MiSide - In essence, DDLC 2

I liked it more than I expected, given DDLC was shit and it was likely taking notes from it.
It literally gave the game away with that warning at the very start. It thought it was so smart being "subversive" when VNs that take a hard turn like that have existed for decades. Every attempt at scaring or surprising you post-"I gently open the door." felt desperate, even that segment overemphasized the scaaary factor until it was just comical. Opening the door and seeing her hanging with none of those effects or tryhard music would've been more effective by a longshot.

Irisu Syndrome did the "relatively short tweest game" better in 2008. Both it and the freeware version of OneShot did the folder-finding in your files to piece things together/solve puzzles aspect better before DDLC even existed.
The monsters that weren't the two rogue Mitas were eyeroll-worthy, the in-your-face scares were easily the weakest aspect of the whole thing for the most part. Appreciated the amount of detail put into each environment, especially the SoL cooldown segments and how they gave you lots of side stuff to do while showing you how each Mita was. 7/10 that's lowered to a 6 off of the jumpscares feeling like they were begrudgingly added in so peabrained streamers wouldn't start playing with fidget toys, I hope that gigantic update coming up improves things. Mila is the best one.

Surprised nobody's mentioned the pause menu changing depending on which segment it is, I'm always a sucker for that:
It's a shame, too, because there's another "Subverted Anime Love Story" game out there that's older than both DDLC and MiSide, and it managed to get it right the first time. You spend hours getting to know the characters, so you actually get invested in the characters and plot, and the twist is actually foreshadowed pretty well and actually ties into the fucking plot. Instead this game amounted to being cheap jump scares so that Vtuber #950684 can scream into her microphone because she's being stalked by a Crash Test Dummy.
Also throwing in a guess, if it's not You and Me and Her is it Muv-Luv?
 
Last edited:
I assume you're referring to You and Me and Her?
Also throwing in a guess, if it's not You and Me and Her is it Muv-Luv?
Yeah, it's You and Me and Her. The reason I beat around the bush on it is because comparing it to games like this and DDLC is, in itself, a spoiler.

If I had to rank these types of games, it would be Doki Doki Literature Club at the bottom, then MiSide, then You and Me and Her at the top. At least MiSide here has some cute character building moments to go along with its cheap crappy pasta shlock.
 
Last edited:
Surprised nobody's mentioned the pause menu changing depending on which segment it is, I'm always a sucker for that:
There's three pause menus: pink is the normal one, red is the horror one, and blue is the reality one, which only shows up in the chapter after Mita knocks you out with a baseball bat, which is probably an oversight because you start the game in reality.
 
It's one of those very rare unique linear niche games with an actual plot and unique characters I still enjoy playing. It just proves that linear games that are planned out in detail are far superior than the greater-than-life randomly generated open world crafting shit with "infinite replayability" that just suffocate me nowadays.

You're just a guy that gets drawn into a tamagotchi game with a cute girl that gets somewhat Yandere on you for nonsensical reasons, so you forge an ally with her copies to stop her tyranny over the game world and bring you back to reality. And yes, the fact the girl is cute adds to the charm of the game, who could have thought.
 
It would be interesting if they ever get around to adding peaceful mode into the game.

Most players didnt like the way the story went trying to get the player attached to the mitas and then rudely ripping them away with out of character bullshit that players would never say or do. There was no point in even adding the illusion of choice in dialogue sections because of it.

It's one of those very rare unique linear niche games with an actual plot and unique characters I still enjoy playing. It just proves that linear games that are planned out in detail are far superior than the greater-than-life randomly generated open world crafting shit with "infinite replayability" that just suffocate me nowadays.

You're just a guy that gets drawn into a tamagotchi game with a cute girl that gets somewhat Yandere on you for nonsensical reasons, so you forge an ally with her copies to stop her tyranny over the game world and bring you back to reality. And yes, the fact the girl is cute adds to the charm of the game, who could have thought.

Its as if the concept of different game modes has also been lost to time. We used to have Campaign, Multiplayer, Experimental modes, Theatre, etc all separate from each other but all part of a whole package. You can still have a well crafted linear campaign to give context to the other gamemodes AND still have the other game modes in the same package and not charge the price of a full game for each gamemode.

Its also hilarious how too many wannabe indie dev grifter retards and their pixelshit brainrot forgot that older VNs have player choices that actually had an impact on the story and the endings. There were different character routes based on the way you wanted to play the game instead of mocking that as an "illusion of choice" because they have zero actual life experience and havent played any of the games they claimed to be "inspired" by. Instead basing their interpretation of VNs off the myriad of linear shovelware garbage flooding steam.

Discord e-grifters and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.
 
Last edited:
  • Dumb
Reactions: Nameless One
Its also hilarious how too many wannabe indie dev grifter retards and their pixelshit brainrot forgot that older VNs have player choices that actually had an impact on the story and the endings. There were different character routes based on the way you wanted to play the game instead of mocking that as an "illusion of choice" because they have zero actual life experience and havent played any of the games they claimed to be "inspired" by. Instead basing their interpretation of VNs off the myriad of linear shovelware garbage flooding steam.
Those people only played DDLC and at most watched videos summarizing other VN. They are like parasites, they want to subvert an established genre because it's easy to tear things apart than build them. Especially because they can stick to "people playing VNs are pathetic/perverted" to have a moral grandstand on the genre, ignoring that you could expand the criticism to any medium where you have a non canon love interest.
 
Maybe we'll get to see a Mita bodypillow at the DPR captured Donetsk Anime Store.
image_2025-02-22_152805858.png
 
  • Thunk-Provoking
Reactions: lolcow yoghurt
I played it last week after a friend recommended it to me. I thought it was fine. Each character serves a clear purpose, but nothing really beyond that. I never found the Mitas all that interesting beyond the surface. Yandere Mita is a classic and kind Mita is, well, kind. The two I probably liked more were Cappie and Mila, if for no other reason than the fact that I got to sit back and relax in their hub areas for the little time I spent with them. The most fun I had in the game was actually doing all the different puzzles, they were very creative, made me feel stumped here and there so it was rewarding to get them right. The story works fine, but I'll probably forget about it by next week. The only way I see someone really enjoying this is if they are into anime waifus and the like. It's a well made game, but if I had managed to finish it sooner, I would have probably refunded it. I'll give it a 5/10 as well.
 
Haven't played it myself, but I have seen it streamed. Looks interesting and also wat.

First comment under update announcement.
Game is made in Russia so I doubt they'd go along with that "identity politics" stuff.
 
Back