Yesterday, I finished Super Lesbian Animal RPG, and I have been thinking of it ever since.
This whole thing will be a little lengthy, but I'm going to keep it as Non-Spoiler, and Very-Spoiler sections, so please be aware of that if you decide to read along!
Non-Spoiler Thoughts
Super Lesbian Animal RPG is a very good game, and you should go play it.
Simple as that.
Okay, okay, I have more nuanced thoughts than just "play the game", but I wanted to get that out of the way up front. It's a lovely game that I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing, and I feel that putting that out there up front is important.
I suppose what makes the game so enjoyable to me is that the writing and characterization are really top notch. We're not talking about world-changing literature here, but nevertheless I felt that the story was engaging and lovely and cute, without being cloyingly saccharine or bogged down with complications. The plot moves along at a good clip, and you always know enough that you want to know just a little bit more.
And a big part of why I felt that I wanted to know just a little bit more, all the time, is that the characters are fantastic. I really do love them all! Every single character gets a nice little bit of character progression, and it feels like they are whole characters, rather than archetypes. The fact that there is representation everywhere in this game makes it so comforting to play, too. It's really... It's really nice to see a positive and grounded portrayal of a character I identify with deeply.
"Wait, Phorm - grounded? In a game about magical lesbian animal creatures going on a world saving adventure?"
Shockingly, yes! Because even if the premise and the setting are fantastical, it's always seen through the lens of some very relatable, very identifiable, very grounded characters. They worry about their friends. They worry about their families. A recurring theme throughout the game is God, doesn't it suck we have to pay rent?
Watching the characters progress through their arc is wonderful, and kept me engaged throughout. Which is, honestly, really, really good.
Because I'll be brutally honest on this point: SLARPG is not breaking any new ground in the realm of gameplay. This is a bog-standard, by-the-numbers, what-you-see-is-what-you-get classic turn-based RPG. The core gameplay loop involves an RPG overworld that you explore as a party, engaging with the story, and then enemy encounters you experience, engaging with the combat mechanics.
The most charitable comparison I can make about the combat mechanics would be that it is very akin to Earthbound. Or at least, that is the game I can invoke to elicit the closest game in recent memory to lean this heavily on turn based RPG mechanics, and will statistically evoke good feelings. You input commands, small animations play on static representations of your enemies, and enemies play flourishes of animation on character portraits. There are a few notable exceptions to this, but they are rare (and good!) rather than the norm. Characters level up, you equip gear you find in dungeon chests or purchase from vendors, and you acquire new skills as you go on.
It is, honestly, a rote RPG in its core gameplay loop. If you are looking for something novel with regard to mechanics or implementation, or even graphical flourish, I fear that SLARPG ain't it.
AND THAT IS 100% GOOD AND FINE!!
Part of what I adore about this game is that it does so much with what it has. The game was made in RPG Maker, and obviously that platform has some limitations. But SLARPG works within and around those limitations, knowing exactly what they are, and stands to bring its strengths to the fore. When I was playing, I didn't need more than the standard RPG mechanics, because the game was built with those things in mind to support the story and the characters. And that's great!! So while I have to acknowledge that the enemy encounters can get a little samey, and that the mechanics aren't novel, I don't think that's a detriment to the game in any way, shape, or form.
(Side note: With very limited exception, enemy encounters in this game are handled on a 'wandering monster on the overworld' system - Wherein you see sprites of the monsters moving around, and 'encounter' them by colliding with them. This is in contrast to the 'random encounter' mechanic from RPGs of yesteryear. And thank GOD for that, honestly. That was an excellent choice, and I think the pacing of the game is kept brisk and engaging because of it.)
So SLARPG eschews things like the ATB system (active time battle) for AFB system (Awesome Furry Besties), and I think it comes out stronger because of it. You still feel a sense of character progression, but that progression is much more closely tied to storyline and character evolution than anything else. And that's where the game shines.
I don't know. Maybe it's because SLARPG is a story about friends coming together to overcome obstacles. Maybe it's because the character interactions feel more real and important than other games I've played in the genre, because they acknowledge character's failings, inter-party conflicts, and inner struggles. Maybe it's because the game isn't really afraid to show how working through those conflicts and failings is a messy, painful thing - but that it's possible, and you don't need to do it alone. How this group of friends knows that, together, they're stronger than they are apart.
Maybe I'm just so stuck on this game because it's showing me something I sure don't have, and I sure wish I did.
But at the end of it all, it's just a lovely experience.
VERY-SPOILER THOUGHTS
This is going to be an unfocused dump of thoughts, without much direction or purpose. But it will deal with some deeply spoiler-ish topics, so please be forewarned that if you read further, you will encounter spoilers.
I'd be lying if I were to say that I didn't empathize deeply, entirely, and utterly with Melody. She's a fox. She's trans. She feels like she has no direction in life, swept up in the currents of the story around her. Overall, her character arc is at the center of the entire story, the one we as the audience follow most closely. We watch her grow, and we also see her go through evolution as she grows.
Midway through the story, Melody succumbs to mana poisoning inside a desert dungeon. As a result of this, she has an introspective episode in which she encounters a kind of mirror self. The mirror self, calling herself Harmony, claims to be an aetheral bit of mana that latched onto Melody's thoughts, and was given substance. She pops up throughout the game, making herself known as an antagonistic representation of Melody's insecurity, self-doubt, and most importantly, self-loathing. Arguably Harmony is with Melody from the start, but when she's made more fully manifest, she makes it clear that she's only around to harangue and belittle Melody - And in a way that makes her really start to turn her own hatred inward, even more.
Harmony accosts Melody by telling her that she's nothing, that she's not what she wants to be: A paladin. That everyone around her is just humoring her, pitying her, and tolerating her. This is all directed at Melody by Harmony specifically for her ambition to be a paladin, and in the context of her wanting to pleas Allison, but it gets heaped on even more about how she's an unambitious nobody who has no defining features, and no direction of her own.
Eventually, Melody defies Harmony at the climax of the story, and goes on to become who she really is, taking charge of her own identity and her own desires. It's a wonderful moment, and one that stuck with me.
Honestly, I wish a little more had been done with Harmony. Melody never opens up to anyone throughout the course of the story about seeing Harmony, or what Harmony has said to her (Though, to be fair, she does talk to people about the insecurities and topics that Harmony jabs her about). I feel like for a story who's crux is "It's okay to ask for help, we all need each other", that's a pretty glaring omission.
I guess, selfishly, that's also just because I... wanted something more concrete in terms of a resolution with Harmony. The idea of one's own internal sense of self-loathing made manifest into a separate entity, one who constantly badgers and insults, who tries to push one to the edge of their own tolerance for themself? Yeah, that's familiar to me. I'm not plural, or anything, but I have a lot of internal self-hatred within me that I've never been able to work out reasonably. So Harmony resonated with me - in a very uncomfortable way.
Still, despite selfishly feeling like "It can't be that easy, please, tell me more about how to deal with this!" I was very happy to see Melody defy Harmony and go on to be a hero <3
Claire. Gosh, what can be said about Claire that hasn't already been said? She might be my absolute favorite character in the whole game - even with my identifying with Melody so much. Clarie's just... Look, she's a disaster lesbian, and there's no way around that. I love her for striving to make herself better. My heart ached for her when she openly called herself a screw up. And at the same time, my heart sang when she succeeded, and when she was able to obtain very good things. She's also just about as snarky as my old heart would want. Her character arc is a tremendous one, particularly since the blame for the entire Javis debacle gets laid at her feet more than once. Seeing her fight to make it all right, and seeing her find comfort in her friends, gave me some hope that maybe one day I can find something good in life too.
Also, Claire's aesthetic - Particularly her unwillingness to take off her hat - are top tier.
Allison was a wonderful character with a fun arc, though I don't have too many thoughts about it personally. What I will say is that mechanically, she's a goddamned powerhouse. Watching her essentially fell a god was good fun. Her relationship with her mother played out a little slow, but it was heartening to see. Her working things out with Melody over the course of the story was wonderful.
Allison brings to the table the central strength of the narrative from my perspective: The idea that honest and forthright communication make the bedrock of a solid relationship. She struggles with this for a while, but she absolutely nails it in the late game - and she and Melody are all the stronger for it. She's a wonderful bun, and tremendously fun.
Jodie... Oh gosh, where do I start with Jodie? I absolutely, positively loved everything about Jodie from the word go. She's a strong Tigress, who is emotionally mature, is a good cook, and is deeply and passionately devoted to protecting her friends. Her character arc has a lot to do with her feeling like a failure for being unable to take on everyone's problems all at once, and learning that even in the midst of being emotional support, she, too, needs help.
I have a Tigress in my life that she reminds me of, very fondly. So I was always going to love Jodie.
My only complaint is that Jodie felt like she took a backseat to the rest of the action throughout the story. Narratively, that's totally fine. She got plenty of screen-time, including the game's obligatory beach scene with her girlfriend! But mechanically? Oof. Jodie kinda got done dirty.
Most of her abilities are support-class powers, which makes a ton of sense. But her only way to build up enough power to actually deploy her best skills is to either A) take damage, or B) deploy low level protective skills. Very often this results in the player either wasting turns using taunt abilities to provoke enemies (which often doesn't work!), or else, using those early turns to deploy low level barriers. The result is that by the time Jodie's ready to bring out the big guns, the battle's over. There are some builds that get around this, but overall, Jodie's skillset in the game feels almost like an afterthought. Which is a shame, because she's absolutely shredded, and kicks ass.
I may be being a bit harsh, though. I think Jodie does a fine job supporting the team, and she is the emotional bedrock that the other characters can rely on. I enjoyed seeing her growth with Faith, and she gets a real shining moment in the final battle. Overall, I just wish she had a bit more time and space to shine.
The entire game, though, really works well as a whole! As much as I'm nitpicking small details, these things are insignificant compared to the whole package you get.
I love, love, love, love that the central conflict in the game gets resolved through discussion and communication. I love the kind of Villain Verena turns out to be, and how they bake in Zinnia as an emotional pillar to organically provide identifiable motivation and sympathy for her. I also love that even in the final battle with her, you can sense she's having second thoughts about her whole plan. And that she just decides afterward that "Nah, we're not doing this".
Anyhow, those are most of my thoughts about SLARPG. I very much enjoyed it. From start to finish. I spent about 22 hours playing, and there were something around 215 kisses during my playthrough.
Also, yeah this game is gay and trans as hell and I fucking love that it was so absolutely lowkey about that. This isn't the story of Melody's transition struggle. She's just a girl, and everyone accepts she's a girl. That's not to say that she and Claire don't reference the pain and difficulty of their transition - Nor is it to say that there aren't trans allegories throughout the game. But it is to say that the story and the pacing treat the subject with respect and care, and honestly the whole world is just so cozy with regard to representation.
Also, you get to see a bunch of cute animal girls kiss each other.
Cute animal girls kissing!! Yeah!!
Anyhow. If you made it this far, thank you for reading <3


