RUNT

If you enjoy a VN with a powerful narrative voice, a compelling, dark and ominous world and interesting characters that try your bias or sympathy, Runt is a definite recommend. Art is thoroughly excellent as well, the dream sequences were a big favourite of mine. The sound design adds so much to the chilling atmosphere and the tactile little bits your character does. My recommendation would be to focus on a single character per playthrough, a lot can change and can be revealed if you talk to them every day, even better if you investigate the story threads/"side quests" they're included in and the people they're closer to. I've personally notebooked some questions/results which is how I like to play in general but it has enabled me to get minute differences in later game-days or subsequent playthroughs, and I found it really satisfying to unearth some odd dialogue even if it took some doing. There's a lot of depth to this game if you're willing to go digging. Yes there are some minor growing pains with certain aspects of minigames like click/target accuracy but once you get a grip on it it's not a big issue (and it's worthwhile to embrace the failure once in a while to see the outcomes or reactions). Overall the narrative has such an excellent sense of place and works so well telling the story through Runt's limited understanding of the world that every playthrough gives you-the-player something to chew on - even if you don't get to solve everything there's so much to the themes, the personalities, the motivations and their real life parallels that kept me thinking about it after and between playing. Very strong effort for a first game.

Just got my first ending and cannot wait to look into the further mysteries! I've played a lot of visual novels with varying levels of quality of life features that help with replayability, and I personally think this one sits right in the middle. If you've ever played any sort of mystery whodunnit visual novel, this will be in the ballpark of what to expect; in fact, you technically only have to get 3 endings to get the final one from what I'm gathering. I'm a big fan of the atmosphere, the writing, the character designs, and the world-building; and I'm excited to see how it all comes together to shape my understanding of the story.

I still love it.

Oppressive atmosphere, great characters, and a mystery with too many layers to pull back in a single playthrough. I’m excited to keep playing.

After playing through it all and getting the 'true ending' I got a lot of thoughts and feelings about this game. It's not perfect, but it really got me hooked in to the world. The positive: - Interesting characters that made me want to replay to see more of them and make different story choices. - Cool world and story - Puzzles/mini games are all unique and challenging in their own way. - All original art. With how common AI is used as a shortcut in developing games it really is good to see some people still making their own games. The negative: - Can be buggy in spots. A couple of times I would have a black screen when it was clear something else should be happening. A character was thought to have died when they did not die. - The minigames can be a bit repetitive when you play through the game so many times. - Many typos and grammar errors, especially during the last two days. Despite some of the game's flaws I still really liked it.

RUNT is an unlikely addition to my library. I usually don't play visual novels at all, but the premise of this one drew me in instantly. What comes across as low polish grows on you fast in the dingy and gross atmosphere of the game. I don't think I've seen a visual novel with this sort of art style before, and it greatly contributed to my interest. I especially loved the exterior shots of locations, and any gross and slimy close-ups on wounds and such. Visceral stuff. It's a heavy game to play, on account of the premise, topics and the brothers, but it's also a heaviness that draws you in and keeps you going through the whole story. The setting is interesting, and the background of the brothers struck me as quite unexplored in videogames, not to this raw and visceral extent, anyway (but I have a limited scope, so who knows..) The characters are never surface level, always hiding something, and uncovering it is an incredibly rewarding feeling. Every day of the game, there was something I found that made me pause, reconsider my original theory and then fall into absolute befuddlement at how the hell you are supposed to figure any of this out. While a bit frustrating at times, it never deterred me from playing, and even if I rage-quit during a pesky minigame or at the end of a bad day, I was quick to return because this game occupies the mind like a parasite. One thing I have to complain about are said pesky minigames. While thematic and never one-off during the game (if you order your shifts right and get a proper tutorial...), the controls are janky to say the least and often spiked my blood pressure. I don't expect much gameplay from a visual novel, of course, but this was the one very frustrating part of the game I never looked forward to. TL,DR: While it has its flaws, RUNT is a great game with strong characters and heavy themes and topics, that I can't recommend enough to fans of horror. 9/10, Tanner come home I can fix you PLEASE

I'm obsessed with this game. The first time I sat down to play, I thought, "Oh, I'll give it 20 minutes--" and then I played for 4 hours. I had run to get a notebook to take NOTES. I am hooked. And let me tell you why. This game was made with such love, such care, and such...detail. The art is incredible. I found myself pausing to really take in the environments. Even in such a bleak setting there is so much beauty, and also such an understanding of how light works, even in the dark. Despite this being a game that is set in dark times, it is VERY colorful in the ways that the dark can be! It's so well-painted, and I highly recommend really looking closely at the environments. I love the way things feel grounded and textured, kind of a beautiful mix between painterly, but also grounded in the reality of the setting. Then, there's the writing. It's beyond clever, it's really, really thoughtful and Good. It has what I would call the Full Range of Human Emotion quality, which I think is very common to good creative work. Life in its most complex has many emotions in it, sometimes ones that seem strange bedfellows-- there is sadness, humor, fear, absurdity, but also, a sense of poetry. Above all, there is a sense of humanity. The different characters are coping with their reality in different ways, some very drastically, some at the expense of their sanity, but there's something familiar about it all. I think what means a lot to me is that the depiction of human pain feels human and full of heart, even despite and in fact with the darkness. It's really beautifully done, and even a few hours in it has compelled me. I have already become fond of some of these characters, and their very human ranges of expression. There has also been at least one moment that made me laugh out loud in surprise. Also, the music and the sound design is really top-notch. This is where I'm going to start sounding really clumsy because I don't know how to talk about music as easily as I feel like I can talk about art or writing, but it feels really a cut above. It's introspective and dark and interesting, and it's textural, too, like it feels kind of like the textures of the paintings themselves, almost. It feels like the different elements that make this up come together really harmoniously. I think one thing that blows my mind is when I got to the first round of credits is just how few people made this game. The art and writing are made by like TWO PEOPLE (which considering the size of the game, feels wild), and then there's one musician who made the music, and then there's a few other folks but...considering the breadth of this game, that's wild. Like with any game release, yeah, you might find a bug, but the devs are responsive to fixing bugs as fast as they can. Idk, AAA games come out with way buggier stuff, and considering the size of this team, I just think this is really impressive and cool. There is definitely one puzzle I won't get the first time around but honestly that's ok-- as someone who is also currently working on Blue Prince, that feels just right, to me. I'm excited to unfold the lore, I feel like this game rewards that. Anyway this probably got really long, I rarely leave game reviews but something about this really moved me. I have a notebook full of notes and a mystery to solve, and I feel thankful for it. Also the little monster drawings in the credits are so cute.

I don't play many games like this, but found myself unable to put this one down. Great writing, fantastic atmosphere, and a stellar soundtrack. One of the most unique and oppressive trips through an apocalyptic world I've had.

This is a fascinating, creative, interesting and fun game that I cannot recommend as it is terribly coded, buggy, and absolutely miserable to play.