Crime Opera goes dark places (as it should, of course), and is quite unflinching about what it depicts. Additionally, I really can’t state this strongly enough – prepare for some brutal moments. As with the previous game, you can choose to play with no choices, or direct the narrative according to key decisions. This is an even bigger game than its predecessor, at more than 107,000 words (the original was around 70,000, from memory), and that’s pushing up into the big leagues as far as independent VNs go. The second title in the series is now live, and it does look good! The developer does recommend that you play through the first in full before getting stuck into this one, so make sure you do that, and then settle in for some hardcore gangster storytelling. It was a very indie visual novel, but it had an intriguing, interesting and different narrative, had moments where it hit really hard, and set itself up nicely to spin out into a series. I have been looking forward to the sequel to Crime Opera ever since I played it on the Nintendo Switch back in 2021. These aren’t so much an endorsement (or piece of criticism) as they are a head’s up.
Where I find the time to do actual reviews or other coverage, I will compose separate articles on the game in question. I highlight them as interesting based on the itch.io description and concept. In many cases these games will be unfinished or “in development,” but I’m highlighting them because they promise something special and are well worth keeping on the radar. With that in mind, I thought what might be helpful to readers would be if I did a brief write-up of interesting games that I’ve come across on itch.io each week. Discovery is a real issue when great ideas are buried among high school projects and nasty little efforts to scam a quick buck from players. What makes itch.io a little difficult at times is finding things that are interesting to play. It’s a true “art gallery” for game ideas and creative developers, and it should be celebrated for that. In addition, itch.io allows you to be transgressive, subversive, and downright dangerous. I’m a big fan of itch.io for the freedom and open platform that it allows for developers to be creative, experimental, and directly canvas the audience for feedback for games that are not yet ready for primetime on Steam and its ilk.
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