A gorgeous and deeply intimate game about growing up in a small suburban japanese town. Some people complain that it is boring… And I mean, it is, but it’s one of those games were that’s intended, and as purposely numbs you through its gameplay it transports you to the banality of its characters lives, with nothing really important to do and not much more on the horizon, seemingly trapped in this monotonous existence forever.

I think the story just works well with the mechanics, your day to day being occasionally interrupted by a couple handcrafted events that don’t really change anything but it kinda give you new perspectives of Ringo’s friends and acquaintances. Again, is not much, but is not meant to be much.

And as you fight your way through meaningless opponents, and discuss the books you read in class (you can read James Joyce’s Ulysses!) I was reminded of the uber famous first page of Blood Meridian “and in him broods already a taste for mindless violence”, and it just clicked with me in a way I wasn’t expecting, it became a more vivid experience. Also, McCarthy’s also commonly criticized for being boring, granted in part in the sheer brutality of what he depicts but also because even his elaborated, epic, almost biblical prose tends to get repetitive, but, as with this game, that’s also by design. Hell, The Road is, in my opinion, an extensive exercise on repetitiveness.

Any way, even if it can be dull, I really think thad adds to the experience, and the writing and visuals are good enough to justify it.