Venus Meets Venus

We're told this isn't a "romance", and it isn't, not really. There's Lynn, our hero, and there's Macy, her lover. And while the story does revolve around their romance; the point of the story is really Lynn's relationship with Macy's identity. Macy is a transwoman, and Lynn embraces Macy's transgender identity a little too hard. It gets to the point where it is almost as though Lynn sees Macy not as a human being but as an icon. Meanwhile, Macy would prefer to simply live her life like a normal human being.

There's really a bit more nuance to the relationship, and to the story, than can be perfectly encapsulated in what is only a brief summary for the purposes of a review. Suffice it to say that the story is heartfelt and sincere, the characters feel authentic, and the entire situation seems realistic. It's a good story, I might even call it a powerful story, that manages to reflect something about the human condition.

The problem with the story, however, is its lack of interactivity. I found that my options were always either to move on to the next section of text, or to expand upon a highlighted point. Or, to put it another way: I could turn the page, or I could (sometimes) read a footnote. That's the same level of interactivity I get from reading "Lord of the Rings", and the occasional interesting effect of changing text immediately on-screen does not add to my sense of having done anything to interact with the story. I have neither affected the action and outcome, nor have I discovered anything new to affect my perception of the story events.

And that is both a waste and a shame. A powerful story like this deserves to be explored. The complexity of human emotions and relationships seems to me like something that is just begging for some sort of Rashomon treatment. The story clearly has a message that it wants to project, but it would have been nice to let the player discover it for himself through active gameplay.

It's like having champagne and tiramisu for breakfast. Sure, it's wonderful food, but who on earth has champagne and tiramisu for breakfast?