I Woke Up Next to You Again

março 16, 2022 Postar um comentário

Hey Hey Heroes, Travelers, and Wandering NPCs, I'grand getting back into the swing of things by going back and working through all of the game review requests I received while I was on hiatus. First up is a rather surreal and surprisingly deep short psychological thriller visual novel from Angela He (Zephyo). This is a game different anything I have e'er played before, with it's dream-like visuals and stream of consciousness like storytelling, Angela He paints a rather startling motion picture of the psychological toll habit and depression tin have on one'due south life, through the lens of a toxic more-than-one-nighttime stand relationship.

"You lot'd told me,
Hey, this is a one-time matter, and I said yeah, of form –
However here we are."

..who, exactly, am I waking up side by side to?

A romance about a more-than-one-nighttime stand;
A psychological thriller about toxic habit.

–Synopsis (Game Site)

I Woke Up Next to You Againis a pay what you want PC game available for Windows, Mac, and Linux over on crawling.io. It'southward a rather short game, with playthroughs lasting anywhere between 15 – 30 minutes, depending on your reading speed.

I volition admit that at the start I was more than than a little confused, afterwards choosing the gender of the individual yous wake upwards next to, the game just kind of hits the basis running, dropping yous into an surprisingly casual morning later encounter with an unnamed bed mate. The brief opening narration only states that yous recently moved to a new town and "found someone". Who this person is and how you came to be in bed with with them doesn't matter, only the nighttime hazy black and white visuals and eerie repetitive background music advise that this is not a normal interaction between mutual acquaintances. Even the dialogue between the player and the unnamed bed mate isn't all that normal, in that location's a poetic kind of cadency to information technology that kind of flows a piddling likewise naturally to be normal, equally if this is something that has been skilful and reiterated over and once again, just with a quickness to it that suggests the two characters are just going through the motions of a prearranged song and dance in social club to get to a much more predictable consequence.

IWUNTYA 4

But, there is an overarching sense of foreboding, that builds upon itself as the actor navigates their fashion through a series of seemingly innocent choices. Your choices determine non just the course of the story, but the psychological state of the nameless protagonist as they navigate what at offset glance appears to exist little more than a casual sexual relationship with a stranger. There are little hints scattered throughout the story that tease the game's ultimate purpose, simply, unless you achieve all of the endings, the big moving-picture show will remain just out of reach. Will you choose to pursue a human relationship with your tantalizingly seductive bed mate? Is this relationship actually for the best? Or should you stop things before things go too far?

There are two story paths (male "lover" or female "lover") and a total of four endings, each path is duplicate from the other relieve the gender pronouns used to describe your bed mate. Then choosing a gender at the beginning is wholly a thing of preference and has no real effect on the outcomes of the game and with the game'due south rather short runtime, that'southward non all that unexpected. At showtime, it seems simple plenty, placate the bed mate, pursue them and strike up a human relationship with them. But, in doing then the player's own well being seemingly deteriorates, and the player is left with a startling and rather disturbing realizations well-nigh your character and the nature of their "relationship". While the relationship is at the forefront of the game,I Woke Upward Adjacent To Y'all Once again, makes information technology abundantly articulate that romance is not the goal of the game, with each of the human relationship positive choices leading to a negative mental outcome for the thespian. This is a game most the toxicity of codependency and the addictive nature of empty relationships. It's a biting pill to swallow, and deeply unsettling at times as you watch the thespian give themselves over to their need for their bed mate, every bit their desires requite way to addiction and somewhen depression as the futility of the relationship is revealed.

Visually,I Woke Up Next To You Againis a very artistic and atmospheric game, that felt more than like a visual art exhibition piece than a game, with it's dark, layered backgrounds and haunting instrumental soundtrack. But, what actually stood out virtuallyIWUNTYAis that it is always moving, be information technology the dialogue text, the movements of clouds in the background, the minor blitheness of the onscreen characters (blinking generally) or the pulsing geometric shaped dialogue boxes, each scene has some element that is constantly in motility. There are also some rather unique visual cues that assist the player gauge the mental state of their graphic symbol, while also conveying the overall ethereal dream-like facade of the game and its narrative.

final thoughts

I Woke Up Next To Y'all Againtakes its rather short runtime and offers a uniquely contemplative visual novel experience, that volition crusade players to seriously consider the nature of our relationships with one another. Players will lose themselves in the dream-similar temper and visuals, falling deeper into the addictively toxic liaison between the player's character and the unknown individual they find themselves waking up next to over again and again and again…

But, don't just take my word for it! Check out the game over onitch.ioor take a gander at the game'south trailer below! If you similar what you see, play the game, striking the like push button, share, or comment! As ever, Thanks for Reading!!