Miya Might Break

[H1]A step-parent neglecting a child under their responsibility. Think I've heard that before...[/H1] Thank you VAINSANE for this curator copy. This is nonetheless an impartial review. Before jumping in, a quick PSA. This is my first game from VAINSANE, so if there are recurring references or universe links I missed, that’s on my newcomer badge. Also, the Steam page trigger warnings are very vague, and the story touches on heavy themes like [spoiler]suicide, murder, psychosis, mental breakdowns, and unhealthy relationships[/spoiler] (amongst others). That matters here. One more thing: if motion sickness tends to ambush you, be careful. The transition movements can be intense. This story follows a former prodigy trying to keep herself together while living with her stepfather, Rasu, performing small rituals to calm the storm in her mind. Those rituals echo through the neighborhood and pull in her neighbor Seru, who tries to help(?) in his own way. The atmosphere is really uneasy, nailing that surreal tone right away with the creepy character designs and a cute-but-suspicious talking plushie. Structurally, it’s a very short experience (about 23 minutes to 100%), with achievement…

exactly as it says on the tin/bag. short psychological horror vn. (i personally enjoyed seeing each ending. but the struggle to get through the story until that point was personally a bit rough due to my own life experiences haha. good psychological horror.)

Decent enough. Pretty nonsensical, but at least I got the main idea. Played it in Russian, though, and the translation was terrible. Might still give this dev’s other games a shot.

A short but very emotionally and psychologically hard hitting game. Having played most of Vainsane's works I had an idea of what to expect going in but this game in particular was especially thought provoking. The concept of having, what I can only describe as a "devil on your shoulder" was executed very well with Mopa the cute looking creature being a big influence and reflection of Miya's fragile mentality. Given Miya's "habit/ritual" suggested that her struggles were clearly very internal but the influences in her environment act as a catalyst in triggering the buried and hidden thoughts she always tries to keep tucked away. This game gave me a constant sense of suspense which ultimately lead to a key set of decisions which determine the fate of this character who you've been heavily invested in for 30 minutes. When the choices appear, it had me frozen for a good 5 minutes trying to figure out exactly what I should do and it lead to me thinking, "what if this was me? What would I do?". For a game worth less than a cup of coffee, I can say that it gives you a hit much stronger than any amount of caffeine ever could.

beastmode

If you are one of those people who want 100% achievements, this is for you. I say don't bother to buy the demo the game is good although really vague to me unless there is a connected game. It's good - it's exciting, multiple endings, good art, good music, not too long like 17 minutes....pretty cool effects for a visual novel and good characters and writing to carry a low visuals story. It can end happily but I recommend playing the bad endings first so you feel a sense of happiness at the end. 10/10....I knew this wouldn't be all fleshed out and it wouldn't have the same impact if it was.