a stunning entry in what is fast becoming my favorite genre of game: nostalgic y2k online adolescence simulator. thoughtful, character-driven, authentic, and intelligent about the interaction between game form, aesthetic, and story. I could write more but I kinda just want to luxuriate in how impressive and delightful and homey of an experience it was

has me very much missing a pink seahorse avatar friend who was a cross between prplsqrl and jenni. kaya if you're out there, I hope you are well!!!

It's like Hypnospace Outlaw for trans people. Gonna make sure I buy this for all the eggs in my life. It's been a while since I've been this immersed in a game world and it's characters. The writing style may turn a lot of readers off, but beneath it is the best portrayal of trans discovery I have ever seen in media. Beyond some pretty serious bugs and a weirdly rushed maturity of the player-character in the final act, I found the game near-perfect in the portrayal of ideas, vibes and the era. It felt like I was interacting with real people in my life, and their unique flaws, talents and reactivity made the experience absurdly believable. This is something I strongly recommend, especially if you're trans or questioning your gender identity.

Me levou oito horas (de uma vez) pra terminar todo o jogo: valeu a pena. Embora as escolhas de fala não pareçam influenciar muito no desenvolver da trama, isso não me incomodou: a trama é o que torna o jogo interessante, sem muitos desafios na gameplay, salvo puzzles aqui e ali. Alex conta a sua história através desse point & click e visual novel, como um filme slice of life: acompanhamos o que pode ser os capítulos decisivos na vida de Alex em uma pequena fração de dias e horas sentadas a frente do computador, conversando com (até então) desconhecidos e desconhecidas em um fórum online de seu anime favorito. As conversam vão se desenrolando e Alex acaba descobrindo muito mais do que sabia sobre si diante da pequena troca de mensagens e auto análise que mesclam a trama da animação japonese da qual é fã com a própria vida. No fim das contas, Alex vai dar um jeito.

One of those rare games that just feel special.

I don't think you'll necessarily "get" this game if you're not transgender yourself, or questioning (granted, I doubt most people would play this if they weren't), but I do still think many of the overall themes are still a fairly universal.

So many little bits of dialogue resonated with me so strongly, the feeling is incredibly difficult to put into words.

Oh man I really messed up on this one. I have a really bad track record of ending games on a sour note. I really love this game, but I was so confused with the terminal. I didn’t know that ls was with a lowercase l, not an i, and I stuck for like over 40 minutes on just figuring that out. I was so excited to get back home and finish this game today, so I kinda ruined it for myself a bit. I finished the rest of the terminal stuff but I just felt so disconnected at that point. I honestly would’ve been fine without the terminal stuff, or maybe just in a more simplified way? Either way, I still identify with this game A LOT. I’m not trans, but I am bi and it almost feels like this game was made for me. Obviously, it was not, but there are so many personal things about figuring out your identity that I can relate to. Like feeling like your tricking yourself into being gay, just because. Or just because you feel like you’d want to be, which apparently isn’t a valid reason enough. I literally had that thought this morning. It’s still a little hard to believe myself, but like they’ve said so many times in this game, she’ll figure it out. And I kinda did. I had/have HOCD so it was really difficult for me to accept myself as possibly bi, but without a label, but that led me to where I am now. Just accepting it is the first step, and it’s a damn difficult and important one to accomplish. I resonate sooooo much with this game. I just don’t know why I have a bad touch with games. Ikenfell crashed on gamepass so I could only watch the epilogue on somebody’s walkthrough, I got really irritable with The wild at heart new the end because I was getting really stuck. Uggghhhh. I love this game so much, and I’m just really upset I kinda ruined this one for myself too. Oh and I also love Sailor Moon too, so it really feels like this was made for me, even though yes, it’s not and it does tell a separate story, but it still tells an amazing universal tale of exploring your gender, sexuality or just finding out who the heck you are, in general (or all three!). Such a great game, I just wish I could code better. Laguna is too smart for me

P.S. also, one more thing. At the end, I kinda did the ending wrong where the dad was just irritating me so much I closed the message app and then I couldn’t get back in and closed the game and then I had to replay the ending part before the dad conversation again AHHHH why do I do this to myself? :(

This is such a meaningful art game where it shows the strength of the internet to explore oneself through different personas. Specifically here, the protagonist is exploring their gender expression through a magical girl show. While it features gaslighting, the final act really pulls through making this one of my personal favorites.

As a game about expression, I do wish it had more options to do so like with the writing. The lack of content is understandable for an indie game, but it would have really helped immersed the player into the protagonist main hobbies. As a programmer, escaping the last act really feels subpar at least in the interface and response.

This a game close to my heart and would really like to push this to a Tier 5 game, but I know it needs more. I really recommend this.