Wow. What a game. I went into this one blind and absolutely loved it!
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(SPOILERS BELOW MENTIONED!!!)
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It hit deep, seeing Riley still holding onto a friendship despite it pushing his boundaries and comfort. The yearning and sadness he felt, wishing that it were like old times. It reminds me of the love Riley still had for the car his Dad worked on. Despite it being so worned down and old, he still maintained it for as long as he could. Still took care of it. Still loved it. Just the same as he did for Austin, except it was for a friendship that was inevitably hurting Riley. It's a very real life experience, having to deal with toxic relationships and the decision to leave the relationship is a very real and hard thing to do that happens. And it's a complex one, because we see it wasn't all bad, there were still good moments, good memories, we even see in the beginning how Austin was improving as a person. The story writing in this was awesome.
And gosh THE DEER SCENE. That was WILD (no pun intended haha). Seeing that be the first time since the bear attack the light enter back into Austin's eyes and his smile was chilling. And the foreshadowing of Austin crushing that poor snail. That was when I had that first inkling of fear sink into me like felt something was off. AND that cutting meat scene, where Riley falls to the floor and passes out when they accidentally cut their palm- and Austin is just STANDING THERE?????? I was so scared XD. I wont lie there were many times where Id go home to bed in game and I was scared for some reason that he'd appear in front of me in the dead of night xD. Got me paranoid haha.
Also the ART. Gosh. Each art piece was so beautifully drawn.I loved how much emotion it captured. The background art, the assets made, and the side characters as well, absolutely loved it all! The small cutscenes too, and the effects like the shaky hand during the cutting meat scene. The shot of Riley driving back home in his car in panic. As well as the quirky dialogue lines, haha the alien probing line made me laugh.
Also loved all the little minigames or little gameplay things like watering the plant, sorting laundry, making the burger (got to make a tower burger hehe), the "I dont want to be perceived" guy, running away from Austin at the end. Really made for variety in gameplay which I enjoyed :].
All in all, really loved this game. <3 Sorry for the long review haha. But I was super impressed by this, and had to share how I felt!