Say No! More review for PC, Switch

Platform: PC
Also On: Switch, iOS
Publisher: Thunderful Publishing
Developer: Studio Fizbin
Medium: Digital Download
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: E10+

The word ?No? is a very powerful thing, talk to any parent with a young child who recently discovered the word and they?ll tell you their job has gotten infinitely harder after it has been wielded. In the world created by Studio Fizbin however, the word has been successfully stricken from the vernacular and on the surface it seems like this has had a positive effect, but looks can be deceiving.

In Say No! More, you control a well meaning, more or less functionally mute, punching bag of a protagonist. You?ve been paying your roommate’s rent for nearly a year despite being unemployed, but things look to be on the upswing as you start a new internship. However that turns nothing more than false hope as you are pushed around until your lunch box is pilfered by your manager. At your lowest, you stumble upon a cassette player which imbues you with the ability to say No. Since this is a world where the word has been banished the usage of the word, the mere utterance of the phrase will comically knock people off their feet. Now armed with the ability to verbally fight back against your oppressors, you start rampaging through the company to reclaim your mcguffin.

The game consists of 10 chapters where you put your word to use in order to reclaim your property. Along the way you will learn new ways to rebuff your fellow employees or belittle them to increase your confidence. While these ?power ups? exist, utilizing them is not required with the exception of the occasional charged no. There will be occasional moments where not saying no will lead to additional content, but this content plays no bearing on the greater plot.

Visually the game is bright and colorful with the characters models looking like something out of a high res PS1 game (The title that is top of mind for that comparison would be Incredible Crisis which also mixes the mundane and absurd). The team also made no expense with the sound as they allow the player to say No in 17 languages. The voice acting is hammy and silly in a Monty Python-ish kind of way. The story is also a nice tale about self actualization and is probably something folks should experience.

That said the game?s worst quality is it?s a one and done title, unless you actively need to know what happens if you don?t rebuff a specific co-worker there?s no need to go back to the game after the initial playthrough. As previously stated even though you are provided with additional abilities, you?re hardly required to use any of it to proceed and these powers feel like placebos. The game?s lack of a fail state and even variance makes the experience rather static each time.

My best analogy for this title is that it?s oddly like Donut County, a charming, well written title which you only really need to experience once and it?s best cost of entry comes from the mobile port (there is a 10 dollar surcharge to buy Say No! More on Switch/PC). The experience is indistinguishable from it?s console brethren. I guess I would say No! to getting this title on PC/Switch and saying Yes! To picking this up on IOS if you want a fairly short, but uplifting experience.

Thunderful Publishing provided us with a Say No! More PC code for review purposes.

Grade: B-