39 Trillion and 1

39 Trillion and 1 is a body horror game made in Twine, in which you embody a virus that infected a woman, with the means to spread further (but at what cost...). There are 6 endings to find (a couple are v similar), depending on your choices.

This was an overwhelming piece to go through, not just because of the lengthy passages filled with gruesomely detailed description of body horror (as the virus take over the body, expanding its reach, and how the body reacts to this) - not really letting you catch a breath - but also in the way it chooses to interact with the environment (the unconscious victim having little to no say in the matter). Those in contact with the virus/infection are subject to pretty graphic internal violence, depicted in a pretty disturbing way ((Spoiler - click to show)the ghoul-like section, where the infected woman is turned into an infectious puppet is particularly chilling), as the hosts become completely hopeless in the face of the illness ((Spoiler - click to show)whether they becomes food being toyed with or tool for its infectious goal).

In the excess found in the genre, I felt 39 Trillion and 1 crossing the line into the too much territory, to the point of cheapening the whole, making it look more edgy for the sake of edgy. I don't think it helped with how the illness being referred to with interchanging pronouns (It/He) or how confusing it changed who was controlling the body (the infected woman, the virus, or the voice (was that the hive mind of illness? something different/godlike? I'm still not sure).

This was particularly most obvious in the section where (Spoiler - click to show)the woman is not just a body fighting a losing battle against the virus, but having stronger thoughts and voiced opinions, and being able to interact "like a regular person". Up until that point (and through the other paths), humans were just there, ripe for the taking/infecting, just existing. Almost unreal. But now, two women have names, and background and layers, and the POV switches away from the virus. The switch is pretty jarring and feels out of place.