Jan/6/25

MiSide: More Than Just a Meta Gamer Girl

Stop me if this sounds familiar. I just played an indie game where a cute anime girl is aware that she's in a video game, which is problematic because she wants you, the protagonist. Yeah, maybe you starting thinking about the indie darling "Doki Doki Literature Club" created by famed speed running champion Dan Salvato and his team? Well, this also covers the introductory story of MiSide, the new Indie hit in town, but when I tell you it's not a clone of Doki Doki Literature Club, but its own unique, fresh, and inspired take on the meta gamer girl looking for her forever protagonist, I'm not kidding.

And much like MiSide is inspired by Doki Doki Literature Club, it also seems similarly inspired by The Stanley Parable. Stanley Parable blew people out from the water in 2013, with it's unique storytelling methods, and even the way the game (and The Narrator) would play with the idea of genre, or a game within a game.

Miside takes the groundwork of how The Stanley Parable played with genre, and turned that into a full blown game along with the character concept of a self aware Monika taking charge. It is a match made in heaven, a visual treat, and very fun horror experience full of character just filling the atmosphere.

Oh! And "characters", with an "s", as in plural! There's Mita, of course, the main antagonist, and then there's Mita, and not to mention Mita, and we call this Mita "Cappie"...

Don't worry, you will get used to it.

Maybe though, you won't get used to the way you're playing the game at any moment. Things might switch up on you, or, perhaps, get too under your skin.

MiSide is a horror game, after all, and I am proud to say, that as desensitized as I am with horror, there was a couple of scenes that had my covering my eyes like a wimp! Mind you, I cannot play horror games myself, so I leave that to my lovely roommate to do as I backseat game the entire way, but there was an entire scene I was too scared to watch for. In a time where I just can't seem to get scared by games and movies and shows, actually feeling it this time around was really great. I loved that.

Speaking of love, however, I will say, you can get a not so "secret" ending at the beginning of the game, if you do things exactly how Mita likes, and for that, you'll unlock Peaceful Mode. Peaceful Mode will be finished in a later update, but the two developers that have made this game assures us that it will be a very long and intricate gameplay experience. And seeing how this game clocked out at about 5 hours in, with every so often the tensions being risen so high I wonder "is THIS the climax", I'm sure it's going to deliver on that promise.

The only downside I could even think of is how at the beginning of the game I didn't really dig the interpretation I was seeing for the "yandere" aspect of the character Mita (opposed to Mita, Mita, or Mita). I thought, "Oh great. Another yandere who gets straight to the yandere traits the moment anything goes slightly lopsided, saying the most cliche'd things!" but even that was wrong, as when I replayed the beginning, I knew exactly why she did and said everything. The stereotype, for once for me, felt justified. Which felt almost magical! This is definitely a clever game.

So, I don't really have anything negative to say. Maybe, "some things were very hard to find" but that criticism feels lackluster behind my mind's "get good" mentality on this. All in all, this year actually started off with a banger! Who knew!

I love to see an indie game do so well, and in less than one month this game has grossed an estimated $9.5 million buckaroonies, it definitely is.

5/5 stars. I would recommend for anyone who enjoys horror and experimental games.