(Contains mild spoilers alluding to the core premise)
It's impressive what Its You Again and Again does with its well-paced runtime. The initial sequence doesn't linger for too long before pulling back to reveal the premise, but I found myself invested in the building dynamic of the two leads - it's the start of something new, and I did hurt for Kali when it was taken away. Furthermore, I wasn't really sure what to expect when after the turning point when we get a callback to a certain other KnowIt production. A multiverse spanning adventure? The direction of focusing on the isolation the protagonist is under by never getting to stay rooted was a good pick (missed opportunity for hamster cameo though 💔). I also consider that the, well, first My Wolf is the only one that gets a sense of mattering. The others act as stand-ins for a real connection, or that's at least how I read it. On the writing side, KnowIt's rather dry dialogue is on display.
Paraphrasing:
"Can you tell me more about yourself?"
"No. Don't ask again."
The KnowIt comedy is also there, although with less frequency.
Quoting directly:
"I'm overweight, dull colored, my fluff is all out of sorts. I'm nowhere near as hot as you are."
"Are you fucking stupid!?"
And he's right to say that, Kali is hot as hell! Which I guess leads into art. Again, it's impressive what Its You Again and Again does with its runtime. It's not super long, but the premise necessitates plenty of locales. The style the backgrounds are made in is simplified, but there's always enough to give them enough characteristics to juxtapose against others, letting us now the vibe of the place we're in. The sprites are expressive, with ear flicks and so on. But the amount of outfits is the real achievement in this aspect. You could practically make a dress-up game with the variety, as long as the theme stays "insane bulge". The difference in styles between the two storytelling segments are also pulled off really well.
The music is, going back to City's Light from last year, a step up - I'm glad to hear KnowIt's improvements in this regard. They're implemented well, I don't have a lot more to write on it. No sound effects, and I do think a few things could have used them, in particular the sound that's commented on when Kali's thing happens.
I very much enjoyed Its You Again and Again, and I expect my first foray into the jam entries to stay high in my personal rankings (and formal jam scoring!)