DON'T GIVE UP: A Cynical Tale Reviews

Once again, caveat that the binary nature of the Steam review system means I tend to grade on a curve if I don't flat out DESPISE a game. That said, I see the game this was meant to be, and it's very cute with a neat battle system. The music is fantastic, both feeling nostalgically familiar but also distinctly for DON'T GIVE UP: A Cynical Tale. Certainly there are a few tweaks here and there that could improve the game: - sometimes it's hard to go through doors, or tell which doors are active - lots of empty areas that might have been for something but didn't get finished - would like to be able to adjust text speed uniformly, rather than the first line always autoscrolls, with subsequent lines able to be skipped all at once (and possibly too fast) - more than the one save slot I overlook most of these because it's a very indie game (and feels more documentary than not), so I'm inclined to be more impressed that a single person can create this much content, vs. if this had been from a larger, established company. It is on the more difficult side (especially New Game +) if you aren't able to figure out the timing and boss patterns, but I do think it's worth a playthrough!

A fun little adventure-RPG romp. I'm actually surprised that more people haven't jumped on it. Some relatable (if over-the-top) characters and situations and pretty solid gameplay (combat can be clunky at first, but you get used to it).

Trigger warning: Suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety Pros: This game was deeply fascinating. Mental illness isn't a topic I see covered a lot in gaming and it was really interesting seeing it take center stage here. I will say though that if you personally struggle or have struggled with suicidal thoughts, I would proceed with a lot of caution as this game could be triggering and perhaps graphic at points. I found a lot of the game's themes to be very poignant and the writing to be pretty funny at times. Tris, while flawed, is a character you start to root for and there's definitely a lot of charm in this world. The combat system was also really interesting--sort of a mix of turn-based, action, and rhythm elements. It reminded me of DDR lowkey lol. Super interesting mechanics and I like that the game forces you to really master its otherwise very simple combat mechanics. Cons: As much as I enjoyed the world, I felt the main villain was V E R Y contrived. I won't dabble into spoilers, but they just felt very flat and an amalgamation of various villain cliches. I also think this game suffers from a lot of common tropes with its women characters. None of them felt like they had their own motivations or priorities, they kinda just felt like emotional support and/or sexual prospects for the main male lead. So I would've loved to have seen them fleshed out more as the game def felt like a boys club. Also, women of color don't really exist in this world (as peers, friends, siblings, love interests, etc), which is...unfortunate... Overall: I'd recommend this game for its mental health themes, interesting story, and innovative combat system. 90s babies will definitely get a kick out of the different references in this story. It's charming, pretty funny, and gets you hooked (the beginning was honestly FAN-TASTIC). But if you struggle with suicidal thoughts or find it difficult to enjoy games with "trope-y" women characters, I'd stay away.

Really enjoying this game so far. It's clearly a labor of love and scratches that itch for a game taking place in a modern setting. It's clearly pretty personal for the developer and you can tell they put a lot into making this. The game itself so far seems to be 70% funny 30% serious, getting quite dark at times. Much of the humor lands, ranging from relatable observations to some cringe comedy, but generally you'll be rooting for the main character as opposed to laughing at him. And there's enough humor to make the moments where things get serious really stand out. I did encounter one bug that froze my character in place and made me have to reset, and I'd have made the autosave function a little more generous, but this is a unique project and is telling an engaging story that's funny, compelling, and relatable. I recommend giving it a shot.

Just as the game promised me. It is full of fun, action, adventure and an endless arsenal of cheeky sarcasm for the journey. I also love the art during the battle scenes!! The story is really good and I want to keep learning more about our MC and everyone else. This game is perfect for when I am in the mood for something not too deep to play into but just for a slice of good fun to pass some time. Highly recommend. Also there is a good sprinkle of good cameos in the game LOL, I noticed two or three (and took some screenshots while I was at it XD ) Big thumbs up to the devs and publisher!!

This game is really good for what it is, I originally got it as part of a humble monthly bundle, but it was not the whole game and turned out to be a demo instead. I didn't want to wait for humble to follow through so I shelled out an extra 10 bucks to support the developer, and it was more than worth it. The combat can seem a little unresponsive at times, but you're encouraged to pay attention to incoming attacks more than giving damage, if you get greedy with your hits, you're going to lose. There are a couple annoying fights in the game, but they can be beaten if you pay attention and slow down. Not every battle is supposed to be approached the same way. It's a little rough around the edges, but the devs gave it their all, and it shows because this game is dripping with charm.

Never enough urban JRPGs, great story and humour. Tris going to parties and flirting with girls is fun and relatable, seeing real life locations and situations in a "gameified" way is very entertaining. It's really hard to write about what makes this game good without playing it yourself, but the themes feel much more raw compared to the average JRPG, even ones that deal with similar themes (i.e depression and worthlessness in FF4, 6, 7, 8, etc). Furthermore, the game compresses more story and nuance in 8-10 hours than most JRPGs manage in over quadruple the time. Also I like the focus on story over gameplay, yet the combat system still manages to be fun without being bogged down in gear and stat optimisation. Biggest criticism is the Tris sections are much more interesting than Subris. Once you finish the game Subris' story retroactively becomes a lot more interesting at least, but it never hits the character highs of Tris Edit: Another small criticism is a sidequest log/exclamation marks would be cool. I talked to every NPC I saw but I had paranoia I missed some quests because you can't tell who has one lol. For being completely missable the sidequests are surprisingly indepth, for example going to a coffee shop, getting someone a job, getting into another fight, and getting a HP bonus for beating the whole thing.

This game had a lot of passion put into it. Lots of pop culture reference, beautiful music and fun characters. The combat is different to any other RPG and can be really challenging. But you have the option to swap difficulties if your struggling. The main gripe I can give it, but can apply to a lot of RPG's anyways, is that it can be easy to get lost in certain area’s if you don't follow the plot or remember how to get from A to Z for certain missions. This can be easily fixed with a map though.

Ok so I'm going to start by prefacing some things: This is a critique, not bashing on the creator. The developer obviously put a massive amount of heart and soul into the project, and I'm not saying it doesn't deserve recognition. Secondly, this is only from about 4ish fights in? Not terribly far basically. So for starters, there is a rather noticable juxtaposition between the overworld sprites and the dialogue portraits. Not a bad thing, but a bit jarring at first, especially since the dialogue portrait's art style is infinitely more interesting and engaging and feels less like an awkward attempt to emulate the graphical style of say the MOTHER series, though it is nice to see the inspiration. This bleeds into the battle scenarios in that they tend not to be engaging visually. The system is interesting and I personally think that it was a good call for the dev to, at least so far, leave out random encounters as this system is much better suited for occasional use as opposed to the standard jrpg tactics, especially when grinding or being over / underleveled is involved. That being said, the power attack / ultimate attack system doesn't feel as powerful as it should, and just tends to drag on, even if it is to the benefit of the player. So far the gimmick-based battle at the party wasn't challenging as much as it felt artificially inflated in terms of difficulty, especially with an awkward counter system that says to press the counter button "just before the attack lands". Now, I'm not saying that it doesn't work, but instead that the window in which the player counters is at a sort of extremely awkward length of time. Just long enough to feel like it's overstaying its welcome when used, but also just short enough that you can still mess up the deflection. The music is honestly probably my favorite aspect of the game thus far. The chiptune that is often paired with smooth beats, be they high or low energy, often sets the scene rather well. With the exception of maybe a loop that played too long in an area by mere moments, the music is honestly perfect for what I believe the developer was going for. I've come to be attached to maybe one or two characters, as well as maybe the protagonist. It isn't to say that the protagonist is unlikable or more importantly, unrelatable, but moreso that the self-insert nature is obvious and causes a good few jokes to either fall flat, come out as completely awkward, or feel like, for lack of a better term, like a big yikes. This usually has to do with identifying others as "beautiful" and is a clear attempt to highlight a double-standard of society wherein everyone should feel beautiful, but only the few that "really are" reap the benefits; however, here it comes off a bit more, again for lack of a better term and at risk of sounding more mean-spirited than I actually am, neckbeardy. I know I have yet to see the character grow but these issues feel too glaring and sort of embedded in his personality. There is also the issue of the world; not a major issue, but instead the issue of juxtaposition once again. The world of the first characters plotline is very much an analogue to our own, with very little different save for the combat being brushed off by the general public, except when it's not. There's no explanation as to where the main character got their weapon, and I have a feeling that I know a potential twist due to the second character's name and some heavy-handed naming of other conventions of their world, and while initially it is easy to feel more eased into this world through daily social interactions, it feels very heavy-handed if my prediction is true. Not only that, but too much is introduced too quickly to really be digested by the player to feel more at-home in these surroundings as we are clearly supposed to be, given the lack of emphasis on exploration and more on the mingling between people. I appologize if this has seemed ramble-y or meanspirited, but really if the self-insert is anything to go by, this dev will hopefully genuinely consider the criticism provided here. Again, I don't mean to say people shouldn't give this any attention, but more that it feels more like an early beta in need of some re-writing, potential re-designing for the overworld (or the small but noticable cases of portraits not being placed where they were previously, causing the character to shift left, right, up, or down for a frame), and maybe a tweak or two for combat. All in all, I think a neutral rating would be more fitting, but for the pricetag and how much feels like it's incomplete to some degree, I can't fully reccomend it for purchase.

Many games about depression require you to go down a dark path, but Don't Give Up let's you choose the right answers. You are stronger than you think, and you know how to get through this. The combat was pretty fun and reminds me of Battle Network. The good of this game outweighs the nitpicks I will not list here.