Shift 1-3 Review

I finally finished all routes except the drunk route. The characters are all flawed and interesting. Even though I know the story depicts the characters this way intentionally, I ABHOR "women, female" talk because of Gamergate. So it's really a marvel that I genuinely enjoy these characters. The details, banter, and time period bring them together as people who are detached from the world at large but unconsciously desperately seek a sense of belonging.

Spoilers below:

BB Discussion

I'm glad the story doesn't overuse yandere tropes (though I'm still sick of hearing wOmEn and fEmAlE—like, I get it, you identify as a man, thanks for coming out) and actually explores the character. I wonder if it's a language barrier or intentional, because Mademoiselle is cringe as hell, and I get goosebumps from years of being on the internet with incels throughout the 2000s. It's more my own PTSD than the fault of the writing.

From his environment, upbringing, and coworkers, we understand WHY he's like a stalker because of his idea of "rationality" and "protection." Something happened to the MC; he can protect her and maybe knew her before, so he follows her around and obsesses over her. Because unknowingly, he seeks purpose and meaning in his life.

One thing I wonder about is the logic behind BB feeling angry at the MC for being with Lane. He stated that the MC is not some object to be owned, yet he still feels entitled to her. I guess the characters in this game are consistent in their irrationality—they all say things they don't actually believe in but keep repeating them until it becomes true.

Shift 3 really tried my patience with BB's route. Some doors aren't labeled, some are. It's also not really believable that she'd freely snoop around someone's workplace. I enjoy the conversation that spawned from the dog tag, but the way she chanced upon it was forced. What do you mean you're peeking around in some business's PRIVATE LOCKER ROOM? I get that the mechanics knew about BB's change and were playing matchmaker, introducing their son to this hot/understanding girl they met, so they basically dump out BB's entire history with very little prompting. My advice would be: have a mechanic ask MC to get something from the locker room, unlock the locker room, then let MC go in and out freely. On a fetch-the-item run, trigger an event by the lockers where the dog tag falls and she picks it up to take a look. There are several dialogues indicating sequence breaking, like you can get keys in a different order. Unfortunately, dialogues like getting keys in a toilet or on the ground still require talking to the "Quest Giver," so to speak. And the MC acts like she cannot connect one thing to another when spotting the key(s).

My favorite part with BB is when the MC does something bold, like putting a hand on BB's helmet and saying he's enough, or the MC protecting BB from sexual harassment at work. Interactions like this make the relationship feel less one-sided—it feels like the pair actually has preferences and isn't just stuck together because this is a romance horror game.

Lane Discussion

His character is immensely transparent but emotionally resonant for lonely people. He seeks approval and, given the wrong kind of attention, creates toxic attachment and detachment cycles. It's built up by patriarchy, and he has no emotional resistance. Then he wonders why he has no meaningful relationships.

Conversations between him and the MC have a familiarity that shows these are two people very used to each other's presence. The annoying part is that their conversations go in CIRCLES, like the shower-before-going-to-work part. I think while the MC has a point, it feels out of character that she—a model employee—would waste time arguing while she's about to be late. From several instances with the LIs, I think she has clean-freak tendencies, but the problem is that her other behavior and her own room don't reflect this. This is also a side effect of the inconsistent MC characterization that weakens the story.

One thing I dislike about getting into his route is that the MC keeps having to choose dialogue that flatters or compromises with him. I really dislike this because it feels like she's a pushover. Outside of choices she DOES meaningfully pushes back, it's a shame that's not reflected in gameplay. Maybe this will change little by little in later shifts. And that'll be pretty good character, but given the foundation of MC and Lane's relationship is entirely based on her giving in to his worst tendencies, it's really unbelievable if he improves through the power of love. I really don't get that vibe from the story though. So this is just another case of my trauma from gamergate being very much translate into me having a very low personal opinion of this character while still liking how the story depicts him. 

Amelia

I like her and am excited for her route. She's the older sister who has to do everything right while the youngest fumbles about and gets everything. She lashes out and feels angry at the world, hurting others in the process. I really wonder what "event" caused the MC and Amelia to avoid each other. Maybe she's related to RB. She has such a strong personality and characterization that, in short appearances, she steals the scene completely. Eager to explore her controlling tendencies towards the MC and their history.

MC Analysis

Lastly, I have to preface that the next part is about our MC—and it's not exactly positive.

She is easily the weakest part of the story. I like that she's a very unreliable narrator, but she felt like a reactive mouthpiece whose choices don't matter at all. Now, I know that choices DO matter, as there are multiple routes, extra dialogue, and secrets that all stem from choices. But the problem is that many choice options felt divorced from their consequences. Why do some choices lead to the MC offing herself? It's in bad taste when a character kills themselves simply because they didn't curry enough favor with LIs. Why is lying to Lane about BB breaking the door considered an offensive action that the MC should feel bad about? She's a stickler for the rules. Why is she obligated to tell her coworker about BB breaking the door when it may drag both her and BB down? (It's fine that Lane makes a stink about it, but the way the MC acts like his wild accusation is right is incredibly annoying.)

There are several parts of the story where she seeks confirmation from the LIs, like "Are you jealous?" and "Do you have a girlfriend?" For the most part, I like that about her—she's lonely, her humor is actually similar to Lane's without the rampant misogyny, she just cut off the only friendship in her life, and she's used to male attention where she internalizes that for some of her worth and fears.

The problem is that she says these things unprompted, making her seem incredibly insecure and attached to your weird male coworker OR that guy you met for three days at the worst opportunity such as when they finally has a heart to heart. The biggest crime, however, is that it breaks the flow of conversation into circular arguments or meaningless banter, which usually provides nothing of value to both characters besides making the MC look bad. There's an easy fix for this: give her more internal dialogue when talking to the guys and have her actually tell the reader she said some sentences without thinking. The best example where the MC's irrationality and involuntary reactions can be used for good story effect is during Shift 2 when Lane and BB argue. It actually felt like she's panicking and just sided with Lane because she's known Lane for longer. As much as I wish there's more writing indicating her mood at the time of the argument. 

The best way I could put my thoughts on the MC as a character is that she has post-traumatic brain damage. Due to the open-ended nature of the point-and-click segments, it seems like she has no persistent memory. It's not just gameplay either—in the story, she questioned herself a single time for falling for BB, and that's it. She asks very few questions after this guy you just met knows where you live. I get that she's avoiding the truth in her memories, but MY GOD, GIRL, YOU HAVE A SURVIVAL INSTINCT OF A SUNFISH. BB is like the worst liar, and he's in luck because his object of obsession suffers from brain trauma and has NO ACTUVE RECALL ABILITIES.

The guys get some reason or sympathy (from the MC or their coworkers) for their behavior, but the MC DOES NOT EXPLAIN HERSELF and just says things reflexively (which IS a symptom of brain damage or extreme trauma.)

As of now, it feels like there's a shadow of a person in the MC, and she just exists for the characterization of the guys. I actually hope the fact she has so little depth is making a point about her trauma literally erasing the person she was before the traumatic memory loss. I hope the mystery actually fleshes her out. Where's her family? Did she have friends outside of Amelia before? What are her dreams? What are her hobbies other than checking other people's hygiene and not understanding "guy" stuff? Amelia is the only character who ever called her out because she knew the MC. There's a lot more subtle behavior in her normal dialogue of contradictions. Like saying the job is good for stability even though she makes minimum wage and is actively endangered while working that night shift. It's almost like she unconsciously wanted to stay because of a reason she has since forgotten. And for future shifts, I really want someone to point that out.

I get that Lane and BB both have reasons not to point out her memory loss and behavior, but it just seems cruel that the MC invests so much into reaffirming/understanding these guys, and they just think some of her insecurities and mannerisms are "female"—and nothing else.

I wrote a lot because I'm truly invested in the mysteries. despite my review the art direction and story is really amazing. Thank you very much, author, for making this game!