Art of Ism

Currently still playing through the game, will update as I go! Art of Ism is Tar Rat Art’s first game, and from the moment you start playing, you can tell how much love has been put into it. A first game is never going to be without its flaws, of course, but sometimes those flaws can make it difficult to look past them. I do want to give a heads-up that I sang the opening song and was given a key by the developer, but I’m genuinely not writing this from a biased perspective. I’m honestly enjoying the game so far, even though I’m still not very far into it yet. I really hope this game goes places! I’d say I’m about 30 minutes or so into the game. Characters have been getting introduced to me, and they all have a bit of a stereotypical personality. Rather than being annoying, though, it actually works really well because the whole concept revolves around these characters being stereotypical in order to make good characters for a TV show. The mini games are really fun as well! And I’ve gotta give my biggest shout-outs to the OST and the voice acting. They really make the game feel so much more complete and full of life. I can’t wait to play more already, and I already have some theo…

Don't be confused by my playtime, I helped to test the game before it was uploaded to Steam, but I figured I'd support the series by buying the game and leaving a review since there aren't many of them so far. Don't worry, I don't intend to be biased, I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't like it. The game is clearly a passion project with a lot of heart put into it. It might not be one of the giants like Ace Attorney, Danganronpa or Zero Escape, but it's honestly impressive for an indie title, especially for the dev's first one ever! There are 4 minigames, one of which affects the endings, and 10 chapters of plot. The characters are introduced as stereotypes in the first chapter, but in a charming and intentional way, kind of like in Total Drama. Several of them eventually subvert their stereotypes (Devon, Mick, and Roxanne) while others build on them more. Pretty much every character grows in some way, for the better or for worse. Their relationships change as well. It honestly feels like you've been on a journey with actual human characters. The mystery subplot is simple yet engaging. Several reveals were quite easy to tell, it's not like the story bothered to hide them. Some o…