Mark Plays ‘RE: Alistair ++’

Many thanks to Madeleine, who commissioned me to play this game. It’s the very first visual novel style game that I have ever played, so I’m very thankful that I got to experience this.

These videos both have some spoilers about the general framing device, some plot points, and I read a lot of dialogue out loud, but they DO NOT spoil the “answer” at all. (Though the second video contains my prediction for the identity of Alistair. I WON’T SPOIL ABOUT WHETHER I WAS RIGHT OR NOT.)

Part 1

Part 2

This game is adorable, hilarious, and a lot more difficult than I expected. You play as Merui, who struggles with a player named Alistair in her loving RPG game who steals an item she was just about to win. What unfolds is a part mystery, part role-playing. See, not only do you have to figure out which person in Merui’s life is the actual Alistair, but you STILL HAVE TO LIVE MERUI’S LIFE. There are ways to level up parts of Merui’s characterization, you can form relationships with different guys, there are ways to make money, and you can actually purchase things that affect the game’s story. (Which is very crucial to figuring out the big mystery.)

Plus, it’s so well animated!

Also this happened at some point? Like, I was just talking to a dude and he was basically like WOW WE ARE A GREAT COUPLE. Whoops???

This is what the “stats” section looks like:

Here’s the thing: the passage of time matters. The game keeps track of every day that passes, and you only have 30 days to guess the identity of Alistair. Plus, there are some SUPER DRAMATIC PASSAGES.

OMG LOOK AT THIS.

I am not going to spoil the end of the game, but I did get this:

I hope you, too, can eventually figure out who Alistair is. The game lasts anywhere from an hour to two hours max, and I completed it in about 80 minutes.

The game is available for free on Mac and Windows!