I Woke Up Next to You Again?

Hey Hey Heroes, Travelers, and Wandering NPCs, I'grand getting back into the swing of things by going back and working through all of the game review requests I received while I was on hiatus. First upwards is a rather surreal and surprisingly deep short psychological thriller visual novel from Angela He (Zephyo). This is a game dissimilar anything I have ever played before, with it'south dream-like visuals and stream of consciousness like storytelling, Angela He paints a rather startling picture of the psychological toll addiction and depression can have on one'south life, through the lens of a toxic more than-than-one-night stand relationship.

"Yous'd told me,
Hey, this is a sometime affair, and I said yep, of course –
Yet hither we are."

..who, exactly, am I waking up next to?

A romance about a more-than-one-night stand up;
A psychological thriller nearly toxic habit.

–Synopsis (Game Site)

I Woke Upwards Next to Y'all Againis a pay what you desire PC game bachelor for Windows, Mac, and Linux over on itch.io. It's a rather brusk game, with playthroughs lasting anywhere between 15 – 30 minutes, depending on your reading speed.

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I volition admit that at the start I was more than a little dislocated, afterward choosing the gender of the individual yous wake up next to, the game just kind of hits the ground running, dropping you into an surprisingly casual forenoon after encounter with an unnamed bed mate. The brief opening narration merely states that you recently moved to a new town and "found someone". Who this person is and how you lot came to exist in bed with with them doesn't matter, but the dark hazy black and white visuals and eerie repetitive groundwork music suggest that this is not a normal interaction between mutual acquaintances. Fifty-fifty the dialogue between the player and the unnamed bed mate isn't all that normal, there's a poetic kind of cadence to it that kind of flows a lilliputian too naturally to exist normal, equally if this is something that has been adept and reiterated over and over over again, but with a quickness to it that suggests the two characters are merely going through the motions of a prearranged song and dance in club to get to a much more anticipated issue.

Just, in that location is an overarching sense of foreboding, that builds upon itself every bit the thespian navigates their way through a serial of seemingly innocent choices. Your choices determine not merely the grade of the story, just the psychological state of the nameless protagonist as they navigate what at first glance appears to be little more than a casual sexual human relationship with a stranger. In that location are little hints scattered throughout the story that tease the game's ultimate purpose, merely, unless you lot achieve all of the endings, the big movie will remain merely out of reach. Volition you choose to pursue a human relationship with your tantalizingly seductive bed mate? Is this relationship actually for the best? Or should you stop things before things go too far?

At that place are ii story paths (male person "lover" or female "lover") and a total of 4 endings, each path is indistinguishable from the other save the gender pronouns used to describe your bed mate. So choosing a gender at the kickoff is wholly a matter of preference and has no real effect on the outcomes of the game and with the game's rather short runtime, that'southward not all that unexpected. At first, it seems simple enough, placate the bed mate, pursue them and strike up a relationship with them. But, in doing so the player's own well beingness seemingly deteriorates, and the player is left with a startling and rather disturbing realizations about your character and the nature of their "relationship". While the relationship is at the forefront of the game,I Woke Up Side by side To Y'all Again, makes it abundantly clear that romance is not the goal of the game, with each of the relationship positive choices leading to a negative mental effect for the player. This is a game virtually the toxicity of codependency and the addictive nature of empty relationships. It's a bitter pill to consume, and deeply unsettling at times as yous scout the player give themselves over to their demand for their bed mate, as their desires requite mode to addiction and eventually depression as the futility of the human relationship is revealed.

Visually,I Woke Upwards Side by side To Y'all Againis a very artistic and atmospheric game, that felt more like a visual art exhibition piece than a game, with it'south dark, layered backgrounds and haunting instrumental soundtrack. But, what really stood out aboutIWUNTYAis that it is e'er moving, be it the dialogue text, the movements of clouds in the groundwork, the minor animation of the onscreen characters (blinking mostly) or the pulsing geometric shaped dialogue boxes, each scene has some chemical element that is constantly in move. There are too some rather unique visual cues that help the player gauge the mental state of their character, while also carrying the overall ethereal dream-like facade of the game and its narrative.

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I Woke Up Adjacent To You Againtakes its rather short runtime and offers a uniquely contemplative visual novel experience, that will cause players to seriously consider the nature of our relationships with one another. Players will lose themselves in the dream-similar atmosphere and visuals, falling deeper into the addictively toxic liaison between the player's character and the unknown individual they detect themselves waking up next to again and over again and again…

But, don't just take my give-and-take for it! Check out the game over onitch.ioor take a gander at the game'due south trailer below! If you like what you run across, play the game, hitting the like button, share, or comment! As always, Cheers for Reading!!

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Source: https://blerdyotome.com/2018/08/13/a-hauntingly-addictive-visual-novel-i-woke-up-next-to-you-again-review/

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