i am not normal about this game. /pos (/≧▽≦)/
i really, REALLY hope this gem gets the recognition it absolutely deserves - trans theft horso is basically if undertale and west of loathing had a cowpoke kid, with a healthy dose of skunks, hens, fish, and queers! the humour, story, characters, messages, representation, and artwork are all absolutely magical, and i am SO glad i picked this game up!! will absolutely spread the word to all of my friends of gender (or non-gender!) <33
i originally tried out this game because it looked VERY up my street (hyperfixations on gender and undertale lead you to beautiful places......), the trailer sold me *instantly*, and i just felt so sad that this game only had a few reviews when it's obvious that so much care and gender gladness went into it. this game blew all my expectations out of the water, and it's very quickly solidified itself into the 'favourite games' collection of my librarby!
essentially, if you liked undertale (for the humour and transness) or west of loathing (for the humour and westernness), you will most likely love this game! (i do not accept liability if you decide you hate it instead........ /silly)
this game doesn't overstay its welcome, yet every second you're playing it, you can't stop grinning from the witty humour, loveable cast, and clear passion behind every facet of the art that this game is (especially when the few lyrical songs start playing - wouldn't say no to a trans theft horso musical with complementary hormones any day of the week! XDD /hj)
the storyline is also incredibly original - which is a near-impossible feat in this age purely because so many ideas have already been created, so congrats to the creator!! while it has hallmarks of tropes and already-seen storylines, the vast majority is made to be so original that i had to be *incredibly* nitpicky about already-seen tropes. and having those isn't anything bad! stories are often made better by paying homage to previously-seen ideas from other stories, and this game balances them perfectly with its own massively original storyline. it's so refreshing to see so much thought put into one without falling into the trap of copying the same tropes word-for-word, so i could not be more happy about that! :DDDD
this game also runs really well! the only issues i ever came across were *incredibly* minor bugs (one or two moments where i could walk somewhere i wasn't meant to (i could immediately return to the correct area of land so absolutely no issue there), and one tiny hiccup that i fixed in about a minute ([spoiler]my fishy friend randomly disappeared from my party in act 2, but i was immediately able to go back and get them again by going back to an old save file with no further issues! they stayed with me for the rest of the game and i was very happy to have them with me :333[/spoiler]), so you don't need to worry about those! trust me, i have a phobia of glitches in games, so considering i was entirely fine and nothing ever impeded my progress in recovering hormones, i have absolutely zero complaints lol! the tiny bugs make the game feel that much more human anyhow <333)
i was originally a little wary of buying this purely due to not knowing how long its runtime is (more than happy to pay full-price for games, but if i was paying £9 for a potentially 2 hour experience i would feel a little ripped off haha), but the game took me 7 hours to beat (probably could be done in less if i wasn't checking everything over and over for its charming storytelling in flavour text lol)! and considering i was expecting a 4hr game judging by reviews, i was EXTREMELY happy that it was even more story i could enjoy!! :DDDD
also, i'm genderfluid, and having the option to switch pronouns to anything from binary to they/them to even neopronouns at any time makes me SO happy - thank you so much for including the option!! :DDD
my only negative is that i haven't managed to find any mysterium in real life........... :(((( /sillyyyyy
(also, the credits were SO SWEET [spoiler]with the pictures of all the animals irl[/spoiler], was stimming SO MUCH by the end of it 🥹🥹)
so please i beg of you. if you are gendered, non-gendered, questionably gendered, questionably non-gendered, gendered on thursdays, or anything in between and outside (and that includes cis people, even if the target audience is of course the trans community), please. PLEASE check out this game. so much love has gone into it, and it's reminded me why i love queer indie games so much. :333
and cow children games - thank you so much for creating this gem of a game!!! i'm so so SO glad i took a chance with it! ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆
(edit: whoever gave me a warm blanket award, thank you!!!!! (and in case anyone else gives me awards, thank you as well !!!) - i shall snuggle underneath it with boxes upon boxes of hormones and blåhaj :333)
(double edit: i won't add anything else to this review, but i just wanted to say that when i got a jester award for this review, i had no idea they were given as a sarcastic/rude award lollll - i just thought the people enjoyed me donning my jester cap and jingling my bells whole-heartedly /gen! ofc, if this WAS given with good intentions then thank you so much!!!! just wanna cover all my bases here lollll - so, regardless if it was meant cruelly or kindly, thank you for letting me jingle my hat and its bells, kind stranger, and may your gender be merry! let us cosy up under the warm blanket together 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵 (/sillyyyyyyy!! and dw if it WAS well-intentioned, i promise i'm not offended in the slightest lol!! been giggling over it very happily hehe !!! <3333 /gen!!!))
