VIDEOVERSE Review (Xbox Series X|S & PC)

Before the surge in technological innovations, internet culture was quaint, collected, and evenly integrated in every conceivable aspect. Hell, I remember it all too well—the simpler times of online browsing. Arriving home after school to log in to MSN, to browse the niche gaming forums alongside a handful of die-hard World of Warcraft fans, or to nudge a secret crush via their overly bright skin-wrapped profile. Perhaps I’m showing my age here. Either way, it seems that, if you didn’t live through it, then you’ll probably struggle to appreciate its simplicity, as will you fail to see a game like VIDEOVERSE as the perfect throwback.

VIDEOVERSE feels like the perfect homecoming gift for old forum-prowling nerds—a category that, in all honesty, I, too, would naturally fit into. It’s a love letter, if anything, to old-school gaming forums, light social media platforms, and retro culture that has since lost its relevance in the mainstream. To some, it will look a little dated—sloppy, even. But to those who grew up with it, it’ll feel like a nostalgic journey down memory lane, warts and all. Naturally, it doesn’t try to be perfect, but rather, to recreate a time capsule that pays homage to an archival period. With a two-tone aesthetic, low-poly webcams, and dozens of stylus-worthy doodles to ferry its message, it brings about a different kind of nostalgia hit. And you know what? I love it.

A visual novel at heart, VIDEOVERSE puts you in the shoes of Emmett, a loyal and passionate gamer who, like most of the alumni in a tight-knit corner of the community, devotes himself to a forum—a platform that, due to the rapid expansion of gaming and social networking, struggles to maintain a foothold. Alas, you are not a hero in this world, but a regular teenager who, like countless others, wishes to have a place to call their own and a chalkboard to convey their love of a classic JRPG.

Online, you begin your journey with a community of friends, a trove of chat bubbles, and a simple goal: to remain faithful to an ever-diminishing platform that is due to fold in favor of a system that is far more powerful. The forum is on the brink of collapse, but to you and a few loyal followers, it’s a small piece of your heart that you don’t want to part ways with.

Shark, the fictional gaming system that bulks out the social aspect of VIDEOVERSE, is where your heart and soul entwine during the nine-to-five. As Emmett, we have the opportunity to forge friendships within the community, share time-appropriate art, and make small but meaningful contributions to a once-thriving platform that is all but a fickle husk in the shadow of an alluring modification. We can befriend those who are deserving of an alliance, romance a distant friend, whisk trolls from their hiding places, and gradually make world-altering decisions that will culminate in one of several major events. Shark will fall eventually. The question is, how will you spend your time online?

VIDEOVERSE is all about community engagement, as is it about taking the time to learn more about who you are as an artist, a gamer, and a teenager whose life revolves around a built-in forum. With light visual novel aspects to frame its message, the game invites you to tailor your story through meaningful dialogue and short exchanges. Will you report the trolls, or will you try and talk sense into them? Will you reignite an old flame with a former acquaintance, or will you sit aside and let the fire go out? Will you embrace the new hardware, Dolphin, or will you remain devoted to Shark, a system that is teetering closer towards its final chapter? Here, the decisions are yours and yours alone to make.

With multiple pathways to pursue and a whole host of characters to converse with, VIDEOVERSE delivers an engaging seven-hour experience in which every choice you make bears a consequence. If you’re not talking with others via your handheld system, then you’re doodling with your stylus, discussing general issues with your favorite game—Feudal Fantasy—or, in some instances, trolling the forum. It’s all very late nineties-ish, in that it builds its entire ecosystem with old-school technology and all of the familiar, albeit highly regarded tropes—two-tone shading, borderline pre-historic emojis, and of course. pixel art, to boot. If you know, you know.

In any case I’d say that you need to have been there to truly appreciate a game like VIDEOVERSE. The fact of the matter, however, is that, while you would likely get more out of it if you were once a moderator on a RuneScape forum (or anything along those lines), you don’t need to be well-versed in nineties web culture to gel with a game like this. The characters are relatable, the gaming community is as equally divided, and the trolls remain as irritating as ever. It’s just a lot of fun, in general, as is it a brilliantly crafted window to the heyday of forum-baiting.

Of course, I could think of a hundred reasons why you should consider slipping back into the noughties. And yet, I can’t help but feel that, at least with a game like VIDEOVERSE, you need to experience it firsthand. As it brings a lot of emotional baggage alongside its old-school aesthetic and classic forum layouts, there’s a good chance that you’ll be surprised with just how much it captures in a brief time period. Honestly, though, it just makes me think back to simpler times. But, I guess that’s sort of the point.

Verdict

VIDEOVERSE captures the essence of early internet culture and gaming memorabilia in a self-contained visual novel that spouts a familiarly charming and positively accurate plot about teenagers, loyalty, and the world before technological advances. As a nineties kid, I can confidently say that it hits the nail on the head, too. Courtesy of its two-tone aesthetic, retro hardware and time-appropriate dialogue, it delivers everything that it needs to make a perfectly nostalgic experience memorable. You just had to be there, man.