Lil' Guardsman Review (Vitlöksbjörn)
Lil stands for Lilith, in case you're wondering.
I have no idea how I found this game; and when getting it, I thought to myself "this is either going to be amazing, or utter garbage". And while "amazing" is a bit of a stretch, but it's still a very fun game - unique, and even manages to be funny a few times! Game writers tend to be massive dorks (don't ask me how I know that) whose idea of humour tends to be "reference as much pop culture as possible", and Lil' Guardsman actually relies on more standard understanding of comedy. It works.
The whole game's deal is "don't judge a book by its cover" (or do, I'm not your dad), and it very much applies this philosophy to itself. It's not exactly a kid's game. It has the aesthetic of one, but it relies on some rather mature emotional reasoning, has occasional swearing (with excellent comedic timing, mind), and is very, very political. Both in the "it discusses the nature of power" sense and "it deals with issues which have direct analogies in our world" sense. Then again, this is a game where you play as a little girl, if you're a... person that has issues with "politics" in games, I'm very surprised you're even reading this.
Moving on. There's some resource management involved in the game - it's very obviously inspired by Papers, Please, but the gameplay is actually much different. You have a lot of ways of determining whether you should let someone in or not. Tools that require finite resources, phone calls, or just talking and being clever with your tone and answers. Plenty of choice without making you feel overwhelmed.
The tone of the game is much more upbeat, too. The fact that you have a fancy timey-wimey tool to tactically go back in time helps reduce the tension - save scumming as a gameplay mechanic, why not? But this game is not all just bingchill; you're still dealing with serious stuff that has serious consequences - some more serious than others. Seriously.
There is an issue with pacing - some parts drag on a little. There's also sooo many characters, and you kinda want to have some kind of rapport with all of them, but this becomes harder later on, where you're really flooded with events and whatnot.
I'd also argue that its politics are a little flat; there isn't much nuance. Which, eh, is fine. You're a 12-year-old, who already is wise very much beyond her years. In the end, the story still manages to be gripping and there are some hidden depths to the characters that really come out of nowhere (in a good way).
Also, the game is clearly made with replaying and trying different stuff in mind, but I actually got the best ending on my first playthrough and I don't think I'll be going back; but I'm not a huge fan of replaying games, so that's just fine by me. If you like exploring all sorts of "what if" scenarios, this game's got you covered.
Look, it's alright. It won't shake the foundations of your world, but you'll smile - maybe even laugh! and generally have a nice time. I recommend playing one day ("level") a time, for better pacing.
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