I’m changing things up a bit today. I don’t play exclusively AAA titles, so here’s something a little different.

Class of '09 touts itself as an “anti-visual novel.” Instead of a typical dating sim where you get to score with tons of hot anime girls by saying all the right things, you instead play AS the girl, rejecting guys around you and wreaking havoc on everyone’s social lives.

It’s considered a period game, taking place in the late '00s. Which makes me feel really old hearing people waxing nostalgic for the 2000s. I graduated high school in 2002; my nostalgic frame of reference is the '80s-'90s. 😖

Warning: This is a very dark game. There are about 15 endings, depending on your choices. I haven’t played through them all yet, but the best ending I’ve seen so far left you single and alone for the rest of your life, working cashier at a fast food restaurant to pay the bills. A lot of endings have you murdered, committing suicide, stuck in rehab, etc. As far as I can tell, there isn’t a happy ending for the protagonist.

This particular story in the screenshot got started when I decided to tolerate my best friend being a White Nationalist and not let a difference in politics get in the way of our friendship (Oops). It led to her starting a “White Pride Party” that literally everyone in the school joined except for me.

The nerdy Jeffrey only joined the club because he was a social pariah and it was the only group that accepted him. In order to test his convictions, I asked him out on a date and forced him to choose between egging a synagogue and dating me. Which led to the hilarious line in the screenshot. And also led to the WPP turning on Jeffrey. Double oops.

There’s another game called Class of '09: The Re-Up that I own, but haven’t played yet. It claims it’s not a sequel or a remaster, but additional stories branching off the original game. If I ever get around to finishing this first game, I’ll check it out.

  • Sanctus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    511·
    2 months ago

    This screenshot sounds like a shit post out of context. But is a stern reminder that friends dont let friends start white nationalist parties.

  • sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    24·
    2 months ago

    Class of 09 on Lemmy??? Damn, we really are growing 🥲

    If you’ve ever seen the “If you’re not in history, why are you reading Mein Kampf?” “I’m racist now.” clip, it’s from this game.

  • mox@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    12·
    2 months ago

    Your description reminds me of Doki Doki Literature Club, which also takes the dating sim visual novel format in unexpected directions. To avoid spoilers, I can’t say much more than that, except that it’s free and that I found it interesting despite all these things being far from my usual taste in games.

    • Sanctus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      2 months ago

      I had a feeling one of Satan’s helpers would show up here. I second this commenter go play it blind.

      • cobysev@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        41·
        2 months ago

        I have not played this game before. I might have to check it out. Thanks @mox@lemmy.sdf.org and @Sanctus@lemmy.world!

        EDIT: Not used to tagging users on Lemmy yet. Sorry for the edits. Hope I got it right this time.

        • Coelacanth@feddit.nuEnglish
          7·
          2 months ago

          I’ll throw in another vouch for it. Play blind, look up absolutely nothing about the game before playing.

        • dracs@programming.devEnglish
          6·
          2 months ago

          It’s a good game. Just don’t take the content warning at the start lightly. I’ve tried to finish it twice but haven’t been able to get more than a couple of hours in.

        • mox@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
          4·
          2 months ago

          The tag notified me, so mission accomplished. You don’t need to tag someone when replying to them directly; Lemmy notifies them about replies.

          • cobysev@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
            31·
            2 months ago

            True, but I didn’t want to thank you and NOT the person I was directly responding to. And I thought it was kind of weird only tagging one name and not the other.

            Maybe I’ve just been socializing on Discord too much. I’ve gotten used to tagging everyone I’m talking to directly.

            • mox@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
              2·
              2 months ago

              I guess that makes sense. I haven’t used Discord in a while, but I think tags are less noisy over there, since they don’t render as something long like @someusername@somelemmysite.example.com. I avoid unnecessary tags on Lemmy because all that extra syntax makes for cluttered comments.

    • Battle Masker@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      2 months ago

      I’ve seen so much from/about that game I forgot that you can still spoil it for some people. I just knew everyone knew about it, given how it enveloped the internet for a brief time after it was out

  • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    9·
    2 months ago

    My partner and I 100%ed Class of ‘09 and it was horrifyingly hilarious. It’s crunchy and offensive, in a self-aware kinda way like ‘00s 4chan before it became… actual bad shit instead of shitposting badly. If that makes sense.

  • manuallybreathing@lemmy.mlEnglish
    528·
    2 months ago

    Those symbols on those shirts are an equivalent to a swastika, maybe dont share these, or recommend this game (sounds like a shitfest), or admit you’re okay with your friends being nazis even in a game, sheesh

    • cobysev@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      141·
      2 months ago

      Those symbols on those shirts are an equivalent to a swastika

      That’s… the point. This particular branch of the game led to everyone (except you) becoming a Nazi. All because you tolerated racist diatribe from your supposed “best friend.” It’s a tongue-in-cheek look at what could happen if you tolerate racists in your life. And it doesn’t end well for the racists.

      Perhaps you should play the game before you jump to conclusions on its content. Yes, it’s a dark game, but it definitely doesn’t show any love for Nazis.