I’m not crazy about visual novels. I don’t say this to take some sort of weird, morally superior stance: it’s a fantasy genre, and I’ve enjoyed games like Butterfly soupTHE Ace Lawyer games, Kill the princessand more. I just tend to miss them more often than not, and I say that to make it clear that I took a chance on a visual novel today. I played the demo of Truth Scrapperand I want it on record that despite my hang-ups, I’m really, really happy I did it.
I am interested in Truth Scrapper because I fell deeply in love with insertdisc5’s latest work, In the stars and time. In the stars and time is a beautiful turn-based RPG about a time loop that goes completely off the rails as the protagonist struggles to free himself. What I prefer about In the stars and time is deeply adorable but messy writing and celebration of funny, kind, queer, and earnest characters. Truth Scrapper being a visual novel therefore gives me a lot of optimism that its main element will be to my liking.
©insertdisc5 As In the stars and time before that, Truth ScrapperThe free demo is a modified version of the game itself. It’s meant to give you a taste of the feel of the full game, but it’s not exactly the same as what you’ll encounter when you actually start, so you won’t feel like you have to repeat a bunch of things you’ve seen before when the game fully releases. I really like this approach, especially for a choice-based story game where I want to feel engaged in my own decisions. The demo is short but sweet: you play as Sosotte, a “truth scrapper” who loses all her memories at the end of each day. Sosotte is able to regain some of her memories by touching her album every time she wakes up, and is able to remember everything she recorded in it. Your choices largely revolve around what to remember and what to forget each day, whether it’s feelings, sights, sounds, smells, or pure information.
Sosotte visits a sinkhole known as The Dwell and is assisted by two individuals: the gentle and buff Amour and the more serious and princely Betz. Together, they investigate a series of attacks on members of Sosotte’s guild, although early in the demo it appears that Sosotte has already been attacked. I think there is an easy trap Truth Scrapper could fall here by immediately immersing the player in in-depth exposition of its seemingly complex fantasy world, especially given Sosotte’s amnesia. But like In the stars and time, Truth Scrapper doesn’t do any of that. This gives Sosotte what she needs to know, then allows the player to experience the world through experience. I love it when games succeed. Surprisingly few do.
It’s clear from the start that my choices about what to remember will impact my relationships with both Love and the beautiful and spunky Betz (no, I haven’t picked a favorite yet, why you ask?). I like them both, although so far I’m a little less sold on Sosotte herself, who adopts a faux-cute, uwu attitude during her first interactions with the couple until she calls him out, after which she’s still a little too tumblr for me when she speaks. However, her inner voice works for me, so I want to believe that she is simply putting on a series of strange facades for reasons I will learn later.
©insertdisc5 Truth Scrapper is also very pretty to look at. It is distinct from In the stars and time but he also does a lot of things that I think In the stars and time did well. The game is primarily in black and white, with the story told in the kind of aged photos you might find in a scrapbook. But color is used thoughtfully to indicate important characters or elements, and it is suggested that it may play a larger role in the story. I love the character designs and the light, joyful way the art plays with gender expression in each character. Which, speaking of which, In the stars and time was really weird, in a way that was very meaningful to me personally. This looks like it’s going to be really weird too, and while it doesn’t hit me as precisely as the last game, I’m still excited for all the cuties.
Even though I don’t think Truth Scrapper grabbed me as immediately and as tightly as In the stars and time did, the reason I keep bringing up its predecessor is because that game won a plot of confidence on my part in the name of insertdisc5’s ability to tell a really good story, especially one that takes place in a (relatively) confined space and time, and spends a certain amount of time plot time in the head of a main character. Truth Scrapper is mechanically and tonally a very different game, but it follows so much of the same In the stars and time I did well and I can’t help but want to go all the way.
