RAIN;CHECK

One of many existentialism visual novels on Steam, reminded me a lot of 'Surrogate' specifically, dealing with anxiety and intrusive thoughts while avoiding the real world. Something awful happens in your life, and instead of moving past it, you choose a path of temporary comfort, thinking that killing time will make it better, but instead everything becomes meaningless, you start delaying the things you wanted to do, and never actually getting to them, simple things like playing games just don't make you happy like they used to, and instead of healing, you only fall further into the hole, making no progress in life, and laking the courage to try new things. You can finish the game in about 15 minutes, multiple by 4 endings, so about 60 minutes or so. Some of the achievements require you to play a clicker mini-game, so that adds another hour for 100% completion. The endings are not purely cosmetic, they have a few unique panels for each path as well as the overall conclusion, giving you a choice if the character should crawl into the a ball, or face her fear. A bittersweet experience overall, not the most creative game conceptually, there are many like it, but I didn't have any issues with the writing, the game conveys the emotional state of the character well enough, as well as using some supernatural visuals for thought-provoking concepts, even though the game is grounded in reality. The art panels are relatively simple compared to other games, but for me personally, if there is at least some movement and perspective changes, it's always better than just scrolling pictures, and the game did some of that to improve the pacing. [h1] Pros: [/h1] (+) Several short endings, each adding a bit more context to the plot, in addition to having a few unique panels for each conclusion, and thought-provoking perspectives on the choices you make. (+) I found the story a bit predictable, but overall the writing wasn't bad, making it easy to sympathize with the character. (+) The drawings were simple, but with a little movement and scenery changes, it was good enough for the price. [h1] FeedbacK: [/h1] - Don't have any issues with the game, other than I feel like it's a very overused idea for the narrative, not the most exciting concept. The last 2 cow achievements were a bit annoying to get since they took almost as long as the game. [b] Overall Thoughts: 7/10 [/b] Decently put together visual novel for $2, providing some introspective for those of us that hide away from the real world after some trauma. The endings are short but have different types of conclusion and art for each, which is better than a few other games. Not bad, just try to be a little more creative, everyone does this type of game these days. [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

What an interesting game. It's nice seeing new studios have their go at games like these. It's definitely worth the 2 Euros.

This is a pretty good vn that's coupled with a basic but fun clicker game. The dev(s?) have strong "this is my first game" energy which is genuinely charming to see. Playing this game is like glimpsing into somebody's soul for a moment. I hope the dev continues to make games and art.