Though it has its charming moments and is complemented by some often gorgeous watercolour-esque art I can't recommend Asphyxia to everyone. Some will like it and many might love it but many will be bored or frustrated by it . That said, this is the kind of story that I'm always happy to see more of in games, one with progressive themes that aspires to be something literary, even if it is ultimately bland and the the crudely obvious references to English Literature are grating. It contains the characters 'Alexandra Taylor Coleridge' and 'Lillian Wordsworth', which are much more than gentle nods.

The story is grounded in reality, telling a tale of teenage depression and angst, but its characters and their conversations are not (perhaps fitting the literature it is, by the author's admission, inspired by). The characters do not speak like real people. Most of the time they sound as if they have been plucked from an A Level essay. You get used to it, but it is often jarring and gets in the way of telling a convincing story about love and friendship. Conversations also tend to carry on far too long, with characters repeating themselves or stating quite plainly how they feel about their relationships.

Despite all this though, by the end of a playthrough I was not left feeling bitter towards the game as I was when I was halfway through. It has its humerous moments and at least some of the cast of at first immensely unlikable characters eventually endear themselves to you which I will assume, to be kind to the game, was the intent. This is a classic example of a game that teeters between a thumbs up and a thumbs down. I enjoyed it just enough to recommend it (and perhaps that's simply because I played it a day after visiting the Lake District myself) though I know many would regret their time with it. It is by no means a must play but I am glad that it exists.

A note on interactivity:
There are few points at which you can make choices to diverge the story and the protagonist is very much their own character, and quite a frustrating character at that. You have no real means of shaping who they are. This is very much a story about them, not you. If you want a visual novel that lets you adopt a role like that I would recommend something by the wonderful Hanako Games, like Magical Diary. In fact, the most important diverging point in Asphyxia, the one that pretty much defines how the story ends, doesn't even present itself as a decision of any significance.

Though it has its charming moments and is complemented by some often gorgeous watercolour-esque art I can't recommend Asphyxia to everyone. Some will like it and many might love it but many will be bored or frustrated by it . That said, this is the kind of story that I'm always happy to see more of in games, one with progressive themes that aspires to be something literary, even if it is ultimately bland and the the crudely obvious references to English Literature are grating. It contains the characters 'Alexandra Taylor Coleridge' and 'Lillian Wordsworth', which are much more than gentle nods. The story is grounded in reality, telling a tale of teenage depression and angst, but its characters and their conversations are not (perhaps fitting the literature it is, by the author's admission, inspired by). The characters do not speak like real people. Most of the time they sound as if they have been plucked from an A Level essay. You get used to it, but it is often jarring and gets in the way of telling a convincing story about love and friendship. Conversations also tend to carry on far too long, with characters repeating themselves or stating quite plainly how they feel about their relationships. Despite all this though, by the end of a playthrough I was not left feeling bitter towards the game as I was when I was halfway through. It has its humerous moments and at least some of the cast of at first immensely unlikable characters eventually endear themselves to you which I will assume, to be kind to the game, was the intent. This is a classic example of a game that teeters between a thumbs up and a thumbs down. I enjoyed it just enough to recommend it (and perhaps that's simply because I played it a day after visiting the Lake District myself) though I know many would regret their time with it. It is by no means a must play but I am glad that it exists. A note on interactivity: There are few points at which you can make choices to diverge the story and the protagonist is very much their own character, and quite a frustrating character at that. You have no real means of shaping who they are. This is very much a story about them, not you. If you want a visual novel that lets you adopt a role like that I would recommend something by the wonderful Hanako Games, like Magical Diary. In fact, the most important diverging point in Asphyxia, the one that pretty much defines how the story ends, doesn't even present itself as a decision of any significance.