We Should Talk Review

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Fast Facts

We Should Talk

Developer: Insatiable Cycle
Publisher: Whitethorn Digital
Website: http://www.weshouldtalkgame.com/
Genre: Simulation, Communication, Adventure
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Age Rating: PEGI 18
Release Date: 16/07/2020
Price: £5.59

A code was kindly provided for review purposes.

It’s Not You, It’s Me

We Should Talk is a linear narrative game that centres around the philosophy ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it’. The game allows players to communicate with characters in the game by creating their very own sentences from a variety of options. But what’s the point?

We Should Talk follows an unnamed character and the interactions they have with certain people throughout a night – and ultimately, what relationships you will (or won’t) continue with. The game begins with you seemingly entering a bar and talking to the bartender, ordering a drink. You are able to choose your combination of drink and also how you speak to the bartender – do you want to be flirty or straight to the point? The choice is yours.

It soon becomes clear during your conversation with the bartender that you have a significant other waiting at home but you’re unsure of the situation. Why am I at a bar flirting with other people? It’s at this point that the game allows you to start making certain decisions and choosing your future boo.

Sadly, that’s about as much of the story I can reveal as We Should Talk is an incredibly short experience (it’s more of an experience than a game) and I reveal the whole plot in one paragraph – but I’ll talk about that shortly.

A Story Untold

Essentially, the beginning, middle and end of every sentence in the game is changeable – allowing you to set your tone for that particular message. Scrolling up and down through a brief selection of text that in the end could make or break your relationship. I mean, you’re not going to find something that you would 100% say yourself, but it’s a step in the right direction to a new dialogue style.

So, We Should Talk has a playtime of roughly 15 minutes, which I know is extremely short. That’s why I prefer to call it an experience. Although, there are multiple endings of which you can uncover by selecting different options so there is some replayability. I didn’t necessarily feel like I needed or wanted to see these other endings though. Upon completing your playthrough you will see a snippet of what happened in the future – which path did you go down? It’s because of this that I didn’t see the point in playing through again – I had already gotten MY ending, the ending I had gotten because of MY choices… it seems a little pointless to alter those choices.

Of course, if you are a completionist and want to uncover all the options and endings, it doesn’t take much time at all. It’s worth pointing out that you have to select specific chat choices for it to ‘drastically’ change the outcome which became a little annoying. A couple of my playthroughs ended the same despite me selecting numerous different choices.

We Should Talk’s presentation is, sadly, nothing to shout about. It almost seems like I had gone back in time and was playing on an older console than the Nintendo Switch – it all just seemed fairly blocky and with no real soundtrack, there wasn’t much to go on here. This aspect of the game was very disappointing; a good soundtrack can make a game, despite its other qualities.

Overall, We Should Talk was a fun experience that offers players something a little different. It has a cheap price point but I sadly cannot recommend it for the sheer fact that one playthrough is done within 15 minutes. I felt that by the time I was getting into the game, it was already over.

Rapid Reviews Rating

You can purchase We Should Talk for the Nintendo Switch at the following link: Nintendo eShop