The Immaculate Drag

I have been cigarette free for almost 7 years now and haven’t regretted it for one moment. Yet, nevertheless, I kept having this certain je ne sais quoi of [i]“I could use a smoke”[/i] thoughts playing this. The vibe is just that Immaculate.

I bought five games during this Steam summer sale and this one is by far the absolute highlight. It was amidst my rewatch of "Xavier: Renegade Angel" that I played this and I couldn't have chosen a better moment, as the overly swollen, pseudo-deep, beautifully voiceacted, highly cinematic and hilarious monologues of our protagonist are the first thing that hit me as a stroke of genius while experiencing this delight. Very much like the pretengenius ramblings of Xavier, the inner thoughts of our protagonist are expressed via paragraphs that are nothing short of poetry, just instead of esoteric shamanism it's the pulpy, kischy heart of Noir-media, heightened and filtered through the glowing style of 80's Synthiewave. What a combination! The beautiful longing of a lost, heartbroken, hardened author with writer's block, in a smoky apartment, reminiscing about regrets, waiting for that one call....right at the palm-crested beach, under the eternal purple moon, backed with that PERFECT score by Evan Clarke that is constantly playing in my room eversince. But that's not it either - as if the audiovisual mixture of these monologues and noir sensibilities with more contemporary synthwave stylistics, united by nostalgia, wasn't interesting enough already, "The Immaculate Drag" cleverly counteracts these seemingly shallow culture imitations with dialogue that is grounded, realistic, relatable and - first and foremost - philosophical. Each of the expertly chosen and ideally paced - I wouldn't have wanted a single NPC more or less - dialogues concerns problems, ideas and concepts like the artist's struggle, the passing of time, sickness and death or a questioning of the world we live in - relatable topics that get explored eloquently, yet never preachy, and impressively make it clear that "The Immaculate Drag" is very much its' own thing, a unique voice and experience, skillfully balancing a visual style between full-on 80's Synthiewave and slightly abstracted realism, a theme and tone between the melancholic longing of Noir cinema and the blissful parody of that very notion, an overall experience I couldn't have expected. And it doesn't stop there either because the notes you can find feature some quality writing from a variety of different genres that I wouldn't have expected in this title AT ALL but it really worked, I could totally imagine my character writing these notes. If I had to mention some critical points, it would get nitpicky pretty soon: On a third run or so, it's a bit annoying that one can't skip the monologues/cutscenes, but then again I love the writing and this isn't a game for loads of runs, so that's alright with me. The fact that there's no character model and instead just a floating, smoking entitiy may be a bit weird, but it fits to the theme of aimless souls, forgotten ghosts roaming these streets. The only component I was really unhappy with were the achievements, as I don't understand why one would create achievments for the game to be played in this or that time or manner, as some of these don't come down to challenge or ingenuity, but instead waiting it out. :/ But hey, loved the smoking mechanic, which also works as a progress bar. Really thought the drawn characters designs during the dialogues fitted both the game and character models really well. Had a blast trying out different dialogue options and outcomes. So yeah, this is a true indie gem, evocative and perfectly paced, stylish and with a killer soundtrack, philosophical and mature, kitschy and funny, emotional and heartwrenching at the same time. (8.5(+)/10)

I enjoyed this little gem! It is a story that feels strangely personal, especially if you're a tired creative, suddenly realizing that life has already happened, and you wonder if you have anything to show for it. And everyone else you meet are looking for that genuine depth and meaning, just like you, but just can't find the [i]connection[/i]. Yeah! This got me deep into a soul-searching journey... just to find out there's no answers to anything. :P It is a short game, about 20-30 minutes, a bit longer if you care to look for all achievements and all three different endings. It has that quirky 90's graphics through a vaporwave/VHS-lens. Lovely atmosphere, and not in any way demanding. Recommended!

This game is such a vibe, really immerses you into the character and the "miami synthwave" vibe, it's just a good time all the way. For sure It'll be a game that I'll think about from time to time, I hope a lot of people get to experience it and have some self reflection. Also the game keeps updating, it seems the developer is really present with it, you can really see they put a lot of love into it.

Mad depressing and existential but in the best way, love the vibes, voice acting, and especially the music

This game feels like either your youth (when you're walking home from a party still little exited but already calm inside, smoking and seizing the moments) or your present when you'd experienced your life, made your own mistakes and now are free enough just to walk and have little talks with strangers about this while smoking cigarets together. If you are drunk or high and looking for something to get stuck on, this game is nice for you. Colors, shades and music, it's just something you need to feel. The dialogues at the same time are simple and deep, the atmosphere is just something you should try. 100% worth it.

Reminded me of a weird phase in my life actually, just made me feel like home for a reason especially the ending . After playing this game I went to a certain landmark in my town just to sit down on a bench and smoke with my best friend and chat under the full moon , that experience was really soothing and chill even when I think back to that time it just relaxes my soul. overall the visuals and story is fine with various dialogues and pages and as a smoker and having trouble with creators block sometimes i find this game so relatable.

i wanted to like this game and was sure i was going to, but i'm almost certain it's made by AI. something is just off about it and not in a good way.

Vibes

10/8 More underground games: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45665580-Dark-Surreal-Ps1Grafics-Weird-Deep-Game