Review an itch.io game you've played recently

[RT-55J]

itch.io has a ton of games. some of them end up being played. sometimes you feel like writing a sentence or two or twenty about one you've played. this thread is the place to do that.

one thing that i do ask is for you to provide a rating for the games you are reviewing. the rating can be on any scale, and concern any criteria you feel like. you may even provide multiple ratings for the same game if you are sufficiently spicy

discussion of reviewed games is allowed, and perhaps even encouraged.

It 2: They/Them by Twinbeard

Created by that Frog Fractions guy for the third annual PiCoSteveMo game jam (celebrating the works of American novelist Stephen King), It 2 describes itself as a "turn-based platformer." That's because It 2 is a turn-based platformer.

The closest point of comparison might be 2015's Snakebird, except that Snakebird is a pure, stage-based, sokoban-esque thing. It 2: They/Them, in contrast, is more in the puzzlish search-action mold, and your group of losers controls more like a blob then a snake in some tight situations (they wouldn't be offended -- they call themselves the Losers Club).

As a puzzle game, It 2 does a good job of pacing out It 2's mechanics. As an adventplormer, It 2 does a good job at maintaining a sense of mystery and intrigue, having you ask "how am I gonna get there/do that" and providing you with surprising answers. As a continuation of Stephen King's literary classic It, I would assume that this is 100% respectful and harmonious with the original work's tone and lore (idk I never read It 1).

It 2's like an hour or two long I think (I wasn't recording myself when playing It 2 oh well).

Rating: Canon

[Cera Sizzle]

Hello Girl by imo team

A pretty standard Ren'Py visual novel that showed a fair amount of potential but baits and switches  you into personal but less interesting plot lines and ends up feeling like its trying to do too much. The start of the game is a great example of this.

We start with this detached monologue from someone who's talking about some body dysmorphia (it didn't come off in a gender way, more like a scifi dystopian body mod way) and the ways pursuing fame has destroyed them physically and mentally. Not what I was expecting but its a pretty good start. Too bad we never see or hear from them again 

Then we switch to our MC and get the bulk of what this game actually is: reading the internal monologue of a switchboard operator who lives alone in a super rural area so she never sees anyone. It reads like you're reading the MC's daily journal. I actually liked this part too (as someone who can relate to the experience 😅) but its a really 180 in terms of mood and pacing and this is generally what the rest of the game is like. Lots of slow lonely girl internal monologue with the occasion exciting development...except it just sort of drags on and doesn't really go anywhere. It constantly feels like we're just about to see some crazy shit but then we just end up smoking weed with the mailperson and then the game ends. I liked a lot of both styles but they mix and just leave me unsatisfied and wondering if the game is incomplete or actually Hello Girl part 1 or something