Game Link: https://monchimutt.itch.io/socially-awkward
Socially Awkward is awkward yet lovable, due to its reliance on modern quirks.
Intro:
I don't think I have ever played a vn quite like Socially Awkward, and that's for a very good reason. Most of these vn's take place in modern times, yet try to avoid using modern slang or what passes for comedy on Twitter.
It ends up giving these vn's a broader appeal and keeps them from feeling dated a few months later. Socially Awkward on the other hand decides not to do this.
Instead, it embraces the interesting way we speak on social media and text, resulting in what should be a mostly cringe-worthy amateurish-mess yet turns out to be nowhere near as bad as that.
Embrace the Absurdity:
Now speaking about internet humor like this may make me seem like some kind of alien, but when you think about it, we do have some odd comedy. We say things like oWo, and lol, but we don't find it weird when we do it to ourselves.
We do find it weird however if we see it in movies or tv. And that is often because we are taught that putting modern quirks and slang will quickly make something dated, or that it isn't "cool" if someone older than ourselves uses it.
Socially Awkward decides to embrace this aspect of online behavior instead of pretending that it doesn't exist. It is seen whenever the MC talks to his friend or when he texts anyone, using emoticons ( :0) and the like.
He even does it with random people he doesn't know, like he is speaking another language entirely. But this is what makes it oddly adorable.
Seeing a male furry cat talk like an exaggerated Gen Z stereotype is pretty amusing, and while this style can be a bit cringe-worthy at some points, the writer manages to pull most of it off.
This is because the goal isn't to completely mock the MC and the way he talks, but to get you used to it. Once you get used to it, once you have embraced these quirks then it only serves to make the MC more memorable and cute, rather than cringey and dull.
That is why I believe that Socially Awkward mostly gets away with using this style of humor, and why it makes it rather refreshing in a landscape of vn's that live perpetually in the mid 2000's.
And speaking of the MC, there is more to him than just being a meme generator...
Jayce, mixed in more ways than one:
The MC, Jayce, as I said before is sort of a literal interpretation of the modern humor that Socially Awkward uses.
However the writer also uses a very interesting plot point of discrimination that I haven't really seen before both in vn's and out: being of mixed heritage.
Jayce is apparently a sort of hybrid between species but he mostly looks like one species with the exception of his hair which is characteristic of another. The vn implies he has experienced discrimination due to this in the past.
Thus it will be very interesting to see how this plot thread is handled going forward. I could see this angle making it potentially more interesting than most vn's even, although I'll still be curious as to how the writer will weave GenZ text humor around a topic of discrimination.
End, or is it?
Either way, the previous statement sounds quite absurd when you say it aloud. But that is kinda what Socially Awkward is all about isn't it? Taking a normal writing taboo (modern humor/slang), and trying to make it seem absolutely normal while still wrapping a coherent story on top of all this.
That isn't even to mention the decent side characters and the potential class conflict going on as well. All in all, while Socially Awkward may stumble a bit here and there, it presents both an unexpected depth and a fresh approach to dialogue that is very much an experiment.
At the end I found myself seeing far more potential in it than initially thought, and I can't wait to see how the writer improves the project to reach the potential that seems to be just within his grasp.
Keep up the progress and you'll go far, monchimutt. 2.6/5 (Since people have asked this score isn’t to say this vn is bad, less than a 1.5 would be bad, around 2-2.5 is average, and this score reflects the fact that it is a more experimental vn and this score may change as more content comes out)