"This is what you people want, isn't it? A narrative full of mystery, deceit, and conspiracies? I gave that to you."
A young girl decides to attend an elite private school for the wealthy. She quickly catches the attention of the student council, each of them eager to try and take her on a date. And wouldn't you know it, she'd be happy to accept.
She has to find out which one of them killed her father, after all.
WKMFA was included in the itchio racial justice bundle a while back and I always meant to give it a shot. But I was always afraid that its core premise wouldn't end up landing. And in the first, oh, thirty minutes of gameplay, its hard not to think that WKMFA isn't treading dating game subversion narrative that hasn't already been tread better before.
But the game isn't its first half hour. Its a LOT more than it appears.
The narrative swings that this game takes is truly inspired. Going through each route and learning about the different nuances and tragedies behind the different dateable boys is exactly as compelling as any good dating sim should be. But its given these additional layers through the fact that you're manipulating them for information. You and the protagonist are toying with the feelings of these kids for the sake of your gain. And that's where the real narrative commentary comes through, as you encounter endings where the protagonist wonders if she did the right thing, outright telling the player "I hope this was all worth it to get to the next route." You and the protagonist are in a transactional relationship: you get your story, she gets the ending she wants. But the game is careful to give nuance and weight to different decisions on different routes and it creates just... a really compelling narrative.
I don't want to get too much into detail because its a game best played with minimum spoilers, but the number of twists and turns and meta-commentary swerves that land so much harder than they should are just stunning. An absolute hidden gem of a game.
A young girl decides to attend an elite private school for the wealthy. She quickly catches the attention of the student council, each of them eager to try and take her on a date. And wouldn't you know it, she'd be happy to accept.
She has to find out which one of them killed her father, after all.
WKMFA was included in the itchio racial justice bundle a while back and I always meant to give it a shot. But I was always afraid that its core premise wouldn't end up landing. And in the first, oh, thirty minutes of gameplay, its hard not to think that WKMFA isn't treading dating game subversion narrative that hasn't already been tread better before.
But the game isn't its first half hour. Its a LOT more than it appears.
The narrative swings that this game takes is truly inspired. Going through each route and learning about the different nuances and tragedies behind the different dateable boys is exactly as compelling as any good dating sim should be. But its given these additional layers through the fact that you're manipulating them for information. You and the protagonist are toying with the feelings of these kids for the sake of your gain. And that's where the real narrative commentary comes through, as you encounter endings where the protagonist wonders if she did the right thing, outright telling the player "I hope this was all worth it to get to the next route." You and the protagonist are in a transactional relationship: you get your story, she gets the ending she wants. But the game is careful to give nuance and weight to different decisions on different routes and it creates just... a really compelling narrative.
I don't want to get too much into detail because its a game best played with minimum spoilers, but the number of twists and turns and meta-commentary swerves that land so much harder than they should are just stunning. An absolute hidden gem of a game.
Reviewed on Nov 28, 2021