Alright. [i]8/8/88 Needle AL[/i] is done and dusted. I don't know if I bought this at some point or if it was always free to play and I happened to claim it randomly, but I tried playing this previously on my Steam Deck and it was not functional, so I thought I'd give it another go on my desktop. And I'm happy(?) to report that it did in fact function fine on desktop with k/m controls. Anyway, let's dive in:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3319130851
First off, I want to talk a little about the title itself. In numerology, this is known as [i]Repetition of 8[/i], which is when the number 8 appears multiple times. Its influence is amplified. The date 8/8/88 has four eights, which can be seen as a strong indicator of prosperity and significant positive changes. The number eight represents wealth and success, and when eights are linked together, they are known as [i]angel numbers[/i], whereby, allegedly, they are very powerful messages from your guardian angels telling you that something big is coming soon. [b]I already knew about the number eight in numerology, but I compiled the rest of this via internet searches.[/b] Now, I am very definitely not religious, nor do I give credence to the idea of angels, but this game absolutely does. However, it takes the approach that you should always be careful of what you wish for, lest you actually get the thing you were seeking. And that the positive change you were hoping for might actually be the opposite of what you were seeking.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3319130611
With that out of the way, this is not a fun game. It's actually very serious and very very dark. It features all the things you hope to never witness or experience in life. Rape, torture, pedophilia, murder, being eaten alive, watching your children die, slavery, racism, religious cults, the elite stealing everything from you, and so on. It's all in this game. [b]In fact, I would advise seriously considering this when you are deciding whether or not you would like to play this.[/b] You will not feel good after playing this. And those rewards I mentioned when talking about numerology. Those were doled out to the people in charge, who also took everything from the people who they governed/employed/enslaved. And the punishment for getting what you seek was also meted out amongst the people who had to deal with them. As such, nobody really wins (actually, one character did kind of win by managing to escape, but otherwise, not so much).
As far as the gameplay itself, the game is presented mostly via aged, filtered light photographs with random interactable objects that each advance the story in some way. You play as a brain damaged middle aged to old (this is not exactly specified) janitor who has the hots for a 12-year-old girl and finds himself alone in this town of Needle, Alabama; wondering where everybody went and wandering about trying to find the rest of the townspeople. As he triggers memories (via those random interactable objects), he slowly begins to unlock the mystery of the town. It is implied that other people did manage to leave the town, but not many.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3319130632
Anyway, that is the game. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes to complete, and you probably will wish you hadn't played it for all the sick ♥♥♥♥ that is presented within. However, the saving grace is that this game does not condone any of these activities. It functions more as a lens by which you can view what life was like in small Southern towns after the Civil War in America, and how people struggled to deal with the integration of black people and the dissolution of legal slavery. Interestingly enough, that does parallel the far-right movement in the U.S. today, where said people struggle with and rail against the integration of women, minorities, secularism, and gender identity in a world that has moved on without them. And for that reason, this game does actually have a strong message about the folly of clinging to hate and divisiveness, despite my warnings about the actual content. And there is merit in experiencing it. You just need to be aware of the incredibly dark content before deciding to do so.
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