abstract twists on a variety of folklore warped through a lens of pop culture from a variety of eras, all closed off with one of the most unique and striking visual styles I've seen makes for an unforgettable aesthetic in any case. It's all further heightened by game's insistence that you immediately know everything that's being talked about while exclusively putting you in the perspective of characters who know absolutely nothing, leaving so much up to you just remembering concepts and making vague connections without truly understanding the deeper consequences of anything that occurs. It's built upon contradictions in a lot of key areas that add a ton to the surreal atmosphere in each chapter, not ever being able to fully trust anything that's said, but always pressing forward regardless to be given context to ideas you haven't even begun to think about.

It's not exactly perfect, as the pop culture elements definitely carefully ride the line between adding to the sense of strange familiarity to see such icons in the context of a world this confusing, while also sometimes unfortunately crossing the line into taking you right out of the experience by leaning into such elements a bit too heavily. This is most prominent with a certain ending in the Goat storyline, where while incredibly funny, the ending pertaining to Death Grips entirely tanked the mystique of the setting you were placed in and felt strangely out of place even in a game as wild as this one. Other than this I really appreciated this though for having such an incredible sense of style combined with gameplay that constantly intrigued, along with playing into a vibe that I've really grown to appreciate where it feels more akin to being a passive observer to the world around you as opposed to being a hugely active force in it. In the context of Critters For Sale this is especially indicative of how distinctly it presents itself for managing to craft such a tone while also having the player save the world multiple times and actively become one of the main driving forces of the trajectory of the world.

Also a huge fan of the ways that a lot of these storylines differ from a gameplay perspective, all sticking within the confines of what you'd expect from a point n click adventure, but emphasising different a different element for each one, often as simple as moving through from location to location or solving puzzles. Providing a sense of variety through nothing but the barest of essentials is just one way that's indicative of how Critters For Sale is able to play into its minimalism to further reinforce the elements it's striving to make the most distinct and memorable, whether it's through the moments of reduced intensity themselves lending themselves towards a vague feeling of formlessly floating through unfamiliar territory, or the contrast with the occasionally nightmarish, maximalist pieces of imagery. In the end though, none of this really matters as much as the simple fact that if you're at all interested in the artstyle of this, you really should give it a shot, because everything the game does serves to push its aesthetic front and centre and entirely absorb you.

Definitely visually striking, with a great soundtrack featuring vaporwave canon like haircuts for men and VRTLHVN, but is comparatively neglectful of establishing a worthwhile script.

While the humor is good, the dialogue left me wanting more; maybe its meant to be superficial, or is simply a product of making near every protagonist confused, backstoryless mannequins - most we ever get Michael Jackson's descriptions of Sergei in SNAKE ﴾蛇﴿ and the sibling relationship fundamental to MONKEY ﴾猴﴿. Latter of which being one of my favorite for its pure focus, and SPIDER ﴾蛛﴿ for the depths of its excesses. DRAGON ﴾龍﴿ also stand out for its emphasis on puzzles; I wish we saw more of that across the stories. But all of them play out the same way, nonetheless: clueless dudes stumbling their way in or out of an esoteric dooms. It gets monotonous fast, and feel at times that it only offers spectacle.

This game underwhelmed me more than anything. But I am looking forward to future projects from this developer.

Imagine a video game with an actual sense of mise en scène, and you get Critters for Sale. I am thankful that it existed for me in this timeline more than I necessarily enjoyed it. Felt a lot like a confident debut album by a band influenced by all of my favorites: cosmic horror, liminal space, warped vaporwave, the occult, casinos, death grips...nailing the exuberant alchemy of it all, even if limited by the production budget of an itch.io solo developer. Color me excited to see what Sonoshee brings to a sophomore effort, which I really really really hope escapes the confines of point-and-click.

Out of all the games on my obscure games recommendation list this was the one I was most looking forward to, and it all had to do with the cover art for its page on here. An ominous looming figure that looked like a statue in pure black and white. I found it very striking, as if I was looking at something dark, and mysterious, something not meant to be seen by human eyes.

Popping the game in, I feel like my initial feelings were very, very correct.

Critters for Sale was recommended to me by Bruh_Moment_7, thank you very much for recommending me this very bizarre and intriguing experience. It is definitely a game that fits my likes a lot.

Since this is a game I feel works best when played blind, I am going to split the review into two sections. One section that talks strictly about how it feels to play, and one that goes into detail on the many individual moments the game has.

Critters for Sale is a game with a very avant-garde aesthetic that I feel has not been done before. The crisp, scratchy, newspaper looking effect that is used to show the world and characters provides feelings of both familiarity and the past, as well as feelings of fear, and the unknown. It hits right in the uncanny valley, especially with the use of facial animations and structure for the various characters.

The music also fits the same tone as the visuals. Some tracks feel more relaxing, playing within a standard genre, while other tracks feel hectic and uncertain. Each track is used to elevate the moment involving it to its maximum potential.

You are now entering the spoiler part of the review
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The game has five different stories, or "Critters". Some stories have only a single ending while others have up to Six. While the stories do have some connections to one another, like similar antagonists, mentions of plot points, or parts required to solve a puzzle, they don't fully intersect in anyway.

I started with the Monkey Story, as it was in the middle of the select screen, and only had one ending. I feel the Monkey Story is the most mundane in tone out of the five stories, despite the fact that the entire premise is about you going to a demon summoning ritual.

You start as a young man named Othman, who, along with your younger cousin Omar, are invited to this ritual. After talking to the people involved, and unlocking a barrier that was meant to protect you, you are ultimately tricked into leaving your in the hands of the people handling the ritual, who ultimately summon Satan to possess the body of their Maalem (Boss) Mustapha. He becomes a Noid Man, and you ultimately escape as he goes into the Abyss.

I think the build up for this ending, while there, was not that satisfying, at least compared to the Goat, Snake, and Spider's various endings. There are a few points where the conclusion is alluded to, like when you can visit a Celestial Being through the back of a merchant's shop, who tells you not to feel bad about what's about to happen, and the fact that you leave your cousin with the person conducting the ritual, as well as the various talks about demons and stuff. I just think that it ends a bit too quickly and so the build up never really gets time to fully release.

The next story I played was Dragon, which I only played because it has only one ending. I'm pretty sure Dragon is actually intended to be the final route played as getting its ending requires you to look at the Doomsday Machines in both the Spider and Snake endings, or to just look on Youtube for a guide like I did. Dragon, while having the mystical setting of the Reincarnation Temple, is probably the weakest out of the five in regards to story... because there really isn't one. You kind of just bumble around trying to escape the temple, and interact with some NPC's like a magical tiger that has you take a quiz, or a Korean General, or the host of the temple who is on vacation that you need to call on a payphone, but there's no real cohesive story that's happening.

That isn't to say that what you will explore and find isn't interesting, but that it feels like it doesn't all serve a genuine purpose and is just there to be "strange" and "weird". The ending is also the weakest with absolutely no build-up, especially if you didn't play Spider or Snake beforehand. You just become a Noid Man known as the Nosferatu of the East with no real lead into why you become that or who you were before.

The next critter I played was Goat, which is probably my second favorite story in the game. I'm not even going to go into detail, and instead recommend listening to some Death Grips. Trust me, it's good. Goat is easily the funniest route in the game though, by far.

My favorite route in the game is Spider (despite the fact I am super arachnophobic lmao). You're a tourist in New York and you happen upon a casino that is controlled by Neptunians, and also that the world is going to end at midnight. You wander through the casino and experience a variety of things, from getting your head ripped off, to the world being made extinct, to befriending a Martian Prince whose love for spicy food saves the planet from being destroyed. It's a very strange route where every ending feels very disconnected from the others, yet they all tie to the overall narrative.

The final route I played was Snake, which shares some similarities to Spider. You get a message from Michael Jackson to meet at a club, and when you get there... well, Michael Jackson is actually there. The weird thing? The year is 2033, 24 years after MJ died. You can either go along with Michael, or get your head cut in half like you're Frieza fighting Trunks.

All in all, the biggest thing is that none of the stories really follow an overarching theme outside of "Otherworldly Beings like to do a little trolling." I think maybe the underlying theme is something akin to "You can't escape fate" but with the weird sense of humor this game has, as well as how obtuse some of the storytelling is, it's hard to say.

Critters for Sale is honestly a game you just have to fully experience on your own to get the most out of it. I enjoy it because of its strange sense of humor, artstyle, and uncanny design, but those very reasons could also put many other people off.

I can't fully recommend it because it is just so... bizarre. However, it is only $9.99 on Steam, and less than 3 hours, so there's no real harm in picking it up either.

Gotta say though, the dev, Sonoshee, is very fucking weird.

Looks, plays, and sounds lovely - the perfect analog aesthetic of finding some ancient floppy disc from a cursed garage sale and imagining whatever must be locked up inside. Sadly the most crucial aspect of a visual novel - the story - is lacking. Some of the overarching elements - the fight between Satan and God, the Noid Men, pretty much the entire Monkey arc - certainly have potential but usually feel too afraid to go all the way or shed the lackadasical skin and pop-culture references which line the game at the most inopportune of times.