CW: mentions of suicide, spoilers later on
I want to go on record for the most part and say that I love YIIK for what its concept is and what it sets out to do. I can really see the amount of love they poured into this project, however flawed it may be, and I will defend its existence in whatever way I can. That said I wish I could score it higher but I have the same gripes with everyone else about the gameplay and dialogue.
The gameplay is slow-paced and downright unreadable in some situations, such as that one pixel minigame where you have to parry that weird yellow smiley ball guy and there's no telegraphing barring the split second window the game gives you. And, as a bonus, if you miss at any point the remaining characters also get hit. The system offers no breathing room with the action-based combat so learning new skills comes with a toss-up rather than being a new and engaging way to play the game. If you completely miss the action, you won't hit at all. There's also this weird elemental system that feels sort of shoved in? I find it weird to have an elemental system in a game where none of the characters use elemental magic. All that combined with the fact that the fastest of battles take at least 20 seconds wears down on my excitement pretty fast. There's also random encounters when you travel in the overview map which is really not for me. I was getting kind of annoyed trying to find the right town to go to and find a crosswalk and having those aforementioned battles really felt like padding. I feel like the random encounters should have been put into the dedicated monster dungeons they had. Dungeons were also not very much fun for me as any puzzles kinda felt slow to operate or were kind of clunky. I seriously can't believe that they have two types of barriers that require different abilities to be removed. Surely you can do better than that.
There was also some functionality issues with one part of the first dungeon. There's this one part where you're supposed to aim and throw a cat in a direction to flip a lever, but it's meant to be played with a controller which means that you're meant to have an analogue stick for it, which means that I had to use my ARROW KEYS FOR ANALOGUE. Only by sheer miracle was I able to get those levers.
That aside, YIIK really delivers well on the overall vibes. The graphics, music and atmosphere are top-notch especially when it leans into the unsettling surrealism part, such as Wind Town at night or the Warehouse. I also loved the world seemingly breaking apart and changing art direction as Y2K approaches, ripping apart the universe. I could also stare at the title screen all day, it's so soothing~
The story, however, I could sadly not say the same. Unfortunately, it's presented in the worst way possible with it explained with long monologues presenting all these in-universe concepts as matter-of-fact within the main plot, rather than letting the player experience them unfiltered and learning more about them through reading and side quests. The Soul Space and leaving one's own universe through emotional distress is an intriguing and nuanced concept that gets talked about as if it's supposed to be normal and we're as dumb as Alex for not knowing about it before. Don't get me wrong, these concepts can work! They just need breathing room to be digested. I think Homestuck does a great job with that in its beginning pages, with it letting the reader slowly understand the rules of the universe and rewarding them with humor and awesome battle sequences. YIIK's presentation made my brain hurt.
It's also hard to see how this ties in with the game's supposed message about self-improvement and becoming a better person, at least within the main route. That message in of itself is scattered and has no narrative structure save for a few actions. One being Alex's neglectfulness of his studies placing his mom in a state of financial worry that doesn't amount to anything considering it gets resolved WITHOUT Alex manning up and getting himself a job. The other is causing Rory's suicide. Instead of taking responsibility and changing his actions to try and improve himself later on, he just talks to himself about how much of a shitty person he is and continues to keep the focus on himself. And the universe affirms him for it. Even in the alternate ending RORY'S GHOST FORGIVES HIM, WHAT???
It's funny that the song's one track by Toby Fox made me care about this game more than anything. Don't get me wrong, all of the music sounds great but Toby's is phenomenal. It might even be my favorite of his. It's a simple chiptune battle track, but it's hauntingly somber like a lonely voice crying out for a sense of purpose. This is paired with the album cover they chose for the official OST release, while just being a random screenshot from the upcoming YIIK I.V, still managed to tell a story. Alex ashamedly looking at a wide-eyed Sammy for some sort of guidance or comfort but seeing that she's just as scared as he is. I even came up with a line from the song's melody. It's cheesy, I know, but good music is a very powerful tool for conveying messages and not just emotions and tone.
"You thought you were ready to embrace change, but you didn't expect the change to change you."
If I'm being honest with myself, I would've wanted to take this story in a completely different direction about Alex being thrust into adult life and him avoiding his responsibilities and new-found feelings through bizarre adventures that only serve as a mere distraction. His own feelings of inferiority masked by a huge ego and attitude being slowly brought down as he realizes how pointless his adventuring is and how much joy he gets out of being with his friends. Sammy and the Essentia could stay as misleading and antagonistic distractions, but the culmination could be Alex finally realizing that none of this is actually worth the battle. I don't know, I think this game has hindered my rationalizing skills a bit.
I cannot stress enough though, how excited I am for YIIK I.V and how it addresses all of its current flaws. The new battle system looks great and snappy, if a bit disorienting. I also like that they're tapping into the surrealism, and flexing their scripting muscles with new cutscenes. It looks like they're planning on keeping the monologues in but they're making them more interesting by presenting Alex an MC at an open mic night recounting his tales, which is a fair enough compromise if the devs are that keen about keeping that vision for him. I personally don't think I.V will solve all of its problems, but it will definitely make things more interesting and I respect the hell out of the devs for standing by their game.
I want to go on record for the most part and say that I love YIIK for what its concept is and what it sets out to do. I can really see the amount of love they poured into this project, however flawed it may be, and I will defend its existence in whatever way I can. That said I wish I could score it higher but I have the same gripes with everyone else about the gameplay and dialogue.
The gameplay is slow-paced and downright unreadable in some situations, such as that one pixel minigame where you have to parry that weird yellow smiley ball guy and there's no telegraphing barring the split second window the game gives you. And, as a bonus, if you miss at any point the remaining characters also get hit. The system offers no breathing room with the action-based combat so learning new skills comes with a toss-up rather than being a new and engaging way to play the game. If you completely miss the action, you won't hit at all. There's also this weird elemental system that feels sort of shoved in? I find it weird to have an elemental system in a game where none of the characters use elemental magic. All that combined with the fact that the fastest of battles take at least 20 seconds wears down on my excitement pretty fast. There's also random encounters when you travel in the overview map which is really not for me. I was getting kind of annoyed trying to find the right town to go to and find a crosswalk and having those aforementioned battles really felt like padding. I feel like the random encounters should have been put into the dedicated monster dungeons they had. Dungeons were also not very much fun for me as any puzzles kinda felt slow to operate or were kind of clunky. I seriously can't believe that they have two types of barriers that require different abilities to be removed. Surely you can do better than that.
There was also some functionality issues with one part of the first dungeon. There's this one part where you're supposed to aim and throw a cat in a direction to flip a lever, but it's meant to be played with a controller which means that you're meant to have an analogue stick for it, which means that I had to use my ARROW KEYS FOR ANALOGUE. Only by sheer miracle was I able to get those levers.
That aside, YIIK really delivers well on the overall vibes. The graphics, music and atmosphere are top-notch especially when it leans into the unsettling surrealism part, such as Wind Town at night or the Warehouse. I also loved the world seemingly breaking apart and changing art direction as Y2K approaches, ripping apart the universe. I could also stare at the title screen all day, it's so soothing~
The story, however, I could sadly not say the same. Unfortunately, it's presented in the worst way possible with it explained with long monologues presenting all these in-universe concepts as matter-of-fact within the main plot, rather than letting the player experience them unfiltered and learning more about them through reading and side quests. The Soul Space and leaving one's own universe through emotional distress is an intriguing and nuanced concept that gets talked about as if it's supposed to be normal and we're as dumb as Alex for not knowing about it before. Don't get me wrong, these concepts can work! They just need breathing room to be digested. I think Homestuck does a great job with that in its beginning pages, with it letting the reader slowly understand the rules of the universe and rewarding them with humor and awesome battle sequences. YIIK's presentation made my brain hurt.
It's also hard to see how this ties in with the game's supposed message about self-improvement and becoming a better person, at least within the main route. That message in of itself is scattered and has no narrative structure save for a few actions. One being Alex's neglectfulness of his studies placing his mom in a state of financial worry that doesn't amount to anything considering it gets resolved WITHOUT Alex manning up and getting himself a job. The other is causing Rory's suicide. Instead of taking responsibility and changing his actions to try and improve himself later on, he just talks to himself about how much of a shitty person he is and continues to keep the focus on himself. And the universe affirms him for it. Even in the alternate ending RORY'S GHOST FORGIVES HIM, WHAT???
It's funny that the song's one track by Toby Fox made me care about this game more than anything. Don't get me wrong, all of the music sounds great but Toby's is phenomenal. It might even be my favorite of his. It's a simple chiptune battle track, but it's hauntingly somber like a lonely voice crying out for a sense of purpose. This is paired with the album cover they chose for the official OST release, while just being a random screenshot from the upcoming YIIK I.V, still managed to tell a story. Alex ashamedly looking at a wide-eyed Sammy for some sort of guidance or comfort but seeing that she's just as scared as he is. I even came up with a line from the song's melody. It's cheesy, I know, but good music is a very powerful tool for conveying messages and not just emotions and tone.
"You thought you were ready to embrace change, but you didn't expect the change to change you."
If I'm being honest with myself, I would've wanted to take this story in a completely different direction about Alex being thrust into adult life and him avoiding his responsibilities and new-found feelings through bizarre adventures that only serve as a mere distraction. His own feelings of inferiority masked by a huge ego and attitude being slowly brought down as he realizes how pointless his adventuring is and how much joy he gets out of being with his friends. Sammy and the Essentia could stay as misleading and antagonistic distractions, but the culmination could be Alex finally realizing that none of this is actually worth the battle. I don't know, I think this game has hindered my rationalizing skills a bit.
I cannot stress enough though, how excited I am for YIIK I.V and how it addresses all of its current flaws. The new battle system looks great and snappy, if a bit disorienting. I also like that they're tapping into the surrealism, and flexing their scripting muscles with new cutscenes. It looks like they're planning on keeping the monologues in but they're making them more interesting by presenting Alex an MC at an open mic night recounting his tales, which is a fair enough compromise if the devs are that keen about keeping that vision for him. I personally don't think I.V will solve all of its problems, but it will definitely make things more interesting and I respect the hell out of the devs for standing by their game.