Comment This game is art in the truest sense of the word (Score 2, Insightful) 209
I played it a while back and was really blown away by it. It bugs me when people criticize it without having played it. it addresses topics like
- the nature of evil - first does evil even mean anything,
- bullying & the hell that high school can be
(you have final-fantasy style battles with jocks, nerds , etc; also illustrates what the world-view of someone alienated would be like; viewing everybody along these narrow strata)
- nature vs nurture, what made these kids snap whereas other kids didn't
- delves into their hopes & fears, incidents in the past - you uncover back story like in any other rpg
- media - what effect do games like doom and music like NIN have?
(you can pick up marilyn manson cds which "create a violent rage", improve your stats)
- the drugs that the kids were on - in your inventory is the anti-depressant
Excellent use of 8 bit rpg aesthetic. MIDI version of Smells Like Teen Spirit sends chills down my spine.
rpgs - good for exploring characters
seeing dialog in video game format ("..." press a button "...") distances you from it
pretending to be somebody else makes you think about who they were
inventory sez hey he was on drugs
it risked a lot
it was deeply personal