Finished
Don't take it personally, babe... I swear to God, I feel like crying right now. But I can't.
DTiPB goes to great lengths to explain to you that
it's not that kind of story. It's not about twists of fate and melodrama. It's just about...
life. And life is confusing.
Even for people like me, who wouldn't normally touch anything
resembling anime with a ten-foot barge pole, I'd still recommend it. It asks for genuinely taxing moral judgements, not black and white, nor even shades of grey; It's about personal conviction or restraint, how
much you believe something. It had me pacing up and down my bedroom more than once.
I felt like these sort of descisions mattered because the characters were believable. By about halfway through I could recognise them by their posting style. Even the protaganist was believable, with his "weary teacher" mindset, which is a tough job when you're asking the player to step inside their skin.
It'll pull you in for a good couple of hours. When the end finally comes, you won't want to let it go.
...And you know what? They bloody well know it. One of the characters describes her experience when one of her favourite TV shows ended,
and it's exactly how I felt.
Damn, they're good.
I've played it a few times now, but the choices I made the first time ("Gentleman to the bitter end" - Kind, Professional & Helpful, in that order) carved out my own personal universe, and I prefer that one. Especially when I saw how mundane some of the other endings are in comparison. I've watched 'my' ending about six times now. Damn you, Kendall, you were right.
This game tries to say a lot of things, but it ultimately taught me that yeah, things don't always go the way you expect them to, but if it's better than what would've happened otherwise, who cares?
If someone reading this does give it a go, good on you. Despite all that, I can't guarantee that you'll enjoy it. I was able to get over my mangaphobia and see the story behind it. Some people just know for certain what they like and what they don't, and there's no shame in that. What I
can guarantee is that if you
do enjoy it, it'll have been worth the gamble.
You're probably wondering, good people, "Why the hell is MeechMunchie talking like a pussy/a weaboo/my therapist?". IT'S THIS FUCKING GAME IT MADE ME ALL SENSITIVE
Miscellaneous notes:
1. This may be the only game to feature convincing webspeak.
2. It also features '12channel', a decent 4chan parody.
3. Half of the characters are homosexual, and pleasantly so.
4. The creator says she tried to make the teacher seem creepy and horrible. I'm sure glad she failed there.
5. My favourite quote from the game:
:
Nolan: I think I love Akira.
Akira: :3
Nolan: OMG hes actually making that face right now
|
Oh, and I take back what I said about the format. It takes a while to get used to, but it's basically just like a cross between a scanning through a comic and reading a book. Facial expressions give more depth to the dialogue.
... Fuck. I know how ridiculous this all seems coming from me, but I don't think I've ever been left this emotionally drained by a game before. It's just too real. Though this might have something to do with the fact that I finished scrawling the gist of this post on a Post-it at quarter to 1 in the morning. Or maybe they're not expecting the person playing the game to be the same age as most of the characters ;)
GRAAAGH LOOK AT ME I JUST USED A SMILEY