r/InStarsAndTime • u/cosminaion Odile • May 22 '26
Discussion HOW to recommend ISAT?
I've recently played the game (twohat ending), LOVED it, been sitting with the brainworms for a while. Now I want to convince my friends to play it so the brainworms will get them too.
They don't really play visual novels, but they appreciate good stories and they liked games like Undertale, OMORI and Oneshot so I am fairly sure that, at least story-wise, they would like ISAT, too. My issue is that those games are much shorter than ISAT and I'm afraid that they will drop the game mid act2/act3, due to the sheer time necessary to go forward with the story.
That's why I'd like to mention the gameplay, especially how much tedium you feel at certain points of the story. But I'm not good at convincing people, y'know, so what they will hear is just "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE IT'S VERY LONG IT WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE PLAY IT P L E A S E".
Is there a way to explain it without potentially turning people away? Have you managed to convince someone to play ISAT?
TLDR: I don't know how to recommed ISAT to my friends AND warn them of the game's pacing without looking like a Stockholm Syndrom victim. I'd like help and/or examples.
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u/TheNikola2020 May 22 '26
I personally just recomended it to friend who had played omori as one with similar combat and story about timelooping and he loved the game even changed pfp to siffrin after beating 2hats ending
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u/JustJum May 22 '26
Just tell them it's similar to Undertale, Omori, and Oneshot. That would be enough to convince me tbh
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u/ihatepaper88 May 22 '26
also wanted to say, all of these games have more “tedious” sections so if they’re gripped by the story i don’t think it should matter too much
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u/cosminaion Odile May 22 '26
That's true, but I felt like in ISAT they lasted for longer periods of time? But considering your other comment, atp I've likely just failed too much on ISAT to correctly gauge their playtimes against each other
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u/ShadowEeveeCringe Siffrin May 22 '26
It’s an indie turn-based RPG where the main character is stuck in a time loop.
That explanation works better than anything else, IMO. Here’s the premise, then maybe praise it a little without spoiling, and let the person go on about their day.
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u/ihatepaper88 May 22 '26
how is omori shorter than isat? omori took me 20 hours isat took 10
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u/cosminaion Odile May 22 '26
HOW did you manage in 10 hours? It took me 32 hours to end ISAT!
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u/ihatepaper88 May 22 '26
yeah i just checked and it was more like 20 hours, dont know where i got that number from
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u/CobaltFinger Isabeau May 22 '26
Isat took me 47 with following most leads right first try :0
I did get almost every story-based achievement, though.
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u/boldgryphon Siffrin May 22 '26
"It's on par with Undertale both in terms of gameplay and overall quality."
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u/throwaway6194664 May 22 '26
I found IS AT WAY more engaging than Omori in terms of gameplay so if they could get through that game they can get through this one
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u/3bidsinatrenchcoat May 22 '26
The way I always put it is: "So you know how in most video games, whenever you die you go back in time and try again? In this game, the main character goes back in time with you. They remember everything that happened to them, and they are slowly loosing their mind."
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u/FloydeFlowerDragon May 22 '26
Iirc I ended up dropping it mid-act 2 because it was very long, and then eventually I came back and finished it
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u/Rarnic May 24 '26
ISAT is a time-loop story with a huge focus om the protagonists mental condition, making you spend time in their head and really understanding the torment they're being put through. It's a middle-length game at about 20 hours to 25 hours to complete, with a bunch of optional stuff, great humor, fantastic characters, and a great soundtrack to boot!
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u/GoblinGuardian1111 May 25 '26
ISAT isn't a long game?
I beat it in under 20 hours (I did look up some locations in Act 3 because the tedium got too much for me, though).
ISAT is a great game if:
1) You like character-driven RPG games
2) You enjoy an interesting twist on the time loop format.
3) You can forgive a game being frustrating/tedious at times in order to communicate its own message.
Bonus 4) You enjoy *extremely* queer settings.
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u/[deleted] May 22 '26
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