i just finished my first run yesterday, and i have to say, while i was playing i thought it was alright but also i didn't think i was too invested in it; in fact, in parts i felt i was getting too impatient and just skimming through the dialogue, defeating the whole point of a visual novel. then - bam - the epilogue happened, and i almost started crying. now merely hearing the main menu music makes me misty-eyed. i'll probably do my second run somewhere down the line, and actually focus and read everything carefully this time haha.
I discovered this game by chance and it is in my opinion the Best Visual Novel i have ever seen! It legit made me feel deep emotions multiple times and cry a couple of times
Yeah, this is spot on for how I felt about IWATE. That first run was beautiful. All of the loss, all of the hardships I both endured and buckled under. Only to finish the story standing in an unrecognisable colony that despised my presence. My small victory was taking in Anemone after she left her abusive boyfriend in the epilogue. In my second run, I got better outcomes. But this wasn't because of my skill or meta-knowledge; so much as now that I'd played the game, the game was handing me new, better, routes based on the idea of meta-knowledge as a game mechanic. So, after a bittersweet first playthrough that was hard-fought and earned, this second playthrough just handed me better outcomes. The first playthrough made me feel like every victory and failure had mattered. The second gave me an obvious clue as to the idea that there was a perfect ending and I just needed to play enough times to achieve it. By my third playthrough, I was using a guide and experienced that same anxiety you did as I didn't manage to follow the guide perfectly. Add on the fact that I just got bored of moving my slow character to get to text I'd already read and I pretty much threw in the towel. The perfect ending wasn't worth the effort. Especially as the second playthrough had taught me that the better outcomes were exactly what I expected. They were just nice and there was nothing else to it. But I still occasionally think back on that first playthrough. Because I practically hobbled towards the narrative finish line and found another character, battered and bruised, waiting for me there. An experience that was wholly unique to IWATE.
SPOILERS The game goes deeper than just getting perfect endings after the first run. You can do a delusions run where you try to convince everyone that you can really remember past lives (and are treated like you're crazy, given meds, institutionalised, etc.) and there's an option where you can blow up the spaceship, destroy the wormhole and get a new run where you're born on earth. Not sure, didn't play it myself, but something like that. There's still so much to discover in the game imo
@rumtreiberin3050 MASSIVE SPOILERS You can absolutely do both of those things. If you collect 5 copies of the “Delusions” card, Chief Engineer Instance will try to cure your “condition” and if you let her, she’ll take away your ability to remember your other lives, removing all the “from another life” choices for the rest of that run. You can also destroy the Strato at the beginning of the game, but it takes 1 or 2 runs to set up the first time. You need to get a specific event in Engineering that lets you understand Congruence (the ship’s A.I.) better. You also need to be named the Second Engineer by Governor Lum, so you can’t overthrow him (yes that’s a thing you can do). Once you do those, on your next run you’ll get the option to pick Congruence as your best friend and also read the ship’s manuals as your bedtime story. If you pick those, you can run away once the ship starts going through the wormhole and recalibrate the shields. From there, you get 3 options: the first is to set them to full power, which means the Strato takes no damage going through the wormhole, completely skipping the starvation plotline. The second is to do nothing, which changes nothing. The final choice is to turn off the shields, which allows the wormhole to destroy the Strato, killing everyone on board and giving you the “Strato Destroyed” ending. If you destroyed the Strato, the next run starts you on Earth in the Vertumna Project compound just before it's overrun by its enemies, who kill everyone, and then your run ends, giving you the “Life On Earth” ending. The next run you do returns you to the normal story.
This is one of my favorite games of all time. Probably because it has so many things I love. I love visual novels, and dating sims, and connecting with characters, and when your choices affect the narrative so much. I can definitely understand why it didn't fully click for you, but it was perfect for me. It also makes me feel way too many emotions (in a good way), especially during epilogues. And I always feel like crying during the Fall of Stratos. I tend to view things in the game not as winning or losing, but experiences and part of a larger story for the 'character' I'm currently playing. It also helps that I have so many saves that if I want to do things differently I just go back. I actually have a list of certain things I want to try in different runs with different characters to essentially roleplay as. Like deciding to become best friends with certain characters while following a certain career path while acting more rebellious/kind/etc. I love that in this game just when you think you've discovered everything, you stumble across something huge that you had no idea about before. I ended up stumbling upon a really good ending by accident when I discovered something and accidentally created one of the best decks you can make so I succeeded in the card check. I'm currently on my 5th life within the game, and have two other characters ideas that I'm looking forward to playing. Thank you for the video, and I hope you'll be able to enjoy the game again sometime in the future.
Honestly think your idea to come back and replay again later with it a little more foggy in your brain is kind of the perfect way to do it. Your main character only vaguely remembers their past lives so you're kinda doing the same thing
Such a well-produced video on a wonderfully compelling game! I had an awesome time with my first play-playthrough and glad to see someone talking about it! I do agree these types of VNs can be tedious to replay when trying to min-max everything, as the charm can quickly be lost. ✨Immaculate✨ vibes and production quality btw! I’ll be cheering you on for your next video and continued channel growth! Cheers & best wishes!
just watched your alice is missing video because i've been considering running it for a group of friends, and really enjoyed how you did the format, so i went to check your other videos and - was really, really happy to find this video!!! exocolonist is one of my favorite games *ever*. i'm overjoyed to find someone with a similar taste to mine! subscribed!!
*RimWorld nightmares come back* This game looks like a vibe, and though I'm not much of a visual novel dude, I'd play it. Also I'm enjoying your deep dive into the coze and this video was quite cozy.
So I have a little over 100 hours in this game, so obviously I loved it! Grain of salt that I am someone who tends to play a lot of “cozy games” for the most part. Personally, one of the things that compelled me most in this game was how much it felt built in to fail in different ways, and how through your memories of past lives, you get to give those mistakes meaning. I would almost argue that it feels existentially similar in my brain to the undying in dark souls in that death/making mistakes are a mechanic of the game, and being able to learn and use that information after the sting of that defeat is what feels so powerful. Yes, not saving some people or making huge mistakes hurts, but that’s what makes the next run when you can get it right feel so rewarding. Personally, I played the game by dedicating each run to a specific set of skills/job that I spent most of my time in, and following each of those branches unlocked really interesting stories, but also rewards for simplifying future runs with past knowledge. In my opinion, the “perfect” run isn’t meant to be your second, but your fourth, fifth, or even tenth, depending of which pieces of the game you immerse yourself in between those things. That being said, I do generally fly through the dialogue, but I tend to skim it just enough to notice if I need to pay attention to something new. I think the auto save system is useful for backtracking any dialogue you run past without realizing it’s new until something happens, too. But overall, in conclusion, I think each run can give you a piece or two of the overall puzzle, and it’s best played when you spend time collecting the parts before trying to put it all together into perfection. Runs do get much faster when you’re used to the game, too! I’d say they take me 3-5 hours, depending on how goal focused/how much I linger in that particular run. Man I’ll never forget my second run though!!! I went full scientist my first run and rarely went exploring, so I didn’t even meet Sym or know about them until my second!! Pretty unforgettable moment after all that time.
This I'm fairly certain I've failed at almost everything on my first run (in the last year from what I can tell) I'm so excited to succeed in some places next time. And not pick marz as my buddy ugh
I have never thought about the cross over of visual novels and cozy as I typically think of Life is Strange when I think of VN type games. I often find myself taking breaks in between games I enjoy like stardew valley and animal crossing. I am intrigued and will check this game out though!
In my experience, the whole point of exocolonist is playing again. There's things that you can only unlock by doing the complete opposite of what you would usually do, knowledge that you'll get from mistakes, it's a loop, you have to use it to "cheat" the system
This is a great game for people who don't like the dating sim style visual novel. I played totally blind my first time. I knew I either needed to concentrate on one set of skills or go wide. I went wide. You can imagine all the things that went wrong. Even then, I was able to do things with my character. I am a perfectionist, so my 2nd run is driving me nuts because I want to be "perfect." I know I shouldn't have that attitude. Ben's story is a good warning to me not to do that.
This game made me feel more than anything I ever have. The sheer emotional overload and the amount of queer inclusivity got me through the mental blocks in my mind to realise I was in an abusive relationship and that I needed to go to therapy. It legit changed my life and I cannot express how much it means to me.
I slightly disagree with the point that the creators punishes you for not reading and not taking your time because there is specifically a setting option that allows you to skip text you have seen before and marks them off. Also I never really saw this as a cozy game and I appreciate that the game somehow gets you feeling the same way as your player character would, of struggling to remember details and events to get the "perfect ending". I beat myself up over missing events and not stopping a tragedy and getting worried over unknown options because "I have never experienced this in my previous life" but also wanting to see where it goes in case theres something better in store. I really felt drawn into being a time looper trying to save everyone. Also the requirements for a perfect run isn't as difficult as it seems and you can get them regardless of your starting gifts, friends or stats (It gets much easier and more flexible to achieve after a few runs but it does take a while to get to that point) And I suppose everyone has a different interpretation of what a perfect run entails anyways
I made a pact with myself to not savescum or restart a run while playing this game (unless there's some minor thing like changing my mind about how many kids I want after discussing it with my partner). I do definitely need to take breaks between runs though but I try to weave a coherent theme between the runs. With my subsequent run being somehow based on the last. I'm doing a delusions run right now and it's brutal to try and help people while they're convinced you're just delusional😅
In my opinion, I wouldn’t call this a cozy game, it feels more like a game that looks cozy, but under the surface ever is much different, there’s a bunch of characters and stuff, and a lot of them die, also, this game is kind of hard to play through with a complete playthrough, especially if it’s the 1st one, because the first playthrough is scripted in a way, you can’t save Tammy, and I think Dys disappears and you can’t do anything about, I think it’s the same with Kom and the other characters that die.
Wow this is a really good video the amount of views it has is criminally low. In other visual novels I've played they usually allow you to skip content you've already seen. I would not have been able to finish virtue's last reward without the skip option.
This is not a criticism or judgment of anybody, just a difference in opinion, but I personally do not consider IWATE a cozy game. I get that it's a visual novel, and the art style is very cozy, but for me, it just isn't one. To me, a cozy game is one where you can just turn your brain off, or you can just go about your existence doing whatever without too much of an impact. Basically, you don't have to plan out every single little thing you do to make sure that you get an ending where the whole world doesn't explode. Like said, IWATE can be pretty stressful, especially in the later years, so for me, I can't consider it a cozy game. I really do love this game, though. It totally consumed my life for like a month. I definitely am a completionist, and I will go for the "perfect" run at some point, but the reason I don't get bothered by bad outcomes is by just trying to experience the story and emotional impact of each ending. Slight spoiler warning ahead. The result of my first playthrough emotionally wrecked me in a good way. I think I actually had to sit and cry and process everything for a bit. The game is designed to make you realize that your choices determine the fate of your friends, family, and the entire planet. I already get sad thinking about some of the endings I'm going to get and how it will affect everyone. All of this to say is that I wouldn't recommend going into this game planning to immediately do everything perfectly following a perfect guide because it's one actually impossible the first time and two taking away some important moments of "oh crap I accidentally did that" or "YES I actually managed to do that". I get that that sort of playstyle isn't for everyone, and you're obviously free to approach this however you want to. This is just my personal recommendation for people who want to experience the game to the fullest. All in all, I'm just glad to see more people talking about this amazing game.
i just finished my first run yesterday, and i have to say, while i was playing i thought it was alright but also i didn't think i was too invested in it; in fact, in parts i felt i was getting too impatient and just skimming through the dialogue, defeating the whole point of a visual novel. then - bam - the epilogue happened, and i almost started crying. now merely hearing the main menu music makes me misty-eyed. i'll probably do my second run somewhere down the line, and actually focus and read everything carefully this time haha.
I highly recommend doing a second playthrough because it actually is BETTER the second time around
I discovered this game by chance and it is in my opinion the Best Visual Novel i have ever seen!
It legit made me feel deep emotions multiple times and cry a couple of times
EXACTLY I found it while scrolling through my switch shop and it’s actually so good!!
Yeah, this is spot on for how I felt about IWATE. That first run was beautiful. All of the loss, all of the hardships I both endured and buckled under. Only to finish the story standing in an unrecognisable colony that despised my presence. My small victory was taking in Anemone after she left her abusive boyfriend in the epilogue. In my second run, I got better outcomes. But this wasn't because of my skill or meta-knowledge; so much as now that I'd played the game, the game was handing me new, better, routes based on the idea of meta-knowledge as a game mechanic. So, after a bittersweet first playthrough that was hard-fought and earned, this second playthrough just handed me better outcomes. The first playthrough made me feel like every victory and failure had mattered. The second gave me an obvious clue as to the idea that there was a perfect ending and I just needed to play enough times to achieve it.
By my third playthrough, I was using a guide and experienced that same anxiety you did as I didn't manage to follow the guide perfectly. Add on the fact that I just got bored of moving my slow character to get to text I'd already read and I pretty much threw in the towel. The perfect ending wasn't worth the effort. Especially as the second playthrough had taught me that the better outcomes were exactly what I expected. They were just nice and there was nothing else to it. But I still occasionally think back on that first playthrough. Because I practically hobbled towards the narrative finish line and found another character, battered and bruised, waiting for me there. An experience that was wholly unique to IWATE.
It’s so validating to hear your experience was similar to mine, a part of me wondered if I just bounced off based purely on taste
SPOILERS
The game goes deeper than just getting perfect endings after the first run. You can do a delusions run where you try to convince everyone that you can really remember past lives (and are treated like you're crazy, given meds, institutionalised, etc.) and there's an option where you can blow up the spaceship, destroy the wormhole and get a new run where you're born on earth. Not sure, didn't play it myself, but something like that. There's still so much to discover in the game imo
@rumtreiberin3050 MASSIVE SPOILERS
You can absolutely do both of those things. If you collect 5 copies of the “Delusions” card, Chief Engineer Instance will try to cure your “condition” and if you let her, she’ll take away your ability to remember your other lives, removing all the “from another life” choices for the rest of that run.
You can also destroy the Strato at the beginning of the game, but it takes 1 or 2 runs to set up the first time. You need to get a specific event in Engineering that lets you understand Congruence (the ship’s A.I.) better. You also need to be named the Second Engineer by Governor Lum, so you can’t overthrow him (yes that’s a thing you can do). Once you do those, on your next run you’ll get the option to pick Congruence as your best friend and also read the ship’s manuals as your bedtime story. If you pick those, you can run away once the ship starts going through the wormhole and recalibrate the shields. From there, you get 3 options: the first is to set them to full power, which means the Strato takes no damage going through the wormhole, completely skipping the starvation plotline. The second is to do nothing, which changes nothing. The final choice is to turn off the shields, which allows the wormhole to destroy the Strato, killing everyone on board and giving you the “Strato Destroyed” ending.
If you destroyed the Strato, the next run starts you on Earth in the Vertumna Project compound just before it's overrun by its enemies, who kill everyone, and then your run ends, giving you the “Life On Earth” ending. The next run you do returns you to the normal story.
This is one of my favorite games of all time. Probably because it has so many things I love. I love visual novels, and dating sims, and connecting with characters, and when your choices affect the narrative so much. I can definitely understand why it didn't fully click for you, but it was perfect for me. It also makes me feel way too many emotions (in a good way), especially during epilogues. And I always feel like crying during the Fall of Stratos.
I tend to view things in the game not as winning or losing, but experiences and part of a larger story for the 'character' I'm currently playing. It also helps that I have so many saves that if I want to do things differently I just go back. I actually have a list of certain things I want to try in different runs with different characters to essentially roleplay as. Like deciding to become best friends with certain characters while following a certain career path while acting more rebellious/kind/etc.
I love that in this game just when you think you've discovered everything, you stumble across something huge that you had no idea about before. I ended up stumbling upon a really good ending by accident when I discovered something and accidentally created one of the best decks you can make so I succeeded in the card check.
I'm currently on my 5th life within the game, and have two other characters ideas that I'm looking forward to playing. Thank you for the video, and I hope you'll be able to enjoy the game again sometime in the future.
Honestly think your idea to come back and replay again later with it a little more foggy in your brain is kind of the perfect way to do it. Your main character only vaguely remembers their past lives so you're kinda doing the same thing
Such a well-produced video on a wonderfully compelling game! I had an awesome time with my first play-playthrough and glad to see someone talking about it!
I do agree these types of VNs can be tedious to replay when trying to min-max everything, as the charm can quickly be lost.
✨Immaculate✨ vibes and production quality btw! I’ll be cheering you on for your next video and continued channel growth!
Cheers & best wishes!
just watched your alice is missing video because i've been considering running it for a group of friends, and really enjoyed how you did the format, so i went to check your other videos and - was really, really happy to find this video!!! exocolonist is one of my favorite games *ever*. i'm overjoyed to find someone with a similar taste to mine! subscribed!!
*RimWorld nightmares come back*
This game looks like a vibe, and though I'm not much of a visual novel dude, I'd play it.
Also I'm enjoying your deep dive into the coze and this video was quite cozy.
So I have a little over 100 hours in this game, so obviously I loved it! Grain of salt that I am someone who tends to play a lot of “cozy games” for the most part.
Personally, one of the things that compelled me most in this game was how much it felt built in to fail in different ways, and how through your memories of past lives, you get to give those mistakes meaning. I would almost argue that it feels existentially similar in my brain to the undying in dark souls in that death/making mistakes are a mechanic of the game, and being able to learn and use that information after the sting of that defeat is what feels so powerful. Yes, not saving some people or making huge mistakes hurts, but that’s what makes the next run when you can get it right feel so rewarding.
Personally, I played the game by dedicating each run to a specific set of skills/job that I spent most of my time in, and following each of those branches unlocked really interesting stories, but also rewards for simplifying future runs with past knowledge. In my opinion, the “perfect” run isn’t meant to be your second, but your fourth, fifth, or even tenth, depending of which pieces of the game you immerse yourself in between those things.
That being said, I do generally fly through the dialogue, but I tend to skim it just enough to notice if I need to pay attention to something new. I think the auto save system is useful for backtracking any dialogue you run past without realizing it’s new until something happens, too.
But overall, in conclusion, I think each run can give you a piece or two of the overall puzzle, and it’s best played when you spend time collecting the parts before trying to put it all together into perfection. Runs do get much faster when you’re used to the game, too! I’d say they take me 3-5 hours, depending on how goal focused/how much I linger in that particular run.
Man I’ll never forget my second run though!!! I went full scientist my first run and rarely went exploring, so I didn’t even meet Sym or know about them until my second!! Pretty unforgettable moment after all that time.
This I'm fairly certain I've failed at almost everything on my first run (in the last year from what I can tell) I'm so excited to succeed in some places next time. And not pick marz as my buddy ugh
I have never thought about the cross over of visual novels and cozy as I typically think of Life is Strange when I think of VN type games. I often find myself taking breaks in between games I enjoy like stardew valley and animal crossing. I am intrigued and will check this game out though!
3:44 Choices can come back to bite you. Shows Tang. Oh no.
4:40 After a few runs it's not hard to save *almost* everyone as memories build up.
In my experience, the whole point of exocolonist is playing again. There's things that you can only unlock by doing the complete opposite of what you would usually do, knowledge that you'll get from mistakes, it's a loop, you have to use it to "cheat" the system
This is a great game for people who don't like the dating sim style visual novel. I played totally blind my first time. I knew I either needed to concentrate on one set of skills or go wide. I went wide. You can imagine all the things that went wrong. Even then, I was able to do things with my character. I am a perfectionist, so my 2nd run is driving me nuts because I want to be "perfect." I know I shouldn't have that attitude. Ben's story is a good warning to me not to do that.
This game is such a hidden gem
This game made me feel more than anything I ever have. The sheer emotional overload and the amount of queer inclusivity got me through the mental blocks in my mind to realise I was in an abusive relationship and that I needed to go to therapy. It legit changed my life and I cannot express how much it means to me.
I slightly disagree with the point that the creators punishes you for not reading and not taking your time because there is specifically a setting option that allows you to skip text you have seen before and marks them off.
Also I never really saw this as a cozy game and I appreciate that the game somehow gets you feeling the same way as your player character would, of struggling to remember details and events to get the "perfect ending". I beat myself up over missing events and not stopping a tragedy and getting worried over unknown options because "I have never experienced this in my previous life" but also wanting to see where it goes in case theres something better in store. I really felt drawn into being a time looper trying to save everyone.
Also the requirements for a perfect run isn't as difficult as it seems and you can get them regardless of your starting gifts, friends or stats (It gets much easier and more flexible to achieve after a few runs but it does take a while to get to that point) And I suppose everyone has a different interpretation of what a perfect run entails anyways
You’re right about the second run. I rushed it and that was a mistake. My stats are in shambles.
I made a pact with myself to not savescum or restart a run while playing this game (unless there's some minor thing like changing my mind about how many kids I want after discussing it with my partner).
I do definitely need to take breaks between runs though but I try to weave a coherent theme between the runs. With my subsequent run being somehow based on the last. I'm doing a delusions run right now and it's brutal to try and help people while they're convinced you're just delusional😅
In my opinion, I wouldn’t call this a cozy game, it feels more like a game that looks cozy, but under the surface ever is much different, there’s a bunch of characters and stuff, and a lot of them die, also, this game is kind of hard to play through with a complete playthrough, especially if it’s the 1st one, because the first playthrough is scripted in a way, you can’t save Tammy, and I think Dys disappears and you can’t do anything about, I think it’s the same with Kom and the other characters that die.
I would say outerwilds and this game are my cosy games. They make me feel so at home (save for echos of the eye)
Wow this is a really good video the amount of views it has is criminally low. In other visual novels I've played they usually allow you to skip content you've already seen. I would not have been able to finish virtue's last reward without the skip option.
This is not a criticism or judgment of anybody, just a difference in opinion, but I personally do not consider IWATE a cozy game. I get that it's a visual novel, and the art style is very cozy, but for me, it just isn't one. To me, a cozy game is one where you can just turn your brain off, or you can just go about your existence doing whatever without too much of an impact. Basically, you don't have to plan out every single little thing you do to make sure that you get an ending where the whole world doesn't explode. Like said, IWATE can be pretty stressful, especially in the later years, so for me, I can't consider it a cozy game. I really do love this game, though. It totally consumed my life for like a month. I definitely am a completionist, and I will go for the "perfect" run at some point, but the reason I don't get bothered by bad outcomes is by just trying to experience the story and emotional impact of each ending. Slight spoiler warning ahead. The result of my first playthrough emotionally wrecked me in a good way. I think I actually had to sit and cry and process everything for a bit. The game is designed to make you realize that your choices determine the fate of your friends, family, and the entire planet. I already get sad thinking about some of the endings I'm going to get and how it will affect everyone. All of this to say is that I wouldn't recommend going into this game planning to immediately do everything perfectly following a perfect guide because it's one actually impossible the first time and two taking away some important moments of "oh crap I accidentally did that" or "YES I actually managed to do that". I get that that sort of playstyle isn't for everyone, and you're obviously free to approach this however you want to. This is just my personal recommendation for people who want to experience the game to the fullest. All in all, I'm just glad to see more people talking about this amazing game.