Timeline of events:

I'm a games writer, and I was feeling bad about my work. I'm also a fan of postmodernist fiction. I thought: "Surely, comparing what I like and what I do to YIIK, a notoriously awful game, I'll feel better about myself." I bought it later, when it was on sale.

Now, I've played an hour and 9 minutes of it.

I did not know.

Even four years down the line, YIIK's developers do not understand... anything that makes a game coherent, and hold somebody's attention. We can't even talk about "good" here - this is not in the same star system as a "good" game.

At the start it's a thousand pinpricks. As it continues, they ramp up and turn into drills. And make no mistake: No video essay talking about it can make you understand how bad that feels to play.

Basic feedback for most player actions is absent; actions such as setting the Panda-barrier cannot be cancelled out of; the music meanders without skill or purpose; the graphical style has small inconsistencies and errors that would've been easily fixed, but never were; NPCs are either cardboard, or just the worst babblers I've ever seen anyone write. Statements that could take 2-3 text boxes and one selection screen take 20.

I genuinely thought this game could make me feel better; instead, I feel like I smugly punched a kid. With less time, fewer resources, more rudimentary tools, *I, and YOU* could create something better than this.

I spent money, and that's fine. I also put part of my soul as tribute on it when I put it in comparison to what I do, thinking that comparison would be anything but a let-down. And that is not fine. I want my soul back, YIIK.

I've abandoned it. I don't intend on picking it up again, even if it updates. Don't buy it. It's not even funny; it's just sad, and will make you feel sad, too.

The only game I would truly describe as "Lovecraftianly bad". Not only does it find new and exciting avenues to being bad every 10 minutes or so: after playing Yiik you are permanently scarred with it, a small section of Yoourk brain is tainted with the sickness. As Yoouk thiink about it more and more, the void where your sentiience Yuused to be grows. The more you ponder, the less iit makes sense. Untiilk your sense of self is eroded away and you are left shaking, vibrating with motion.

I named my real life cat after one of the characters in it. So know this 2.5 is not because the game is miid. But because it exiists in a simultaneous 0.5 and 5.0.

YIIK is an RPG that likes a lot of things from better RPGs but doesn't seem to understand why they like them. As such, this game incorporates lots of RPG elements, sometimes cheating off another game's work.

YIIK has a large roster of party members you can choose from, though several characters aren't really good in combat, generally unimportant in the story, or just like, aren't developed beyond several shallow traits. Refer to anyone who isn't Alex, Vella, or kind of Rory. It has minigames in its combat like other better games, but some minigames take much too long to do, are boring to play, or just aren't worth using like, at all. It also has dungeons, as RPGs often do, however they can feel bloated at times with puzzles that are either too easy, pointlessly tedious, or completely stupid. There's also overworld items you can use to get rid of obstacles around you or traverse land, think Mother 3's wall staples, though it kind of forgets about these partway through after getting the first one or two and so it just gives you like three at once after a while which is pretty funny.

YIIK's story is kind of interesting on paper, but then kinda gets lost in itself halfway through the game. Though, the game seems to act like that's kind of the point because the world is falling apart. Once you get past Vella's dungeon the game's story just kinda goes completely south in my opinion.

I also really don't like Alex's characterization. I know he's supposed to be an unlikable asshole and that's his thing, but like he just kind of stays that way? Like there are scenes that show he questions his actions but he can just like, not care, it's admittedly pretty funny. I also don't know why anyone hangs out with him at any point since he's always like this but I digress, I can suspend my disbelief. What I don't like is how the game doubles back on this with like zero warning, where Alex becomes a bleeding heart who regrets all the horrible things he's said and done to everyone and takes it upon himself to be the hero after finally learning his lesson. And that would be fine, but he just like doesn't progress, like, at all. Like the writers want you to feel for this guy who's done nothing but be a self-centered prick to everyone and anyone, and obviously no one wants to feel bad for a dickhead like that, so the writers just kind of, pretend he's a changed man? Either he's an asshole for the rest of the game, or he has a believable arc. pick a lane.

There's lot's of controversial stuff in the game's story too (See Golden Alpaca, Semi Park's death, Michael, and more stuff I probably forgot) but I don't much feel like indulging it more than I have to.

If anything, I respect how dedicated the devs are to fixing this game more than anything, 1.4 footage that's been released seems genuinely enticing. In its current state though, I'd treat it more like a gruesome trainwreck. Stay away from it unless you're dying to see how bad it gets. Wait for a sale though.

Yiik Fiction

It's insane how bad this game is, but it really shows the devs passion. It has love, but low intelligence. Pretentious as shit, involuntarily funny, weird characters, weird moments, weird jokes, weird artstyle, weird OST, weird level design, weird story. This game is the definiton of weird.

An amateur work made by passionated developers. It has a very human side to it, like watching a baby trying to walk. It tries, but it's hard for him. The attacks tried to be very Paper Mario-like. But it failed because it was so over-designed for a single attack.

It's a reflection of the dev team. They wanted to make something special. That doesn't mean it has to be objectively good, but it needs the soul to shine. I like what they tried to do, not the execution itself.

I ended up watching on Youtube because I got stuck on a boss.

I'll update/add a segment were I talk about I.V once it's out. A big update made 4 years later for free.

I 100%d this game.
its bad. it fails spectacularly at having good gameplay, good writing, and conveying its story competently.
the story gets so lost within itself, that it really only has one scene to drive home what it's about: the effects that middle class mediocrity.
That one scene, the monologue when he enters the soul space, was genuinely very well done.
"I didn't realize how much I had and how little I had done to earn it. But now that there's nothing here, I realize-- I realize what a little shit i was."
"You're now face to face with God. You can ask him any question and all you ask is what's for dinner."
"There's no use beating myself up. Is there? I don't even know any more. 'Don't be so hard on yourself.' This is what my mother said to me whenever I made a mistake. But was this the mantra I really should have adopted? Maybe I should be hard on myself. Maybe I'm a failure. Maybe acknowledging your mistakes makes you not a little shit."

i genuinely believe that this game deserves the second chance that i.v will give it. i also genuinely believe that 1.0 is worth preserving. 1.25 is whatever tier, the new alpaca is too out of place, and the balance changes only make the game easier than it already was (minus the lp toss glitch)