i've thought a lot about this game since beating it. i don't know, i just have such mixed feelings on it after having seen every ending.

don't get me wrong, this is an excellent game! especially as a study on how badly the internet can fuck someone up, in ways no one really likes to talk about. it's a showcase on microcelebrity culture and how anyone can fall victim to it.

except...some of the endings feel like they're there just to be less good than the actual "good" ending. one example would be the bomber girl ending. i dunno the ending text just really threw me off. "be careful of overdosing on emotions" like...this is a perfectly happy ending. the only "bad" thing about it is the high mental darkness requirement to even get it in the first place (which, the game establishes mental darkness isn't necessarily a bad thing if kept in check). honestly i wouldn't even have a problem with this ending if the true good ending didn't feel so cheap.

the actual good ending is just ame unplugging from the internet. as funny as it is to say the moral of this game is to touch grass, it just feels so hasty? not only is her unplugging implied to be the solution to all her issues, but also the issues of most, if not all her fans. on one hand, yes, i agree with the message; the internet is incredibly dangerous, especially if you're predisposed to any sort of mental condition, and we'd all benefit from taking breaks here and there. but, on the other, i don't think the solution to should be just unplugging from it entirely.

hell, i'd go as far as saying i don't think this is the sort of game that needs a "good" ending. i feel like the message would be so much stronger if every ending was a mixed bag. maybe if the true good ending was just the best and secret ending of a bunch of bad endings

spinning this review away from things that threw me off, i have to say, i was very impressed by the religious horror spin some of the endings took. it's definitely not something i went into the game expecting, but in retrospect, it makes perfect sense to take it that route. i don't have anything else to say about it, except for the fact that my jaw dropped the moment i realized what was going on

this game also has a super interesting meta-story! i've seen some people complain about it being kind of cringey/a rip from DDLC, but i couldn't disagree more. if anything, i think it's a fascinating reversal of what DDLC does. since this is a spoilery review, i'll just spit it out. p-chan, the player, is implied to be ame's creation. i don't know, i just think that's a super cool late-game reveal.

but anyways, even though i have some reservations about a few of the endings, i think this game is more than worth playing. just know it's dark in a way that the content warning at the start doesn't express. and also, don't make the mistake i did and 100% it in two sittings

this is a super short play, the idea for this game was super creative and was really what roped me in. i also love that the storyline is about your date finding their own identity and agency, in a world that literally revolves around you.

that said, i feel like the ending just...subverted all of that. i like the idea of the player being stuck in their own head with power, but i don't know. i didn't like seeing the cycle just repeat itself, especially because i as the player had no say in it.

overall, i think this game is fun for what it is! there's definitely more that can be done with it. for instance, multiple story routes and maybe some more customization features would benefit this game greatly.

i...really really enjoyed this game? a whole lot more than i thought i would going into it, at least. i've always been a fan of final fantasy, but recently i've decided i want to tackle the challenge of beating all the mainline games.

the story itself is very bare-bones, as is the gameplay, but it's really fun despite that! the scaling isn't exactly great either, but i feel it's pretty good for NES standards (though admittedly i don't know how much they fixed for the remaster). on the note of this being a remaster, the recomposed soundtrack is absolutely spectacular and i'm desperately hoping it gets uploaded to spotify soon.

there's one part that really made this game special for me, though. they start really hinting at the sci-fi aspects of the world when you first get the airship, but seeing it all slowly fall into place, until you finally reach the flying fortress and realize those robots meant something.

i don't know, just something about being in this otherwise unassuming rustic, medieval fantasy world, then suddenly being on this spaceship with consoles that read out biological information about the elemental you were about to face. it just all hit me in that moment, and it totally blew my mind.