so, i just finished this but GOD was this a good experience??? hello??? like at first i was sceptical like "oh, this is the second arcade-themed vn in a row? what makes this different?"
answer: so much. it improves on everything. play it. play it with pizza on a bagel. i'm mad i didn't play the finale with pizza bagels even though it's currently too late in the night for me to eat. but i spent most nights the last two weeks looking forward to the evenings of each day where i could dedicate it to playing this
it addresses a LOT of heavy topics, but actually does it with a fair bit of finesse??? this review might get VERY long so i'll just bulletpoint now KJFDHFHGK
-arcade spirits' theming boiled down to just Yume (TM) imo? TNC went so far beyond that.
-i really like that instead of making you choose between two people at events, you can just select any 3 from a list of people at every event to hang out with
-semi-related, but the flow is far more branched this time, meaning replays feel far less repetitive than in previous games. it's also less obvious the point where the end of two decision branches merge and it hits the "...anyway" point which feels natural
-domino is a pretty good portrayal of depression??? i thought i'd find him annoying but instead i spent most chapters checking up on him. i didn't even want to romance him. i just wanted to make sure he was okay. he's also simultaneously the most worrying and also the funniest character in the game
-zapper is who i used to be, who i wish i was, and who i am trying to be. kinda.
-i barely talked to grace, and feel awful about it, the game just kept giving me other people to hang out w at the time
-ben and matt's dialogue and voice acting feel more in line with the rest of the cast this time
-i also feel terrible about engagement with rhapsody dropping off after a bit, i'm guessing i kind of just started spending all my time w jynx KLFHHFG
-i should have disliked locksley. what the fuck. i don't. i love him.
-i wish i could replay certain moments of the game again without needing to save at them then playing them back. like jynx saying she wanted to spend more time with me. it was so sweet...or even zapper's subway conversation, which hit hard
-iris actually moves firmly out of the plot contrivance character zone she had one foot in in arcade spirits. i'm not spoiling this because it's so so so good. i love her.
-for Personal Reasons i am currently ruminating over my own life again post-finale
-the voice acting has improved SO much too? valkyrie in particular, esp near the end. i also loved domino's voice acting!!
-one issue i do have is that after you romance someone, there...doesn't seem to be that much romance after that? like, you're partners, but the flirting for the most part disappears and the romance aspect is seemingly relegated to flavour text in conversations and lines that would have happened with or without romancing them. i know it's probably to portray how a relationship goes after the honeymoon phase and things have settled a bit, but i still wish there was more - the rival route avoids this however
-the Gamer Humour has been toned down to a point it doesn't clash or ruin the tone too much and it's really good. AC1 pulled it off too given the more lighthearted tone and it was part of its charm anyway but this game deals w a lot more, and so the humour has been toned down to an equally appropriate level!
-the soundtrack is better too!! i didn't really appreciate the first game's soundtrack till listening to it by itself but this one has a better OST
-i think the only con here is when your character is intentionally given insensitive dialogue options so something can be said on a character's disability/mental health as a result. most of the time there's a decent option that involves your character not being ableist but jynx's intro where the mc just. Stares Rudely whether you want to or not is not a nice feeling, and i feel that most people would be hard-pressed to pick options they know are patronising, condescending or even straight up discriminatory
-this also has con episodes. they're way better.
-among the many themes this game tackles are redemption, forgiveness, ableism, toxicity, the balance of order and chaos, depression, guilt, suicide and the fear of becoming a monster. see? i told you.
i romanced jynx this time round but i. think i might romance everyone this time??? completely depending of course on whether domino is even in any state for a relationship and i would just respect his wishes if not but i really want to find out more about zapper right now. uh um. how do i end this review. um. this game rules. play it, and if you refuse to play it because it's ""woke"", stay mad and stay in the past <3
answer: so much. it improves on everything. play it. play it with pizza on a bagel. i'm mad i didn't play the finale with pizza bagels even though it's currently too late in the night for me to eat. but i spent most nights the last two weeks looking forward to the evenings of each day where i could dedicate it to playing this
it addresses a LOT of heavy topics, but actually does it with a fair bit of finesse??? this review might get VERY long so i'll just bulletpoint now KJFDHFHGK
-arcade spirits' theming boiled down to just Yume (TM) imo? TNC went so far beyond that.
-i really like that instead of making you choose between two people at events, you can just select any 3 from a list of people at every event to hang out with
-semi-related, but the flow is far more branched this time, meaning replays feel far less repetitive than in previous games. it's also less obvious the point where the end of two decision branches merge and it hits the "...anyway" point which feels natural
-domino is a pretty good portrayal of depression??? i thought i'd find him annoying but instead i spent most chapters checking up on him. i didn't even want to romance him. i just wanted to make sure he was okay. he's also simultaneously the most worrying and also the funniest character in the game
-zapper is who i used to be, who i wish i was, and who i am trying to be. kinda.
-i barely talked to grace, and feel awful about it, the game just kept giving me other people to hang out w at the time
-ben and matt's dialogue and voice acting feel more in line with the rest of the cast this time
-i also feel terrible about engagement with rhapsody dropping off after a bit, i'm guessing i kind of just started spending all my time w jynx KLFHHFG
-i should have disliked locksley. what the fuck. i don't. i love him.
-i wish i could replay certain moments of the game again without needing to save at them then playing them back. like jynx saying she wanted to spend more time with me. it was so sweet...or even zapper's subway conversation, which hit hard
-iris actually moves firmly out of the plot contrivance character zone she had one foot in in arcade spirits. i'm not spoiling this because it's so so so good. i love her.
-for Personal Reasons i am currently ruminating over my own life again post-finale
-the voice acting has improved SO much too? valkyrie in particular, esp near the end. i also loved domino's voice acting!!
-one issue i do have is that after you romance someone, there...doesn't seem to be that much romance after that? like, you're partners, but the flirting for the most part disappears and the romance aspect is seemingly relegated to flavour text in conversations and lines that would have happened with or without romancing them. i know it's probably to portray how a relationship goes after the honeymoon phase and things have settled a bit, but i still wish there was more - the rival route avoids this however
-the Gamer Humour has been toned down to a point it doesn't clash or ruin the tone too much and it's really good. AC1 pulled it off too given the more lighthearted tone and it was part of its charm anyway but this game deals w a lot more, and so the humour has been toned down to an equally appropriate level!
-the soundtrack is better too!! i didn't really appreciate the first game's soundtrack till listening to it by itself but this one has a better OST
-i think the only con here is when your character is intentionally given insensitive dialogue options so something can be said on a character's disability/mental health as a result. most of the time there's a decent option that involves your character not being ableist but jynx's intro where the mc just. Stares Rudely whether you want to or not is not a nice feeling, and i feel that most people would be hard-pressed to pick options they know are patronising, condescending or even straight up discriminatory
-this also has con episodes. they're way better.
-among the many themes this game tackles are redemption, forgiveness, ableism, toxicity, the balance of order and chaos, depression, guilt, suicide and the fear of becoming a monster. see? i told you.
i romanced jynx this time round but i. think i might romance everyone this time??? completely depending of course on whether domino is even in any state for a relationship and i would just respect his wishes if not but i really want to find out more about zapper right now. uh um. how do i end this review. um. this game rules. play it, and if you refuse to play it because it's ""woke"", stay mad and stay in the past <3