gnosia! i had a fantastic time with this game. while admittedly wary of the gameplay loop at first, i found it to be engaging and exciting. learning everyone's personalities was fun (although i could do without some of the creepier comments from one character, but at least that was acknowledged) and getting significantly better at the game with each new loop was satisfying.

i did look up a guide to not spend too much time looping, so a heads up for that. that didn't detract from my experience, necessarily, as i was pretty stoked for each new part of the story to be revealed as things went along. it's also worth looking up how to get the true ending.

additionally, gnosia's nonbinary representation largely strayed from stereotypes - a breath of fresh air in media, especially as a nonbinary person. setsu, the main character aside from the player, unexpectedly really resonated with me. the dreamy art and music on top of it all? definitely a treat.

lastly, it was wonderful to experience a story landing in my lap at just the right time. this visual novel's ending aligned perfectly with both a beloved text-based roleplay game i just wrapped up with some online friends (my OC's epilogue was released today...) as well as another writing/roleplaying project i just started working on. with that in mind, gnosia nudged me further into my emotions in just the way i needed. so. this review is probably rather biased from that alone... but gnosia has indeed earned a place in my heart!

i've written this review multiple times and each time I've somehow lost my writing... it has been a few months spent enamored with baldurs gate three and audio dramas, but let's try a third time!!

a very cute little game with unexpectedly emotional moments! i quickly came to love (and worry for) its unique and entertaining characters. plus it was all wonderfully queer! it was fun to vibe with.

seeing the slight differences in the loops also felt satisfying. the effectiveness of timeloop repetition surprised me - while at times it felt a bit boring or frustrating, it puts you directly into sif's experience... so i think it still did what it set out to do. it's a cool way to emulate lived experience and there's an understanding of mental health that i didn't anticipate. it was well worth the four hour playthrough.

i don't know if i will pick up the full game, however. the short playtime felt perfectly suited to its message and i think repeating dungeons and dialogue for much longer would eventually lose my attention. ...i do have adhd, though. others might really enjoy it!

picked this up due to hype and i wanted something anime and mindless as a quick palate cleanser between disco elysium and baldur's gate 3. i was too successful??

doki doki literature club did feel exactly like a palate cleanser - it mainly served to get me stoked for the next thing. not too engaging, v predictable in a way i personally didn't vibe with, and it also just has little tact in its approach to mental health as a supposed shock factor.

i don't know if i'll finish it or not. maybe my rating will change if i do? anyway. this vn is parsley to me

this visual novel has such stunning music, animation, and art!! it's truly beautiful and i appreciate how innovative and playful the creators were with this whole thing. it has a gentleness to it i really enjoyed.

the story is very queer (like me!), and anyone who also loves stories about seeking found family or feeling like an outsider will likely enjoy this sweet irish story.

the eraser mechanic is sometimes a bit annoying... occasionally it would erase things it shouldn't have, dialogue suddenly disappearing before i had the chance to read. otherwise, i had a wonderful experience.

another instant favourite. i adored the very empathetic, human exploration of varying personal impacts and experiences with capitalism, colonialism, and some of the displacement, dissatisfaction, and need for community as a means to survive that all accompanies these systems.

the haunting surrealism was more grounded in everyday reality than many other things i've encountered in media. i doubt there is anything truly like this game, visual novel, interactive fiction... however you'd like to describe it, the story feels incredibly intimate and it's worth your time. (as long as you, too, are happy to immerse in its meditative and dreamlike atmosphere)

honestly, my review of citizen sleeper, my now very much loved second favourite, fits here too. although, i feel the two games are quite different - kentucky route zero is far more gentle and consistent in its delivery yet left a deeper, yet more mundane, emotional impact on me because of its grounding in everyday life and loneliness. the review:

'the sort of game that leaves a deep ache in your chest; incredibly human and embodied, heartbreaking, woven with hope and compassion - the sort of writing i will never forget'

kentucky route zero left me with tears in my eyes and the reminder of how deeply i love being alive and having the possibility to build beautiful things with others

<3

while it's beautifully animated with lovely music, and clearly so much heart, that's mostly what i enjoyed!

the first half felt simple and repetitive enough to be a children's game - there's nothing wrong with that necessarily, it's just not what i thought i was getting myself into. the second half is similar but a bit darker with escape room elements. i liked the tone shift though!

however, when the dlc glitched and refused multiple times to let me keep playing, i just... stopped playing.

while it was worthwhile for the studio ghibli-esque vibes, and if it's on a good sale it's worth checking out for the pretty animation and atmosphere alone, it didn't ever fully hold my attention in the short hour and a half i played through.

"I was surprised to walk away from a story about struggling in an impoverished gig economy surveillance capitalist hell state feeling rejuvenated and alive." (IGN, Rebekah Valentine)

that's exactly it, making this game an absolute favourite. a simple but engaging gameplay loop while being the sort of game that leaves a deep ache in your chest; incredibly human and embodied, heartbreaking, woven with hope and compassion - the sort of writing i will never forget

(played through once w two endings)

I love slow paced games, but the loading screen times and the walking speeds were slow enough to break my immersion. I also don't enjoy the way they suddenly show you the map when something new happens!

Overall it's an interesting enough story with enjoyable music and a really chill, creepy, and unique vibe. ...The vibe is mostly what kept me playing. It didn't hit any emotional notes for me, however I'll definitely pick up the second one whenever it goes on sale as I'm also curious how they'll expand on the usage of radios in gameplay.

other than some clipping, i unexpectedly loved this game. it's incredibly self aware, leaning into the cheesy anime tropes in a delightfully satirical manner. telling myself it's satire, especially after Three Houses, is the only thing that let the story and characters be fun. it's not deep in the slightest, but that's fine.

it was entertaining and the battles were a lot of fun - the graphics and maps are infinitely better than in three houses. i love the map variation! and it sometimes had me stuck in satisfying ways.

yeah, it could have had more emphasis on relationships, but i found that it didn't detract from the whole as i was aware going in. it isn't exactly a masterpiece but i had a great time which was the whole point!!