Okay so........ For a game marketed as "a experience, a heartwarming story, and a love letter to all of you who think you're a burden for other people", it sure wasn't any of those things.
Calling it "a experience" really sets the tone because the grammar in the English version of this was so distracting that the ~fantasy~ was shattered before the "game" even started. There was a mistake literally every other sentence. I don't know what the original language for this was, but with there being several language options I'd assume the language selected would be grammatically correct. But it wasn't. Like I'm actually flabbergasted that this game was released the way it is. Wouldn't grammatically correct text in a game be considered the absolute bare minimum? Like, art is subjective. Language isn't. Idk what the fact that this is bugging me says about me since no one else seems bothered by this but lmao anYWays,,,,,
"Features:
- A short heartwarming story that will stay in your heart and memory
- A personal journey of learning how to love yourself
- A tale filled with love and comedy
- Colorful art to accompany your journey in the train not bound for the living
- An easy to pick-up gameplay"
The only thing it lives up to is easy to pick up gameplay.
The art is giving... Not a lot. There were less than a handful of NPC designs that were copied and pasted over and over, which... Seeing 3 of the exact same characters on the screen while also trying to imply they're all somehow different people is just sort of off-putting? Every character has a face mask on and I get that this was released in 2020 but??? I can't really see a good reason to make that choice? It doesn't add to the game in any way? Especially as the game ages. The colours on the spirit train were pretty monochrome but nice and I liked the spirit design.
But overall it felt.....just super low effort? Like it had been rushed, or like they decided to release an incomplete or unfinished version of the game. Like this was just a really rough draft.
Not once did they touch on "learning how to love yourself", or anything that felt "personal" at all, and I'm not sure what they mean by "filled with love and comedy" because...????? Idk I'm so lost?? I'm so confused at how they justified the description of this game.
So, the story. I feel like there wasn't really a story?
(SPOILER, see @@@@ line for end spoiler)
A depressed girl accidentally/unknowingly/unwillingly/coincidentally(?) ends up on a train that transports spirits to the afterlife, because she "touched death" by having suicidal thoughts and/or intentions. She walks around talking to spirits while she waits to be taken back home, because she's alive and doesn't belong there, obvs.
But all every NPC had to say was a couple of lines. And their words were completely empty. Nothing to make you actually care about their "story", which tracks since none of them really even had a story at all. A couple of hints at how they might have died, but mostly plain statements about how they "don't mind" that they died or that they hope their loved ones aren't too sad. All they have to say to Vivi, the main character, are things like "live well, girl" or "be kind" or "don't be too hard on yourself" or whatever, as if that's supposed to... Give her her zest for life back?
All Vivi talked about (and only a couple of times) was considering death because she felt like "a burden to her family" without any context or backstory. At no point does the audience learn why she feels that way. At some point she even mentions that no one has ever even actually told her that. And at no point did she state she felt differently. Not even at the end. It was just kind of like "oh death is pretty serious, I guess I should be grateful to be alive since many people aren't" and... She's cured? That's what the game seems to be implying? Which, for the topic of mental health issues, just seems really insensitive. "I'm depressed" "just be happy" "thanks you're right" like???
(END SPOILER)
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
And that's the whole game. Under 45 minutes of empty dialogue and painful grammar, as well as a dismissive and shallow approach to mental health and depression.
Even for the amount I spent buying this on sale, which was $3.49, I wouldn't say it's worth it. At all. If I had paid even close to full price, I would've been SO bummed.
I'm so disappointed because, even while accounting for the fact that this was probably going to be one of those play-in-under-an-hour-semi-visual-novel type of games, the concept of this sounded so up my ally.
But it just fell short in every way. This game should've been refined and double, triple, quadruple checked before the developer even considered releasing it.
So when I noticed this game was written by the same person who did Coffee Talk it definitely made me wary. I'm really, really, really hoping that Coffee Talk is different. It's been on my list for ages and I'm excited to play it but I'm not sure what to expect now.
That's just one person's opinion, I've seen positive reviews as well but for me this just......wasn't it. :( <3
Calling it "a experience" really sets the tone because the grammar in the English version of this was so distracting that the ~fantasy~ was shattered before the "game" even started. There was a mistake literally every other sentence. I don't know what the original language for this was, but with there being several language options I'd assume the language selected would be grammatically correct. But it wasn't. Like I'm actually flabbergasted that this game was released the way it is. Wouldn't grammatically correct text in a game be considered the absolute bare minimum? Like, art is subjective. Language isn't. Idk what the fact that this is bugging me says about me since no one else seems bothered by this but lmao anYWays,,,,,
"Features:
- A short heartwarming story that will stay in your heart and memory
- A personal journey of learning how to love yourself
- A tale filled with love and comedy
- Colorful art to accompany your journey in the train not bound for the living
- An easy to pick-up gameplay"
The only thing it lives up to is easy to pick up gameplay.
The art is giving... Not a lot. There were less than a handful of NPC designs that were copied and pasted over and over, which... Seeing 3 of the exact same characters on the screen while also trying to imply they're all somehow different people is just sort of off-putting? Every character has a face mask on and I get that this was released in 2020 but??? I can't really see a good reason to make that choice? It doesn't add to the game in any way? Especially as the game ages. The colours on the spirit train were pretty monochrome but nice and I liked the spirit design.
But overall it felt.....just super low effort? Like it had been rushed, or like they decided to release an incomplete or unfinished version of the game. Like this was just a really rough draft.
Not once did they touch on "learning how to love yourself", or anything that felt "personal" at all, and I'm not sure what they mean by "filled with love and comedy" because...????? Idk I'm so lost?? I'm so confused at how they justified the description of this game.
So, the story. I feel like there wasn't really a story?
(SPOILER, see @@@@ line for end spoiler)
A depressed girl accidentally/unknowingly/unwillingly/coincidentally(?) ends up on a train that transports spirits to the afterlife, because she "touched death" by having suicidal thoughts and/or intentions. She walks around talking to spirits while she waits to be taken back home, because she's alive and doesn't belong there, obvs.
But all every NPC had to say was a couple of lines. And their words were completely empty. Nothing to make you actually care about their "story", which tracks since none of them really even had a story at all. A couple of hints at how they might have died, but mostly plain statements about how they "don't mind" that they died or that they hope their loved ones aren't too sad. All they have to say to Vivi, the main character, are things like "live well, girl" or "be kind" or "don't be too hard on yourself" or whatever, as if that's supposed to... Give her her zest for life back?
All Vivi talked about (and only a couple of times) was considering death because she felt like "a burden to her family" without any context or backstory. At no point does the audience learn why she feels that way. At some point she even mentions that no one has ever even actually told her that. And at no point did she state she felt differently. Not even at the end. It was just kind of like "oh death is pretty serious, I guess I should be grateful to be alive since many people aren't" and... She's cured? That's what the game seems to be implying? Which, for the topic of mental health issues, just seems really insensitive. "I'm depressed" "just be happy" "thanks you're right" like???
(END SPOILER)
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
And that's the whole game. Under 45 minutes of empty dialogue and painful grammar, as well as a dismissive and shallow approach to mental health and depression.
Even for the amount I spent buying this on sale, which was $3.49, I wouldn't say it's worth it. At all. If I had paid even close to full price, I would've been SO bummed.
I'm so disappointed because, even while accounting for the fact that this was probably going to be one of those play-in-under-an-hour-semi-visual-novel type of games, the concept of this sounded so up my ally.
But it just fell short in every way. This game should've been refined and double, triple, quadruple checked before the developer even considered releasing it.
So when I noticed this game was written by the same person who did Coffee Talk it definitely made me wary. I'm really, really, really hoping that Coffee Talk is different. It's been on my list for ages and I'm excited to play it but I'm not sure what to expect now.
That's just one person's opinion, I've seen positive reviews as well but for me this just......wasn't it. :( <3
Reviewed on Dec 17, 2022