YOU LIKE WORDS?! YOU LIKE WHEN CHARACTERS TALK ABOUT THINGS AND STUFF AND YOU CLICK ON THINGS AND THEY SAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT BECAUSE YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT BAPHMODAD OR THINGAMOWHOZIT OR DID THE ZIPPY FLIPPY EARLIER? THIS GAME IS FOR YOU!
In Stars and Time has a nearly obscene amount of dialogue. Every single interactable in the game has a full-blown conversation tied to it. Dialogue remains quippy, familiar, and very of-the-time, whilst still having a contemporary wit that keeps you wanting to see more. And then you throw in the ways you can change every single dialogue encounter, and you get an absolutely dizzying amount of exposition and conversations about essentially nothing, but one of those conversations will be useful eventually.
This is what Stars and Time is banking on; you enjoying its main conceit - that of a single RPG dungeon that you traverse multiple times with new information each time to contextualize all of its puzzles - and how your characters reveal more about themselves, attempt to, and fail to change with every pass through. It's a massive puzzle box of dialogue where the reward is that you get to spend more time with your friends and care about your friends. And if you like that? The game will just continue giving and giving.
And I don't like that. I LOVE that.
In Stars and Time is glad to twist and pull its characters to the point of breaking, boiling them down to their merest existences as archetypes, ideas, character arcs and gameplay functions, twisting and turning them... but never once forgetting that these are characters. They feel, they believe, and they mean something, and because of that, In Stars and time has a beautiful lot to say about the simple condition of storytelling. The way that Mirabelle, Odile, Isabeau, and Bonnie's stories develop, progress, and regress through the game's runtime is as heartbreaking as it is well-considered and lovely. This is to say nothing of the player character, Siffrin, who just might be my favorite expression of a main character in a very long time; at the very least, I think he plays with the idea of BEING the lead in an incredible way! Watching these journeys slowly come to inevitable conclusions of both dread and catharsis has been one of the most gratifying experiences I've seen.
I realize, at this point in the review, I have done a very bad job explaining what In Stars and Time IS other than "they talk a lot and you navigate a dungeon and you think it's really good when they talk". There is turn-based combat based on a rock-paper-scissors effectiveness system, which is very nicely done and has a great flow to it until it stops mattering entirely halfway through the game and becomes an annoyance most times it shows up. There's some trial and error dungeon navigation that's a bit dull. Sometimes the game's RPG Maker roots show up and you can feel the game rubbing up against the limitations of the system. Sometimes yeah, it can feel like dialogue scenes might be going on a BIT long to emphasize a point. Really, perhaps the biggest issue with In Stars and Time is how every last bit of the game is so dedicated to its core narrative conceit - if you are not in love with what ISaT is selling, it will likely not get any better for you as it over-indulges in its own devices. Everything in this game is tied in to this form of character development and progression... and if you do love that, if this game speaks to you, then it's an unparalleled experience. I was slowed down a bit at times, but this game stunned me in the best of ways, in ways that I would want to write as a writer and love reading and imagining through. It is not a game I can recommend to everyone, but it is a game that I love, think celebrates BEING a game wonderfully, and think if you have even passing interest in, you owe yourself to at least give it the Steam Refund test; it could be something (and I think it IS something) truly special for ya.
In Stars and Time has a nearly obscene amount of dialogue. Every single interactable in the game has a full-blown conversation tied to it. Dialogue remains quippy, familiar, and very of-the-time, whilst still having a contemporary wit that keeps you wanting to see more. And then you throw in the ways you can change every single dialogue encounter, and you get an absolutely dizzying amount of exposition and conversations about essentially nothing, but one of those conversations will be useful eventually.
This is what Stars and Time is banking on; you enjoying its main conceit - that of a single RPG dungeon that you traverse multiple times with new information each time to contextualize all of its puzzles - and how your characters reveal more about themselves, attempt to, and fail to change with every pass through. It's a massive puzzle box of dialogue where the reward is that you get to spend more time with your friends and care about your friends. And if you like that? The game will just continue giving and giving.
And I don't like that. I LOVE that.
In Stars and Time is glad to twist and pull its characters to the point of breaking, boiling them down to their merest existences as archetypes, ideas, character arcs and gameplay functions, twisting and turning them... but never once forgetting that these are characters. They feel, they believe, and they mean something, and because of that, In Stars and time has a beautiful lot to say about the simple condition of storytelling. The way that Mirabelle, Odile, Isabeau, and Bonnie's stories develop, progress, and regress through the game's runtime is as heartbreaking as it is well-considered and lovely. This is to say nothing of the player character, Siffrin, who just might be my favorite expression of a main character in a very long time; at the very least, I think he plays with the idea of BEING the lead in an incredible way! Watching these journeys slowly come to inevitable conclusions of both dread and catharsis has been one of the most gratifying experiences I've seen.
I realize, at this point in the review, I have done a very bad job explaining what In Stars and Time IS other than "they talk a lot and you navigate a dungeon and you think it's really good when they talk". There is turn-based combat based on a rock-paper-scissors effectiveness system, which is very nicely done and has a great flow to it until it stops mattering entirely halfway through the game and becomes an annoyance most times it shows up. There's some trial and error dungeon navigation that's a bit dull. Sometimes the game's RPG Maker roots show up and you can feel the game rubbing up against the limitations of the system. Sometimes yeah, it can feel like dialogue scenes might be going on a BIT long to emphasize a point. Really, perhaps the biggest issue with In Stars and Time is how every last bit of the game is so dedicated to its core narrative conceit - if you are not in love with what ISaT is selling, it will likely not get any better for you as it over-indulges in its own devices. Everything in this game is tied in to this form of character development and progression... and if you do love that, if this game speaks to you, then it's an unparalleled experience. I was slowed down a bit at times, but this game stunned me in the best of ways, in ways that I would want to write as a writer and love reading and imagining through. It is not a game I can recommend to everyone, but it is a game that I love, think celebrates BEING a game wonderfully, and think if you have even passing interest in, you owe yourself to at least give it the Steam Refund test; it could be something (and I think it IS something) truly special for ya.
This review contains spoilers
Might be my favorite quirky indie RPGMaker game about depression. I'm going to have to mark this one with spoilers because I can't really effectively describe why it hit me so hard without at least getting into some of the details. It is what it is, I'll keep it to a minimum. Like, this one really did just tear me apart with the themes and story it wants to tell. That punch also hits like a truck thanks to the strong, interweaving nature of the game's mechanics, storytelling devices, and character writing.
The core conceit of everything that happens in this game is that the main character, Siffrin, exists within a concrete timeloop that relives the last days of what would be any typical RPG story. You have a party of companions you've traveled with to the final dungeon that houses the big bad guy. You even start parked in a town just before heading into all of that. It's just like Final Fantasy! It even has ATB! So after spending some bonding time with your friends, you hop into the dungeon. Clearing the dungeon is...not simple. And it turns out the simplicity of ATB within a single dungeon and limited enemy roster is not the most interesting thing. Navigation puzzles are also hard, and you can find yourself in impossible to solve situations. Past that, you may find enemies that are impossible to overcome. Everything sets into a grind of trying and retrying to find solutions to these problems.
And that's okay, because you've been blessed with the immortality of being able to rewind time as many times as you need with no real repercussions for doing so. Your party may lose some items and exp, but you know where everything is while Sif himself never loses exp so it's easy to farm back up. You're always just a loop away from solving all your problems. Just one more loop....wait how many loops have I done? 50? Oh dear. Things become tedious. The battle system gets worn out. The never ending chain of "climb through every room of this dungeon to find one silly item" quests drive me insane. It wears down on Sif. He says so almost in step with the way I feel about it. The moment I'm fed up, Sif is fed up enough to find a way to help alleviate it. He becomes stronger, faster, able to navigate past enemies and trivialize the game.
This creates a problem. The problem is, that the people you are traveling with, your long time companions you've done a whole adventure with, are just really great. The way characters are written feels so organic and natural, it's like I've known them for the entire adventure I wasn't even there for. Sif has, so it makes sense. The dialogue boxes make heavy use of different fonts, size, and special animations alongside expressive character portraits. You can't not get drawn into loving this group. The problem is, they don't remember anything when we loop. So every time we do this, there's a song and dance to go along with it. You spend time with them and have different, difficult conversations on the loops. Really use this to your advantage to get to know them, appreciate them, even love them as a family. This has a limit. Over the course of 100 loops, you can only hear the same lines so many times. You start to zone out, mechanically skipping conversations, until you spend almost every loop more or less ignoring them as much as possible. Once you've fully bonded and pulled the inner strength out of everybody, that's enough right?
Eventually, they stop being people and start being actors to a play you're learning to orchestrate perfectly. You begin to disassociate away from them, and start to gamify everything. It's a slow process that's built up alongside the ever mounting tediousness of looping. Eventually it's just natural, and that's okay because you're doing this to save everybody. The disassociation never goes away though. Things are lonely. The failures also hurt, and the party never remembers that pain. But you do, every time you think you are on the verge of success, only to fall short, is crushing. Sometimes you see things that are downright horrible. Only you can carry that pain, and you can't tell them. They won't understand, you don't have time for this, maybe they'll even think you're crazy and abandon you. It's getting too hard to keep this entire act up anyways, so the game allows you to start tearing down the mechanical walls even harder so you can loop more efficiently. Where's the harm in looping when I can one shot everything and trivialize the final boss into nothing? One more loop, one more answer, and everybody is saved.
Just when I feel like I can't take anymore, Siffrin breaks right along with me. It's really spectacular how this all comes about, and I'm not really wanting to spoil the final acts for the people who didn't heed the spoiler warning! However, I will mention a couple things! Things that exist as borderline gags in the early game turn into legitimate trauma that the player wants to actively avoid alongside Sif. We, the player and Sif, begin to have the same feelings about how much failure we are willing to take and what lengths we'll go to in order to minimize that impact. We start to turn to cruel and awful, cynical things to help. The game will try and talk us to down from these ledges at every turn, to try and keep some semblance of self on the way down, but I personally did make choices I regret. When there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel, I was legitimately scared to continue out of fear that it would get ripped away from me. As if on cue, Siffrin yells out "it's too scary, I won't do it!"
Writing around the specific ways in which mental health can be so isolating and why people in those positions may choose to go harmful things is just really hard to nail down. Marrying those feelings to game mechanics is an even harder task. In Stars and Time manages to cross that line in a way that felt just right with me, and brought some serious tears along with it. I never felt like the game was forcing harm onto me, in fact it was quite the opposite. Always trying to tell me to take care of myself and try to do my best, but acknowledging that some situations are just hard to get by. On a personal level as well, there was representation in this game I didn't know I needed written in a way I didn't know I needed. It was full of surprises like that, things I didn't know I needed until presented in this way, so thanks for that InsertDisc5.
Ultimately, In Stars and Time resolves itself in a way that challenges the ideas we have to be hurt to be seen both through gameplay and story. It does so at the end of what feels like a genuine battle with itself, never willing to relent on the situations it places Sif in while always willing to offer a hand to pull them back up. That marriage of play and exploration of emotion is at a high peak here that's extremely rare, so hats off to In Stars and Time for providing me with something special.
The core conceit of everything that happens in this game is that the main character, Siffrin, exists within a concrete timeloop that relives the last days of what would be any typical RPG story. You have a party of companions you've traveled with to the final dungeon that houses the big bad guy. You even start parked in a town just before heading into all of that. It's just like Final Fantasy! It even has ATB! So after spending some bonding time with your friends, you hop into the dungeon. Clearing the dungeon is...not simple. And it turns out the simplicity of ATB within a single dungeon and limited enemy roster is not the most interesting thing. Navigation puzzles are also hard, and you can find yourself in impossible to solve situations. Past that, you may find enemies that are impossible to overcome. Everything sets into a grind of trying and retrying to find solutions to these problems.
And that's okay, because you've been blessed with the immortality of being able to rewind time as many times as you need with no real repercussions for doing so. Your party may lose some items and exp, but you know where everything is while Sif himself never loses exp so it's easy to farm back up. You're always just a loop away from solving all your problems. Just one more loop....wait how many loops have I done? 50? Oh dear. Things become tedious. The battle system gets worn out. The never ending chain of "climb through every room of this dungeon to find one silly item" quests drive me insane. It wears down on Sif. He says so almost in step with the way I feel about it. The moment I'm fed up, Sif is fed up enough to find a way to help alleviate it. He becomes stronger, faster, able to navigate past enemies and trivialize the game.
This creates a problem. The problem is, that the people you are traveling with, your long time companions you've done a whole adventure with, are just really great. The way characters are written feels so organic and natural, it's like I've known them for the entire adventure I wasn't even there for. Sif has, so it makes sense. The dialogue boxes make heavy use of different fonts, size, and special animations alongside expressive character portraits. You can't not get drawn into loving this group. The problem is, they don't remember anything when we loop. So every time we do this, there's a song and dance to go along with it. You spend time with them and have different, difficult conversations on the loops. Really use this to your advantage to get to know them, appreciate them, even love them as a family. This has a limit. Over the course of 100 loops, you can only hear the same lines so many times. You start to zone out, mechanically skipping conversations, until you spend almost every loop more or less ignoring them as much as possible. Once you've fully bonded and pulled the inner strength out of everybody, that's enough right?
Eventually, they stop being people and start being actors to a play you're learning to orchestrate perfectly. You begin to disassociate away from them, and start to gamify everything. It's a slow process that's built up alongside the ever mounting tediousness of looping. Eventually it's just natural, and that's okay because you're doing this to save everybody. The disassociation never goes away though. Things are lonely. The failures also hurt, and the party never remembers that pain. But you do, every time you think you are on the verge of success, only to fall short, is crushing. Sometimes you see things that are downright horrible. Only you can carry that pain, and you can't tell them. They won't understand, you don't have time for this, maybe they'll even think you're crazy and abandon you. It's getting too hard to keep this entire act up anyways, so the game allows you to start tearing down the mechanical walls even harder so you can loop more efficiently. Where's the harm in looping when I can one shot everything and trivialize the final boss into nothing? One more loop, one more answer, and everybody is saved.
Just when I feel like I can't take anymore, Siffrin breaks right along with me. It's really spectacular how this all comes about, and I'm not really wanting to spoil the final acts for the people who didn't heed the spoiler warning! However, I will mention a couple things! Things that exist as borderline gags in the early game turn into legitimate trauma that the player wants to actively avoid alongside Sif. We, the player and Sif, begin to have the same feelings about how much failure we are willing to take and what lengths we'll go to in order to minimize that impact. We start to turn to cruel and awful, cynical things to help. The game will try and talk us to down from these ledges at every turn, to try and keep some semblance of self on the way down, but I personally did make choices I regret. When there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel, I was legitimately scared to continue out of fear that it would get ripped away from me. As if on cue, Siffrin yells out "it's too scary, I won't do it!"
Writing around the specific ways in which mental health can be so isolating and why people in those positions may choose to go harmful things is just really hard to nail down. Marrying those feelings to game mechanics is an even harder task. In Stars and Time manages to cross that line in a way that felt just right with me, and brought some serious tears along with it. I never felt like the game was forcing harm onto me, in fact it was quite the opposite. Always trying to tell me to take care of myself and try to do my best, but acknowledging that some situations are just hard to get by. On a personal level as well, there was representation in this game I didn't know I needed written in a way I didn't know I needed. It was full of surprises like that, things I didn't know I needed until presented in this way, so thanks for that InsertDisc5.
Ultimately, In Stars and Time resolves itself in a way that challenges the ideas we have to be hurt to be seen both through gameplay and story. It does so at the end of what feels like a genuine battle with itself, never willing to relent on the situations it places Sif in while always willing to offer a hand to pull them back up. That marriage of play and exploration of emotion is at a high peak here that's extremely rare, so hats off to In Stars and Time for providing me with something special.
"wehh wehhh this game is so repetitive wehh wehhhh its frustrating doing the same stuff all over" THATS THE POINT. In Stars and Time, along with being an incredibly written story with a lovable cast of characters who have amazing chemistry as a party, also has the best depiction of the existential horror of time-loops that I've seen in a piece of art, ever.
Time Taken: 72 Hours. Minus a day where I accidentally left the game open so - 48-ish hours. I think the game should take around 25-35 hours if you are properly using the mechanics that make loops go faster and aren't insane about looking for new dialogue like I am
First time I reviewed this, I hadn't beaten the game. I now have done so. My opinion has become even stronger - This game has one of the most emotional and compelling stories I've ever seen, somehow manages to be repetitive without turning boring with the many mechanics it has to make loops go by faster as well. Please use them, and often. Don't be crazy like me and only use them like 3 times. Or do. I thought it was fun!
Absolutely amazing cast of characters, every party member has such good chemistry with each other. The pain Siffrin feels due to the time loops is palpable, it feels real. This is probably one of the few time-loop stories where I really felt the "Being in a time loop is fucking horrifying" feel. Siffrin is just an amazing character in general. Also, they still think way too similarly to how I do and that's still scary. I don't think I could choose a favorite out of the main cast.
Absolute gem of an indie game.
First time I reviewed this, I hadn't beaten the game. I now have done so. My opinion has become even stronger - This game has one of the most emotional and compelling stories I've ever seen, somehow manages to be repetitive without turning boring with the many mechanics it has to make loops go by faster as well. Please use them, and often. Don't be crazy like me and only use them like 3 times. Or do. I thought it was fun!
Absolutely amazing cast of characters, every party member has such good chemistry with each other. The pain Siffrin feels due to the time loops is palpable, it feels real. This is probably one of the few time-loop stories where I really felt the "Being in a time loop is fucking horrifying" feel. Siffrin is just an amazing character in general. Also, they still think way too similarly to how I do and that's still scary. I don't think I could choose a favorite out of the main cast.
Absolute gem of an indie game.
You feel like you're losing your mind along with the main character which is a pretty impressive feat. The ending left me satisfied.
I found this game because of a tweet, and i'm so glad I did.
I don't want to explain anything about this game, but what I will say is I love the use of timeloops to tell stories, and especially ones that do it as well as this. I enjoyed the stories, characters, and combat thoroughly.
I docked 1/2 a star since the gameplay is very repetetive, and while that's the point it can feel a little contrived in it's need to make you feel exhausted with it. Thankfully there's a point where you can avoid them completely.
I wish I could go back and experience this game for the first time again
I don't want to explain anything about this game, but what I will say is I love the use of timeloops to tell stories, and especially ones that do it as well as this. I enjoyed the stories, characters, and combat thoroughly.
I docked 1/2 a star since the gameplay is very repetetive, and while that's the point it can feel a little contrived in it's need to make you feel exhausted with it. Thankfully there's a point where you can avoid them completely.
I wish I could go back and experience this game for the first time again
What makes In Stars and Time such a compelling story game is that it actually succeeds at doing something most of these indie RPGs fail at: being a GAME.
Don't let the Undertale pick in my top 5 fool you, the only bias I have towards "Earthbound inspired RPGs" is a pretty negative one, and it all comes down to pacing. I really can't agree with the excuse of "Oh, but it's supposed to be slow and monotonous because that's the theme of the game" because why would you ever want to recommend someone a game that's just straight up boring to sit through? You can get the point across that something is meant to feel dull in a way more succinct way than just making the actual gameplay dull. Too many people are willing to use this excuse to justify overly drawn out stories and it makes it hard for me to trust them when they tell me that the next indie RPG I play will finally be good.
ISAT is so refreshing because I don't NEED to use that excuse at all! Not sure what the reviews saying that the game is tedious are talking about, ISAT strikes a great balance of making situations feel repetitive without making them feel flat out boring. There are so many quality of life implementations that let you skip around to exactly where you need to be at any given time, and the game is shockingly great at directing you on what you need to do to progress. Timeloop stories need to strike a balance where the player can actually empathize with the character's emotions while also letting them enjoy playing something that isn't totally aimless and this game does it so well. Bad pacing will completely change my opinion on a story but ISAT is not guilty of it in the least.
I have a lot more that I would love to say about this, and obviously ISAT means way more to me than just being a playable game lmao. I'm not writing this review to try and convince people that this is the perfect indie RPG and all the others are totally worthless, I'm writing in the hopes that I'll convince the kinds of people who never would consider trying something like this to give this game a chance. It's one of the most beautiful stories I've ever experienced, bar none, and I'm so thankful that it was engaging enough to keep me playing through it all.
Don't let the Undertale pick in my top 5 fool you, the only bias I have towards "Earthbound inspired RPGs" is a pretty negative one, and it all comes down to pacing. I really can't agree with the excuse of "Oh, but it's supposed to be slow and monotonous because that's the theme of the game" because why would you ever want to recommend someone a game that's just straight up boring to sit through? You can get the point across that something is meant to feel dull in a way more succinct way than just making the actual gameplay dull. Too many people are willing to use this excuse to justify overly drawn out stories and it makes it hard for me to trust them when they tell me that the next indie RPG I play will finally be good.
ISAT is so refreshing because I don't NEED to use that excuse at all! Not sure what the reviews saying that the game is tedious are talking about, ISAT strikes a great balance of making situations feel repetitive without making them feel flat out boring. There are so many quality of life implementations that let you skip around to exactly where you need to be at any given time, and the game is shockingly great at directing you on what you need to do to progress. Timeloop stories need to strike a balance where the player can actually empathize with the character's emotions while also letting them enjoy playing something that isn't totally aimless and this game does it so well. Bad pacing will completely change my opinion on a story but ISAT is not guilty of it in the least.
I have a lot more that I would love to say about this, and obviously ISAT means way more to me than just being a playable game lmao. I'm not writing this review to try and convince people that this is the perfect indie RPG and all the others are totally worthless, I'm writing in the hopes that I'll convince the kinds of people who never would consider trying something like this to give this game a chance. It's one of the most beautiful stories I've ever experienced, bar none, and I'm so thankful that it was engaging enough to keep me playing through it all.
i remember i put off playing this game for so long because i knew i would become obsessed and it would interfere with my studies. now look where we are (100% completion, three separate playthroughs, multiple analytic thinkpieces in notion, consuming my every waking thought). fucking french people... man....
Just finished playing this, so my thought aren't fully formed, but I absolutely adored it. I felt like I was going insane right alongside Siffrin, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Truly a gem of indie game design.
rough around the edges but i haven't been able to stop thinking about it for days. i love rpgmaker games shoutout to my queers
Oh stars, I did not expect to like this game as much as I did. This is in no way a perfect game, but any deficiencies were overridden with the game's two best qualities - excellent writing and absolute earnestness.
The characters were written superbly, and the game did a good job making you like every one of them within the
first half hour or so. Despite each of them having the potential to come off as juvenile, the absolute innocence of their actions propelled them from 'overacting' to 'extremely loveable'. What helped here was the slightly off-kilter way the world was introduced, with a lot of knowing nods to traditional JRPG tropes. (I mean, their RPS elemental triangle is literally rock-paper-scissors). You're just expected to accept the world and it characters as they're presented, and it won me over.
Let it be said that the game falls under what I would affectionately call...tumblrcore. Vaugarde and the Change religion both seem like the queer utopia. Many aspects of world-building seem like scraps from other fiction thought experiments, and you hear the author silently mouthing wouldn't it be nice if the world was like this, wink wink? I'm sure some people would see this and immediately nope out, but it honestly wasn't an issue for me as tumblr-ness was never really placed front and center of the narrative. The challenges and growth that our protagonists experience are universal. Sif, Odile, Isa, Mira, and Bonnie's problems could be anyone's story. And by Change, the game ends on such a high note that you want to hug every single one of those idiots.
And wow, what a story. I laughed, I was scared, I was frustrated. All at the planned points too, I believe. The author is excellent at ludonarrative synchrony, leveraging gameplay to reflect and parallel what you and the protagonist are feeling. Siffrin's happy? So are you. Siffrin wants to crabbing end it all? Yeah I wanted to throw the steam deck down at times as well.
And... yeah, maybe that last point got a bit too much at times. If there's just one criticism, I think the game is slightly longer than it should be. Despite the QOL improvements, there are some parts starting the second half of the game where I felt like the gameplay could be tightened up while retaining the same message.
So yeah. Imperfect game, but one that hit me hard and I'll bet I'll be thinking about for a while.
The characters were written superbly, and the game did a good job making you like every one of them within the
first half hour or so. Despite each of them having the potential to come off as juvenile, the absolute innocence of their actions propelled them from 'overacting' to 'extremely loveable'. What helped here was the slightly off-kilter way the world was introduced, with a lot of knowing nods to traditional JRPG tropes. (I mean, their RPS elemental triangle is literally rock-paper-scissors). You're just expected to accept the world and it characters as they're presented, and it won me over.
Let it be said that the game falls under what I would affectionately call...tumblrcore. Vaugarde and the Change religion both seem like the queer utopia. Many aspects of world-building seem like scraps from other fiction thought experiments, and you hear the author silently mouthing wouldn't it be nice if the world was like this, wink wink? I'm sure some people would see this and immediately nope out, but it honestly wasn't an issue for me as tumblr-ness was never really placed front and center of the narrative. The challenges and growth that our protagonists experience are universal. Sif, Odile, Isa, Mira, and Bonnie's problems could be anyone's story. And by Change, the game ends on such a high note that you want to hug every single one of those idiots.
And wow, what a story. I laughed, I was scared, I was frustrated. All at the planned points too, I believe. The author is excellent at ludonarrative synchrony, leveraging gameplay to reflect and parallel what you and the protagonist are feeling. Siffrin's happy? So are you. Siffrin wants to crabbing end it all? Yeah I wanted to throw the steam deck down at times as well.
And... yeah, maybe that last point got a bit too much at times. If there's just one criticism, I think the game is slightly longer than it should be. Despite the QOL improvements, there are some parts starting the second half of the game where I felt like the gameplay could be tightened up while retaining the same message.
So yeah. Imperfect game, but one that hit me hard and I'll bet I'll be thinking about for a while.
Really enjoyed it, it was fun to play! I think the fact that we know so little about the characters and the surface level gameplay with solving things for the timeloops holds this game back a lot. Some frustrating things with progression regarding how the protagonist is characterized
I don't really mind if something is super predictable, I think I'm just well acquainted to time travel stories, but just keep in mind that if you also are, it's really easy to predict.
Ending is heartwarming, but I think lacked the punch it really called for. To the point where it feels kind of uncalled for
I don't really mind if something is super predictable, I think I'm just well acquainted to time travel stories, but just keep in mind that if you also are, it's really easy to predict.
Ending is heartwarming, but I think lacked the punch it really called for. To the point where it feels kind of uncalled for