The Cat Lady

I have never felt like this about a game. It's hard to put into words, but it just... got me. There is such a profound knowledge of and empathy for people suffering from mental illness on display here. So much kindness on the one hand, so much anger and rage for the systems and individuals taking advantage of and exploiting them. I am in awe.

Very few games have ever held me captive like this one did. Quest for glory IV: Shadows of Darkness, Planescape: Torment, Sanitarium, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, and the Longest Journey titles are amongst the only other ones that have. The story and dialogue are great. It really does scare you and make you feel isolated. I understand complaints about the gameplay but considering budget constraints and the small pricetag for the game accept it for what it is. a masterpiece made with crayons. it's scary to consider what people like michalski could do with a big budget.

The Cat Lady certainly leaves a quite a bit to be desired on the technical front - like some fairly elementary things we already got used to on the C64 - like smooth, jitter-free scrolling and animation ... but I dare to say, this is simply the most original, most powerful, and also, in more ways than one, most brutal (in all of its bare, no-bullshit glory) and touching games you might be playing ... well, for a quite a long time to come. Your mileage will of course vary, but it really was a while since a game (or a movie, or anything related) really made such an impression, and also really left me ... lets just say, it is very rare for a game to really affect you both mentally and intellectually. TCL is apparently categorized as psycho-horror, but perhaps this depends entirely on our own look at life and ... well. Don't take my word for it, find out for yourself. PS: the voice acting is so wonderful, I could listen to The Cat Lady's voice forever - quite melancholy, disproportionately sad, also down to earth, but unfortunately also so very hopelessly lost in her own understanding of the world and herself, and with that _classic_ English accent... all thanks to ms/mrs Lynsey Frost. My hat is certainly off for you.

I've played a lot of games made in AGS over the past couple years. Many were very good, some were even great, but this... The Cat Lady is simply the greatest game ever made in AGS full stop. What impressed me most was not the beautiful backgrounds or care given to the character designs, but the immense care taken with the dialogue and voice acting, which were absolutely fantastic all around. I can hardly believe that a game made in AGS could be as perfect as this game is. Forget the plot for a second--which is excellent in its own right--the real star of this show is the cast of believable and truly interesting characters, many of whom you will swiftly grow to care about, which makes every scene much more terrifying, as you hope to whatever god you believe in that they aren't going to die. The Cat Lady is absolutely phenomenal.

Intense, clever, psychotic and personal. A great deal of effort has been made to make this game which is apparent by the huge script which is all voice acted, great musical score and the use of graphics which does more than illustrate the story. Delving into depression and suicide and coming out the other end with a positive message makes working your way through the story a rewarding experience.