Kathy Rain gripped me right from the start with its stunning pixel art and moody 90s vibes. While Kathy comes off a bit abrasive at first, as you become more familiar with her backstory you understand the reasons behind her personality much better. I really loved unraveling the mystery and interacting with the intriguing cast of characters she encounters along the way. One of the things I appreciate most about the game is its nuanced approach to some quite dark, heavy subject matter (which, yes, was a bit difficult for me to stream at times, but it led to some productive discussions in chat); there are good reasons it's rated M! But it was refreshing for me to see a game that was not only willing to explore challenging emotional topics and psychological themes, but to handle them with grace and tact. Atheist Kathy's friendship with her Christian roommate Eileen is just one small example. It feels as if so much media these days comes across as preachy, wanting to lay down moralistic messages in a black-and-white good/bad way, when reality is overall much messier and more complicated. It felt nice to be treated as an adult by the writers. No, the puzzles aren't as challenging overall as those in a lot of classic point and clicks, but is that supposed to be a negative thing? I for one really appreciated the absence of moon logic and found most of the puzzles to be fun and engaging. What sticks with me most after playing it, however, is the story, characters, and ambiance of the game, so if you're mostly about the puzzles, you may be disappointed? But I think that's largely subjective, and bear in mind that modern audiences have different expectations than retro audiences. I for one was not disappointed. I played Soothsayer shortly after KR1 so it may be influencing my viewpoint a bit, but I loved both games and now miss being immersed in that world. I'm picking up both OSTs so that I can bask in the vibes. I hope others enjoy these wonderful games as much as I did!
