[GAME REVIEW—VERY MINOR SPOILERS; ONLY BY-NAME MENTIONS OF ENDINGS AND MECHANICS]
I'm kind of late to reviewing this game but I have things to say—I did not enjoy playing this game. Aiming to do an evil playthrough first I aimed for high ratings and completed two endings; first I sided with Management, next I sided with The Hero. I will not play any further to attempt any other routes and get the Best Ending.
This game’s themes are so blatant it leaves nothing to chew on, refusing to explore them in any meaningful way that’ll leave any impression on already sane, non-bigoted people. Labelled ‘Comedy Horror’, anti-fascist and anti-MAGA messaging takes a strong centre stage, pushing aside characters, story–and indeed–comedy and horror to make a product that reads like a children’s story, purposely simple and easy to read as to teach kids not to be bigoted. They even make a joke in game on how blatant the messaging and allegories are. Boring as hell.
Maybe the reason why I had such a mundane experience was because I was purposely picking the ‘on-script sitcommy' ratings options on the way to get the Management ending. Maybe there are more interesting character moments in the low-ratings or balanced-ratings routes. Maybe because I'm not American and don't directly experience the shit that's happening over there it doesn't resonate with me. I don't care. If you have designed a whole route in your game then you have to make it interesting and fun to play, even if the point is it’s supposed to be comically optimistic. To make it so boring is a failure on the devs. Props to the artists though, the artstyle is very cute and fits with the sitcom aesthetic world Juno and Friends are trapped in. 4/10, would not recommend.
