WE SHOULD TALK. Review for Steam

We should talk. is certainly a different experience than most mainstream games. The text-based, choose-your-path game from developer Insatiable Cycle LLC and publisher Whitethorn Digital focuses on you having a night out at the bar while your girlfriend Sam stays home, allowing you to flirt with or reject other patrons while texting her and ultimately determine the future of your relationship.

To be honest, We should talk. didn’t do it for me. It certainly has redeeming qualities, and I think some people would enjoy it, but in this review I’ll talk about my experience and why it fell short in my eyes. I think it’s great when games make a point, and this one certainly does, but you should still have fun playing, and I know this sounds harsh, but I didn’t have much fun. I was so stressed about every decision I made and each new opportunity to change the fate of my relationship that I wasn’t really able to enjoy myself, and when I tried to do anything other than stay completely faithful, I just felt slimy. I understand that the game is probably meant to take you out of your comfort zone, and I think some people would have fun with it, but for me, it made me uncomfortable at the cost of my enjoyment.

There’s also a pretty significant lack of replayability for a short game designed for the user to explore all the endings. After discovering 3 of them, it became exponentially harder for me to reach a new conclusion. Something as small as changing one seemingly insignificant piece of a sentence could set you on a totally different path, which is a cool concept, but makes unlocking all the endings pretty difficult. I also got really tired of seeing the same dialogue over and over as I attempted to nuance my way into something new, and I think adding the option to skip dialogue after you’ve beaten the game once could better motivate the player to keep working towards new endings. Another possible “post-game” feature could be the option to return to your last dialogue selection and change it if you get a result you don’t like. I know that dealing with the consequences of your words is the premise of the game, but by the sixth or seventh playthrough, it’s really frustrating to get forced into the same finale.

The last aspect of We should talk. that didn’t quite meet my expectations is the length. My first playthrough, I carefully deliberated every option I was given, and it still couldn’t have taken more than 25 minutes. I know that the multiple endings are meant to provide a lot more play time and content, but the playthrough itself felt a little rushed, and with the frustrating amount of repetition in subsequent runs, it’s pretty easy to lose interest. If that single night was just a little longer, or if you played through three consecutive nights at the bar, that would allow for even more character development, making the player more invested and upping the replayability of the game.

While I struggled with certain aspects of We should talk., it definitely does some things right. The intent behind the game, for example, is probably to make the player consider the immense impact that a few words could have on others and their own life, and in my case, it achieved its goal. The segmented dialogue choice is a really interesting concept that I haven’t seen anywhere else, and the sentences it created usually made sense, which was highly impressive given the number of combinations available. Also, the dialogue itself felt pretty realistic, which contributed strongly to immersing the player in the game.

One of my favorite things about We should talk. was the soundtrack. Somehow, it fit the vibe perfectly. It was ever present without annoying me, and each song sounded like something you would hear at that bar, in that situation. The color palette also lent itself to the bar setting, and the graphics were fine. I also really liked the inclusivity of the We should talk. cast. The game includes characters of different races and sexual orientations/identities and deftly acknowledges the impact those characteristics can have on a person’s life without making them the defining characteristics of those individuals, which is a pretty amazing accomplishment for such a small game.

We should talk. is a pretty well-written, choose-your-own-adventure take on a night out while in a committed relationship, but the short play time and poor replay value make it a lot less enjoyable, and for me personally, the stress it caused made it feel more like a string of real life situations I would avoid at all costs than something I would play for fun. We should talk. just wasn’t for me, and my rating is a reflection of that, but if you’re looking for a quick, story-centric game that lets you explore the nuances of language and relationships, maybe you should consider giving it a try.

Check Out the We Should Talk. Steam Trailer:

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Sam Browning

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Hi! I'm Sam, a junior at Davidson College, and ever since I first turned on my DS Lite and booted up Pokémon Pearl, I've loved playing video games. In particular, I'm a huge fan of Minecraft, the Pokémon franchise, and Marvel's Spider-Man. Whether I'm getting lost in the life of Peter Parker or playing a couple rounds of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with my friends, video games have served as a perfect break from the stresses of daily life.

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