i love this game. watching these people barrel through life is like a train wreck in slow motion... it is also a very intriguingly and frighteningly real vision of What My Life Might've Been if i turned out a little different, a little worse.

I honestly don't know how to put all these thoughts and feelings in my head and body into comprehensible text, but damn... After reading your novel I was on the verge of tears, because it was so painful and heartwarming and disgusting and ugly, but beautiful(?). This vn opened me like a can and made me feel things I didn't want to feel. This vn made me relive moments I didn't want to relive. This vn made me accept some things about me that I didn't want to accept, and I am deeply thankful to you for that. 

stay safe and alive 

^^

Я гетеро парень 26. И Как по мне игра довольно скучная, унылая и затянутая. Разве что случай с хейли меня расстрогал. Мне прям стало одиноко и очень грустно когда я узнал что с ней стало. А ещё меня бесило персонажи  удивляются когда узнают о судьбе хейли. Они сами довели до такого. А майя всё одну и ту же пластинку поёт.

Несколько треков классных тут нашёл. А в остальном меня особо ничего не задело. 

Аватарки будто бы не соответствуют персонажам. Все какие-то детские. Непонятно зачем существует функция HEAR. Что там слушать? Ситуация с нони какая-то непонятная. Она только реабилитровалась, уже хочет на какие то тусовки. Или там прошло много времени? Я не видел уточнения о временных промежутках этого события, и многих других.

Лично для меня прикольно было когда вылезали карточки с GAZE и названием картинки.

Не знаю как тут у людей жизни меняются от прохождения игры. У меня только раздражение было что игра слишком затянута. Наверно это потому что я не из представителей меньшинств. Хз.

Возможно так же что я не проникся историей из-за собственной ограниченности в знании Английского языка. Я каждое предложение переводил в переводчике картинок... Наверно много внимания ушло на перевод, и из-за этого я не смог в полной мере оценить эту игру, или же просто потому что я уже много лет как в депрессии, и мне "живость" персонажей, которые колются, и казалось бы должны быть в состоянии овоща от передозов, но они живее всех живых, не импонирует.

this game is fucked up because, for as much of a train wreck as all these girls' lives are, i wish i could be in that train wreck.


or maybe thats not entirely correct. theres something romanticized about the lives these characters live. not in the horrible shit that happens to them or in how they inflict upon themselves, but in how they love and fuck and fight with a degree of freedom and community that not a lot of us have. i certainly dont. i know two trans women in my whole damn city, and i havent been on speaking terms with one of them for a month. most of my irl friends are cis people who just dont get it. not the gender stuff, but all of it. the characters in loner dog are their own group. they form together into a flaming ball of disaster hurtling towards a tragic end, but that disaster is a fettishistic transsexual disaster. its not the slow and painful death brought on by cis people, but a brilliant flash of light, beautiful as it burns, and treasured as it fades in our memories.


i want to be LONER DOG. i want to escape my twenties. do these have to be mutually exclusive?

apologies if this is a double comment, i'm posting this at a time where itch seems to be slightly on fire.

this game left me shaking in a ball on my chair after I played it. rarely has a character felt so much like it was ripped out of my fucking soul as Argo does. it's the first time i've seen someone using it/its pronouns in art and its for exactly the same reasons i do. we don't do the same drugs but just. fuck. good game. this game reminded me of a bliss of messy togetherness i haven't felt in 6 years. it reminds me why i hope to find people again, for better and worse.

   Beyond my Review

⸝⸝ You don't deserve what I'm about to do to you. ⸝⸝

So I thought It'd be most appropriate for me to divide actual thoughts and feelings mostly away from my review of this game. Sooo everyone will be able to see It here!

This Is all so fucked.

There are so many kinks and fetishes that are against the norm, so many things that make me question morals and ethics alongside the amount of toxicity and unhealthy relationships that are In this game. You are basically shown the lives of people just like you at their worst or in their way to the bottom, It was a bit hard to get through at times because of how real even if extreme it is. It's all so painfully relatable to a degree and It's like every character has a horrid shade of me.

And that's what makes It better.

But the thing Is... It also made me realize sooo much about myself, there are definitely things I already knew turned me on and desired but like, I can definitely go about this game from a reviewer stand-point and rate based off pure logic or technical matters however what'd be the point? This may not be my favorite piece of media of all time but god if It's special to me. I adore this game because of the plot, the themes, the ero scenes and the problematics of it.

There Is beauty In uglyness.

Why would I want to be normal? Some people already wouldn't consider me normal simply based off the fact I'm a trans girl that likes others of the same gender. Stupid but who cares. To show yourself covered in cuts and self inflicted wounds, In the most pathetic and disgusting physical state but still being loved and lusted over is more Intimate than anything else that could ever happen. I embrace the worst sides of myself and this game helped me realize that. I don't want to get better, I want to like the same frowned upon shit that everyone would cut someone off for, drink myself stupid while i bleed all over the place similar to a soon-to-be corpse attraction and get prettier in this nutcase of a mental state. It doesn't make my love "unpure", It's just different from something a regular person would want. I see myself in some of these characters, I see myself in some of these scenarios and maybe i do want to be like that. I'm still sane enough to be a (apparently) decent person while being a deranged freak of society that likes the worst of all and whatever else that can be thrown in this as long as i enjoy my life or whatever this garbage of an experience Is. As long as all Is managed, you can live with these thoughts and fantasies like any others, it doesn't boil down to just intercourse afterall, It's about accepting eachother even if it means enabling our worst traits. That doesn't mean not looking out for eachother, but loving others like us in the same way we would want to loved and Indulged in. Moderation Is key... And I look forward to more and more games in the same fashion as this setting and in this world.

The people I connected with thanks to this.

I made few of my existing friends play this and while some liked it and some didn't, I developed my view of the world through hardships and shared opinions. I built my perspective through seeing this visual novel from the lens of other people and I've discovered more of myself thanks to the newer ones I met even if still extremely few in terms of those who understand me. I met a girl the other day who I clicked with and bonded over this vn and god, seeing how someone could get so into me and understand me simply by showing the cut up bloodied up parts of me made me feel such an ethereal experience i can't even describe. No real flirting, just showing the most shameful consequences of actions i made and i was adored over it. That made me happy and once more showed me the kind of life and appreciation i want, the kind of connection i want to seek out & the kind of people i want to keep meeting.

For those who comprehend.

If you played this piece of media and understood all of it, liked it and accepted & related with everything alongside being a freakazoid. Embrace it, love yourself and find others like you! This community feels extremely small and it's prolly hard to find others like you (or more like it is for me since i'm a LOSER NEET) so take every opportunity that presents yourself as long as you accept the right people in your life, you can be immoral and indulge in others like you but be careful as not everyone will have that same kindness you may have even if you're rotten to the core. If anyone wants to get to know more people of their similar nature aka like me. I do have my X placed on my profile or otherwise you could drop your discord down here if you have read all of this and want to get to know me! I myself can count on my fingers the amount of people I know that are like that or that have played this game.

This game hurt me, I love it so much. Will be subbing to your patreon. I really want to see more of these girls, But I think it might sour the ending... I don't know. I can't sum up all my feelings in one measly post.

its so wonde¿redeful ty so muchhc°!!

Hi is this peak? I am 54 year old cis gendered man and I want to know before I play. Thank you. 

Also if you've heard of a man named EldritchJesus please tell me, we are looking for him.

I just read this, all in one go. I'm going to express my thoughts. I'll start this by saying that it's good. Here's two reasons why.

Exactly one minor spoiler ahead.

1. Natural Writing & The Domino Effect

The plot is a series of events where the cause and the effect are one and the same, that being the characters' relationships with one another. It's an emotional domino effect of mental illness.

The characters are all well written, and their actions all reflect the potency of that domino effect in storytelling.

With a few exceptions, every sentence that is spoken feels almost like the only possible thing that could've been said there. Times when this isn't true are typically when we, the reader, find out something new about the characters.

This is what makes the story feel like a series of dominoes falling down. This is what makes every reveal and twist shocking. There is no suspension of disbelief, because there's hardly any disbelief to suspend.

The symbiotic relationship between these realistic characters and the plot they create is, for lack of a better word, fantastic.

2. Complexity / Thought Provocation

Loner Dog is a story about a bunch of fuck-ups making each other worse. These fuck-ups, however, are fucked up in ways that the reader isn't expected to be.

Media that dares to cover/discuss inclinations (fetishes, habits, etc. umbrella term.) that are morally reprehensible is either designed for people with those inclinations to get off, or strictly anti-those people. Neither of these approaches are effective at seriously considering the ethical and moral validity of Questionable Shit™.

Loner Dog showcases inclinations I personally disagree with and find repulsive. It attaches them to complicated characters, and then has other characters CHALLENGE the validity of those inclinations. Usage of methamphetamine is a really good example. When I think of a meth addict, I think of someone simple, stereotypical and dismissible. The meth addict in Loner Dog is none of those things. In addition, her drug use is shown to be very problematic!

This decision to seriously address Questionable Shit™ makes Loner Dog a story that'll leave the reader thinking about it for a while after they're done reading. I think. I literally just finished reading it so no promises.

--------------------------------------------------------

TL;DR: Loner Dog is peak because it's well written and problematic in a good way.

¡Buen trabajo! Pero sería genial que hubiera versión en español

I've been meaning to leave a review of this game at least in the comments for months and I kept kicking it to some phantom "tomorrow" up until today.

I love this game dearly, there isn't a single other trans person that I talk to that I haven't recommended this game to.

I loved the writing, the general vibe/aesthetic, the music and sounds, the way the "chat room" dialogue windows are both displayed and used in the story to convey the way these multiple conversations overlap and intertwine.

The story resonated with me in many ways, it mirrored relationships I had at the time of playing and would argue that it prepared me to handle new ones long after. It helped me reconcile and understand my own relationship with well many things, I'd rather not spoil if anyone reads this before actually trying the game.

There was a very vivid feeling I had in my chest once I hit the final screen and it was a very clear "we are all we have" which has pretty much steered the way I bonded with other trans people going forward.

I loved this game very much, I cannot stop recommending it and I cannot wait to play the next game that comes out next week.

I made an account just 2 write a comment.

Spoilers ahead.

I might sling adjectives a lot cus I'm bad at writing good but it's all genuine.

Genuinely such a good game, the characters are all unique and tragic and great and horrible and so much more ..  The music and art are sooooooo good, music choice psychedelic at points and anxiety inducing the next but also other times being melancholic and sounding like complete despair.  I was drawn to this game because of the self-harm prevalence (found through vndb self-harm trait, I find this topic cathartic and comforting) and partly the art which was immediately eye-catching, the game looks like how it feels and I love each of the characters portraits, they capture each of the characters personalities kinda like how Haley's portrait border is spiky and jagged making it feel warding, represents her tendency to push away others through being an asshole.  Each of the character's expressions on their portraits definitely gets across a basic idea of their personality, all so fitting, the full CG's are awesome too.

I saw so much of myself shattered between all of the characters.  I saw myself in their flaws, their ways of comfort, their fucked up desires, their histories, their relationships, their hurt ..  probably other things I have too much brain fog to think of.

This game resonated with me so much, the despair and misery are so real.  I'm luckily not in the kind of situation these characters are in but my mental state has been severely fucked for the past several years, and I feel if I didn't have somewhere to live or my mother who tries to support me and help me I could very easily end up being one of these girls and/or its, independence seems very scary as I fear the people I would attract and be drawn to.

Near the end of the game I was dreading what was going to happen to Haley's body ..  I was thinking no no no please do not do what I think you're going to do, and I'm so glad they didn't do that.  Roaches and Harsh Noise were scary and made me feel unsafe hehe, not the kind of people you would wanna be friends with, nor Xelia.  Vanessa and Argo's relationship felt so real to me, the mutual cutting made me fear one of them would go too deep if it became a regular occurrence and I was anticipating something like that happening, it felt so completely real, my freak was exposed to myself and laid bare and raw for me to come to terms with and understand my fucked mind.  Their insecurity and fear of abandonment were very relatable to me with regards to my ex partner, sort of both of us were like this, being constantly hyper-aware of the other person's speech and looking into everything they say for signs of hate or distrust, the jealousy of knowing they are speaking to other people or hanging out with them and trying to fight that feeling or whatever the fuck.

Audrey was so nice in this, the one semi-responsible one that tried to keep everyone including herself grounded.  The scene where she's bouncing between texting each one of them and fucking it up was amazing, my anxiety rose and rose and I got increasingly worried about Haley.

You got no idea how inspiring this game is like, I have not had motivation for anything for the past few months and very little or none for years, but reading something like this really makes me want to create and express.  I wish I could come through and make a game as raw as this, to be able to express every fucked up thought I've had and the various people I've come across is something I wish so much to be able to do.  I have actually begun writing down my weird and messed up thoughts after playing this, they give me inspiration to create, ideas to go off of.  

This game will stick with me for a long time and thank you for making it, when feeling anything is so hard a game that can make me feel so much like this becomes extremely special.  ^w^

i love this game but playing it has changed my brain forever

Excellent and comfy game, I wish it was longer so I could live in it more.

Had to play this over the course of like a month or two. This game had me sobbing so many times and I dont know how to condense my feelings about it into a cohesive comment but it really struck something with me. It hurts in such a personal way where you just see the most unpleasant parts of yourself laid out bare and every time I read more its like a giant needle has been stabbed into those pockets of hurt with surgical precision but in a way that feels so gratifying at the same time. this game is horrible and disgusting and beautiful all at once and i feel fundamentally different for having played it. My situation in life was very different but reading this makes me so so grateful to not be on that level of hurt anymore. It made me realize just how lucky I am to have made it out of that pit in one piece. Thank you for making this and fuck the hole.

I really dino like! 🦕

this game tore me up, bandaged my wounds up, tore me up even further on a fundamental level, then bandaged my entire heart body soul and mind and gave me a big hug while wiping away my tears, i loved it so so much despite how much it hurt and i wish i could have fellow trans friends like this irl

guroslop

This VN means so much to me and I feel like I genuinely cannot summarise it in words. Thank you for telling this story. With every re-read I feel connected with a different aspect of myself through each character. The OST has been playing nonstop while I draw/read/work/sleep. This was also my introduction to noise/noise jam, which is another progenitor of love in my life. Me and my boyfriend ⚢ read this together and loved the freak  shit.

possibly the most impactful game we have experienced, ever. thank you so so so very much for making this. this feels like the experience of queer life distilled into its rawest, purest form. thank you Snek Remilia Ketter. thank you Blood Machine. thank you Jane Gorelove. thank you red_kino. thank you Henni Wiesner. our lives will never be the same.

Like having your guts ripped out methodically, building up to an ending that, despite its depraved debauchery, cherishes humanity. Unapolgetically raw and sickening; nothing else will come close. It understands parts of me that I refuse to understand. I will be haunted forever, endearingly.

This game makes me miss my girlfriends.
I know a few girls in this space, I was really close to it myself. I recently left it to run away. The gunshots never really leave you, the scars never truly fade. 

I work in genocide prevention rn and the pit is such an apt metaphor. The shelters truly are sickening. Sometimes I wish I could just look away, but I'm still on the train on a collision course. 

Honestly, at this point I don't know what else to do. 

Fuck Fascism. Love yourselves.

this was beautiful, i wish i could say more about it that hasn't already been said in the comments lmao. but i wish i could play it for the first time again and again. i think this game will be positively affecting my worldview from here on out