I recommend YIIK not because it is good but because its so incredibly bad at the things its bad at that i feel its a learning experience for the industry as a whole, for developers to take a look at for what not to do and for fans of video games, post-modernist storytelling and especially RPGs to have a shining example of what it looks like to do almost everything profoundly incorrectly. that being said, i do feel like there is a lot of good, enough good that the things i do not like about YIIK feel infinitely more like an albatross than if there werent good bits.

I'm going to be annoying about this game until the stupid hate train about the earlier version stops overshadowing it, damn it. YIIK is weird and confusing but it's also clearly inspired and fun as hell. I love the music and I love that Alex sucks. I need to be honest and say that I played through a good chunk of this and then stopped, not because of the game but because I'm bad at YIIK and bad at committing to anything, but I haven't stopped thinking about it and I know I will pick it up again and have fun. Seeing more striking and interesting things happen as I played felt like a reward.

A contender for best written narrative in the medium, a game that should be remembered as a masterful achievement on all fronts. Play if you're willing to put in work to understand a game, the payoff is worth it.