Don't Wake Me Up

SPOILER FILLED REVIEW: 8.5/10 - A good game for people who like to think, problem solve and explore. If you enjoyed the Matrix and 6th Sense, you might also enjoy this. Don't read if you don't want to have elements spoiled for you. I want it registered that I didn't sign up for this. I wanted a fun, adventure game in a genre-shifting world with some hotties and now I'm sad and thoughtful. I think that the airship, musical fight was a bit much for people who are not into that specific thing but the game is well written and thought provoking. I too have wondered about AI and where it stops being a fun program and becomes essentially slavery. If we build computers and software that function essentially like human brains that can create and emote, form connections and learn, where do we measure the lines of sentience and what do we do when we inevitably cross it. I really suck at romance games so I inevitably didn't actually romance anyone and in a way, I'm happy I didn't. All the same, I'm not sure that I can or would want to play this game again because I don't think there are any good endings. Even if you free Len and the others, then what? More AI. By letting those people "die", AI will face more scrutiny and is less likely to go further because of how dangerous it is. And in the very worst case, Len spends an eternity suffering, people are harmed and society still goes forward with AI. There are only bad and worse endings here and while I enjoyed the game, overall, I can't do that to myself again. Len was by far a more interesting and compelling character to me than Astarius which is probably because he showed more agency. Astarius's almost child-like desire to have fun and to please was weirdly off-putting. I couldn't take him seriously as a love interest. It gave major yandere vibes too which I didn't mind. I genuinely expected him to be the bad guy but in the end, he wasn't. Genuinely don't know how to feel about this game except to say that it was definitely worth playing.