i want to write sort of a bittersweet review just in case anyone is like me and needs the misery-company.
much like the last two games, this one's heartbreakingly cute and genuinely funny. digital poppy is an amazing writer with super engaging characters that are impossible not to genuinely care about. this game also carries on the trend in the series of being more fluffy, lighthearted, conflictless, and just altogether... ideal. which is to say it's going to be a delightful time for most people.
but as trixie's world gets easier to live in, someone who was once one of the only trans girls i could relate to became someone who feels like an unreachable goal. originally trixie's design/writing felt like "here's trixie. she is a little different from cis girls, but she is lovable, and cute, and perfect as is." she was someone i could let myself hope to be like. in this game, the designs/writing all feel like "here are 3 very cute girls :)" and it's like yeah, they sure are! as she moved on and became more idealized, especially by the end of this game, i couldn't help but feel this dysphoric, left-behind reaction. who *wouldn't* think trixie's adorable now, no one needs to be told to think so.
which is petty, i know. obviously trans girls deserve happiness, and trans characters deserve happiness. anyone who enjoys happy endings deserves to read them. anyone who can believe that they're not lesser for how they were born deserves to. i am happy for trixie! and if how well she's doing is reflective of poppy doing well, i'm happy for her too! but for the rest of us, the ones who will never get to "three lesbians in a winter special" trixie, i hope reading this makes you feel a little less left behind and lonely.