No Time For Mercy

I've had several priveledges in experiencing this game, from watching its graphics and structure develop from as early as August 2023 to playing it on its launch at the Spooktober Game Jam over the fall. No Time For Mercy exists as the actualization of elements that many creative minds can only ramble and idealize over. The characters are molded to imperfect, inconcise people that rove through the Huang convenience store in the courses of their own busy lives, each carrying their own expertises, their temperaments, their ails, and a certain, unspoken weight that seems to hang onto all of Bridge Creek's residents in a variety of shapes as they try to get through.

In the same way, the protagonist Vic's identity as a queer Chinese-American girl exists out of the foreground of the increasingly unnerving, scary situation on Vic's plate at the moment, and yet are indisputably present factors to her life- her ever-critical chinese mother, the pork-filled buns the store sells; Vic being drawn in by the charm of the mysterious young woman who comes in during the story, and mentions of her co-ed crushes back in school-- all fill a long-lived hunger for stories where being queer and asian exist as "normative" identities do, not necessarily needing to be in the limelight, yet irreplacably there.

The game is not a masterpiece, let me be clear- it was tricky to get a feel of how the choices led to story moments or the endings without the guide; the UI is rough, and the art and writing, though well-done, are absolutely a work of what is Trinket's early career as a game developer. And in another sense, that's exciting!- with her determination, the growth of all this dev's skills and ideas will only compound into projects with greater ambitions and greater executions as time goes on. I look forward to every project that turns out from the steps of that climb- (go get em trink >:) )

This game surprised the hell out of me. It may not look the best, but the story is gripping and well worth the time invested. I loved it.

(Copied from my Spooktober Game Jam Review to help this game with the algorithm.)

I really loved the writing in this VN: it was very strong, and each character had their own distinct personality that made them easy to remember. The convenience store setting was great, too - I always love it when horror stories delve into the woes of retail/customer service hell, but the setting is also a great vehicle for meeting the people within Victoria's life. Additionally, the body-snatching horror was genuinely unnerving, and the timed choices added to the tension throughout this story.

I'd like to return to this title to see what the other endings have in store. I got the Good Ending and the first Bad Ending in my playthrough - but the writing was so compelling that I want to see what else lays in store for Victoria and co!

The character interactions felt very genuine and I think the story was broken up well. The story really made me want to find out what was going on even though sometimes you felt kind of helpless or stuck doing your job. Thinking back, I think maybe some moments are a bit repetitive and could use some trimming. Nevertheless good job on this. There's a lot of content put together for this VN.

This is a review for the game jam version:

No Time For Mercy isn't afraid to get real with emotions. The way the scenes are written feel genuine, as if it's just another day in a small town. It hits especially hard if you had worked retail and lived in a relatively low population area. But the air of familiarity gets challenged, and eventually torn apart altogether.

It takes about an hour or so to beat the game, and it's time well spent, with the gorgeous art and the down to earth characters. It's interesting to see how the choices play out, and learning who you can trust as well as how you can trust is nerve wracking. To think there will be more art and dialogue to enjoy in the future is exciting, considering what is here is already a full meal!

All in all, the build up of dread, as well as the sentiment of missing a friend, and wanting to see them again no matter what, is shown in a haunting way. The narratives gets you hooked before you know it, and the pay off is well worth it.