The problem with the Rat Race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
I remember reading this aphorism frequently growing up, most frequently on boomer chain-email threads, but it seems truer than ever today as corporate culture gets ever more toxic and exploitative. So an indie video game with an anti-corporate message (like this game, or the excellent Going Under) is something I can get behind. I can't deny that the premise of this game - an intern making a huge splash by shouting the previously-forgotten word 'no' at his superiors - is entertaining. The writing is generally sharp and witty, and (without getting into spoiler territory) the narrative is heartwarming and inspiring in moments, though it can also come across as shallow and overly-idealistic.
The game's main flaw is in how its simplistic mechanics stretch an already-streamlined experience very thin. You can switch stances to say 'no' in different tones of voice, charge up the volume and intensity of your 'no', and even do stuff like clap sarcastically to confuse people before saying 'no' to them... but barring one or two exceptions, almost none of those options make any difference to the outcomes of your interactions. All the different ways to say 'no' are entirely cosmetic, and it feels like the optimum way to play the game is to delay saying 'no' as long as possible, giving each character the chance to say all their lines and giving the good writing more of a spotlight.
However, going with this approach, it strikes me how much the entire game just comes across as one long interactive cutscene, in the vein of stuff like Plumbers Don't Wear Ties (brrrrr!) And while Say No! More is far better than that unholy abomination, and I daresay nearly as good as a game of its type can possibly get... the problem with comparing 'interactive cutscene' games is that even if you win, you're still an interactive cutscene.
I remember reading this aphorism frequently growing up, most frequently on boomer chain-email threads, but it seems truer than ever today as corporate culture gets ever more toxic and exploitative. So an indie video game with an anti-corporate message (like this game, or the excellent Going Under) is something I can get behind. I can't deny that the premise of this game - an intern making a huge splash by shouting the previously-forgotten word 'no' at his superiors - is entertaining. The writing is generally sharp and witty, and (without getting into spoiler territory) the narrative is heartwarming and inspiring in moments, though it can also come across as shallow and overly-idealistic.
The game's main flaw is in how its simplistic mechanics stretch an already-streamlined experience very thin. You can switch stances to say 'no' in different tones of voice, charge up the volume and intensity of your 'no', and even do stuff like clap sarcastically to confuse people before saying 'no' to them... but barring one or two exceptions, almost none of those options make any difference to the outcomes of your interactions. All the different ways to say 'no' are entirely cosmetic, and it feels like the optimum way to play the game is to delay saying 'no' as long as possible, giving each character the chance to say all their lines and giving the good writing more of a spotlight.
However, going with this approach, it strikes me how much the entire game just comes across as one long interactive cutscene, in the vein of stuff like Plumbers Don't Wear Ties (brrrrr!) And while Say No! More is far better than that unholy abomination, and I daresay nearly as good as a game of its type can possibly get... the problem with comparing 'interactive cutscene' games is that even if you win, you're still an interactive cutscene.