- Developer: Studio Fizbin
- Publisher: Thunderful
- Release Date: April 09, 2021
- Platforms: Switch, Mac
- Reviewed on: Switch
Synopsis:
It all started with a rainbow unicorn. Wait. Rewind. Say No! More opens with a wizard who must rescue his friend from a villain in the castle, only to discover that villain was your friend all along!
Turns out, your customizable character was playing a video game, and your friend/roommate interrupts you to talk about your first day of work as an intern for a large corporation. He gifts you a unicorn lunchbox…and asks if you can pay the rent again.
The game then begins when you enter the office with two other interns, both of whom are eager to say YES to everything. You? Not as sure. When you settle into your crappy corner behind a vending machine, you stumble upon an old cassette tape featuring a “Hulk Hogan”-esq motivational speaker, teaching you the power of the word NO!
Throughout eight chapters, you cruise along the office, telling everyone no to things in various ways. Your supervisor takes a liking to your rainbow unicorn lunchbox and takes it. And like a bizarre relay race, you confront your supervisor, then manager, President, then…CEO for this lunchbox. There even was an impressive little twist to this humble, short game. For this reason, I won’t spoil it in this review.
After this twist, you and a handful of co-workers that you’ve inspired to also say no, take on the “big bad boss”, and the rainbow unicorn lunchbox returns to its rightful owner: you. By the end, you speak with your roommate and muster the courage to say no to your friend when he, yet again, asks you to pay the rent.
Analysis:
This incredibly short game runs approximately two hours, and it really just thrusts you each chapter as if someone placed a cinderblock on the accelerator of your car. You do not control your movement–the game places you on a path, and the only gameplay consists of you saying no in various ways.
You learn four different ways to say no–a heated no, a cold no, a lazy no, and a crazy no. You can also mock people to throw them off guard before you turn them down with actions such as laughing, nodding, slow-clapping. To add additional spice to give this minimal gameplay some zing, you can choose several languages to say no in, and it’s more than just English, French, and Spanish. Many underrepresented languages are available like Irish Gaelic and Icelandic. I choose Russian.
Say No! More allows you to customize your character as well, and as much as the low-res poly style may appear limiting, I was impressed with the variety of options.
The dialogue is silly and almost over-the-top on purpose. I did notice that I was furiously hitting the A button, but this caused me to cut many NPCs off, and I didn’t get to read what the menial task was. Quite frankly, your character moves so fast, sometimes I couldn’t even read the funny replies from our stunned colleagues.
Verdict: 2.5/5
This is a humble, quick game with a fabulous message. In today’s culture, there is an expectation to be yes-people, especially at work. While it’s important to be a team-player, saying yes all the time can lead to an unhealthy life balance. People can take advantage of that–I know firsthand. So, it meant a lot to me to journey through a light-hearted world and having a cathartic experience. However, the minimal game-play, the feel of your character speeding along like you were on rails, and the so-so graphics/music detracted from my experience.
Say No! More retails at $14.99 USD. To be frank, I would not recommend this game at that price point (unless money is zero concern to you). However, if you see it on sale, give it a spin!
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