The friends of Ringo Ishikawa was a game that took me back to my teenage years, viewed through the sobering & cynical lens of hindsight. The titular Ringo & his friends are a bunch of classic Japanese delinquents, with seemingly no initial higher ambitions beyond their schoolyard gang warfare, entering their final year as students with graduation on the horizon. Despite being a gaggle of petty thugs who smoke cigarettes & have seemingly little interest in their own futures, it's shown as the plot goes on that there's more to each of these delinquents than let's on. Your violent, dumb-as-rocks lackey Goro is a surprisingly talented thespian. Your number one brawler Ken has the talent necessary for a shot at a boxing career in college. Even Ringo himself is a shockingly erudite scholar with an interest in literature, a once-promising career in karate, and is a surprisingly idealistic, loyal, man of virtue. The one thing holding them back is their gang lifestyle & ideas, something that resonated with me as someone who saw this same situation play out dozens of times in my youth.
My own high school wasn't great looking back on it. Violence & abuse were common occurrences, drug use & sex in the hallways was an unspoken fact of life, and basically everyone was a minority of some kind from a low-income background. Lots of people I knew came from broken homes, or were working part-time to put food on the table, or were otherwise struggling with something no kid should've been dealing with at that age, the kind of things that can make studying for your history exam seem like small potatoes. It's a structural issue decades in the making that leads to people getting trapped in places like these, and unfortunately not everyone is able to escape it. Schoolyard fights that escalated into shootings. Football players who graduate with bright prospects only to then get arrested for murder. Kids akin to Ringo's gang members like Masaru or Goro, who have zero sights beyond the now & fully believe they'll be set for a life of petty crime after graduation. The short-sighted violent mindsets people box themselves into that end up spelling their own ends because they can't escape the circumstances that put them there.
I vividly remember hanging out in the parking lot after school one day, and I saw a kid reading a book on the hood of his car. His friends came up to him and immediately dogged on him for this and the supposed weakness such a hobby would project on your image, and he sheepishly put it away in his bag before he left with his friends. It's a small event in hindsight, but it was called back to my mind crystal clear during a scene where Ringo's friends rip into their fellow member Goro for his new vested interest in acting.
Ringo, for all his virtues, for all the books you can make him read, for all the training he can undergo, for all the studying & knowledge you can try to impart on him, still fully believes that his gang of schoolyard bullies is going to last forever, despite it being made rapidly apparent that everyone is starting to move on and find their own callings. Ringo still gets into casual street fights & latches onto his childish notions of schoolyard ethics, of "official challenges" and "rules," even as things spiral out of anyone's control & everyone starts to get in too deep. Much like some of my peers that I saw in my youth, he's a bright soul with potential and promise that is being squandered by his own adherence to violence and unhealthy group mentalities & expectations, and the simple fact is that as the days go by, everyone around him is starting to realize that they need to grow up and move past it all.
Everyone except him.
My own high school wasn't great looking back on it. Violence & abuse were common occurrences, drug use & sex in the hallways was an unspoken fact of life, and basically everyone was a minority of some kind from a low-income background. Lots of people I knew came from broken homes, or were working part-time to put food on the table, or were otherwise struggling with something no kid should've been dealing with at that age, the kind of things that can make studying for your history exam seem like small potatoes. It's a structural issue decades in the making that leads to people getting trapped in places like these, and unfortunately not everyone is able to escape it. Schoolyard fights that escalated into shootings. Football players who graduate with bright prospects only to then get arrested for murder. Kids akin to Ringo's gang members like Masaru or Goro, who have zero sights beyond the now & fully believe they'll be set for a life of petty crime after graduation. The short-sighted violent mindsets people box themselves into that end up spelling their own ends because they can't escape the circumstances that put them there.
I vividly remember hanging out in the parking lot after school one day, and I saw a kid reading a book on the hood of his car. His friends came up to him and immediately dogged on him for this and the supposed weakness such a hobby would project on your image, and he sheepishly put it away in his bag before he left with his friends. It's a small event in hindsight, but it was called back to my mind crystal clear during a scene where Ringo's friends rip into their fellow member Goro for his new vested interest in acting.
Ringo, for all his virtues, for all the books you can make him read, for all the training he can undergo, for all the studying & knowledge you can try to impart on him, still fully believes that his gang of schoolyard bullies is going to last forever, despite it being made rapidly apparent that everyone is starting to move on and find their own callings. Ringo still gets into casual street fights & latches onto his childish notions of schoolyard ethics, of "official challenges" and "rules," even as things spiral out of anyone's control & everyone starts to get in too deep. Much like some of my peers that I saw in my youth, he's a bright soul with potential and promise that is being squandered by his own adherence to violence and unhealthy group mentalities & expectations, and the simple fact is that as the days go by, everyone around him is starting to realize that they need to grow up and move past it all.
Everyone except him.
This review contains spoilers
my ringo was a very good student. i almost one-hundred-percent-ed all of his grades. not that he was a total nerd. he punched up some dudes when needed to, as well went out and got drunk with his friends, read some books, watched TV . . . but i really wanted to change his life. getting him out of this gang mentality. they said it was too late for him. i didn’t want to believe this. in a game with life-sim mechanics, with such emphasis on it, rewarding your boring activities with long (or lack of) animations -- studying, training, eating, sleeping --, i thought this daily activities thing was not only something for “immersion” or a cool and different gimmick. i thought my agency would change ringo’s life, like if i was a ventriloquist, playing with my puppet. i was wrong. ringo ishikawa is ringo ishikawa. ringo ishikawa is smart and ringo ishikawa can be dedicated. ringo ishikawa is sensible and ringo ishikawa is friendly. ringo ishikawa is a gangster and a monster. ringo ishikawa has a lot of friends but ringo ishikawa is still a child: the truth is, none of those characters really know what they want to do with their lives. growing up with some arduous conditions, being smashed by the system and not being able to getting out of the type of living they chose -- at least now, as teenagers and young adults --, even if they do, they just self sabotage and go back to it -- for being the best choice or for not believing which choice is better. when they start to realize what is really happening, they just go and follow their own goals. ringo hasn't realized it yet. in the end, he’s still a gangster. he is still loyal to his friends. when the title drops at the end and ringo is fighting alone, is a statement that the friends of ringo ishikawa have found their own way, and ringo must find his, too.
"They say that one of life's greatest tragedies is a talent gone to waste."
"What about those who have no talent? Are their lives wasted from the start?"
--
"The book's about nothing."
"What about those who have no talent? Are their lives wasted from the start?"
--
"The book's about nothing."
Russian literature game.
It's a hardcore game that goes far beyond DISCO ELYSIUM when it comes to literary elements.(maybe) ...I was stunned by the ending. I felt like going out on the balcony and smoking a cigarette. I’m not smoker.
Anyway, what kind of game is this, where you are a kuniokun on the surface but a Gogol/Dostoevsky on the inside? lol
There's a term on the Japanese internet called "おそロシア = OsoRussia" , and I've seen a glimpse of the horror of Russia in this game.
It's a hard game to recommend. But it's definitely a game you won't forget.
A pun on Russia and the word 'horrible'. The term is used to joke about horrible events in Russia and its amazing culture and character.
It's a hardcore game that goes far beyond DISCO ELYSIUM when it comes to literary elements.(maybe) ...I was stunned by the ending. I felt like going out on the balcony and smoking a cigarette. I’m not smoker.
Anyway, what kind of game is this, where you are a kuniokun on the surface but a Gogol/Dostoevsky on the inside? lol
There's a term on the Japanese internet called "おそロシア = OsoRussia" , and I've seen a glimpse of the horror of Russia in this game.
It's a hard game to recommend. But it's definitely a game you won't forget.
A pun on Russia and the word 'horrible'. The term is used to joke about horrible events in Russia and its amazing culture and character.
An indie masterpiece I didn't click with.
Ringo Ishikawa is an intentionally directionless game. It provides a wide-open, beat-em up sandbox for you to explore. You have a plethora of choices available to you, different paths and minigames and stats to improve, different ways you can change the course of Ringo's life. But ultimately, those choices are so numerous they become... meaningless. Ringo still doesn't have a firm path that awaits him outside of high school. His friendships are still fracturing, all their prospects are grim, and its likely that they're about to enter some meaningless, dead-end lives.
The fact I didn't enjoy this game isn't the fault of the game itself. The game is designed to be melancholy and empty. That's a feature, not a bug. You have to find a joy in that feeling, that routine and aesthetic. Because this game is ALL aesthetic, full of secret ways to interact with the world. I fully believe its actually a perfectly crafted game, successful in everything its going for. I'm sure their follow-up game, Arrest of a Stone Buddha, is similarly brutal. Its just not something I could make myself devote a full playthrough towards.
I googled the ending and just. Goddamn. Gutting. Fuck, man.
Ringo Ishikawa is an intentionally directionless game. It provides a wide-open, beat-em up sandbox for you to explore. You have a plethora of choices available to you, different paths and minigames and stats to improve, different ways you can change the course of Ringo's life. But ultimately, those choices are so numerous they become... meaningless. Ringo still doesn't have a firm path that awaits him outside of high school. His friendships are still fracturing, all their prospects are grim, and its likely that they're about to enter some meaningless, dead-end lives.
The fact I didn't enjoy this game isn't the fault of the game itself. The game is designed to be melancholy and empty. That's a feature, not a bug. You have to find a joy in that feeling, that routine and aesthetic. Because this game is ALL aesthetic, full of secret ways to interact with the world. I fully believe its actually a perfectly crafted game, successful in everything its going for. I'm sure their follow-up game, Arrest of a Stone Buddha, is similarly brutal. Its just not something I could make myself devote a full playthrough towards.
I googled the ending and just. Goddamn. Gutting. Fuck, man.
whats better than this. guys bein dudes. spending a pretty sad summer with some good friends and doing odd jobs without any real advice for how the systems interact or what you're supposed to do feels good.
É fácil de perceber quando um jogo tem confiança em sua mensagem - não há limite de orçamento que o pare quando um desses aparece. The friends of Ringo Ishikawa te coloca na posição do dito cujo, delinquente adolescente e líder de uma gangue da escola, constantemente matando aula para badernar, beber e lutar nas ruas - seu antepassado de bom aluno e prodígio karateca um espectro saudoso para todos os adultos da história. Porém, é aí que o jogo começa, o passado de Ringo definido, o futuro em suas mãos, já que está no controle de Ringo em todos os momentos deste último semestre de escola: se ele vai brigar na rua, é porque você foi lá e brigou; se ele vai voltar aos eixos, é porque você decidiu ir às aulas e estudar, não através de uma decisão binária em um menu, e sim pelo ato maçante de todos os dias ir para a aula no horário certo e estudar, gastando o tempo em que o jogador - e Ringo - poderiam estar fazendo algo mais divertido e interessante. Este ato de forçar o jogador a viver a vida de Ringo e tomar junto dele as decisões fáceis e difíceis que devem ser tomadas todo dia no andar massacrante e irrefreável da rotina e do tempo o aproxima da personagem e também a humaniza, mostrando que apesar do seu exterior de rebelde insuportável e grosso, Ringo está lidando com a mesma gigantesca tarefa de existir que todos nós estamos.
E como o jogo se mantém interessante no meio disso tudo? Ele é bem escrito, embora sua história seja um pouco escassa, porém, quem carrega todo o espetáculo é o senso de atmosfera impressionante que um jogo tão visualmente simples consegue conjurar. Ringo Ishikawa não é o jogo que é pelos momentos em que você tenta se encaixar em uma rotina para fazer seus pontos de matemática ou de soco subirem, mas sim no momento quando você, inspirado pela trilha sonora e pelo farfalhar das folhas nas árvores, pelo humor melancólico da cidade e pelo peso da situação, decide, não se importando com otimizações gamificadas, parar por uns 30-40 minutos e apenas ficar sentado no banquinho da praça ou escorado no corrimão da ponte e contemplar, a cabeça vazia do Ringo marionete sendo preenchida pela do Ringo pessoa e a do jogador, sentindo e transmitindo a onda de emoção arrebatadora que você tenta conter e ocupar com todo momento da rotina. O meu Ringo gostava de tirar os domingos para ficar lendo o dia todo na praça, e essa memória ficará comigo muito mais do que qualquer level up que um jogo pode me proporcionar.
O tom do jogo é de desespero e de rebeldia, retratando o comportamento deste grupo de jovens delinquentes como a resposta que encontraram para uma sociedade conformada e sem propósito. A violência presente nele é também sem propósito e quase totalmente opcional, o jogo começando com uma luta que, para os personagens é um evento de escala épica, porém é logo depois saltada pelo jogo no meio de seu clímax, indicando sua postura diante de todo este conflito - essa violência é apenas uma crise desesperada e um grito de desespero diante do terror da conformidade durante toda sua duração. Todas as vezes que levava meu RIngo para brigar nas ruas sentia como se estivesse tentando afastar esses demônios da rotina e do futuro, sublimar o sofrimento em algo físico e violento.
Embora a obra não seja perfeita, ela é do tipo que inspira através de seu puro ardor, fazendo com quem jogue consiga sentir mais do que só o que está presente na tela, captar a essência e a ideia de um artista que queria dizer tanto através de um meio que, embora tenha grande potencial, sempre o limitará pela dificuldade de sua produção. The friends of Ringo Ishikawa poderia ser e ter muito mais - mais diálogo, mais opções, mais reatividade, mais atividades - mas o seu cerne é claro e incorruptível, e digno de um respeito muito maior do que sua estatura parece projetar.
E como o jogo se mantém interessante no meio disso tudo? Ele é bem escrito, embora sua história seja um pouco escassa, porém, quem carrega todo o espetáculo é o senso de atmosfera impressionante que um jogo tão visualmente simples consegue conjurar. Ringo Ishikawa não é o jogo que é pelos momentos em que você tenta se encaixar em uma rotina para fazer seus pontos de matemática ou de soco subirem, mas sim no momento quando você, inspirado pela trilha sonora e pelo farfalhar das folhas nas árvores, pelo humor melancólico da cidade e pelo peso da situação, decide, não se importando com otimizações gamificadas, parar por uns 30-40 minutos e apenas ficar sentado no banquinho da praça ou escorado no corrimão da ponte e contemplar, a cabeça vazia do Ringo marionete sendo preenchida pela do Ringo pessoa e a do jogador, sentindo e transmitindo a onda de emoção arrebatadora que você tenta conter e ocupar com todo momento da rotina. O meu Ringo gostava de tirar os domingos para ficar lendo o dia todo na praça, e essa memória ficará comigo muito mais do que qualquer level up que um jogo pode me proporcionar.
O tom do jogo é de desespero e de rebeldia, retratando o comportamento deste grupo de jovens delinquentes como a resposta que encontraram para uma sociedade conformada e sem propósito. A violência presente nele é também sem propósito e quase totalmente opcional, o jogo começando com uma luta que, para os personagens é um evento de escala épica, porém é logo depois saltada pelo jogo no meio de seu clímax, indicando sua postura diante de todo este conflito - essa violência é apenas uma crise desesperada e um grito de desespero diante do terror da conformidade durante toda sua duração. Todas as vezes que levava meu RIngo para brigar nas ruas sentia como se estivesse tentando afastar esses demônios da rotina e do futuro, sublimar o sofrimento em algo físico e violento.
Embora a obra não seja perfeita, ela é do tipo que inspira através de seu puro ardor, fazendo com quem jogue consiga sentir mais do que só o que está presente na tela, captar a essência e a ideia de um artista que queria dizer tanto através de um meio que, embora tenha grande potencial, sempre o limitará pela dificuldade de sua produção. The friends of Ringo Ishikawa poderia ser e ter muito mais - mais diálogo, mais opções, mais reatividade, mais atividades - mas o seu cerne é claro e incorruptível, e digno de um respeito muito maior do que sua estatura parece projetar.
If Kenka Banchou do a banchou life sim using the cool factor (supposing so, since the only with english translation is like this), The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa uses everything more depressive about them. Sure, you have cool stuff happening but is just a small time fantasy, the reality comes crushing right after.
Everything is made to reflex Ringo and his friends and even the player too. If Shenmue suggests things and made you think something, The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa ask directly. The cast is made of teenagers that already lose in life. Ken can't go to pro boxing because he always enters in fights and always end with a broken hand, Goro can't be an artist because is like everything is against him, Masaru have a gambling addiction being only 18 years old, Shiro try to do the right thing and always gets in fight and Ringo doesn't have anything anymore. He left the opportunity of being a national champion, he doesn't have the wish to do anything anymore, he can try to be a better student but for what? Everyone wants to fight him. Is just the very relatable moment in banchou works when you see the characters knowloding how everything sucks and even if they did the right choices the system is against them.
The mix of russian literature with japanese movies and mangas sure goes hard.
Everything is made to reflex Ringo and his friends and even the player too. If Shenmue suggests things and made you think something, The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa ask directly. The cast is made of teenagers that already lose in life. Ken can't go to pro boxing because he always enters in fights and always end with a broken hand, Goro can't be an artist because is like everything is against him, Masaru have a gambling addiction being only 18 years old, Shiro try to do the right thing and always gets in fight and Ringo doesn't have anything anymore. He left the opportunity of being a national champion, he doesn't have the wish to do anything anymore, he can try to be a better student but for what? Everyone wants to fight him. Is just the very relatable moment in banchou works when you see the characters knowloding how everything sucks and even if they did the right choices the system is against them.
The mix of russian literature with japanese movies and mangas sure goes hard.
this is open world gaming to me. sometimes you gotta be a 17 year old japanese teenager who speaks like a 40 year old man and spends all day smoking in a cafe and reading the brothers kamarazov
While I had a good run, It's kinda hard to recommend The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa.
The first couple of hours were fun but after that, I didn't really have anything to do. I can only smoke and listen to melancholic music for so long before getting bored. I wish some in-game events didn't have such specific requirements, maybe that would help to fill these gaps the game has. But hey, maybe that's the way it's supposed to be, considering how it all fits at the end.
I'm looking forward to checking out the upcoming game from yeo "Fading Afternoon", and see how he can improve this formula.
The first couple of hours were fun but after that, I didn't really have anything to do. I can only smoke and listen to melancholic music for so long before getting bored. I wish some in-game events didn't have such specific requirements, maybe that would help to fill these gaps the game has. But hey, maybe that's the way it's supposed to be, considering how it all fits at the end.
I'm looking forward to checking out the upcoming game from yeo "Fading Afternoon", and see how he can improve this formula.
"I think it's gotta be different someplace else. It's gotta be someplace."
Ringo Ishikawa is chivalrous. He's cowardly. But above all else, he's lost.
I was most compelled by the characters here, and certainly not the gameplay. It's the kind of game where you want a guide right beside you the whole way through, because you'll get fucked 50 ways to Sunday if you try to engage in combat early on. UX is a two-pack of ass in general.
The story is good, and all the characters have great dialogue. For a debut it's essentially a smash hit in writing and narrative, but the gameplay is an anchor that firmly weighs it down. My playthrough took 45 days ingame and clocked in at ~8 hours, and it got real dead by the end. You can say "That's the point!" all you like, but that doesn't mean it's a good one. A fixed 31 days would have created a tighter pace with more urgency, as well as encourage repeat playthroughs. Oh well.
You should watch The Friends of Eddie Coyle if you haven't already.
I was most compelled by the characters here, and certainly not the gameplay. It's the kind of game where you want a guide right beside you the whole way through, because you'll get fucked 50 ways to Sunday if you try to engage in combat early on. UX is a two-pack of ass in general.
The story is good, and all the characters have great dialogue. For a debut it's essentially a smash hit in writing and narrative, but the gameplay is an anchor that firmly weighs it down. My playthrough took 45 days ingame and clocked in at ~8 hours, and it got real dead by the end. You can say "That's the point!" all you like, but that doesn't mean it's a good one. A fixed 31 days would have created a tighter pace with more urgency, as well as encourage repeat playthroughs. Oh well.
You should watch The Friends of Eddie Coyle if you haven't already.
The rare game in which its greatest strength—seamless coherence of gameplay and theme—is also its Achilles' heel. For a game which aims to capture the ennui most of us feel at some point in our formative teenage years, it's refreshing to witness just how fully it commits to that vision. You'll wander around listlessly after school, looking for anything to occupy your time, get in fights with kids from rival schools and have life chats with your boys, all while trying to keep on the straight and narrow as you finish out your last semester of high school. What could be better?
Many of those elements automatically trigger my brain's pleasure center—and they're even propped up to the next level by some seriously strong writing and fantastic lo-fi aesthetics—but as a whole, it just feels a bit too aimless for me to fully embrace. The vibes alone would be enough to carry most people through this game for awhile (make no mistake: this thing VIBES for days), but I think the story is missing just that tiny bit of propulsion needed to make the day-to-day feel less like a chore. My last week (in game time) before putting it down really started to feel like I was going through the motions; not even playing anymore, just doing the things Ringo should be doing day-in, day-out, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did. Brilliant realization of its themes or just flawed game design? You tell me.
I hope Yeo doesn't stop making games though. There are (rightfully) so many people that love the unique flavor of The friends of Ringo Ishikawa, and I wish all of its ambitious pieces clicked into place more smoothly for me. I may not have felt fully satisfied by it, but it did refresh me in ways I couldn't have expected.
Many of those elements automatically trigger my brain's pleasure center—and they're even propped up to the next level by some seriously strong writing and fantastic lo-fi aesthetics—but as a whole, it just feels a bit too aimless for me to fully embrace. The vibes alone would be enough to carry most people through this game for awhile (make no mistake: this thing VIBES for days), but I think the story is missing just that tiny bit of propulsion needed to make the day-to-day feel less like a chore. My last week (in game time) before putting it down really started to feel like I was going through the motions; not even playing anymore, just doing the things Ringo should be doing day-in, day-out, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did. Brilliant realization of its themes or just flawed game design? You tell me.
I hope Yeo doesn't stop making games though. There are (rightfully) so many people that love the unique flavor of The friends of Ringo Ishikawa, and I wish all of its ambitious pieces clicked into place more smoothly for me. I may not have felt fully satisfied by it, but it did refresh me in ways I couldn't have expected.
With friends like these…
This review contains spoilers
pain.
one of the most memorable game experiences i've ever had. the nature of the gameplay format here almost ensures a different playthrough for everyone in content and focus. i had misgivings about the beat em up elements and combat overall but it kinda slipped into the background.
incredible life simulator elements with countless options while not falling into the trap of centering everything on the main character like elsewhere. outside of some of the earlier tutorials and scattered events that trigger in various times/places you can do whatever you want without restriction.
absolutely loved getting to know the scattered characters (not just the ones in the gang) throughout my playthrough. lots of emotionally resonant moments to be found in even the most deceptively simple moments. reading around after finishing my run has shown me tons of things that i didn't see for myself and i'm already itching to play it again.
the rest of yeo's games have jumped to the top of my priority backlog.
one of the most memorable game experiences i've ever had. the nature of the gameplay format here almost ensures a different playthrough for everyone in content and focus. i had misgivings about the beat em up elements and combat overall but it kinda slipped into the background.
incredible life simulator elements with countless options while not falling into the trap of centering everything on the main character like elsewhere. outside of some of the earlier tutorials and scattered events that trigger in various times/places you can do whatever you want without restriction.
absolutely loved getting to know the scattered characters (not just the ones in the gang) throughout my playthrough. lots of emotionally resonant moments to be found in even the most deceptively simple moments. reading around after finishing my run has shown me tons of things that i didn't see for myself and i'm already itching to play it again.
the rest of yeo's games have jumped to the top of my priority backlog.
The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa was and is a polarizing game. By virtue of its design decisions and lack of QOL its going to alienate a lot of people, fitting for a game in part about alienation.
If there is one word to describe the game it is ballsy. Only a ballsy game that 25% of its buyers will refund as per the devs own account would let you loose in this 80s Japanese town with basically no guidance. And whilst some parts of this feel intentional and help the mood of the game as you slowly learn how to get ahead in several ways, some just feel petty and/or dumb. Yeo himself could tell me that not telling me how to read books by sitting in any seat and pressing R or having to press B + A to jump to be able to do pull ups(which you have to do to join at least one club) is an intentional part of his design and I wouldnt believe him, and also I would flick his ear for being annoying.
The hunger mechanic is also not explained at all and I was pretty stressed at first losing fights and days trying to scrape enough cash from fights to buy food, but then I got 10k yen from good grades and basically had no money problems from then on, aided by the fact I somehow read a book which apparently doubles the knowledge you get from going to class.
Ringo is a game about roleplaying, not because of its stat elements that very assuredly non RPGs have these days, but because so much of the game revolves around ultimately mechanically inconsequential but nonetheless engrossing stuff. The quality of its writing really shines when you spend an entire sunday reading the Brothers Karamazov so Ringo can give it a good rating on Goodreads and have a 3 or 4 text box discussion about it with a classmate. Its a game where you smoke a limited amount of smokes for 440 yen a pack, which AFAIK has no effect on anything at a mechanical level whatsoever. But its about what Ringo wants to become, maybe you want him to quit smoking. Get straight As and go to the gym every day. Or you can have him play pool and beating up other thugs 24/7.
Ringo is a game that almost alienated me, and honestly I think reading up how to read books at home and do pushups, as inconsequential as they ended up being, increased my enjoyment of the game rather than spoil it. I didnt do many of the "quests" cause in a move that is definitely intentional there is no transcript or anything, if a friend says "Yuko is near the station tomorrow you should go" or something youre just meant to remember where that is in a game without a map and also to remember what day youre on and other such things. I suppose I could replay it but this game is definitely one that loses its luster by the end, maybe intentionally but it didnt seem that way to me and honestly Im tired of speculating on authorial intent, my experience dragged on a bit towards the conclusion even if that ending was...well it gave me something to think about certainly.
EDIT : Always the mark of good art, I have kept thinking about this game after I have finished it, it occupies my mind in a way I hadnt anticipated. Im bumping it up half a star cause I think for what flaws it might have its captured my imagination.
If there is one word to describe the game it is ballsy. Only a ballsy game that 25% of its buyers will refund as per the devs own account would let you loose in this 80s Japanese town with basically no guidance. And whilst some parts of this feel intentional and help the mood of the game as you slowly learn how to get ahead in several ways, some just feel petty and/or dumb. Yeo himself could tell me that not telling me how to read books by sitting in any seat and pressing R or having to press B + A to jump to be able to do pull ups(which you have to do to join at least one club) is an intentional part of his design and I wouldnt believe him, and also I would flick his ear for being annoying.
The hunger mechanic is also not explained at all and I was pretty stressed at first losing fights and days trying to scrape enough cash from fights to buy food, but then I got 10k yen from good grades and basically had no money problems from then on, aided by the fact I somehow read a book which apparently doubles the knowledge you get from going to class.
Ringo is a game about roleplaying, not because of its stat elements that very assuredly non RPGs have these days, but because so much of the game revolves around ultimately mechanically inconsequential but nonetheless engrossing stuff. The quality of its writing really shines when you spend an entire sunday reading the Brothers Karamazov so Ringo can give it a good rating on Goodreads and have a 3 or 4 text box discussion about it with a classmate. Its a game where you smoke a limited amount of smokes for 440 yen a pack, which AFAIK has no effect on anything at a mechanical level whatsoever. But its about what Ringo wants to become, maybe you want him to quit smoking. Get straight As and go to the gym every day. Or you can have him play pool and beating up other thugs 24/7.
Ringo is a game that almost alienated me, and honestly I think reading up how to read books at home and do pushups, as inconsequential as they ended up being, increased my enjoyment of the game rather than spoil it. I didnt do many of the "quests" cause in a move that is definitely intentional there is no transcript or anything, if a friend says "Yuko is near the station tomorrow you should go" or something youre just meant to remember where that is in a game without a map and also to remember what day youre on and other such things. I suppose I could replay it but this game is definitely one that loses its luster by the end, maybe intentionally but it didnt seem that way to me and honestly Im tired of speculating on authorial intent, my experience dragged on a bit towards the conclusion even if that ending was...well it gave me something to think about certainly.
EDIT : Always the mark of good art, I have kept thinking about this game after I have finished it, it occupies my mind in a way I hadnt anticipated. Im bumping it up half a star cause I think for what flaws it might have its captured my imagination.
This review contains spoilers
I've been doing a repeat run of The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa alongside a friend of mine who's been playing for the first time, Discord streaming his playthrough. This particular friend sends Ringo to class every day without fail and pushes the mortal human's ability to stay awake just to cram in as much studying/exercise as possible. He is - by the game's standards - richer than god, and yet he routinely risks Ringo's wellbeing to loot random enemies in the world for truly pathetic amounts of money, usually less than 50 yen. He is as mystified by my playthrough as I am by his: if his Ringo is about making numbers go up, mine is about the intangibles. I have not purposely improved a single skill that the game measures. My Ringo is a voracious reader, but makes no special effort to dedicate time to employment or education - not unless it helps him buy books.
I suppose I'm the one with the aberrant playstyle. The experienced gamer knows that more often than not, filling every spare second with stuff pays off - more XP, more money, more NPC affection, etc. But I know how this whole thing ends. I know that Ringo Ishikawa is stubborn. You can study all you want, but he will never let his teacher read his essay to the class. You can make him read Anna Karenina and Rumble Fish and Winesburg, Ohio and Confessions of a Mask and by the time you reach the only conversation in the game where he discusses these books with someone else, it's pretty clear that Ringo is not "in it" to brag about what he read or watched or played or did. He speaks brusquely, frequently teases his closest friends, and maintains a kind of... firm kindness with acquaintances. It feels somehow appropriate to have this stubbornly principled teenage delinquent skip school to read The Brothers Karamazov in a single sitting before declaring "I'd need to re-read it a few times to let it all sink in. A powerful read."
The game is going to start laying out the hints pretty early - Ringo's friends are becoming their own people, and while the gang is ostensibly still together, nobody's heart is really in it anymore. With this, your time is limited.
With this - this realization - how do you spend your time? Watching my friend trek all the way to school and back feels like reaching that point in a conversation where you realize that your brain is just not wired in a way that allows you to fully relate to the other person. Their perspective is too alien, their values too different. Perhaps you can understand the thoughts that lead them to their conclusion, but the idea of your own brain producing those same thoughts feels... wrong. Improbable.
Why does my Ringo read? If I'm honest with you, it's not for him. When you make Ringo read, he sits down, a page counter appears above his head, and you watch it tick up as the day passes - no fast forwards, no special music. Ringo reads for the same reason that he and his friends will sometimes stop in the park, or in the rice fields outside of town, or on the balcony of his apartment, smoking and having conversations that only they can hear. He does it because it lets me linger in the empty space, because it makes me feel overwhelmingly present in those moments. And when you sit there with them, maybe you can push it to the back of your mind that Ken probably won't join any more of your fights, or that Masaru keeps asking you for money and never explains why. Those precious seconds where the gang is still together stretch out into minutes - but no more than that - and you have to move on.
As of the time of this writing, my friend still has not finished the game. It's actually been almost a month at this point, and there's a solid possibility he may not return to it. I won't push him. Maybe he didn't like to linger in those moments like I do. Maybe he moved on, moved past the gang, maybe his Ringo grows up. Perhaps he'll enjoy it better that way: as a little slice of life where everything was still just fine - not perfect, but fine. The last thing his Ringo does is drag his friends to support Goro's newfound passion for theater. My Ringo?
My Ringo boards the train alone.
I suppose I'm the one with the aberrant playstyle. The experienced gamer knows that more often than not, filling every spare second with stuff pays off - more XP, more money, more NPC affection, etc. But I know how this whole thing ends. I know that Ringo Ishikawa is stubborn. You can study all you want, but he will never let his teacher read his essay to the class. You can make him read Anna Karenina and Rumble Fish and Winesburg, Ohio and Confessions of a Mask and by the time you reach the only conversation in the game where he discusses these books with someone else, it's pretty clear that Ringo is not "in it" to brag about what he read or watched or played or did. He speaks brusquely, frequently teases his closest friends, and maintains a kind of... firm kindness with acquaintances. It feels somehow appropriate to have this stubbornly principled teenage delinquent skip school to read The Brothers Karamazov in a single sitting before declaring "I'd need to re-read it a few times to let it all sink in. A powerful read."
The game is going to start laying out the hints pretty early - Ringo's friends are becoming their own people, and while the gang is ostensibly still together, nobody's heart is really in it anymore. With this, your time is limited.
With this - this realization - how do you spend your time? Watching my friend trek all the way to school and back feels like reaching that point in a conversation where you realize that your brain is just not wired in a way that allows you to fully relate to the other person. Their perspective is too alien, their values too different. Perhaps you can understand the thoughts that lead them to their conclusion, but the idea of your own brain producing those same thoughts feels... wrong. Improbable.
Why does my Ringo read? If I'm honest with you, it's not for him. When you make Ringo read, he sits down, a page counter appears above his head, and you watch it tick up as the day passes - no fast forwards, no special music. Ringo reads for the same reason that he and his friends will sometimes stop in the park, or in the rice fields outside of town, or on the balcony of his apartment, smoking and having conversations that only they can hear. He does it because it lets me linger in the empty space, because it makes me feel overwhelmingly present in those moments. And when you sit there with them, maybe you can push it to the back of your mind that Ken probably won't join any more of your fights, or that Masaru keeps asking you for money and never explains why. Those precious seconds where the gang is still together stretch out into minutes - but no more than that - and you have to move on.
As of the time of this writing, my friend still has not finished the game. It's actually been almost a month at this point, and there's a solid possibility he may not return to it. I won't push him. Maybe he didn't like to linger in those moments like I do. Maybe he moved on, moved past the gang, maybe his Ringo grows up. Perhaps he'll enjoy it better that way: as a little slice of life where everything was still just fine - not perfect, but fine. The last thing his Ringo does is drag his friends to support Goro's newfound passion for theater. My Ringo?
My Ringo boards the train alone.
"stop killing people"
um..
im literally neurodivergent & also a minor?? lol..
um..
im literally neurodivergent & also a minor?? lol..
The game starts with a battle inside a train. In the aftermath, the beaten thugs stay on the floor until the train stops. Once off, another fight begins. After that, you proceed to the next screen and another fight begins. This one has no end, just a fade to black and a title drop. No catharsis on any punch or on any victory. After that, another message. A year has gone by. The same gang feud is still going on and getting worse.
After this skip, the first thing you see is Ringo's professor telling him that the last days of high school are coming up, and it’s time to decide where to head on with your life. In here, the already decontextualized beat’em up setting gains a new dimension when noticing that the violence is not just non-cathartic, but a background. Some gangs fight each other, some others want to fight you, you can run away from any of them and if you get beat up there is no fail state, just another action in the world and waking at home after some rest.
This may be a disheartening view of the world just because, but when examining your own actions, it becomes evident that there is no other way, or not easily so. You have no financial support and will starve for most of the time, at the very least on the first days. Your only income source is to pick money from beaten thugs, by your own hand or not, and it’s easy to assume that most of the teenagers around are in a very similar place.
The means for covering basic necessities is just a small part, since Ringo’s life is explored in all its aspects, since he wakes until he goes to sleep. Here it is interesting to see his approach to hobbies or interests like literature, studies, or even exercise, be it through fights or through training with some masters. In any case, the result of taking interest in those topics will be some numbers going up. Simple abstraction or not, intentional or not, despite whether Ringo is interested in what he is doing or not, what remains is a cold number, an objective. This could be compared with how modern Persona games free time actions help you build stats making every decision a strategic decision, at least partially, but here the answer is more vague, or directly non-existent, there is no benefit to what to do or not to do because there are no good or bad outcomes. The usual short length on most events, just a few lines of dialogue, help to convey both the fugacity and sudden impact of the small moments and their relative insignificance on the bigger picture when searching for a change.
The game takes influence from Yakuza and Shenmue, and while it’s easy to see where it comes from, there is a major difference. There is no immediate catharsis on the infinite time for side activities like in Yakuza and no real objective to struggle for like in Shenmue. If anything, it looks more like what San Andreas would be if there were no missions, just going around the neighborhood as the days go by. But the days will eventually end. To me, the most similar game to Ringo Ishikawa is Boku no Natsuyasumi.
Of course, with a very different tone, there is a similar sense in getting up every day and going around from one screen to another looking for things to do in the city. Also, at least in my case, a certain routine started to appear, making each day like a small poetry exercise. I liked to go to some places at some time, to repeat some activities, to create my own daily plan in both games. In both, the intention is to get the better of every day. In Boku no Natsuyasumi, the conclusion was that even the days when nothing happened were as good as any other. In Ringo Ishikawa, even when something happens, the sense is that of still being lost, and then marching another day trying to find something.
Here is a lot to praise about how the map and the scenarios are constructed. Even though the tall infinite buildings can be seen in the background of many screens, the feeling when running around is that the place is too small and that there is a kind of life that cannot be escaped whatever you do.
If Kunio-kun and the eighties manga school gangster aesthetic suggest some sense of freedom through the sheer strength of youth, Ringo Ishikawa uses the template to illustrate the opposite, the end of the fantasy and the realization of how hard it is for a teenager to escape from where they are, or if it is even possible.
I went to school every day because I knew my friends were there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTeK48Z2HuA
After this skip, the first thing you see is Ringo's professor telling him that the last days of high school are coming up, and it’s time to decide where to head on with your life. In here, the already decontextualized beat’em up setting gains a new dimension when noticing that the violence is not just non-cathartic, but a background. Some gangs fight each other, some others want to fight you, you can run away from any of them and if you get beat up there is no fail state, just another action in the world and waking at home after some rest.
This may be a disheartening view of the world just because, but when examining your own actions, it becomes evident that there is no other way, or not easily so. You have no financial support and will starve for most of the time, at the very least on the first days. Your only income source is to pick money from beaten thugs, by your own hand or not, and it’s easy to assume that most of the teenagers around are in a very similar place.
The means for covering basic necessities is just a small part, since Ringo’s life is explored in all its aspects, since he wakes until he goes to sleep. Here it is interesting to see his approach to hobbies or interests like literature, studies, or even exercise, be it through fights or through training with some masters. In any case, the result of taking interest in those topics will be some numbers going up. Simple abstraction or not, intentional or not, despite whether Ringo is interested in what he is doing or not, what remains is a cold number, an objective. This could be compared with how modern Persona games free time actions help you build stats making every decision a strategic decision, at least partially, but here the answer is more vague, or directly non-existent, there is no benefit to what to do or not to do because there are no good or bad outcomes. The usual short length on most events, just a few lines of dialogue, help to convey both the fugacity and sudden impact of the small moments and their relative insignificance on the bigger picture when searching for a change.
The game takes influence from Yakuza and Shenmue, and while it’s easy to see where it comes from, there is a major difference. There is no immediate catharsis on the infinite time for side activities like in Yakuza and no real objective to struggle for like in Shenmue. If anything, it looks more like what San Andreas would be if there were no missions, just going around the neighborhood as the days go by. But the days will eventually end. To me, the most similar game to Ringo Ishikawa is Boku no Natsuyasumi.
Of course, with a very different tone, there is a similar sense in getting up every day and going around from one screen to another looking for things to do in the city. Also, at least in my case, a certain routine started to appear, making each day like a small poetry exercise. I liked to go to some places at some time, to repeat some activities, to create my own daily plan in both games. In both, the intention is to get the better of every day. In Boku no Natsuyasumi, the conclusion was that even the days when nothing happened were as good as any other. In Ringo Ishikawa, even when something happens, the sense is that of still being lost, and then marching another day trying to find something.
Here is a lot to praise about how the map and the scenarios are constructed. Even though the tall infinite buildings can be seen in the background of many screens, the feeling when running around is that the place is too small and that there is a kind of life that cannot be escaped whatever you do.
If Kunio-kun and the eighties manga school gangster aesthetic suggest some sense of freedom through the sheer strength of youth, Ringo Ishikawa uses the template to illustrate the opposite, the end of the fantasy and the realization of how hard it is for a teenager to escape from where they are, or if it is even possible.
I went to school every day because I knew my friends were there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTeK48Z2HuA
Do NOT pass the Russian boy the game engine, they'll just start makin the fatalist takes on long-established genre tags
The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa is a relatively short yet re-playable game about how far friendships can be stretched, how many beatings a man can take, and how we stack the deck against ourselves and pretend not to notice.
This game pushes Ringo into a poverty-induced whirlpool of violence and crime, as the only way to afford food in the early game (apart from when your friend, seemingly at random, shells out for you) is by either beating the yen right out of other dudes’ pockets, or by opportunistically scavenging coins from the unconscious forms of fallen gang members who you just watched get pounded into the dirt. In this way, you become a wild animal, a crow picking at scraps upon city pavements, consuming barely substantial crumbs one fingerful at a time.
Ringo doesn’t have parents. Nobody in the adult world seems especially interested in taking care of him, beyond coaches who, you’ve guessed it, train him to be a better fighter. Ringo’s teacher will present him with lump sums of yen every week if he gets good grades, and he will verbally encourage Ringo, yet this too implicitly rewards those who fight and scavenge on the street; to focus on school and to study effectively at home, Ringo must surely have a full belly, and in order to achieve a full belly, he must roam the city in search of other gang members to steal from. In the early game, I found myself caught in a cycle in which I lost multiple fights in a row, wasted a lot of days recovering in bed, and was always starving. I expected to receive a game over, but it didn't come. Ringo Ishikawa always got back up, no matter how I failed him, no matter how very hungry he claimed to be.
When I was a teenager, I didn’t get into fights. I didn’t smoke. I didn’t drink. I certainly wasn’t left to fend for myself, without parents, money, or food—not for any extended period of time, anyway. However, when I was about sixteen or seventeen, I went through a phase where I struggled to eat. Looking at food made me feel sick. Looking at myself made me feel sick. I replaced breakfast with extra time in bed, which helped ease the sleepless nights. I was recurrently dehydrated. I could eat lunch only on days where I could successfully separate my mind from my mouth and my organs. I had a much easier time with evening meals, though I don’t know why, and not always.
I was hungry a lot. Hungry, and empty.
I remember feeling like I was self-destructing. I often hoped that somebody might jump me on the way home in the dark, like getting into a fight might fix everything, but I wasn’t an initiator, and for whatever reason nobody initiated against me. I had become a ghost, I thought. One night, during the winter, I was looking out at the river that sliced the town in two. I thought about jumping into it from the bridge above. I hoped the shock of the cold might be enough to make me panic and drown. If not, at least it would make me feel something. Suddenly, a man I didn’t know appeared behind me, and said something about it being a nice night. This startled me. I was crying. Silently, I think, though I couldn’t be certain. I tentatively agreed with him. It was a nice night. Freezing cold, crystal clear. I…
Ringo Ishikawa is not a ghost. I don’t believe that he can become depressed. I don’t know if he can starve to death, though I don’t think he can. He can initiate fights and have fights initiated against him. No matter how bad his previous day was, he will sit down at a school bench, if instructed, and read classic literature for you—literature that was, and still is, too intimidating for me to read, regardless of the fullness of my stomach and the health of my bank account, and in spite of my degrees in writing and literature.
All that to say, this game did and did not make me feel like a teenager again.
This game pushes Ringo into a poverty-induced whirlpool of violence and crime, as the only way to afford food in the early game (apart from when your friend, seemingly at random, shells out for you) is by either beating the yen right out of other dudes’ pockets, or by opportunistically scavenging coins from the unconscious forms of fallen gang members who you just watched get pounded into the dirt. In this way, you become a wild animal, a crow picking at scraps upon city pavements, consuming barely substantial crumbs one fingerful at a time.
Ringo doesn’t have parents. Nobody in the adult world seems especially interested in taking care of him, beyond coaches who, you’ve guessed it, train him to be a better fighter. Ringo’s teacher will present him with lump sums of yen every week if he gets good grades, and he will verbally encourage Ringo, yet this too implicitly rewards those who fight and scavenge on the street; to focus on school and to study effectively at home, Ringo must surely have a full belly, and in order to achieve a full belly, he must roam the city in search of other gang members to steal from. In the early game, I found myself caught in a cycle in which I lost multiple fights in a row, wasted a lot of days recovering in bed, and was always starving. I expected to receive a game over, but it didn't come. Ringo Ishikawa always got back up, no matter how I failed him, no matter how very hungry he claimed to be.
When I was a teenager, I didn’t get into fights. I didn’t smoke. I didn’t drink. I certainly wasn’t left to fend for myself, without parents, money, or food—not for any extended period of time, anyway. However, when I was about sixteen or seventeen, I went through a phase where I struggled to eat. Looking at food made me feel sick. Looking at myself made me feel sick. I replaced breakfast with extra time in bed, which helped ease the sleepless nights. I was recurrently dehydrated. I could eat lunch only on days where I could successfully separate my mind from my mouth and my organs. I had a much easier time with evening meals, though I don’t know why, and not always.
I was hungry a lot. Hungry, and empty.
I remember feeling like I was self-destructing. I often hoped that somebody might jump me on the way home in the dark, like getting into a fight might fix everything, but I wasn’t an initiator, and for whatever reason nobody initiated against me. I had become a ghost, I thought. One night, during the winter, I was looking out at the river that sliced the town in two. I thought about jumping into it from the bridge above. I hoped the shock of the cold might be enough to make me panic and drown. If not, at least it would make me feel something. Suddenly, a man I didn’t know appeared behind me, and said something about it being a nice night. This startled me. I was crying. Silently, I think, though I couldn’t be certain. I tentatively agreed with him. It was a nice night. Freezing cold, crystal clear. I…
Ringo Ishikawa is not a ghost. I don’t believe that he can become depressed. I don’t know if he can starve to death, though I don’t think he can. He can initiate fights and have fights initiated against him. No matter how bad his previous day was, he will sit down at a school bench, if instructed, and read classic literature for you—literature that was, and still is, too intimidating for me to read, regardless of the fullness of my stomach and the health of my bank account, and in spite of my degrees in writing and literature.
All that to say, this game did and did not make me feel like a teenager again.
Playing The friends of Ringo Ishikawa is an extremely strange experience. It's a game that obviously is made with a small team, and even less money. Yet despite that, the ambitions of this game are extreme. It tries to do so many different things with it systems.
I think the thing Ringo Ishikawa does most of all is make the players want to root for this game. At least, I wanted to root for this game. Tackling a life sim genre is extremely difficult, and while pared down, it still holds itself together in such a way that one can applaud.
Some of the best moments in Ringo Ishikawa happen when nobody is talking. It happens when Ringo studies until midnight, and the player decides that Ringo wants to go out on his balcony to have a cigarette. It doesn't do anything to the gameplay to do this. No stats go up. Nothing changes. It just feels like the natural thing to do at that moment. When on the balcony, a fight breaks down between rival gangs below. Sure, you could join them to get some experience. Or you could just keep smoking the cigarette for awhile until one side wins. That's what The friends of Ringo Ishikawa is all about.
I think the thing Ringo Ishikawa does most of all is make the players want to root for this game. At least, I wanted to root for this game. Tackling a life sim genre is extremely difficult, and while pared down, it still holds itself together in such a way that one can applaud.
Some of the best moments in Ringo Ishikawa happen when nobody is talking. It happens when Ringo studies until midnight, and the player decides that Ringo wants to go out on his balcony to have a cigarette. It doesn't do anything to the gameplay to do this. No stats go up. Nothing changes. It just feels like the natural thing to do at that moment. When on the balcony, a fight breaks down between rival gangs below. Sure, you could join them to get some experience. Or you could just keep smoking the cigarette for awhile until one side wins. That's what The friends of Ringo Ishikawa is all about.
The friends of Ringo Ishikawa is a difficult game to explain, and a somewhat tough game to recommend to people. On the surface, it's a pretty basic looking indie game with obvious influences from River City Ransom and a hand deep in the pockets of "Yankii" Japanese delinquent lifestyles. But to say the game is more than that would be an understatement.
You are given no direction on how to play the game. Much like real life, you are left to your own devices to figure it out. At first, I felt a bit conflicted with this design choice, but as I continued to play, I grew to admire it. Should I hit the gym and work on my fighting skills? Maybe pick up a book and see what I can learn. Should I get my act together and actually go to class for once? All of these questions are left up to you, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Gameplay consists of doing various tasks, training your skills, fighting people, and growing as a person. You can talk to people, play games with them, get a part-time job, attend school, fight rival schools, etc. It's all about time management and what you want to do with your life.
Combat is pretty simple, consisting of punches, kicks, guards, and grapples. You can improve your fighting repertoire by training under various masters, but the general flow of combat changes little. Fights rarely feel different from one another regardless of who you are up against, which might make some players more willing to skip conflict altogether out of repetition.
The story and characters are also dependent on what you choose to do with your time during Ringo Ishikawa's final year of high school, and as a result, your playthrough will more than likely be different than everyone else's. This adds to replayability, but also helps the immersion into Ringo's world.
The music and presentation are top-notch. The spritework is like an evolution of River City Ransom's style, blending detailed backgrounds with simple, yet well-animated characters. The music is an easy 10/10 for me. This is exactly my kind of music, and it fits the style and subject matter of the game to a T.
My complaints with the game are few and do not stop this game from being great. The repetition of your routine may make the game feel like it's not moving forward. The combat, while fun to me, is understandably simple and could feed into the repetition for some. There are also instances where story events will eat an entire day's worth of time, leaving you with little to do for that day. This can be a little annoying when you planned to do something that is only available on specific days of the week, like Judo practice. Lastly, some of the characters (in my experience) do not receive as much focus as I would have liked, but this could be a result of my own playstyle rather than the game's fault.
If you are still unsure of giving this game a shot, let me put it straight—it's worth your time. It may be a bit tough to get a hang of, but you'll find your groove in time and wish it never ends.
You are given no direction on how to play the game. Much like real life, you are left to your own devices to figure it out. At first, I felt a bit conflicted with this design choice, but as I continued to play, I grew to admire it. Should I hit the gym and work on my fighting skills? Maybe pick up a book and see what I can learn. Should I get my act together and actually go to class for once? All of these questions are left up to you, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Gameplay consists of doing various tasks, training your skills, fighting people, and growing as a person. You can talk to people, play games with them, get a part-time job, attend school, fight rival schools, etc. It's all about time management and what you want to do with your life.
Combat is pretty simple, consisting of punches, kicks, guards, and grapples. You can improve your fighting repertoire by training under various masters, but the general flow of combat changes little. Fights rarely feel different from one another regardless of who you are up against, which might make some players more willing to skip conflict altogether out of repetition.
The story and characters are also dependent on what you choose to do with your time during Ringo Ishikawa's final year of high school, and as a result, your playthrough will more than likely be different than everyone else's. This adds to replayability, but also helps the immersion into Ringo's world.
The music and presentation are top-notch. The spritework is like an evolution of River City Ransom's style, blending detailed backgrounds with simple, yet well-animated characters. The music is an easy 10/10 for me. This is exactly my kind of music, and it fits the style and subject matter of the game to a T.
My complaints with the game are few and do not stop this game from being great. The repetition of your routine may make the game feel like it's not moving forward. The combat, while fun to me, is understandably simple and could feed into the repetition for some. There are also instances where story events will eat an entire day's worth of time, leaving you with little to do for that day. This can be a little annoying when you planned to do something that is only available on specific days of the week, like Judo practice. Lastly, some of the characters (in my experience) do not receive as much focus as I would have liked, but this could be a result of my own playstyle rather than the game's fault.
If you are still unsure of giving this game a shot, let me put it straight—it's worth your time. It may be a bit tough to get a hang of, but you'll find your groove in time and wish it never ends.
I spent a lot of this game reading, I wasn't reading anything really, Ringo was reading. Mostly books I'd never read, the kind I feel intimidated by, books that would go over my head. It felt like it gave me a little purpose with a routine, earning money to buy books and spending time to read the books. I didn't think there'd be a reward for it, I just did it, it became a nice little habit to find a scenic spot in town and just watch Ringo sit back and tear through Ulysses or something. Feels a bit stupid looking back on it but some in-game days I spent doing nothing but this. It came to an end, unceremoniously, ran out of books. Not much to show for, doing that didn't amount to anything tangible for Ringo or for me but it was some peace of mind in a way.
I had the freedom to do so much in this game, make Ringo be anything he could be, and I chose to create a basic routine anyone could do in real life, probably to greater benefit, not even sure why. Before the game came to an end I didn't really find a new main activity or routine to replace this with. Some little distractions, getting drunk, smoking, squatting, trying and failing to reenact that one cool shot from Blue Spring, small stuff. I just went on and on and on and on and on and on and on.
I blew through the game in like a day, the next day felt a bit emptier without loading up Ringo Ishikawa and continuing his daily life.
Sorry to sound corny but there's this one line in Texhnolyze I keep thinking about, "True freedom can't lean on anything. It's transient, lonely, arduous. You can't hope for any security or reward beyond it". That's how it felt, very beautiful, I'm still thinking about it.
I had the freedom to do so much in this game, make Ringo be anything he could be, and I chose to create a basic routine anyone could do in real life, probably to greater benefit, not even sure why. Before the game came to an end I didn't really find a new main activity or routine to replace this with. Some little distractions, getting drunk, smoking, squatting, trying and failing to reenact that one cool shot from Blue Spring, small stuff. I just went on and on and on and on and on and on and on.
I blew through the game in like a day, the next day felt a bit emptier without loading up Ringo Ishikawa and continuing his daily life.
Sorry to sound corny but there's this one line in Texhnolyze I keep thinking about, "True freedom can't lean on anything. It's transient, lonely, arduous. You can't hope for any security or reward beyond it". That's how it felt, very beautiful, I'm still thinking about it.
Amphibia but with banchos instead of frogs.
I can fix him!!
Fuckin loved it. Actual freedom. Go to school or don't, get a job or don't, fight in the street or don't.
One of those games you can just live in, sitting in the cafe reading a book to cool music, or hanging on the balcony with a cigarette watching a couple of lads having a scrap.
Feels like it was made for me, and the ending was like a gutpunch in extreme slow motion. I think about it often.
One of those games you can just live in, sitting in the cafe reading a book to cool music, or hanging on the balcony with a cigarette watching a couple of lads having a scrap.
Feels like it was made for me, and the ending was like a gutpunch in extreme slow motion. I think about it often.
thought this was gonna be some kind of Kunio-kun beat them up tribute but ended up being one of the most modest and reasonating experiences about growing up struggles
anyway, shikata ga nai
anyway, shikata ga nai
Platform: Switch
Hours: 9
man, this game is just so good. it's a social sim and a beat em up, but that's all in service to the writing and the art. it's a gorgeous game, and it's written like an actual novel. These characters speak like people, like real friends, guys who want to be tough, people who just want to give their life some kind of meaning. A couple of the lines in this game hit me so hard I put the controller down and stared at the words, the turn of phrase now locked in my skull, ready to be part of my life. This is a game that, if you get into the characters and their relationships, will make you think about your life. Your decisions. Your follow through. What you're even doing with the time you have every day. The social sim really drives this part home too. One time, I missed a tutoring session with a girl I'd wanted to get to know better, and the next day I spoke to her in the hallway. I said (something like) "Hey, sorry I missed our plans yesterday". She said "Oh that? Don't worry about it, I figured something out". And that was it. No second chances, no previous save to reload (the autosave is quite aggressive), no rewinding the relationship to make sure it works. I think I'll play this game again, someday when I'm feeling especially low, and let it destroy me.
Hours: 9
man, this game is just so good. it's a social sim and a beat em up, but that's all in service to the writing and the art. it's a gorgeous game, and it's written like an actual novel. These characters speak like people, like real friends, guys who want to be tough, people who just want to give their life some kind of meaning. A couple of the lines in this game hit me so hard I put the controller down and stared at the words, the turn of phrase now locked in my skull, ready to be part of my life. This is a game that, if you get into the characters and their relationships, will make you think about your life. Your decisions. Your follow through. What you're even doing with the time you have every day. The social sim really drives this part home too. One time, I missed a tutoring session with a girl I'd wanted to get to know better, and the next day I spoke to her in the hallway. I said (something like) "Hey, sorry I missed our plans yesterday". She said "Oh that? Don't worry about it, I figured something out". And that was it. No second chances, no previous save to reload (the autosave is quite aggressive), no rewinding the relationship to make sure it works. I think I'll play this game again, someday when I'm feeling especially low, and let it destroy me.
It's like a weird tone piece, it's so hard to explain this game. You look at it, and it's River City Ransom. You play it, and it's a lot like Punch Club's stat management. You'll encounter random scenes that play out like Persona conversations.
The story is almost nonexistent, but each scene is so perfect. The dialogue is True Detective levels of vague curtness. The ending comes out of nowhere, seemingly randomly, yet unavoidably.
How do you explain what makes this game so special? I don't even think I understand it myself. All the things I said above probably sound like negative points against the game. But although there are many things that are like parts of this, there is also nothing like this, and it will stick with you, sinking into you brain for weeks after the credits roll.
The story is almost nonexistent, but each scene is so perfect. The dialogue is True Detective levels of vague curtness. The ending comes out of nowhere, seemingly randomly, yet unavoidably.
How do you explain what makes this game so special? I don't even think I understand it myself. All the things I said above probably sound like negative points against the game. But although there are many things that are like parts of this, there is also nothing like this, and it will stick with you, sinking into you brain for weeks after the credits roll.