10/10  TLDR made me cry & like RPGs

geo is phenomenal

LR:

silver daze is a real game. a *real* game. not some corporate product designed to hold your attention for as long as possible; this game does that effortlessly. from the clever placement of the demo end, to the entire battle system offering nearly endless novelty. and honestly,

i have to admit, i've never really been *that* into RPGs. especially turn-based, i usually get decision paralysis and burn out on the combat pretty quickly.

but this game? i had a genuine curiosity for how things operated. i wasn't just trying to rush through the fights to the story; i had a near equally good time with combat that i did the story. when usually, there's a *heavy* imbalance in favor of story.

and the story? ...man. i can't even begin to articulate how fond i was of everything it had to offer. each character is real. they're not all just some flanderized quirky stereotype of a person, they are individual people with their own view on life.

the situation they're placed in takes place a short time before their whole life structure, routine, all of that, is about to change. it's so perfectly timed; it catches the characters, namely the protagonist, in a vulnerable spot where they consider abandoning the real world in favor of keeping things how they are. pinn's comfortable with his life how it is, and the prospect of it changing, for better or worse, is intimidating, because of the possibility that it could be worse.

this, along with lots more things, mirrors the game's antagonist in a way that reflects not only their similarities to each other, but also just how common that mindset is to fall into. if the player relates to either of the two characters in this aspect, they will start to feel like the game's eyes are on them in these moments.

it's real, it's engaging and it's emotionally provocative. that's hard to find in a game. for me, anyway.

i haven't even spoken about THE MUSIC!!! the in-game music is incredible, but most of all, the band. holy crap the band. that's what MADE this game for me, and further pronounces geo's status as best boy. and i hate to use that term, but it's true. he is indeed best boy. i have always been into grungey shoegaze, and the first song from the band that plays in the game completely fit everything i look for in music like that. nearly a third of this game's ost is in my heavily curated playlist.

overall, this game appealed to me in a way no other game has. and for that alone it deserves this rating.