199X

This game caught my attention because of its humorously absurdist premise: "In 199X, you control Clara. That's the problem." I found it intriguing that it had a number of lengthy reviews arguing its virtues. And the price was right. I played through the story once and could not reconcile the glowing reviews I had read with the game I had just played. So I played it through again, front to back, this time grabbing all the collectables and searching out the "Secret Room." I still don't understand the attraction here. Look, you don't control Clara and that's the problem. The game developer has created a protagonist who is the architect of her own demise and you, the player, are just along for the ride. This story is on rails and nothing you choose can change the outcome. I didn't find the story appealing nor were any of the characters very likeable. Well, I'm old and I probably just don't get it. Unfortunately, that has to be my honest recommendation - just don't get it. Problem solved.

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Essentially a walking sim in RPGMaker, which is something I never expected to see. At least that's how it feels in the first 20 minutes. The first 20 minutes did absolutely nothing to really pull me in either. I suppose a primary reason for that is the writing lacks a level of maturity I've come to look for in games. The 4th wall breaking stuff is done well, but everything else I saw just didn't make me feel like investing more time. Surely not for me, and I wouldn't recommend it to myself.

Had this game in my backlog damn near a decade. Decided to pick it up and played it for about an hour....and... ...it's honestly fascinating? I couldn't call it refined by any means; this is very clearly some random person's RPG Maker passion project. It's as flawed as that premise would suggest, but it's also strangely heart felt and interesting. It's an interesting game to play if you are pondering how to manage narrative and forth wall breaks in interesting ways, that's for absolute sure. After an hour, I went to see if the dev ever did another game...and I was disappointed. This is a voice that I want to believe kept making stuff...because while it's funky and weird? It's a great kind of funky and weird. It's worth the asking price. It's an odd duck, but I don't regret buying it.

The main character hates Pokemon Mystery Dungeon which ALMOST makes me want to not recommend this game. But I do enjoy pretentious four-wall breaking narratives, even if it was sort of a pain in the ass to navigate the clunky city sections. Still a worthwhile play. RIP, Clara.

In the course of playing and even by the end I can't say I ever "got" it or really grasped any one particular message, so much as a melange of themes? But over time it definitely crept its way into my feelings, more than I expected, notably eliciting a weirdly upsetting sense of... wanting? "This isn't how things are supposed to be"...? The game felt longer than it was in a good way, despite being kind of a chore to play, something about it all and about Clara drew me into its scant little world and left an impression.