@@pixellordm8780 You dont need that epidermal layer of skin to be pretty, that skin doesn't make you pretty at all, take it off with our newest paten carcinogenic-arsenic powder.
Reminds me of those godawful beauty consultant shorts, where people go to Korean shops to find out what colours match their complexion and be torn down completely.
@@JuMiKu To be fair that's not making someone think that they're ugly, that's just going 'hey you suit these colours much better than others' it's just a slightly different version of knowing what your body shape is.
Note how whenever the main character “fixes” the monsters, they take away the monster’s most defining feature. Their hair, their fangs, their antlers - everything that makes them THEM. It is a very good critique of the beauty industry because that’s exactly what it does. Takes away any sense of individuality out of a person to fit a specific standard of beauty and attractiveness
you can actually get a ton of unconventional things done to you, like you can have your ears altered to look like elf ears, get rhinestones in your teeth, etc.
We don't say this enough, the beauty industry is predatory and the monster designs in this game is phenomenal. It isn't easy to create unique monsters, so the artist outdid themselves here.
The problem is we see it everywhere, it's not just beauty industry pushing the image of "perfect" human. Media and society as a whole are pushing those standards. Who doesn't want to look like wolverine from x-men origins? Well Jackman was starved and dehydrated to look like this
@@realdragon Very true, muscle men and slim bodies in movies often come at high pain costs for the actors, drying is rampant in body building and in older movies it was ruthless too. The vomit diets of many mannequins are not news same for heartless surgeries and that's not to forget sometimes taking weight is also a requirement and can cause damages to internal organs... Surely better makeup artists that can do body mods are a better price to pay, but not everyone agrees
@@flyingstonemon3564Not to mention the stigma behind weight and obesity leading to a whole host of problems. Fatphobia is real, it's not mass extermination of fat people or something, it's the way being or looking fat is seen as a moral failure that precedes every problem in life, how health problems get dismissed by "just lose weight", how poverty gets dismissed by being fat, et cetera.
Maybe I'm looking into it too much, but the fact the monsters don't thank you and kind of silently leave makes me feel like they immediately regret their decision-
@@jruler93 not immediately though, they've been curios before going, then convinced after going that parts of them aren't essential to them. their fictional existence, and if reading into it, aspects of their species/ nature. some in superficial ways, some in more permanently seeming ways, but its more about the character we play as making them more human like in appearance. I feel its similar to "fursonas" or "human versions" of any animal character in existence, not in the fanart aspect in respect, but in the shaping to fit a human ideal pattern than the inherent natural one of the nature of the character that seems perverse almost to conceive in some minds by "whitewashing" the character figuratively into our own view of the worlds desires of shaping.
There were monsters who recommended them though. So a deeper look into this actually questions why we (as the viewers) think what they're doing is wrong when the monster themselves like it. What gives us this authority to say what someone should like
the character designs in this one are so good. i love the player slowly transforming into a ‘monster’ themselves- perhaps becoming insecure and seeing their own features as monstrous and in need of fixing? idk this one had me really engaged. simple, effective, and honestly a bit gut-wrenching. the characters are only on screen for (at most) a few minutes at a time, but every “transformation” really tore me up.
Nah , they were already a monster to begin with , but by the back handed / false compliments and things , they became more powerful from their manipulation of the other monsters.
yea and they even have backstories!! simple ones but its still a reason they came to the parlor and considering wat george (the second monster) said about hera (the monster u just fixed up) being excited about ur parlor makes me think that, because u bullied them until they had no more self esteem, they genuinely believe that u fixed them and made them more beautiful even tho theyre still bleeding and basically went through impromptu surgery that most likely had no anaesthesia
What a distressing game. Makes a real statement about how people are peer pressured into changing their appearance, even to their detriment, by getting rid of what makes them unique…
Yeah, the whole thing is to break their self-esteem in order to change them and take advantage of them. That's the really monstruous going on, and the worst part is that some people do act like that irl.
Jeebus. Like i don't want to sound corny or cheesy or anything, but this interpretation...yikes. I'm glad that i have a strong or a strong enough sense of self, for a lack of a better word. Or at the very least, i'm afraid of needles so that annihilates a lot of chances for skin augmentation, for a start.
@@MrDespresso17 Then the question becomes "Do you have strong sense of self because you are already what society wants you to be? Is your current self being reinforced so you won't change?"
@@Raiju2it's pretty easy to answer if you don't overthink it - I do not care. There are things I like and things I do not; at the end of the day I gravitate towards the things I fancy. There's always going to be people that like the same thing I do and there's always going to be people that hate the things I like.
It's odd thinking about but I had a birth defect on the top of my head that I was heavily bullied over and, eventually, I was basically peer pressured into getting surgery to remove it which did nothing for me since it left me with a very obvious bald spot. So.. yeah, get this game quite a bit.
Bro, I really liked the design of the twins my fav mosnter, when I saw that they were put together I already knew they were going to rip one of their heads off
I also think this game is touching on themes of feeling pressured to change oneself to fit in not only due to the beauty industry side but in regards to personality and neurodivergence. Because people who are different are seen as “monsters.” Then, the MC gets rid of everyone’s quirks only to realize they were the monster all along by capitalizing on others insecurities and differences
Honestly I saw it that way, though I doubt any interpretation is wrong unless the dev ever outright states what it's about since at the end of the day it's a game about monsters with perceived flaws wanting to remove those flaws and ending up worse because of it, and whether or not they're even literal monsters in this universe or it's simply the warped perceptive of the character(s) is also up in the air, at least for now. Still one uncomfortable game either way though so I'll give it props to that, this isn't horror, it's existential dread in game format ^^'
@@discordiacreates6669 omg you’re so right with the feeling of existential dread it provokes in the viewer! I couldn’t put my finger on it when I was watching until I read your comment
I interpret later part differently, it's not that MC sees themselves as monster for capitalizing on others but after spending so much time "fixing" people they start to see their own imperfections. The change is slow but those imperfections are accumulating into seeing yourself as a monster
@@realdragonindeed, i love monsters already.. and most of them r already really really cute.. just the mirror one i got a bit confused where the head is.
@@vadstartwe did :,) We didn’t have time to play test it super extensively, so the amazing monster ai smallbuggames came up with doesn’t really come across. If we were to fix this game up at a later date I’d totally make the battles longer/harder, so you really have time to learn their patterns.
To berate and manipulate clients into giving up the things that make them unique? No, usually I want to enhance or flatter a client's unique features & give them a style that's sustainable for them. "Better" is a super subjective term.@@jackislegitterrified3689
@@jackislegitterrified3689at least the hair dresser cuts your hair and those hair grow back eventually. Here they straight up cut pieces of body, never to be seen again
I loved the unique style of the monsters. Every time the sheers popped up, I wanted to cover my eyes, because I didn’t want to see the damage done to them. I felt so terrible for the monsters every time you finished with them and they just stared at you before leaving silently. The third monster was so cute, and knew the antlers were coming off as soon as I saw the sheers. I felt bad for him, but he didn’t look too bad without the antlers. I kind of wish I knew exactly what was being said to the monsters. And the ending…
I feel so sad every time each one of these sweet individuals come in, who are obviously nice, but people have been stomping over them their whole life, using them and throwing them away. They think "makeover" would make them look better, and this will somehow improve their situation, but player character is just like everybody else - taking advantage of them.
@@addison_v_ertisement1678They are definitely getting something out of the excised body parts they are keeping, like they are giving them some sort of demonic power-up.
@@addison_v_ertisement1678 I’m guessing because they are monsters their defining features give them some kind of power and it’s what’s physically transforming and mentally destabilizing the character we play as. This is my head cannon for the game because of the lack of story. As many others have pointed out, it’s a critique on the beauty industry.
I've watched a lot of horror stuff before I should've in terms of age, and freaked myself out for months as a result. Doing so means I have built up a pretty strong horror tolerance now that I'm fully grown. And yet, this one got me. Not because of fear factor, but because it made me sick.
This game really succeeded at what it went out to do because no matter how many times it happened, I would still be internally screaming every time the scissors came up. I thought I was desensitized to horror by now, but this was genuinely the hardest one to watch
This game definitely succeeds at telling the story it set out to do, but it feels like it tried to do more than that and fumbled it there in terms of mechanics. As others have mentioned, a sequel or full game could definitely be in the works. (Edit: Makes sense since it was made in a limited time frame for a game jam.) A lot of the mechanics with the dialog and mood aren't very clear, and you aren't encouraged to figure them out or use the charms well because you can pretty much click the best option (or any option, since you never lose progress and you don't have a failure condition AFAIK) and it always works. It looks like a lot of the stuff about monster actions and such mentioned at the start wasn't implemented. Plus it doesn't really add to the message or the depth of the game because every monster gives the same generic dialog, so you can't understand how the monster is thinking as you talk with it; it doesn't show how people are swayed to undergo things like this. Also, does anyone else think it could have worked better if it started more innocuous with minor haircuts and dialog about helping monsters look better, and then slowly got more disturbing and explicit with dialog about fixing flaws and attacking the monsters' esteem and more graphic edits over time? That might better show how people end up falling into this, and it's an effective horror trope. But hitting you in the face right out of the gate works too.
Thank you for your feedback! I agree with a lot of it, but ultimately we only had 72 hours to make this game. A lot of the flaws you pointed out are because of that. Originally we planned for there to be 15 monsters over 5 days, but that was just way too ambitious. We also considered adding unique dialogue for every monster, but then I would have had to write 100+ unique lines in just over 24 hours sooo…. we didn’t do that lol. I’ll take this into consideration if we ever decide to make this a full-length game!
@@metaphysicalmonsters3667Yeah, that makes sense; you did well with the time you had. Was this for a game jam or something like that given the time limit? If you do try and make a full game, best of luck.
ah yes that was what i was doing wrong! essential oils! maybe not the fact that my brain is literally medically physically different from those without autism
Based on the thumbnail, I thought this was going to be in the format of one of those point-and-click makeover/salon games where you manually select specific tools to “fix” various “flaws” I typed out a bunch of ideas for how a game like that could work really well for this concept but I deleted them because now I really want to make this game! Never made a game before, but I’m pretty sure the coding for that style of game would be relatively straightforward… I think I might give it a shot… (I would, of course, cite this game as the inspiration, if I ever get around to actually doing this)
the storytelling is really clear and fascinating, if there were to be a second version/a sequel with more polished, explained, and possibly more complex gameplay this would be a 10/10 game
I do think there's plenty of potential to expand on this, to flesh it out and make it all more strategic, but given the constraints it was made under this is still quite interesting. The designs are so creative, both how they normally look and how the player character "helps" them.
@@egg4666they're referencing her videos abt redesigning OC's, usually she has cool segments showcasing a daycare and the redesigning is like torture for them
i think they're referring to neyterix's OC redesigning series? really like the side story it had! and the twists they did to some of the character submissions was pretty hilarious
“White” is short for white wine vinegar. If you’re asking why they’re named after types of vinegar then… that’s a long story lol. TLDR: dev shenanigans
I really love all the designs of the monsters. They all have something unique or cool about them. A game where you be nice to them instead would be neat. I want to see them happy :(
oh there are parables/fables like this! the fox that looses his tail so (tries to) convince the other foxes they are more beautiful and light weight with out theirs. then there's the other one about sour grapes but i think that might be the opposite and more about envy
I... that poor dragon, i... am shocked, i get what others have said about this game. Sometime before that poor dragon, i hope there won't be a dragon. Now i just hope to have this dragon find a way to return their scales
I think that your character is a sort of unconventional monster hunter. The whittling down of each character’s esteem is you doing “damage”, you altering them is “killing” them, and then you use the parts you harvested off them allows you to emotionally hurt the other monsters more effectively. Then at the end of it all, you realize that you’ve become a monster as well…
Fix them? No, I like them just the way they are. What's life without a little spice? Truly, to be given the exotic and expect it to conform to the regular is the worst kind of perspective. Also, regular women are scarier anyways.
First Manly video of the year Quite an interesting lil short game. I love the monster designs. Very unique. I guess when you got the mirror you decided to "fix" yourself in some way. Also I guess it says a lot on how the words of others can affect ones self and maybe they are just projecting and nothings really needs "fixing." Or on the flipside, maybe just too much "fixing" happened and you were better off before you went too far. Either way, you gotta treat yourself and others with respect and strike a balance in things and learn to love yourself.
Dang one of your best things is reading dialog out loud. It was kind of a disappointment not having that treatment on the intro dialogue when monsters arrived.
O god I cry, why do I cry? The first monster was so pretty I needed to stop for a second. O God, these body of mine, I have wanted to melt away so bad, I'm not white or skinny enough, I'm to tall to fat to ugly but the monsters feathers were so beautiful
It sounds like you grew up in a place where people don’t look like you, and so you, like the monsters, are convinced you don’t meet some imaginary standard. Darker skin, being tall, maybe that’s not “attractive” where you’re from but where I’m from that’s model material, you’ve just gotta learn to lean into what makes you unique.
This is my second time watching these game play and I steel feel so much pain looking a these, They were all so Beutifull before there beuty was taken away from them, I have no idea why it Makes me feel so angry and sad, I guess I relate to the monsters but also the beuthy parlor worker, the need to take away all of the filth of my body but also envy evry other creature that looks so Beutifull, idk I just know these game gives me a sensation that nothing else gives me
I'm not sure if the devs are still reading comments, but I gotta say, I love the concept of this game! for how quickly they had to do this, it turned out pretty solid! I would absolutely LOVE to see an extension! It's an extremely good concept and there's so much to explore with this. Keep up the good work fellas!
I feel like the filthy scissors and lack of bandaging take away an important element of the message. Showing the monsters bleeding with their features hacked off gives an impact, but having them leave like that just takes away from the realism of the metaphor. Having them tenderly bandaged and cared for after the butchering would really sell the point of "I want you to be beautiful" as opposed to "I want your parts as charms"
I think this game is a very cool concept!! From my interpretation, i think the game is about manipulating others into changing themselves, and then after they have, the player is left with the part that was removed. I think the player becoming more of a monster as they collect more pieces could be a metaphor about losing yourself. Taking so many of what was unique to others and using it to create a facade of yourself. The player projects their insecurities on to the monsters and takes their pieces that make them unique, turning themselves into a "monster" because not only do they treat the people around them badly, but they steal aspects of their personality.
@@thaliacrafts407 yeah it's a bizarre visual idea Ive only seen one other time on itchio, it was mostly still images and visual novel but it's nice to see not anime lol
Imagine if the character we play as, looks even worst and horrible (maybe by taking the parts we toke and apply it to ourselves to look more “unique”) actually I made this comment before watching the entire thing and I was right)
That’s just the old ways making a come back. Once upon a time, the Barber was your hair cutter, dentist, surgeon and bleeder. Or leecher, if you couldn’t stand getting your arm cut open with a dagger. So also being a dentist is no surprise at all!
I love the monster designs. It is a shame they were mutilated as they were. I would like to see more work from the artist and a longer, more complex sequel to this game.
Some of the designs are kinda scary or creepy, that’s a basic version of horror..and psychological because it relates to a lot of people and the beauty industry as a whole I guess? It’s definitely a weaker version of those but they could apply I suppose?
This game was a questionable decision to watch without any sleep ngl ^^'. Disgusting, the monster designs are pretty wild and I like that but I can't help but think... Especially with the twins and the little jackalope, seriously, the jackalope was the cutest one of them all but one of the twins just got straight up offed. Props to the developer for making such an uncomfortable experience for us all to.... Experience ^^'. I feel like I'm not supposed to say enjoy because everything is wrong with this universe and the MC is very toxic but all of the creature designs are so fun and it was genuinely interesting to see how they'd be transformed at the end. Uncomfortable, but interesting So when will the rest of the mechanics mentioned in the tutorial be added and we get the full game? Hopefully in a year or two, ik how long development can take to get a finished project and I'd definitely like to see just how far this can go, and how twisted it can get ^^'. Thanks, I think? Lol
I’m so glad you liked our game!! Honestly that’s kind of the intended experience lol. All the mechanics in the tutorial have been added! They’re just not obvious enough ^^; I’m very glad to hear you’re interested in a full game! I cannot promise we will make one (and I can’t speak for the rest of the team), but I am hoping to.
@@metaphysicalmonsters3667 ah ig I just thought the mechanics would be a but more obvious or varied depending on the monster in question, but that's ok, games don't always need to be complex to be good and it's not like it's a combat game anyway ^^'. If y'all do extend this then I'll look forward to hopefully seeing more of this later, but if not, no pressure, y'all already succeeded at your goal with this and it's already pretty solid for a short experience as is
@@discordiacreates6669 they were supposed to be, but time limits meant we didn’t have time to refine the combat and make it super obvious. Thank you so much for your kind words! We do hope to at least refine it in the future :)
@@metaphysicalmonsters3667 ah that's completely fair, take all the time y'all need because whoever did the art is amazing and I'd love to see some little bits of lore maybe added in in the future. Though my stance is usually games don't need lore, I am super curious if this is a world of monsters or there are humans and if either side clashes if so, like they've got some incredibly unique features so some little hint as to why they even perceive inperfections might be a nice addition, though completely up to you, in the end it doesn't effect me and one person's preference doesn't make or break anything. So... I wish you all the best of luck on this if development continues and any future projects, y'all got that uncomfortable, creepy atmosphere free of any actual danger or jumpscares down and I love seeing less obvious horror games, this was a treat so thank you ^^
Welcome to the I'm Here Again Club how I'm Here Again are ya?
here we go!
...again!
hiii
How here again we talking🤨🤨
You is cool og
Feeling very Here we go again
Ah yes, psychologically manipulate your customers into thinking they look ugly for profit.
That’s literally what the beauty industry’s done for generations, remember when they put arsenic in face powder?
@@pixellordm8780 You dont need that epidermal layer of skin to be pretty, that skin doesn't make you pretty at all, take it off with our newest paten carcinogenic-arsenic powder.
Reminds me of those godawful beauty consultant shorts, where people go to Korean shops to find out what colours match their complexion and be torn down completely.
"Well if you're good at something you should probably capitalize."
@@JuMiKu To be fair that's not making someone think that they're ugly, that's just going 'hey you suit these colours much better than others' it's just a slightly different version of knowing what your body shape is.
Note how whenever the main character “fixes” the monsters, they take away the monster’s most defining feature. Their hair, their fangs, their antlers - everything that makes them THEM.
It is a very good critique of the beauty industry because that’s exactly what it does. Takes away any sense of individuality out of a person to fit a specific standard of beauty and attractiveness
Before they get "fixed" they look great and like something I would wanna hug
you can actually get a ton of unconventional things done to you, like you can have your ears altered to look like elf ears, get rhinestones in your teeth, etc.
@@thea_therian
You absolutely can, however that’s not how it usually goes and this is not the standard of the beauty industry as a whole.
zzzzz
And I say screw that I'm keeping my wavy afro
We don't say this enough, the beauty industry is predatory and the monster designs in this game is phenomenal. It isn't easy to create unique monsters, so the artist outdid themselves here.
The problem is we see it everywhere, it's not just beauty industry pushing the image of "perfect" human. Media and society as a whole are pushing those standards. Who doesn't want to look like wolverine from x-men origins? Well Jackman was starved and dehydrated to look like this
@@realdragon Very true, muscle men and slim bodies in movies often come at high pain costs for the actors, drying is rampant in body building and in older movies it was ruthless too. The vomit diets of many mannequins are not news same for heartless surgeries and that's not to forget sometimes taking weight is also a requirement and can cause damages to internal organs... Surely better makeup artists that can do body mods are a better price to pay, but not everyone agrees
@@flyingstonemon3564Not to mention the stigma behind weight and obesity leading to a whole host of problems. Fatphobia is real, it's not mass extermination of fat people or something, it's the way being or looking fat is seen as a moral failure that precedes every problem in life, how health problems get dismissed by "just lose weight", how poverty gets dismissed by being fat, et cetera.
Idk why I laughed my ass off when he gave the first monster a makeover and then got quiet for like a split second before saying "... Beautiful...." 😭
SAME😭
I nearly fell off the bed
hes literally so randomly funny 😭😭
absolutely beautiful
His comedic timing is perfect lmao
Maybe I'm looking into it too much, but the fact the monsters don't thank you and kind of silently leave makes me feel like they immediately regret their decision-
This is just going to the barber and they butcher your hair. 😂😂😂
Yeah, but then a few later characters reference that they got recommended by past customers
Considering most of the monsters walk out mutilated, they probably do have regrets about what the player character did to them.
@@jruler93 not immediately though, they've been curios before going, then convinced after going that parts of them aren't essential to them. their fictional existence, and if reading into it, aspects of their species/ nature. some in superficial ways, some in more permanently seeming ways, but its more about the character we play as making them more human like in appearance. I feel its similar to "fursonas" or "human versions" of any animal character in existence, not in the fanart aspect in respect, but in the shaping to fit a human ideal pattern than the inherent natural one of the nature of the character that seems perverse almost to conceive in some minds by "whitewashing" the character figuratively into our own view of the worlds desires of shaping.
There were monsters who recommended them though. So a deeper look into this actually questions why we (as the viewers) think what they're doing is wrong when the monster themselves like it. What gives us this authority to say what someone should like
Is no one going to talk about how one of the “monsters” literally had a head cut off? Like, I’m pretty sure the barber just killed somebody there
Probably two, the mirror was the head of the last one and the barber beheaded one of two conjoined twins.
You can't make an omelette with decapitating a few eggs
@@tarumath319 I honestly thought he was just gonna cut them in half
@@GraknorkeI…I don’t think that’s how the saying goes 😭😭😭😭😭lol this is a very much darker version of it tho
"a little bit off the top please"
the character designs in this one are so good. i love the player slowly transforming into a ‘monster’ themselves- perhaps becoming insecure and seeing their own features as monstrous and in need of fixing?
idk this one had me really engaged. simple, effective, and honestly a bit gut-wrenching. the characters are only on screen for (at most) a few minutes at a time, but every “transformation” really tore me up.
Nah , they were already a monster to begin with , but by the back handed / false compliments and things , they became more powerful from their manipulation of the other monsters.
yea and they even have backstories!! simple ones but its still a reason they came to the parlor
and considering wat george (the second monster) said about hera (the monster u just fixed up) being excited about ur parlor makes me think that, because u bullied them until they had no more self esteem, they genuinely believe that u fixed them and made them more beautiful even tho theyre still bleeding and basically went through impromptu surgery that most likely had no anaesthesia
Or it's just showing that the player is the real monster.
And piscasso's face is a mirror showing who the real monster is
SOMEBODY worked at sephora and had some internal struggles with it
What working at beauty shop does to a mf
This is way more like plastic surgery than makeup. Makeup is fully reversible; plastic surgery is not.
What a distressing game. Makes a real statement about how people are peer pressured into changing their appearance, even to their detriment, by getting rid of what makes them unique…
Very relevant in today's society I find.
Yeah, the whole thing is to break their self-esteem in order to change them and take advantage of them. That's the really monstruous going on, and the worst part is that some people do act like that irl.
Jeebus. Like i don't want to sound corny or cheesy or anything, but this interpretation...yikes. I'm glad that i have a strong or a strong enough sense of self, for a lack of a better word.
Or at the very least, i'm afraid of needles so that annihilates a lot of chances for skin augmentation, for a start.
@@MrDespresso17 Then the question becomes "Do you have strong sense of self because you are already what society wants you to be? Is your current self being reinforced so you won't change?"
@@Raiju2it's pretty easy to answer if you don't overthink it - I do not care. There are things I like and things I do not; at the end of the day I gravitate towards the things I fancy. There's always going to be people that like the same thing I do and there's always going to be people that hate the things I like.
It's odd thinking about but I had a birth defect on the top of my head that I was heavily bullied over and, eventually, I was basically peer pressured into getting surgery to remove it which did nothing for me since it left me with a very obvious bald spot. So.. yeah, get this game quite a bit.
the twins one was gut wrenching
Pretty sure we literally just killed one of them 😢
@@avacadotoast5571 we could see down the cross-section of their neck... so yeah...
Fr, was expecting a crude separation and maybe take off the horns for the charm, noy THAT
Bro, I really liked the design of the twins my fav mosnter, when I saw that they were put together I already knew they were going to rip one of their heads off
I also think this game is touching on themes of feeling pressured to change oneself to fit in not only due to the beauty industry side but in regards to personality and neurodivergence. Because people who are different are seen as “monsters.” Then, the MC gets rid of everyone’s quirks only to realize they were the monster all along by capitalizing on others insecurities and differences
Honestly I saw it that way, though I doubt any interpretation is wrong unless the dev ever outright states what it's about since at the end of the day it's a game about monsters with perceived flaws wanting to remove those flaws and ending up worse because of it, and whether or not they're even literal monsters in this universe or it's simply the warped perceptive of the character(s) is also up in the air, at least for now. Still one uncomfortable game either way though so I'll give it props to that, this isn't horror, it's existential dread in game format ^^'
@@discordiacreates6669 omg you’re so right with the feeling of existential dread it provokes in the viewer! I couldn’t put my finger on it when I was watching until I read your comment
I interpret later part differently, it's not that MC sees themselves as monster for capitalizing on others but after spending so much time "fixing" people they start to see their own imperfections. The change is slow but those imperfections are accumulating into seeing yourself as a monster
yeah I was saying "aba in a nutshell" the whole time
@@realdragon interestingggg I can definitely see that too!
This is some of the coolest monster design ive ever seen! Theyre all so diverse, made me sad to watch them get disfigured
Monsters deserve more love
@@realdragonindeed, i love monsters already.. and most of them r already really really cute.. just the mirror one i got a bit confused where the head is.
It almost seems like you could just compliment your way into disfiguring each monster. Like you said at the end, it seems super unbalanced
Yeah, looks like the dev forgot to add monster actions and unique abilities mentioned in the tutorial.
@@vadstartwe did :,) We didn’t have time to play test it super extensively, so the amazing monster ai smallbuggames came up with doesn’t really come across. If we were to fix this game up at a later date I’d totally make the battles longer/harder, so you really have time to learn their patterns.
@@metaphysicalmonsters3667 Yeah, I missed the part that it's a GameJam project :P You nailed the theme and the main message though
@@vadstart thank you!
@@metaphysicalmonsters3667 You should fix it up sometime in the future!
As a hairdresser, this is literally the opposite of our job. Actually horrific.
I gotta play this.
Seems like any beautician, cosmetic surgeon, and beauty influencer can say the same thing
Your job isn't to convince them that they can look better?
To berate and manipulate clients into giving up the things that make them unique? No, usually I want to enhance or flatter a client's unique features & give them a style that's sustainable for them. "Better" is a super subjective term.@@jackislegitterrified3689
Gotta play it for inspiration lol.
@@jackislegitterrified3689at least the hair dresser cuts your hair and those hair grow back eventually. Here they straight up cut pieces of body, never to be seen again
These monster designs are fantastic, good lord. It makes it all the more sad to watch them get brutalized. :(
Was looking for this comment.
Something about the style reminds me of “girly” flash games from the early 2010’s.
I think it's intentional. They're meant to be a 'beautician' after all.
Reminds me of that game where you make designer pets for people
the one where they get " cuter " which means they get larger eyes lol until it's ALL face eye? that game was messed
Lacey games?
@@rafaelmoreno6331Probably Ruff Times.
isn't that the one where they turned into just skeletons
@@tarumath319 I realized now the joke.
Ruff has something to do with dogs, and it sounds like "rough times".
Woah, i'm silly
I loved the unique style of the monsters. Every time the sheers popped up, I wanted to cover my eyes, because I didn’t want to see the damage done to them. I felt so terrible for the monsters every time you finished with them and they just stared at you before leaving silently. The third monster was so cute, and knew the antlers were coming off as soon as I saw the sheers. I felt bad for him, but he didn’t look too bad without the antlers. I kind of wish I knew exactly what was being said to the monsters. And the ending…
If you feel that way then the game is serving its purpose
Then the game succeeded at bringing the message
This is honestly weirdly poetic in a way when you think about being “fixed” in comparison to the beauty industry and the standards placed on people
Oh, wow, really? I didn't know. Everyine else in this comment section said the same thing, but this comment was the one that got me to think.
No need to get passive aggressive there, bud.
@@addison_v_ertisement1678 i commented this months ago when the videos just came out??
@@jennafischer641 i wasnt trying to be? I was just commenting on the game itself and how I found it interesting
@@addison_v_ertisement1678 i commented this months ago when the video first came out, there werent that many comments at the time
I feel so sad every time each one of these sweet individuals come in, who are obviously nice, but people have been stomping over them their whole life, using them and throwing them away. They think "makeover" would make them look better, and this will somehow improve their situation, but player character is just like everybody else - taking advantage of them.
Taking advantage of them in what way? What profit does the MC get?
@@addison_v_ertisement1678I was thinking it was a business, and unless it’s a non-profit one then they’re likely trying to make a profit
@@addison_v_ertisement1678They are definitely getting something out of the excised body parts they are keeping, like they are giving them some sort of demonic power-up.
@@addison_v_ertisement1678 I’m guessing because they are monsters their defining features give them some kind of power and it’s what’s physically transforming and mentally destabilizing the character we play as.
This is my head cannon for the game because of the lack of story.
As many others have pointed out, it’s a critique on the beauty industry.
@@corvusdominus9835 Okay, your headcanon is not the story. Sorry to burst your bubble, sweetheart.
2:51
Historically, barbers would also perform dentistry and even surgery
And now I'm reminded of Doctor Barber from "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack".
@@Uhlersoth77i loved every time he said surgery
@@Uhlersoth77Suuurgery.
Yeah basically the same person in town has the sharpest razor
I've watched a lot of horror stuff before I should've in terms of age, and freaked myself out for months as a result. Doing so means I have built up a pretty strong horror tolerance now that I'm fully grown. And yet, this one got me. Not because of fear factor, but because it made me sick.
This and “Discover My Body” have been the few horror games that made my skin crawl as an adult. 😣
@@rubyy.7374 I'll be sure to avoid that one...
Not many games make you feel icky like this one does
This game really succeeded at what it went out to do because no matter how many times it happened, I would still be internally screaming every time the scissors came up. I thought I was desensitized to horror by now, but this was genuinely the hardest one to watch
This game definitely succeeds at telling the story it set out to do, but it feels like it tried to do more than that and fumbled it there in terms of mechanics. As others have mentioned, a sequel or full game could definitely be in the works. (Edit: Makes sense since it was made in a limited time frame for a game jam.)
A lot of the mechanics with the dialog and mood aren't very clear, and you aren't encouraged to figure them out or use the charms well because you can pretty much click the best option (or any option, since you never lose progress and you don't have a failure condition AFAIK) and it always works. It looks like a lot of the stuff about monster actions and such mentioned at the start wasn't implemented. Plus it doesn't really add to the message or the depth of the game because every monster gives the same generic dialog, so you can't understand how the monster is thinking as you talk with it; it doesn't show how people are swayed to undergo things like this.
Also, does anyone else think it could have worked better if it started more innocuous with minor haircuts and dialog about helping monsters look better, and then slowly got more disturbing and explicit with dialog about fixing flaws and attacking the monsters' esteem and more graphic edits over time? That might better show how people end up falling into this, and it's an effective horror trope. But hitting you in the face right out of the gate works too.
Thank you for your feedback! I agree with a lot of it, but ultimately we only had 72 hours to make this game. A lot of the flaws you pointed out are because of that. Originally we planned for there to be 15 monsters over 5 days, but that was just way too ambitious. We also considered adding unique dialogue for every monster, but then I would have had to write 100+ unique lines in just over 24 hours sooo…. we didn’t do that lol. I’ll take this into consideration if we ever decide to make this a full-length game!
@@metaphysicalmonsters3667Yeah, that makes sense; you did well with the time you had. Was this for a game jam or something like that given the time limit? If you do try and make a full game, best of luck.
@@KnakuanaRka why thank you, on both accounts! Yes, this game was made for this year’s Winter Melon Jam.
@metaphysicalmonsters3667 I would really love a full game! I am a dev myself and I love what you did with this.
@@metaphysicalmonsters3667this game is a very unique concept i’d love to see a more in depth glimpse of this monster universe!
The eighth monster’s “makeover” was the worst in my opinion. I felt horrible for its twin’s head being cut off.
the way they just leave without saying anything though
too afraid to say they didn’t like it lmao
reminds me how those people on the internet told me i can fix my autism with essential oils
You need the oils to purify the vaccine damage you got from chemtrails and 5G towers. (Sarcasm)
HELPA?
ah yes that was what i was doing wrong! essential oils! maybe not the fact that my brain is literally medically physically different from those without autism
@@jaxonplaysgames552 and if you are allergic to specific smells, you have to take them more intense, lol. /sarcasm
makes me think of the chiropractor by my house that claims they can cure ADHD with their next-level bone cracking skills 💀
Based on the thumbnail, I thought this was going to be in the format of one of those point-and-click makeover/salon games where you manually select specific tools to “fix” various “flaws”
I typed out a bunch of ideas for how a game like that could work really well for this concept but I deleted them because now I really want to make this game! Never made a game before, but I’m pretty sure the coding for that style of game would be relatively straightforward… I think I might give it a shot… (I would, of course, cite this game as the inspiration, if I ever get around to actually doing this)
Please do!
hey if u need any help woth code i can teach ya, imma gamedev
I really love the way the vinegar twins were designed, and the one at rhe begging. All the designs are great but those are mt favorite
the storytelling is really clear and fascinating, if there were to be a second version/a sequel with more polished, explained, and possibly more complex gameplay this would be a 10/10 game
I thought you were gonna cut the two-headed monster in half; breaking their heart in two.
I feel like that was a missed opportunity from the creators
While that might not be exactly what happens the dead twin's half of the heart goes dark after they're chopped off.
I wish there was more complex gameplay, cause this definitely seems like a neat concept. I love the monster designs though
This is why you shouldn't trust the cheap places that advertise $5 haircuts.
It used to be that you had to slay monsters for loot. Now they're paying you to take their loot.
No game has made me feel this uneasy before
i mean... i just feel sad rn really.. like... yeh i wouldnt be able to play it
I think the worst was the vinegar twins, they took out the whole second head, which I think represents a second personality, gone to judgment
This game gets so distressing afterwards; especially when you cut off something the monster was born with.
Like certain people that cut off their body parts🙂
Im pretty sure all monsters were born with the parts uou cut off
As another commenter stated very accurately below, I think that this game can be better described as “gut wrenching”.
I do think there's plenty of potential to expand on this, to flesh it out and make it all more strategic, but given the constraints it was made under this is still quite interesting. The designs are so creative, both how they normally look and how the player character "helps" them.
Well that’s kinda cool.
This is basically just @Neytirix ‘s entire deal boiled down into game format and I kind of love it.
I loved how Neytirix showcased her work in a recent video. Hope some day I could commission her. 🥰
Bad news @@Daelyah already asked before, ney doesn't do commissions
What happened?
@@egg4666they're referencing her videos abt redesigning OC's, usually she has cool segments showcasing a daycare and the redesigning is like torture for them
i think they're referring to neyterix's OC redesigning series? really like the side story it had! and the twists they did to some of the character submissions was pretty hilarious
I love the monster design in this, they're all unique! Kudos to who ever designed them
Lol vinegar twins, I was wondering why one was named white and the other balsamic
“White” is short for white wine vinegar. If you’re asking why they’re named after types of vinegar then… that’s a long story lol. TLDR: dev shenanigans
I love the monster designs it so heart breaking to see it cut off, and them just silently leave 😭 6:22
Had a hard time trying to makeup some puns for this one. Those monsters look pretty Wet and Wild though. Then again, maybe they're born with it...
unless you work at Walgreens or CVS, I doubt many will catch on to your nail polish jokes.
@@GooFly-v3jCould nyx some of that doubt about those who don't.
The fact the designs are so beautiful before the makeover is ruining me
Persuasion system reminds me of oblivion, weirdly enough
you just harass people untill they break
"This game lets you troll people to death." - Seth
I really love all the designs of the monsters. They all have something unique or cool about them. A game where you be nice to them instead would be neat. I want to see them happy :(
Poor ‘monsters’…. They’re all so pretty when they come in! Nothing to change.
very good commentary on the predatory nature of consumerism and especially also the beauty industry. also super sick epic monster designs
How is this commentary on consumerism?
I wonder if there's an alternate ending where you can just put the mirror in the drawer and never look at it?
Okay, but one has to wonder if those monsters were born that way, or became like that by doing monstrous things like the player did
oh there are parables/fables like this! the fox that looses his tail so (tries to) convince the other foxes they are more beautiful and light weight with out theirs. then there's the other one about sour grapes but i think that might be the opposite and more about envy
Me: "I probably shouldn't watch this video with bloody teeth after scheduling my dental crown in two weeks..."
Also me: _clicks anyways_
I absolutely love the artstyle and designs. As an artist myself, this really hurt
This was an oddly fitting video to watch when you’re having esteem issues.
Finally! a Monster hunter game where I can gather parts, WITHOUT fighting them!
“Don’t wanna fight, try gaslighting instead!”
I... that poor dragon, i... am shocked, i get what others have said about this game. Sometime before that poor dragon, i hope there won't be a dragon. Now i just hope to have this dragon find a way to return their scales
i used to watch you a long time ago rarely but now its hard to stop, keep up the good work
The art style is amazingly
I think that your character is a sort of unconventional monster hunter. The whittling down of each character’s esteem is you doing “damage”, you altering them is “killing” them, and then you use the parts you harvested off them allows you to emotionally hurt the other monsters more effectively. Then at the end of it all, you realize that you’ve become a monster as well…
Fix them? No, I like them just the way they are. What's life without a little spice? Truly, to be given the exotic and expect it to conform to the regular is the worst kind of perspective.
Also, regular women are scarier anyways.
> regular women are scarier anyways
And thus is best respond to "why are you gay" type questions lmao
thank you, goku
Monster girls are best girls
@@NertNeverlander Did you meet his wife Chi Chi?
Honestly that's why this game is a really great metaphor and example to learn from ^^
This is not creation of beauty,this is killing of beauty.
First Manly video of the year Quite an interesting lil short game. I love the monster designs. Very unique. I guess when you got the mirror you decided to "fix" yourself in some way. Also I guess it says a lot on how the words of others can affect ones self and maybe they are just projecting and nothings really needs "fixing." Or on the flipside, maybe just too much "fixing" happened and you were better off before you went too far. Either way, you gotta treat yourself and others with respect and strike a balance in things and learn to love yourself.
Dang one of your best things is reading dialog out loud. It was kind of a disappointment not having that treatment on the intro dialogue when monsters arrived.
O god
I cry, why do I cry? The first monster was so pretty I needed to stop for a second. O God, these body of mine, I have wanted to melt away so bad, I'm not white or skinny enough, I'm to tall to fat to ugly but the monsters feathers were so beautiful
It sounds like you grew up in a place where people don’t look like you, and so you, like the monsters, are convinced you don’t meet some imaginary standard.
Darker skin, being tall, maybe that’s not “attractive” where you’re from but where I’m from that’s model material, you’ve just gotta learn to lean into what makes you unique.
This is my second time watching these game play and I steel feel so much pain looking a these,
They were all so Beutifull before there beuty was taken away from them, I have no idea why it Makes me feel so angry and sad, I guess I relate to the monsters but also the beuthy parlor worker, the need to take away all of the filth of my body but also envy evry other creature that looks so Beutifull, idk
I just know these game gives me a sensation that nothing else gives me
I'm not sure if the devs are still reading comments, but I gotta say, I love the concept of this game! for how quickly they had to do this, it turned out pretty solid! I would absolutely LOVE to see an extension! It's an extremely good concept and there's so much to explore with this. Keep up the good work fellas!
I feel like the filthy scissors and lack of bandaging take away an important element of the message. Showing the monsters bleeding with their features hacked off gives an impact, but having them leave like that just takes away from the realism of the metaphor. Having them tenderly bandaged and cared for after the butchering would really sell the point of "I want you to be beautiful" as opposed to "I want your parts as charms"
Never felt so bad. These are such nice looking monsters too!
I’m watching this with a fever and it’s making me feel like I’m gonna be sick. 10/10
I think this game is a very cool concept!! From my interpretation, i think the game is about manipulating others into changing themselves, and then after they have, the player is left with the part that was removed. I think the player becoming more of a monster as they collect more pieces could be a metaphor about losing yourself. Taking so many of what was unique to others and using it to create a facade of yourself. The player projects their insecurities on to the monsters and takes their pieces that make them unique, turning themselves into a "monster" because not only do they treat the people around them badly, but they steal aspects of their personality.
"I think this game is about..."
*describes what happens in the game*
Edo era Japanese watercolor art is not my go-to for horror.
interesting
THAT'S what this game reminds me of! I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but you're right!
@@thaliacrafts407 yeah it's a bizarre visual idea Ive only seen one other time on itchio, it was mostly still images and visual novel but it's nice to see not anime lol
These videos are concerningly good please don’t stop
This is honestly heartbreaking.
Imagine if the character we play as, looks even worst and horrible (maybe by taking the parts we toke and apply it to ourselves to look more “unique”) actually I made this comment before watching the entire thing and I was right)
These monster designs are absolutely stunning, aah 🫶
the way they silently slide away-
The Yelp reviews must be stellar
That’s just the old ways making a come back.
Once upon a time, the Barber was your hair cutter, dentist, surgeon and bleeder. Or leecher, if you couldn’t stand getting your arm cut open with a dagger.
So also being a dentist is no surprise at all!
Ooh this is an inspiration in terms of character design
The thumbnail looks like a Soddiken music video- This is definitely a soddiken music video.
man im so glad i found this channel, came from the princess series and have been binge watching so much random stuff since, really glad.
I love the monster designs. It is a shame they were mutilated as they were.
I would like to see more work from the artist and a longer, more complex sequel to this game.
The psychological layering of this game is equally intriguing and horrifying
Augh… this horrified me. Just the removal of what makes individuals individuals… really really horrific.
The noises the monsters make in response to your actions sounds like marge simpson
I feel really bad for the poor monsters
yea, like the one where he cut off his friends head
Lets talk about the monsters, they look awesome!
I mean,... before being cut :/
"What makes you unique is what makes you beautiful."
Every mosnte design is beyoond gorgeous
I pretty sure, the barber is just a butcher that collects animal parts for her own benefit. Maybe even a witch.
Caught this five minutes after posting! Excited to be this early - and for getting to watch with after a day at the gym!
It's not gore horror, and I think not psychological, but whatever this is definitely hits.
Its got blood, that's gore
@@mrpickles-hb6zx
Obviously there's gore, I said it's not gore HORROR that's making such an impact.
Some of the designs are kinda scary or creepy, that’s a basic version of horror..and psychological because it relates to a lot of people and the beauty industry as a whole I guess? It’s definitely a weaker version of those but they could apply I suppose?
This game was a questionable decision to watch without any sleep ngl ^^'. Disgusting, the monster designs are pretty wild and I like that but I can't help but think... Especially with the twins and the little jackalope, seriously, the jackalope was the cutest one of them all but one of the twins just got straight up offed. Props to the developer for making such an uncomfortable experience for us all to.... Experience ^^'. I feel like I'm not supposed to say enjoy because everything is wrong with this universe and the MC is very toxic but all of the creature designs are so fun and it was genuinely interesting to see how they'd be transformed at the end. Uncomfortable, but interesting
So when will the rest of the mechanics mentioned in the tutorial be added and we get the full game? Hopefully in a year or two, ik how long development can take to get a finished project and I'd definitely like to see just how far this can go, and how twisted it can get ^^'. Thanks, I think? Lol
I’m so glad you liked our game!! Honestly that’s kind of the intended experience lol. All the mechanics in the tutorial have been added! They’re just not obvious enough ^^;
I’m very glad to hear you’re interested in a full game! I cannot promise we will make one (and I can’t speak for the rest of the team), but I am hoping to.
@@metaphysicalmonsters3667 ah ig I just thought the mechanics would be a but more obvious or varied depending on the monster in question, but that's ok, games don't always need to be complex to be good and it's not like it's a combat game anyway ^^'. If y'all do extend this then I'll look forward to hopefully seeing more of this later, but if not, no pressure, y'all already succeeded at your goal with this and it's already pretty solid for a short experience as is
@@discordiacreates6669 they were supposed to be, but time limits meant we didn’t have time to refine the combat and make it super obvious. Thank you so much for your kind words! We do hope to at least refine it in the future :)
@@metaphysicalmonsters3667 ah that's completely fair, take all the time y'all need because whoever did the art is amazing and I'd love to see some little bits of lore maybe added in in the future. Though my stance is usually games don't need lore, I am super curious if this is a world of monsters or there are humans and if either side clashes if so, like they've got some incredibly unique features so some little hint as to why they even perceive inperfections might be a nice addition, though completely up to you, in the end it doesn't effect me and one person's preference doesn't make or break anything. So... I wish you all the best of luck on this if development continues and any future projects, y'all got that uncomfortable, creepy atmosphere free of any actual danger or jumpscares down and I love seeing less obvious horror games, this was a treat so thank you ^^
Why do they all look so huggable?!?!
wow, these monsters are as emotional as sims goddamn
That thumbnail is truly something looks like the monster is farting blood
You giving these lovely monsters a makeover manly