I loved existing in this space. The visuals, the sound, the atmosphere, I love what Analgesic can do with 3D worlds and I'm excited to see what they'll do in the future. The story of these three people was incredibly compelling, and I had a lot of fun with the platforming and just running around and being in this game.

An obscure thing I loved about playing this game is that there is an option in the settings to switch run to a toggle, which actually makes your run button function as an auto-run, MMO-style. As someone with hand issues who sometimes struggles with even moving a control stick without pain, this made the game much more accessible to me and made me really happy. It doesn't function perfectly, some tight jumps are made kinda awkward with this control scheme change, but it made the game much more approachable and playable for me overall. I actually often joke with friends about how all games should steal auto-run from MMOs, and actually encountering a game that kind of did it was so delightful.

Before playing it, I was very excited to play Sephonie: I loved the first Anodyne for its weirdness and willingness to let the players break the game and the 4th wall at the same time. As expected, I wasn't disappointed at all, as the game fully met my expectations.

In general, the weirdness is subdued, but just because the world building, while being very unique, is so well written that it makes a lot of sense, in part helped by how it is founded on scientific concepts. The world itself is a joy to explore, even with its quirky movement controls, and it lets the player see beyond the veil, hiding collectibles past the limits the world only appears to enforce. The puzzle portion of the gameplay is maybe a bit too simple difficulty wise, but it isn't simplistic and it has some surprises towards the end of the game.

All of this is already enough to make it a very good and unique game. It didn't need to go too hard with the story and, in fact, it didn't, as the story isn't too complicated, while also being good enough to make the game better. However, the developers went hard in one thing for the story: how it is presented.

The life story of the game's protagonists is intertwined with the rest in an almost embarrassing depth: their life is presented with collages of real life photos, inundated by a blinding light that blurs the boundary between them and the game. These sections of the game elevates the story not just because of their visual presentation, but also because it reveals of much of it is a reflection of real life events. It manages to be both depressing and hopeful, while never feeling patronizing.

The game it's an absolute gem, deserving of appraisal by as many people as possible. My expectations were met, but the game still went above and beyond them.

While more grounded than the Anodyne games (at least on the surface), this has all the vibes you'd hope for from an Analgesic game.