[Disclaimer: I received a review key for S4U: CityPunk 2011 and Love Punch through Keymailer, a third-party website/company that connects publishers and developers with content creators. The game was given without promise or expectation of a positive review, only that the game be played and content be created through the playing of the game and the experience. Unless otherwise noted, all content in the following article is from my own playthrough of this game.]
Systems: Windows
Release Date: January 8, 2025
Publisher: GCORES PUBLISHING
Developer: U0U Games
Time Spent: 6 Hours 42 Minutes
Wow. Just, wow. Really.
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I don't think I've ever played a game like S4U: CityPunk 2011 and Love Punch (just S4U from now on). From what I could tell as the credits of the game were rolling, I didn't do particularly well in my decision-making while interacting with characters, or in my "side job" of trying to help people online with their problems, or in my job as an architect. I didn't really develop any relationships for the character of Miki, either online or in her real life. I didn't really do well overall, and by all accounts, I'm pretty sure I got the "bad" ending, but even after all of my failures, I felt that I reached a conclusion that wasn't "You suck at life, please try again." There was an end to this phase of Miki's life, and seeing her through that and seeing that U0U Games had a thoughtful end even when performing as poorly as I did (or at least, as bad as I felt I did) still gave me a kick in the feels.
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The pretext of S4U is that you're Miki as she looks back on her computer and wants to open up a password-locked photo album but can't remember the password. To recover the password, she opens up what is essentially a screen recorder program called Magic Player. When you open the Magic Player, you start a new game where you play through Miki's past from three months ago. The majority of the game is played as an interactive visual novel where you use your real-life keyboard to type out pre-generated responses in chat windows while communicating with co-workers, clients, and family. There are also a couple of mini-game-type activities integrated into the narrative that feel well thought out and not immersion-breaking. It's a class in multi-tasking and keeping track of conversations and appropriate responses based on who you're talking to since, at times, you're allowed a choice of responses, some of which are time-sensitive.
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The story takes place in a fictional 2011 set between June 17th and July 6th, over nine playable days. Each playable day is structured in a similar way. Miki logs onto her computer and engages with customers who hire her either directly or through her "handler," Nil, as an "online mouthpiece" for people to help them with whatever their situation is that they're willing to pay for. One person might need help trying to figure out if their significant other is cheating on them. Another person might need help establishing a professional-level contact. Another person might need help tracking down a colleague who has been missing for three days and risks their own job if they're not found. Over the course of the game, you find out that your clients are not always forthcoming with all of the relevant and necessary information, so you have to wing it and try to guess how they might respond. This is where I really faltered throughout the game and I can't blame any of it on localization issues, of which there were some, but ones I only noticed while rewatching my playthrough.
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I don't know what can be deciphered from my apparent lack of how to respond as a character pretending to be someone else while trying to elicit information or get clients to respond in a specific way that ends up with Miki earning an income outside of her architectural job. I know as a real person, I'm not already great with small talk, which might not apply here, but it could also be applicable, and I don't actively engage in online forums (Reddit, Discord) with any regular gusto. But that could really only apply to situations where Miki is offered multiple responses when trying to express how the player is feeling while also attempting to interpret how the character of Miki is feeling while also guessing how the person that Miki is currently being an online mouthpiece for would respond in any particular situation. Maybe it's not as complex as I'm making it out to be, but at times, it really felt that complex in the heat of the moment.
As I briefly mentioned, I can't chalk up any of my failings to anything to do with the localization of the game from its original Japanese to English. I can only imagine how much of the original game was filled with both regional and national colloquialisms that would have a hard time being translated into any language. There were also several grammatical and syntax errors, but again, I really only noticed those while rewatching my playthrough. There wasn't anything serious that made me feel that an error in translation was holding me back or leading me down the wrong dialogue tree. I think it's probably related to the Transposed Letter Effect and not immediately noticing grammatical errors while not actively looking for them.
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That being said, I wasn't always able to follow the subplot of the whole Cyber-Life and TT thing. I got that there was something about a larger corporation(s) and regular civilians and online people, and maybe Internet-based consciousness. There was stuff interspersed throughout about AI-generated content and the effects that has on different aspects of everyday life, which, while not really applicable in 2011, felt very pointed in 2025, but that can be forgiven since it's a fictional 2011. There were articles on the Tico newsfeed that I would try to read and place within the larger world building context of the story but I know there was a lot that went over my head either because I failed to make any connections between the jobs Miki was doing, the role that Nil and/or Pi played in both the micro and macro telling of Miki's story, or that I just let something slip while glancing over the newsfeed while catching up on client interactions.
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But again, despite feeling lost for sections of the game and story and overall feeling like I didn't really "do very well" overall, I felt that this story impacted me a lot more than I had thought going into the game. During the phone conversation with Miki's mom at the end telling her that she wanted to visit with Miki's sister Daisy and that she wanted to buy her a computer costing 10,000 (which was significantly more than I was every able to make), after being laid off from her architectural job felt more like a loving emotional gut punch than the mom holding anything over Miki. The way I interpreted that interaction, there was nothing but love and caring behind her actions. Sure, there was the constant mistake of her Mom referring to Miki still being in college (in her dorm, unless I misunderstood something), but none of this interaction came across as holding anything over Miki's head or flaunting wealth.
There's plenty more I could talk about in regard to the gameplay, mechanics, mini-games, how I played, and the amazing work of the sound team. A lot of this will reference videos and elements that you can watch from our playlist over on YouTube. So, let's quickly bullet point this.
- Loved typing on a virtual keyboard with my real keyboard, partly because my laptop has a latex key cover over chiclet-style keys.
- I loved having different responses. I loved that this carried over to both in-person conversations and interfamily text messages.
- I loved that there were mini-games like the architecture sketching program and the loading bar. I'm sure there were others that I wasn't able to unlock due to choices and decisions I made.
- I loved that there was a board that I feel would have been filled up to the left of the computer had I completed more of the interpersonal side quests.
- I loved the sound of the keyboard, and even the vending machine sounds were all very satisfying. Even the music was soothing and fitting for this style of game. I'm sure that I could've expanded Miki's collection of music had I not been so focused on trying to save money.
I don't know if I'll immediately go back and replay this game, seeing as how it felt like there were a lot of branching paths that were based on decisions and replies I made, some in the moment and some more thought-out than others. I feel like I would need a flowchart of all the responses I type,d and that's not something that sounds like fun for me. I'll probably look at other walkthroughs to see what needed to be done and what else there was in the game, but for now, I'm content with Miki's story and the conclusion that was reached. A little sad, a little melancholy, a little hopeful. This was one avenue for Miki's story, and I'm glad that I was able to experience it.
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