I Was a Teenage Exocolonist

A friend recommended this game to me on the basis that there would be an amazing time loop torment-nexus. I was not disappointed.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME ENDING SPOILERS My main problem with this game is that I fundamentally disagree with the direction the devs took some of the endings. Humanity's submission to an alien AI is treated like a good ending only because it stops humanity's constant struggle against the AI's efforts at exterminating us, but the ending where you destroy that AI instead isn't given a proper set of epilogue screens. This means that version of peace isn't given equal weight to surrender, in spite of the fact it would still have prevented basically all of the tragedies from the neutral "endless warfare" endings. It's clear the devs think of surrender as the best outcome, in spite of the fact that The Array ending is literally just self-defense on the humans' part. And of course, The Array (and Tangent's Cure, I guess) is the only option for humanity to escape submission or constant warfare, because there is literally no option to negotiate humanity's equal co-existence with the AI. This is compounded by the fact that the humans are not a colonial force sent to steal the planet from the native populace, they're basically a bunch of anarcho-communist climate refugees fleeing a decaying Earth who thought the planet had no intelligent life on it and can't leave because their ship was destroyed (some fascist humans do show up later but you can depose them). Apparently that doesn't matter and we all need to surrender our freedom to a hive mind? Annoying. Still, the option to fight back is still there even if it feels like the game resents you for taking it, so I won't fault them for it too much, and if you find surrender particularly annoying and still want all the special epilogue screens, you can just flip off Noctilucent and do the neutral endings. Besides that, the biggest issue I have is that after I played it, every other game I played in this genre felt like a bunch of shallow twee anime ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in comparison. It's a really good game, the characters are delightful, the gameplay is fun, the philosophical themes are intriguing, and doing repeat runs allows for some really interesting new options because of the time loop mechanic. Absolutely a recommend, and if I didn't love the game so much I wouldn't be so frustrated by the ending. (Also you shouldn't be able to tell Tangent you remember growing old with her in a past life if you literally can't stay in a relationship with her in any ending no matter what. That's just mean.)

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS! I am obsessed with this game. I cried multiple times. The story is moving. I find myself wanting to play again and again (which is good because there are time loop elements). It's part cozy life sim part RPG part deck builder part resource management sim. I don't know how they make it work, but they do. If you are just there for the narrative, there is a way to skip the card games entirely, though I never do. I find I love the deck building aspect, and your deck will get better as you replay and retain memories of your past lives. You can enable high difficulties if things get too easy for you. Also, the music and art are both BEAUTIFUL. I can't believe I am so late to this game. It is now my absolute favorite. Replayability factor VERY HIGH! I love all the characters. 10/10 no notes.

This game was soooo good!! I'm not usually one to replay a game once I get an ending as I usually like to see what outcome I get if I play true to myself. However, this game was so engaging that I found myself immediatly jumping into new games to play it differently and discover new outcomes! I've played through 7 different stories so far and each one has had completely new and unique experiences that I was not expecting. There are still so many more endings I want to explore! The game really makes you think about how you would react in the situation too. Would definitely reccomend!

Does the idea of a game you can have multiple paths on perfectly. The past lives memory idea makes shortcuts for certain paths you've already done in prior games, allowing you to more easily tailor each run to your desires without having to go through lengthy side quests. The story is wonderful, and you truly do feel like you are running through every timeline, trying desperately to find one where everyone can be happy, and finding that timeline is incredibly rewarding. All the same, you can also just play once, enjoy that, and be done with it.

I really enjoyed the story. The stat raising aspect can hit a bit of a wall towards the end of runs where you're maxed out on the ones you want but end up going back to the same sections, but as a whole it's a really good system. The characters are charming, some unexpectedly so. You can only focus on a few friendships a run, so picking different friends is a really simple way of keeping things fresh. They all evolve so well through the years, it's great. The story itself is fun. You do want to make sure you go outside the walls early though, it seems like most things need a little of it, but other than that it's pretty good about letting you make decisions on what's important to you. The world feels really alive, especially on your first run when everything is new but on later runs there's enough going on to keep it fresh. Different choices DO affect the story, some more than others. But also it feels like the story affects the character, you're not just transplanted in. And you want to make choices that honor that. For example, I ALWAYS do charisma routes first when available but there's an event early on that literally made me go 'Well that would have changed the trajectory of my life forever' and swap over. The multiple-run bits are well intergrated into the story, (And one of the endings even goes further in depth into it) Do take heed of warnings, especially for character death. There are a few potential deaths (Most of which WILL happen on your first run) and at least one unavoidable one.

Generally well-written, pleasant, with some very neat art design. Had me emotional a few times. I'm on my third playthrough now and am experiencing excellent replay value. The core gameplay loop is nice and has a few changes throughout that break up the monotony as your character ages. Do be aware there is a "content warnings" section for a reason, and this is accurately T rated. I expected more of a "cozy" game than I got, and while that was a pleasant surprise for me, children or young teenagers may not be so keen on it.