This review contains spoilers
I'm willing to give anything a shot. I've played a number of "hipster indie games" and have even liked a few of them. This is not one of them and frankly I do not understand why this gets so much praise. I'm willing to accept that I'm just not the target demographic here, but this is the same dev as Assault Android Cactus and I really liked that, so I'm at a loss.
The premise is self-explanatory, you're unpacking your things into a new place throughout key moments of this character's life: as a child, moving out to a college dorm room, moving in with friends, with her boyfriend, back home after breakup, to a new place and eventually settling in with her partner. That's kind of a neat idea, a story told purely through environmental storytelling and the things you're unpacking. The problem is that I could not relate to our unseen protagonist at all. Her range of interests was so hyper-specific that it took me out of the story. By that I mean this game was made by someone who most likely used Tumblr from the period of about 2011-2015 and is made for that exact demographic, judging by the easter eggs in the things you're unpacking. I am not a girl who was on Tumblr in 2013 and maybe if I was this game would resonate more with me, but I was a teenage boy who was playing TF2 and watching Minecraft LPs in 2013 so I cannot relate to that hyperspecific experience. This may sound like an odd complaint to have but transitory life experiences is a core part of the emotional message. Even the level where you move out to college which is something I did had no emotional impact on me. That brings me to the story itself: I found it to be one of the most hilariously insufferable hipster games I've ever played. The main character goes to art school, moves in with her boyfriend, has a bad breakup and moves back in with her mom, then gets back on her feet and eventually becomes a successful children's book author and is expecting a baby with a disabled latina as her partner (when she moves in a cane is one of the items). This is all culminated in the credits with soft ukulele and singing about unpacking life. Honestly I started laughing.
I also did not like the gameplay at all, what is supposed to be considered cozy and relaxing I just found busywork. I do like organizing and arranging things in games and real life but the way this was set up just did not work for me.
Overall, quite a disappointing followup from the Assault Android Cactus dev team. I hope this doesn't become a trend but this game got a lot of praise so my hopes aren't high.
The premise is self-explanatory, you're unpacking your things into a new place throughout key moments of this character's life: as a child, moving out to a college dorm room, moving in with friends, with her boyfriend, back home after breakup, to a new place and eventually settling in with her partner. That's kind of a neat idea, a story told purely through environmental storytelling and the things you're unpacking. The problem is that I could not relate to our unseen protagonist at all. Her range of interests was so hyper-specific that it took me out of the story. By that I mean this game was made by someone who most likely used Tumblr from the period of about 2011-2015 and is made for that exact demographic, judging by the easter eggs in the things you're unpacking. I am not a girl who was on Tumblr in 2013 and maybe if I was this game would resonate more with me, but I was a teenage boy who was playing TF2 and watching Minecraft LPs in 2013 so I cannot relate to that hyperspecific experience. This may sound like an odd complaint to have but transitory life experiences is a core part of the emotional message. Even the level where you move out to college which is something I did had no emotional impact on me. That brings me to the story itself: I found it to be one of the most hilariously insufferable hipster games I've ever played. The main character goes to art school, moves in with her boyfriend, has a bad breakup and moves back in with her mom, then gets back on her feet and eventually becomes a successful children's book author and is expecting a baby with a disabled latina as her partner (when she moves in a cane is one of the items). This is all culminated in the credits with soft ukulele and singing about unpacking life. Honestly I started laughing.
I also did not like the gameplay at all, what is supposed to be considered cozy and relaxing I just found busywork. I do like organizing and arranging things in games and real life but the way this was set up just did not work for me.
Overall, quite a disappointing followup from the Assault Android Cactus dev team. I hope this doesn't become a trend but this game got a lot of praise so my hopes aren't high.
Snigglegros
3 months ago