Cass Marshall
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Writing For
PolygonLatest Reviews
I Am Your Beast is a game I can heartily recommend, especially for people who enjoy titles like the aforementioned Hotline Miami and Superhot. The game is small, but mighty — it may end up being my personal game of the year. There’s no part of I Am Your Beast that feels unnecessary or awkward; the entire experience is focused on getting revenge and making it feel good.
It just comes across as Psyop being afraid that the player is laughing at them and not with them. The narrative is focused on preemptively reassuring you that the developer knows this is a joke, and is not taking this seriously, and yeah it would be pretty cringe if this was serious but it isn’t. It’s all very unnecessary, and I kind of hope Behaviour and Psyop take another swing at the dating sim genre without all the self-conscious narrative clutter — because the good stuff is very good.
I don’t want to dump on the game. It’s the product of a small studio working for over half a decade. But at the same time, my husband had to check on me after he heard me shouting at my screen: “Come on, what the fuck” multiple times. Perhaps there’s an angle from which Superliminal is a satisfying, Portal-style thriller, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find that angle. And as the game was so fond of reminding me, perception is reality.
Overall, The Hong Kong Massacre is a treat. Yes, the game is one-note, focusing entirely on the gunplay. But it’s a really good note! The game is simple, but effective. What it lacks in narrative weight and variability, it makes up for with atmosphere and style. It’s a maddening game, one I can’t wait to play again.