When it comes to romantic visual novels you usually think of a guy (or girl) actively trying to woo someone of the opposite (or same) sex. So it’s a bit of breath of fresh air that Talk to Me tries to buck these trends with something a bit more down to earth. And honestly this more subtle approach to finding companionship is worth checking out on its own, but it’s the content of said visual novel that’s caught my attention.
Talk to Me is the story of a guy beset with clinical depression after some incident or another that’s not really explained in the pitch. The thing is that he’s looking for someone to be with. Not necessarily sexually or even romantically but he just wants someone there with him. There is a major LGBT plot-line that runs throughout the story but the developers don’t go into any real detail. Wanting to know more about the queer themes is almost enough to back this one alone.
Outside of the more-or-less unknown story the other real selling point with Talk to Me is that unlike traditional visual novels your decisions don’t necessarily end in a “good”, “bad”, or “true” ending and that the consequences of your actions might not be apparent until much later in the game. The only factor that might turn some people off would be the use of deep topics like the aforementioned depression, sexuality, identity, domestic violence, and who knows what else. For me, though, this just intrigues me more to want to try out the demo.
