“A Devil can enjoy his flowers”
Wow. I went into this game very uncertain. It’s risky territory the dev is playing with here. I ended up not only liking it but loving it so much more than I ever could’ve expected. Yes this game does portray serial killers as hot anime characters but you are handed the tools to make whatever you want of that. My first playthrough had me doing what I would do in real life… freaking the fuck out, leaving the server and calling the cops. I expected this to lead to a unsatisfying joke ending but no this ending is entirely legitimate. It gives a satisfying ending to your character, it doesn’t judge you for rejecting the game’s entire premise. You get to play with the wonderful character creator to make a cutie with majestic hair and you get to see the great UI and attention to detail that this game has and then you leave without sacrificing your principles. That experience on its own is a worthwhile one. It’s not you have to make out with murderers or you don’t get to play either. As I saw in my second playthrough the game repeatably hands you the option to leave the server throughout the game and everytime I found it a genuinely difficult decision.
This game is surprisingly strong in terms of representation overall. I don’t think it goes too far with sensationalising serial killers and it does a great job with giving the player tools for gender expression and with its LGBT cast. A lot of the heavy lifting is done by the dialogue which is incredible. I love the characters. The voice acting is great and everyone feels real and very likeable. Just the vibe overall has the feeling of being in a Discord server with online friends. You can even change your status, adding so much fun expression to the game even if I know it literally doesn’t do anything. It’s clear the devs have spent a lot of time in Discord servers and I think this is the only context where that could be considered a compliment. This game didn’t make me want to start murdering people but it did make me want to make new friends in Discord servers which I haven’t done since Covid.
My only nitpick is that the music, whilst a catchy tune that sets the mood well is just one track that gets repetitive very quickly. You can turn off the music and play your own so it’s not a big deal but obviously it would be even better if this had a great or at least varied soundtrack.
If Quentin Tarantino can get away with his characters chatting about McDonald’s and doing silly little dances then this game gets a free pass on hot anime murderers! This is like the video game Tarantino would make except with less racial slurs and more queer characters so this is way cooler. Also I watched Jennifer’s Body for the first time because of this game and that on its own would’ve earned it 5 stars. Misaki is the best character BTW and I’m allowed to love her guilt free cause they’re not a serial killer they’re only in it for the money!