Meet Claude

This was a game that was exactly what it said it would be. Except, I didn't read the description. I like playing games blind. It took me three minutes of gameplay to come to the conclusion that everything in the game was more than likely made by AI. When I reached the credits, I was not surprised. Some of the dialogue felt soulless, and the art looked copy-paste. I was, at first, genuinely shocked at how ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awful some of this game is. I routinely chose the 'politely decline' or as close to it as the game gave me. And yet it still ended in getting Claude's help. When I neared the end, it gave me a summary of what I did. The numbers were right, but when it showed me what dialogue choices I made? Completely wrong. [i](Edited addition: The more I think about this game, it feels more intentional. Unless you staunchly reject Claude at the very beginning, you physically cannot stop Claude from 'helping'. Which is very much how AI use tends to go, when you have friends or peers using it. Maybe it wasn't intentional, maybe it wasn't intended to represent that. But it's still interesting to me.)[/i] At one point, I accidentally pressed the 'e' key while skipping past some of the most soulless AI written slop I had ever seen. And a developer menu popped up, with the option to rearrange dialogue. I didn't touch anything, and tried to exit. It still completely broke the scene and I had to restart. [i](Edited addition: Multiple times when trying to create a new save without completely finishing the previous one, it broke the game. Not sure why or how. I'll continue adding other issues I find as I replay the game)[/i] That was when it occurred to me that this game was probably coded by AI too. Spoiler, if you haven't read the disclaimer, it was. Admittedly... The music was pretty good. I have nothing to say about that. Repetitive, but not that bad to have in the background. One thing I loathed about this game was the puzzles. Doing a wordsearch without knowing what the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ words are is impossible. It's like a spelling bee except the adjudicator decided it would be fun to ask the contestant to spell a word that has something to do with bread. It's not how those things are meant to work, and it's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ trick to make you have to use the hints. The document sorting was also a pain in the ass. Trying to find the file you just put down (that, in my playthrough, disappeared to the shadow realm at one point) is infuriating. And the reports such at getting the point across. No proper notes should be in paragraphs, use bullet points you sadistic piece of ♥♥♥♥. But... That might be the point. The puzzles are impossible to solve without the hints, or at least they seem that way. But if you keep trying (failing quite a bit) you'll get there. And that's much more actual satisfaction when you do it that way. It also feels extraordinarily punishing. It's not fun at all. But it's you. Isn't that better? The story of this game was predictable. I saw it coming a mile away. But it was raw, and the ending where Claude left was genuinely a little inspiring. Change is possible. This is the sort of story I love in games. Stories where it's someone's experience, and you feel like the character. I may have saw it coming... But I still let it happen. That's the point of this game. Or at least it's my interpretation of it. I love the story, and I hate the game. This is the sort of game I would love to watch a video essay about. This is not the sort of game I would love to play. I do not recommend playing this game. The writing sucks, the art sucks, it glitched more than once, and I almost soft locked myself by pressing 'e'. But the story was great. Funnily enough, the only part I liked was the bit that wasn't from an AI. Take that as you will. But don't play this game. [i](Edited addition: It might be good to play if you... Don't mind all the glitches and the AI use? As long as you like the game, that's all that matters. I can't really tell you not to play something when one day after the review I went back to try and get different endings. Getting to do an analysis of the game is pretty fun, and that's something I like. But I probably wouldn't recommend this game if you prefer playing video games to relax or have fun. This is more of a game that I would play if I wanted to feel punished and a little satisfied.)[/i] Also... If anyone accuses this review of being written by AI... Know that I'm a proud writer of fanfiction. Which is one of the main sources AI takes from to formulate sentences and paragraphs. I've actually had my work stolen by AI. I pushed aside my hatred for AI's questionable sources for the review, and instead focused on how much this sucked [i](Edited addition: sucked to play. I still like the story.)[/i] [i](Edited Addition: Originally this review was negative. But, after a bit more looking into the story... I'm willing to make it a positive review. Sure, the game sucks to PLAY a lot of the time, but I think it's actually pretty fun if you're a nerd that loves analysis (like me).)[/i]