No.

I can imagine writing a game about rape culture within the strict constraints of La Petite Mort could not have been easy. With only four hours, you have to cover a lot of sensitive subject matter and package it as a horror game.

On one hand, the game is more than just being well-intentioned. The first half of the game depicts a grounded party scene (Spoiler - click to show)where people think you're making a fuss about date rape and includes a body horror scene that makes me squirm. The second half is a barrage of DARVOs from the figures you trust, exemplified by the (Spoiler - click to show)literal backwards attitudes toward reproduction. Multiple endings exist and vary in degrees of misery.

On the other, while I believe the author's concerns about bodily autonomy and sexual assault are genuine, there isn't anything substantive to latch on. I already think the patriarchy should be abolished. What's happening (Spoiler - click to show)in Texas is horrendous. I need more than something agreeable to my politics.

I am a firm believer that games should be in conversation, whether it be with genre/medium limitations or/and sociopolitical issues. It is apparent that the author wants to show how horrific life is without access to abortion. But I am thinking of films like How to Have Sex (2023) where the director's experiences inform the aesthetical direction of the shots. In No., I am getting less a meditation on how the patriarchy silence survivors and more the justified anger of an ally.

And that's a fine position to hold, but it does mean that the game becomes a deluge of the same traumatic imagery that I've seen elsewhere. There is nothing specific to this ire except a Wikipedia link at the very end. In all its wrath, the game could only present highly abstract generalizations on sexual violence and domestic abuse.

My misgivings do not invalidate the artistic quality and intentions of the game. Yet, I would have preferred a stronger, original vision of the author's rage. In a postmortem for Demon Game for Sophie, the author claims No. is "probably the most distressing thing I've ever written." I hope the author not only continues to write distressing things but also engage in broader conversations about feminist media.