Good Night, Peregrine

I was always under the impression that you had to be over 18 to submit games to Steam but this clearly proves that isn't true because there's no way someone above the age of 15 made this

I went through a roller coaster of "I spent money on this?" to "it's... alright?" The main thing you should know when getting into this game is that [i] you will not like most of the characters, [/i] and that's the point. The protagonist and his friends especially are obnoxiously terrible people, but I think after I accepted that as fact I was able to enjoy the game a little better. Though there are still several scenes where the characters act eyerollingly edgy to a point that it can really take you out of the story. The game was made by a first-time dev, so I'll be a little more lenient on criticism and focus more on things I feel actually bothered me beyond just nitpicks. [list] [*] The list of triggers at the start of the game should be extended, yes the game includes self harm and death but just adding "etc" at the end doesn't do a good job of telling people what the rest of them are. The game has a lot of heavy topics in it so I don't think it should laze out on giving proper warnings. The steam page has a few more listed so anyone thinking of playing the game please read trough those first! [*] Sometimes text would extend on to a third row, but it wouldn't fit the text box but instead be halfway over the menu at the bottom. At some points it's an obvious stylistic choice, but in others it's just as obviously a mistake. I think there's also a lot of clarity that could be added to the text boxes. Different colored names for different characters, maybe italicized text to differentiate between the protagonist's thoughts and general narration. I also found the text just a little bit hard to read, which can usually be a quick fix by just making the background behind the text darker, or just experimenting with different fonts. [*] The backgrounds are sometimes a little hard to look at (and make the text harder to read as I mentioned above), and I think I would've preferred hand drawn backgrounds (maybe simple black-and-white ones?) over what I think are just photos with a few filters on top. The art style of the characters is really nice so I would've liked to see that extended to the environments more. [*] The music in a lot of segments feels out of place. Most of the game is silent, so I feel the game would do better with music and sound effects that are more low-key. [/list] One of the main things in the story I was confused by was [i] whether or not Eve was supposed to be Perry's sister [/i]. I don't think the game ever states what their relationship is, so based on the fact that they live together and their designs and color schemes are similar (and Eve looks much younger), I assumed she was supposed to be the protagonist's younger sibling, which would make one of the scenes at the very end of the game uh... [i]extremely uncomfortable[/i] [i]Edit: The dev has confirmed that Eve is a roommate![/i] Overall I think the game is fine? Maybe a 6.5/10, just a little above average. The art is nice, but I feel like I've seen and read this exact same story ten times over in the past, just with different characters. The writing isn't outstanding but it's not completely awful either, but I do think at points it goes a little too far in bathing in the self harm/hate aspects of the main character. I guess it was effective at making me uncomfortable, but I'm not quite sure if it was because of the subject matter or the scenes just went on for long enough to become awkward. For a first-time game that's meant to be experimental I'd say it's good enough to earn a recommendation, though whether or not you want to throw in the money to play it is up to you.

I really didn't enjoy this vn. I usually enjoy and can relate to depressed, anxious characters, but the main character, Peregrine, isn't sympathetic at all, especially with how fatphobic and misogynistic he is. One of his friends, Kojaku is also a fatphobic, holier than thou loser. Finally, the ending kinda just feels like shock value.

[h1][i][b]Omitting retained upheavals – a silent witness to the very own tedious decay.[/b][/i][/h1] [b][i]Disclaimer: If you find any of the mentioned in-game behaviors to be relatable, it is highly advised to seek for professional help and to not underestimate the severity of such behaviours.[/i][/b] [b][i]TW: suicide, death, trauma mention, depression, self-harm, violence[/i][/b] [h1]Curiosity-inducing character design:[/h1] The aspect of this game that has pulled me into purchasing it mainly would be the featured art style and the presented character design – I personally found myself to be very curious about them -, second, its price. A super cheap indie story rich game being short on reviews? Let me handle that! From the game’s presentation and previews what I assumed purely basing myself on the art style is that this would be a dark emotional ride. The art style does remind me of something I saw on Tumblr years ago, mainly for vent art purposes and art related to trauma representations. Of course this does not equalize to me taking a decision ahead on how to interpret the game before trying it out – there are no rules coming to art and whatnot the artist chooses to represent! I purely do find myself to be a good observer coming to different things and I do find it to be enjoyable to ponder about subjects after few examinations. [h1]Experimental Kinetic Novel:[/h1] First things first – it is clearly noticeable that this game could be assembled way better if the Developer would have decided to polish its assets and graphics, however, I think the whole worked fine nonetheless. Most of the presented art appears to be more akin to doodles instead of finished digital art pieces. Taking in count those may be simply the artist’s personal brush strokes, while comparing them all together, there will still be some works resulting more elaborated than others. Thus, I think this game could’ve been arranged either by a rookie Developer, or as an experimental indie story rich game. The game does make usage of royalty-free music and some real life photographs as backgrounds. The latter feature is quite bothersome to the eyes due to the used pattern and the presented high saturation added to the images. Did come upon few errors such as character names being displayed as on dialogue sections, during purely narrative parts. It is also possible to come upon sections where the text will overlap a tad much upon the text box, it is advised to section it into two or more parts if needed. [h1]Fluffy personages giving shape to adverse personalities:[/h1] [i][b]The game is characterized by anthropomorphic figures presented with really huge and fluffy ears. However, our soft-looking protagonist, Peregrine, is not as soft as they may appear. In fact, the game is based upon their traumatic past slowly resurfacing through occasional nightmares that will cause Perry to lead a severely unhealthy lifestyle with toxic connections and allarming coping mechanisms.[/b][/i] [i][b]Getting through the days smoking weed and self-harming while the surroundings won’t notice the danger behind Peregrine’s silence does make us surely ponder if the script was made by an adult or a person in their teens. The touched themes through the story and the writing style as a whole does remind of teenage times spent retired in own room while browsing depressive media and being retired from society.[/b][/i] [h1]Shadows veiling silently, nullifying an existence… until one is completely engulfed:[/h1] [i][b]Good Night, Peregrine is a Kinetic Novel (therefore no choice will be presented) narrating the story of Peregrine, our main character who is living together with his girlfriend Eve, but being placed at the same location does not exactly mean being close. In fact Perry tends to brush her off and won’t recognize any of her efforts, quite the opposite in fact, he will find her advances to be disturbing and bothersome, “typical of women” even. This maladjusted pattern might surely be linked to the fact Peregrine will always be found to choose running away from reality in order to not face the cherished past that came to crush upon the MC. This however will cause his illness to grow more and more, to the point Perry, who is already completely out of control, eventually collapse until it is too late. While Peregrine prefers to spend time with his friend circle, no one but Eve will truly notice how severe his mental state currently is. His friends will come to see him brushing off hurtful topics or occasional overreactions, but won’t actually make an effort on understanding what is going on or taking a step towards Perry, in an attempt to lend a helping hand, unlike the lonely Eve. We will find Peregrine assuming sexist viewpoints towards Eve, or using heavily offensive sentences towards his so-called friends. This however won’t be in-depth discussed as it is clearly seen that this game is treating many dark topics such as PTSD and heavily unhealthy lifestyles; we cannot talk about being rational or what is considered to be “correct” or “basic human etiquette” here.[/b][/i] [h1]Not fully convincing yet interesting at the same time:[/h1] The story will not appear to be rushed, but is truly demanding some adjustments coming to the narrative style. While we see what kind of story it is, I do not find appealing the idea of reading through what seems to be a writing realized by an inexperienced 15 year old teen. Again, the story was understandable, but some scenes could have been portrayed better, using better rephrasings. I personally do not mind reading a story regarding a character like Peregrine whom is stuck in such a depressive state and whatnot they choose to cope with, but, if my mind does begin viewing the writer to be almost as premature as the character, I do actually find an issue with it. I want the story to be enjoyable whatever the topic is taken upon, not to be found to be effortless and make the public doubt whether it was an enjoyable ride or heavily annoying – here, sadly, I completely understand where some reviewers do come from and I find it to be a pity that such an important detail as the writing style went overlooked. [h1]Unfold the dark:[/h1] The progressive derangement Peregrine was going through in this game does remind me of other media I came upon through years, but the title that constantly came to mind during my read was none other than Oyasmi Punpun by Inio Asano. A whole different level, of course, but I found interesting how certain concepts were heavily related to the mentioned manga. [i][b]It will be possible to see the abrupt changes in what you were used to believe coming to your surroundings and your life altogether - Perry is heavily delusional, but the fact he will also feel profoundly betrayed in many aspects won’t help clearing up his current state for sure.[/b][/i] [h1]Overall:[/h1] Personally, I do think that given its price if you are looking for a short yet dark read, you should give this game a try, but keep in mind it won’t have any choices and will lead you to a single outcome! Do not expect the story to present mature characters and be ready to face it with an open mind – beware of the trigger warnings! [quote]Discover interesting visual novels, indie games and more on my Curator Page! 　　　　　　　　　　　　　🪴 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/46144642/][b]Gyepi Nook[/b][/url] 🪴[/quote]

I liked the part where the fat guy got beat up.

i wasted 3 minutes downloading this game, the main character is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and has no redeeming qualities what so ever

Feels like a video/game you would find after the creator committed some heinous crime. Very much feels like the creation of some angsty teen.

Ow the edge. The developer of this one did not mess around and went for a full mile and extra. You can assume what kind of story this game presents by reading mature content warnings, and well, it really is about all of these things. I am giving this game thumbs down because this game really only is appealing to the troubled souls that finds the protag relatable(they shouldn't play this to be frankly) and perverted minds who find amusement in edgy content(such as me). I have no questions on why the dev is now finding this an embarrassment, but it is still sad to see it's delisting in April as the art and general writing style on this isn't half bad. Good night, Peregrine. You will be remembered.

Worth 99 cents nothing less definitely could see this being fleshed out in the future or just kept as a standalone short story ending was kinda mid not because it was negative but because it was done in a poor way they should've had a bit more character development for Eve (especially if you're going to end it like that) but for, once again, a game that isn't even a dollar from a new developer not bad wish it was longer I'd rate it Mbappe/Messi (8.5/10)