i will start this by saying that i do enjoy this game. i was swept into Scarlet Hollow after Slay The Princess had its Pristine Cut release and have since been taken with the story. with that said, i do hesitate to recc this story in its current state. do keep in mind that this is from my very biased perspective, and is subject to change as things develop further. however, i do feel comfortable posting this at 5/7 episodes released. spoilers ahead, and please do correct me if i'm mistaken about anything.
positives, neutrals (aka 'tread forward in awareness of this'), and negatives ahead:
+ choices, choices, and more choices on top of that. they aren't kidding when they say they matter, too. your character can be romantically involved with a multitude of people of differing identities (gender, race, age, even parental status), can get called out for two timing, can be a total ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, can rarely speak and have that be acknowledged, can die, can survive, can be hated, can be loved. can contradict themself and be wholly fake with every word or be wholly truthful at all times, always. truly a delight when it comes to character dynamics and personalization.
+ the art is beautiful. i can only think of one instance where a character looked jarringly off model, and honestly it was necessary levity for that moment in my opinion (no, i will not tell which it was). you can tell that the artist's skill has improved starkly from the start of this game's initial release, and i find this extremely charming.
+ in addition to my choices, choices, and even more choices statement, branches upon branches for each episode. there are so many interactions that one can not engage in them all in a single playthrough alone. if you don't care for a character in one playthrough, you may just love them if you prioritize them on the next.
+ all in all, it is So Easy to get invested in these characters and what happens to them.
= choices, choices, and more choices does not include physical disability for main character off the bat. your character may be run down into what i would describe as a disability through forced aging, but past that nada. a light gripe, admittedly. inclusion of physical disability for a mc is exceedingly rare to find.
= choices, choices, and more choices also does not include queer identity. you have what i call bare minimum queer inclusion here. we have playersexual love interests that as a positive do acknowledge pre-existing attraction trends on their end. we also only have she/her woman, they/them nonbinary, and he/him male gender allowances for the main character. no overlap, no gray area, just an ironically strict three-gender binary. it's better than nothing but far from exemplary where gender expression and identity is concerned. (note that nonbinary main characters may face enbyphobia from their cousin Tabitha if they have a negative relationship with her, and our one nonbinary love interest, Avery, is an active and persistent victim of heavy handed- i mean, heavily implied enbyphobia.)
= i get the impression that the main character was written with 'monoracial white' being the identity in mind, despite only one parent being canonically confirmed for them. main character appearance is one of the things you can not make make choices, choices, and choices about excluding the 'hot' and 'buff' traits, with Stella even saying that your eye bags and cheek bones make you resemble Tabitha without her or any other character addressing any other features. you additionally do not get the option to fill any unstated features in. this is presumably to leave character appearance up to interpretation... as opposed to allowing you to choose curly hair, darker skin, or any other physical features as you use the bathroom at player discretion. make of that what you will.
= very little of this game will surprise you if you can identify foreshadowing when it happens. this is not a bad thing, but i do find myself confused at other's shock when it comes to certain plot beats.
and now the hard hitter: oppression.
- the enbyphobia is blatant and addressed by multiple characters, from Avery's direct anecdotes of their life to others majorly attributing enbyphobia as to why they are ostracized. i am non binary myself, so i would know first hand how ♥♥♥♥♥♥ it can get in the religious American south... however...
- ... Kaneeka is one of six Black characters in this small southern town, of which is ran with a comically ♥♥♥♥♥♥ police force and Tabitha's and MC's own majorly white family, which not only owns one of the few feasible ways to support one's livelihood, but has a monopoly on accessible housing. a family of which tried to buy out one of two Black owned stores- Kaneeka's very own family store, that VERY store which can get gentrified by her white mother. Sybil. who whitewashes Kaneeka in what can be her final moments. Sybil, who birthed and raised Kaneeka so she can consume her (sound familiar, history buffs?). Sybil, who speaks over her outspoken Black daughter and drugs her into submission. there are SO MANY racialized tones here... but we never see Kaneeka be aware of that. we are never able to address it for what it is. it is all left to implication, despite it being THE cornerstone of Kaneeka's entire story. this would be fine if of itself, if Avery's experiences with enbyphobia didn't get to be so damn blatant while they also do not get anything addressing any racialized experiences they or their aunt may have faced, considering that their aunt ALSO owns one of few successfully ran, non-Scarlet owned businesses in town. unless racism has somehow evaporated from the general public conscious here, this seems very lopsided to me.
- inhuman disability trope. surprise surprise: our disabled loves interests are actually not disabled at all, but are instead inhuman creatures-- possibly even beyond human comprehension. Wayne is an eldrich horror in a rotting corpse suit, who is seen as sick and unwell by the average individual. Reese is... something else entirely, drugged into submission by his own mother to conceal that. one would assume that he is chronically ill otherwise, and i was sincerely hoping for a trope subversion with him. nonetheless, he is in fact a potentially quasicannibalistic creature instead of a human. the trope pretty tried and true to the point of being rather uninspired, even when overlooking the innate ableism of nonhuman beings being the only MAJOR examples of physically disabled individuals (*there is an optional human leg amputee, but she is a minor underage character, and a minor character who may have exotropia)... despite this being set in a presumably low income rural area... where the nearest hospital is extraordinarily far away.... and where most of the able bodied work in a damn coal mine. yeah, sure.
all in all, an interesting game that i could not recommend.
