Go For A Punch! Saki Sanobashi

I recommend this game, with hesitance. First, the game is amazing. It truly crawled under my skin in ways horror games often do not, but maybe that is because of my history with... the subject matter. That's all I'll say there. The art was unsettling and beautiful, and the story didn't sugarcoat anything. It's a little 'too' real in some places, especially near the end where you have to type out your last words. Overall, amazing game with only one bug, where one line was in Spanish instead of English. The reason I'm hesitant, plus, a warning: This game does have trigger warnings, but I feel it goes a little too hard where it gives detailed instructions on where to best... bl**d out. There is SH imagery, as expected. Where you have to type out your last words, if you take it seriously, can have an effect on your mental health, especially just having to even think about something like that (plus a warning: whatever you type goes onto a public Twitter page and I hate it because they don't tell you in the game. Some people may take it a little too seriously and give personal info not knowing). This game lacks any kind of section where someone could find resources if they're genuinely having S thoughts. I feel in a game like this, it's important to make sure you have a page of resources, or a message at the end or beginning encouraging anyone to get help, or to not take anything in the game to heart if they're suffering. If it is there and I didn't see it, it's well hidden. Honestly, I'm a little concerned this could get taken down. I'll still recommend it as it's amazing, and it has the intended effect, but this game needs more of a caring touch for people it might actually encourage to make certain permanent decisions. (I say this as an author of books about similar subject matter. You can go hard and get disturbing, but please remember there are people who could be encouraged by what you make).

This is my first review for a game on Steam, never felt like writing any before but I would really like to show my support and share my thoughts on this one. It deserves way more attention and love honestly, I want to see more people talk about! I've always loved the concept for Go For A Punch, I doubt it really exists despite not sounding like it'd be impossible to exist when I feel there's stuff that's way more gruesome and controversial out there, especially within the realm of anime and manga. The lack of any actual evidence of it existing and so much of it being made up, including the original posting seeming to be just someone trying to scare some 13-year old on the internet, makes me believe it's not real. Which is a shame... That is, until this game was made! I'm very happy someone went for it and put their own spin on the idea. May not be the "real" thing, but like I said, I very much doubt the source material actually exists. This fills the void for the desire of seeing Saki Sanobashi exist in some form. About the game itself, I immediately fell in love with the visuals and artstyle. It could've been done in a more 80's anime style to fit with the original story online as the more obvious way to do things, but I think having this unique, creepy but somehow still cute looks gives it a lot more of an identity of its own which I think is way cooler and more important. The story is also not completely based on the original tale... whatever version of it that you might remember reading amongst the many there are. Four girls instead of nine as some of the versions is an interesting choice, but makes a lot of sense given the scope, and also because a bit over four would feel a little... repetitive and perhaps make each death not as impactful. That is another important factor here, and that is how... not just scary but mainly utterly sad how these characters come to die. Just four of us in this bathroom that feels bigger than it actually is already feels pretty lonely, but each death makes that worse even though technically they're... still physically there, or their remains are that is. It's shocking to me how well this game captures the sort of loneliness that a suicidal mindset can make one feel, to which I heavily relate... You're never exactly alone, but you... *are,* at all times. I do have some complaints, though they're sorta minor. One is that, although the story itself is very good and the character put into the writing makes this not that big of a problem, the dialogue in english can feel a bit off in a way I don't think it's intentional. I knew what they meant to say, but the wording could use a little more work. But I'll stress again, this is barely an issue when I think the story and characters more than make up for it. Second is that I felt it was a bit too short. It's perfect for the offered price, I'd even argue it should cost more for how much work and love was put into it, but I couldn't help but feel like there could've been more. Maybe I need to replay it again and find dialogue branches or events I didn't see the first time, but this could be a game that'd benefit from multiple routes somehow. That's WAY easier said than done, I understand, but characters meeting different fates (although I don't really know that many other ways to die in an empty restroom in the middle of nowhere) at a different order could be interesting. This is a bit of a spoiler, but I was really curious to learn more about Saki and how she'd end up in specific given what the story and ending imply, but it's left ambiguous which works well... but I still hoped to see more. Again, this is still really damn good for its price tag. Lastly, and this is an actual complaint, there is a SINGLE jumpscare in the whole game and... just feels cheap and out of place. I think jumpscares can be well done with proper build up and how it adds to a scene, but this one feels like a random jumpscare without much thought put into it. I think an unexpected close-up of the body rotting without any sound effects or BGM that forces us to stare at it for a brief moment would have worked better, like we just woke up next to it and forgot it was there only to surprise ourselves. I hope I don't sound too demanding when I really want to express how much I loved this game. I'll definitely give it another playthrough sometime even if there isn't much else to see, having a real version Go For A Punch is really cool to me and I really admire the amount of work that was put into it, plus I love the story, characters and artstyle. A big congratulations to the dev Alexia and their work! I'd love to see more. For anyone reading, I hope you have a nice week. Be kind to yourselves and remember that you matter, and you deserve happiness! <3

I mean for a game based on an Anime that never truly existed and turned out to be just a 4chan troll, it's okay. Just don't expect it to be as shocking as the made up stories you have heard before.