I was pretty cold on this one. My main issue with it is that I read so much how well and believable the writing was "thats just how people talk!" and yet I felt the dialog was incredibly contrived and forced most of the time. I just didn't connect to any of it at all. Clever modern writing is a problem with a lot of indie games of this ilk. Just recently I finished up The Artful Escape which I would say is very much a Night in the Woods-like type game, and even though the dialog there was eccentric it felt a lot more palatable within the confines of that particular story and setting.
@humanity: I'm glad it's on mobile because a lot of people will continue to connect to it. However, I felt the same way about this game that you did. I found it aesthetically wonderful but the dialogue and characters didn't connect with me.
My impression from reading reviews is that that people who have recently experienced the kind of "college-age dislocation" the characters in this game experience are more likely to have a meaningful time with it.
Another vote for The Artful Escape. That game features hip and/or young people trying to find themselves, but the writing just felt less labored.
I've got 5 days to finish everything in this game before it leaves Game Pass and I have to drop $30 on it (worth it in my opinion, but I've become too primed to waiting for deals with digital games that I can't bring myself to do it), but man did I love this game. The supernatural twist stuff at the end ends up being whatever, but the story of this young woman who you eventually find out has some pretty crippling mental health issues totally hit me in the feels at some points and you just wanted so badly for Mae to get her shit together.
Also, even though this game came out in 2016 and I only started playing it last year, Die Anywhere Else was easily one of the best songs I heard in 2020.
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