Iris was a synthetic human created in a Turbotax lab, meant to spread their influence after assimilating into society. She escaped and tried to be her own woman, but a passion for taxes is what she was made for. This is why she's so eager to help you do her taxes, and why she especially hates Turbotax (on top of the other reasons). She does love you, but helping with tax forms is the only way she knows how to express that love.
I am so happy that this game commits to the bit and doesn't have some kind of crazy twist in a "gotcha" moment. The only plot twist of sorts is totally missable, and has no bearing on whether or not you get those taxes done.
While some of its humor is in-your-face, most of the funniest things about this game and the way it was released are a little bit subtle. For the most part, this game is exactly what it says it is. That itself is the joke, and it didn't need much more.
This release gives me hope for the future of ironic visual novels. It's hope that I desperately needed.
looks like in the room with the piano, the mirror never displays the textbox that's supposed to show up before lucius dies. unlike other bugs that are more a result of shitposting, this bug ruins a potential joke, so wanted to let you know
There's a lot of good here, but right now I think it's muddied by poor pacing.
The opening section does a great job of building intrigue, but it drags on just long enough that it starts to become tiring. I didn't properly enter my first battle until 21 minutes had passed. It left a really poor first impression.
The game world is laid out in a "go along this path, interact with the content" sort of way, which is not a bad thing on its own. What I see as a problem is how cramped together everything is. Being bombarded with so many amusing NPCs in such a short time just made it exhausting, and the charm wore off quickly.
The dark turn at the end of the demo was executed well in a vacuum, but like the cramped paths before it, I felt like it was too much, too soon. I didn't feel a whole lot of build up to it.
The core combat is a lot of fun, a lot of care was put into the presentation, and I am super interested to see what happens next in the story. These are the things I love a lot. It's just that as is, I'm hoping for some tweaks to the early game, so these elements have more room to breathe and can really shine.
I honestly think the story would be more interesting and compelling if the intro text didn't exist. It explains things way too much, and removes a lot of the symbolism and mystery. A lot of the instant game overs and puzzles are a little bad, but overall the experience is a positive one. It's enjoyable!
