Say NO! More Review

When it comes to gaming, “No” is a word that comes up frequently but serves little purpose. In most cases, selecting it prevents you from progressing through the game making it a strange option to include. This makes it all the more interesting that Studio Fizbin and Lux Games are releasing a game all about it. Say NO! More is a self-proclaiming NPG that follows an intern who decides to “No” their way to the top. Combining an issue that many entry-level workers face with over-the-top presentation is a recipe for a wild day on the job.

First Day of Work

Believe it or not, a game about saying “No” over and over happens to have story behind it. You play as a customizable intern who could find a home in the average web-comic starting a new job at a big company. After getting a lunchbox from your best friend/roommate, the mousy intern starts work as another company doormat. Things heat up when their supervisor takes their lunchbox for himself and the deus ex machina gods drop a motivational tape on their head. After plugging in, they travel to the motivation dimension and encounter the spandex-clad naysayer trainer. He teaches the intern the power of “No” filling them with enough confidence to set off and retrieve their lunchbox. It’s simple yet bizarre and enough to get the adventure underway.

Employee Strengths

A staple question in the interview process focuses on asking a prospective hire to list their strengths. Since not everyone identifies strength in the same, it’s not the easiest question to answer. However, after playing SNM, there are some pretty obvious strengths that a lot of us can agree on. The first one is the game’s overall accessibility. Everyone can understand the concept of learning to say “No” especially to superiors and people who intimidate us. To add to that fact, you get the option to choose which language you’ll be yelling “No” from quite the selection. It could arguably function as a rudimentary language teaching tool, but that remains to be seen.

Perhaps the biggest strength the game has is its sense of humor. There aren’t many games that are defined by how funny they are so it’s pretty amazing when one does pop up. While most games that take a stab at comedy rely on funny wording or short gags, this one maintains a pretty consistent level of humor. The story overall story is humorous and the dialogue supports it well without trying too hard. The gameplay of running through an office building and dragon-shouting “No” at everyone will draw a fair share of chuckles. You also unlock various ways to say “No” which helps keep things fresh.

Employee Weaknesses

To every strength there is a weakness otherwise superheroes would be truly boring to write about. SNM has to admit that one of its biggest weaknesses is a lack of freedom. The game is essentially a rail-shooter that follows the intern’s path as they head to confront the top dog of the department. All you do is press Spacebar whenever someone stands in your way then watch them fall down. You can press the arrow keys if you want to switch things up by laughing or nodding but it’s just icing on the cake. Saying “No” is the main slice that gets kind of stale the longer you leave it out.

The major weakness of SNM is that it’s not challenging. It’s fun sure, but it’s very fleeting when you don’t earn most of it. What’s misleading is that the intern learns a variety of additional actions such as clapping that barely serve an aesthetic person. They also learn different types of “No” like cold and wacky which don’t do more than change the intern’s tone and pose. Aside from a handful of encounters, there’s no reason to switch to any other “No” except for personal preference. You can beat the whole game and barely touch the other buttons which detracts from the overall experience.

Final Evaluation

Say NO! More is a rail-shooting game where bullets are “Nos” and the targets are unappreciative work colleagues. It’s a short funny game that has some of the energy of Incredible Crisis (Tondemo Crisis in Japan). There’s almost no challenge to it and the extra bells and whistles are just those. However, the simple catharsis and general humor make it worth. If you’re struggling to say “No” more, then say no more and play this.

TechRaptor reviewed Say NO! More on PC with a copy provided by the developer. The game will also be available on Nintendo Switch.