Developer: Studio Fizbin
Publisher: Thunderful
Platform: Switch, PC
Tested on: Switch
Say No! More – Review
Every once in a while a studio decides to deliver a title that is different from anything we’ve seen before. More often than not, these titles fail to deliver an engaging experience, but when the developer manages to pull off what they set out to achieve, magic happens. Say No! More is such a title, offering up the world’s first NPG (No!-Playing Game). Did Studio Fizbin achieve their lofty goal of delivering a unique and magical experience or should you say “No!” to Say No! More?
Story
Set in a world where being able to say “no” is a rare ability with tremendous power, Say No! More delivers a short but absurd story of how an unnamed intern, known as Intern with a capital I, takes on a corporation in an attempt to reclaim his lunch box with the aid of a self-help tape. If that sounds straight-up bizarre to you, you’re very right, as Say No! More’s setting is just plain weird. Trying to explain this wacky tale in a few sentences without going too heavy on spoilers is a challenge by itself, but here’s our attempt: It’s Intern’s first day at his new job, and his deadbeat roommate has prepared a special lunch box in an attempt to get out of having to pay his share of the rent. When Intern arrives at his new place of work, however, the lunch box is stolen by Intern’s supervisor. As Intern attempts to reclaim his rightful property -with the aid of an ’80s style self-help tape complete with sweatband wearing instructor- the lunch box swaps hands between the various higher-ups at the company, until it reaches the hands of the CEO herself. As Intern takes on each of the company’s increasingly more important -and powerful- executives, he must master the power of the various ways of saying no. Along the way, Intern’s coworkers start to learn the power of “no” as well.
If you have a hard time making sense of the above, that’s okay, as we needed some time to process what the hell we just experienced too. The core concept of the game is simple enough to understand, but the game’s narrative tempo is incredibly high and everything just comes at you at a blistering pace. Say No! More is also filled to the brim with jokes and pop culture references. We probably didn’t get every reference, but it’s clear that the writers are fans of Matt Groening’s work, as the game referred to both The Simpsons and Futurama, for example.
Graphics
Say No! More’s blocky graphics fit the world that Studio Fizbin attempts to create. While the visual style might remind people of a slightly more detailed Minecraft in screenshots, it becomes clear that Say No! More is aesthetically distinct when you see the game in motion. The wacky, high-speed walking animation illustrates how Say No! More’s visuals are very much their own thing. The colorful characters stand out, despite being low-res models, thanks to their exaggerated features. There is also a slight degree of customizability when it comes to the protagonist Intern. There are a couple of preset incarnations of Intern -we went for the one that looked like Freddie Mercury wearing pink glasses- but you can also customize Intern to your liking should you choose to.
Sound
One of Say No! More’s standout features is the voice acting. Every bit of dialogue is fully voiced. We’re not quite sure whether the hammy performances of the cast were intentional -which would make sense given the subject matter- but they do work for the most part, although the supporting cast delivers over-the-top performances that can be a little annoying. This is especially apparent during the outdoor lunch segment, where -minor spoiler- the coworkers learn to use the word “no” in a training montage. Meanwhile, the music is delightfully cheesy and fits the atmosphere the game tries to capture.
Gameplay
In Say No! More, you take control of Intern as you make your way through the floors of the corporate building, in an attempt to reclaim your stolen lunch box. Each floor houses an executive, and you’ll have to beat them by getting into a shouting match using the power of “no”, which you unleash in the form of a powerful blast. After beating them, you continue on to the next floor and take on the next executive, until you reach the CEO. We’re not quite sure in what genre we’d categorize Say No! More. It’s very much an on-rails experience with no room for free exploration. Instead, the game just comes at you, with your ability to say “no” presented with quick time event mechanics. We’re also not quite sure if it’s possible to “lose” Say No! More, as we didn’t really encounter any hindrances during our playthrough, even during the battles with the executives. Because of this, the gameplay feels extremely limited.
The focus is clearly on delivering an engaging narrative experience rather than offering deep gameplay, and although there are several variants of “no” on offer here, we didn’t really notice a difference in which of them was more effective against certain enemies. It didn’t seem to matter whether you used a heated no or a lazy no against an opponent, but only whether or not it was charged and if you used one of the game’s taunts beforehand. Either way, the necessity to charge or taunt only served as a speedbump to overcome an enemy. Even the supposedly trickier executives posed little challenge. The worst that happened to us was that we had to recharge an attack occasionally because we missed the mark, but these were only minor hindrances. The game was over before we hit the two-hour mark, and with virtually no replay value, this makes Say No! More difficult to recommend given the price point.
Conclusion
Say No! More is a bit of an oddity, as it’s impossible to coherently explain what the game is like, and it’s best experienced for yourself. However, that argument only applies if you’re interested in experiencing Say No! More in the first place. Make no mistake, what’s on offer here is very divisive. The kind of humor showcased here definitely isn’t for everyone, and the lack of actual gameplay is going to be off-putting for some people as well. If you’re part of the audience Say No! More is catering to, you’re probably going to love what’s on offer here. Even so, the game itself is woefully short, making the price of entry hard to justify. If you can get Say No! More at a hefty discount, it might be worth checking out, but at €14.99, we find it difficult to recommend this game.
Say No! More - Review,
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