Where did I find it?
I came across this, um, interesting concept for a game a few years ago when a youtube creator, (Many A True Nerd, check him out he's great) played it on his channel. I then promptly forgot about it until a friend popped it into my suggestions box and I realised how could I forget something like this. So here I am, once again, and I get whip out my weirdly extensive knowledge of Asian history to give you guys a little lesson so, a double win for me.
A plot synopsis;
You are a young American marine that has gotten leave from Afganistan to go visit your North Korean pen pals Eunji and Jeong who are soldiers in the North Korean army. Little do you know that upon arrival your supposed male pen pals are actually girls. So begins your tour of North Korea as you go on dates with your chosen Korean lady.
Whose pants are we getting into?
Let me introduce you to our guides!
Jeong - The sweet one; Jeong is your typical nice girl. She is polite, sweet, speaks english very well and is absolutely devoted to her country. Her devotion runs so deep however it may cause, uh, issues later on but we'll get to that. 
Eunji- The fiesty one; Basically your typical tsundere. Starts off super cold and nasty but she gets better once you start going on dates with her. She's also very devoted to her country.What I did like
The writing in this game is pretty good. As is the character and general art direction of the game. It's not spectacular but like honestly it could have been so much worse. I appreciate that there are multiple routes and endings although I didn't have time to go through all of them. To the game's credit, a decent amount of research has been done on what life is like in North Korea day to day and I do really like that there are some genuine educational elements to this game.
What I didn't like
The jokes in this game are extremely, for lack of a better word, memey. The jokes are cringy at best and borderline offensive a worst. There's a particular section where they decide to attempt to indicate somebody's broken English and, well, it's not done in a very flattering way. I was hoping for more observational humor in this and was kind of disappointed. Both Eunji and Jeong are very bland as characters and I found myself with little to no attachment to either of them what so ever. The music in this is so god damn annoying too. I also wish there had been a bit more substance to the educational aspect of this game, I really feel like they could have done a lot with that and it feels like a real waste of an opportunity. The stuff they did get right they got right sparingly and overall I just feel like the setting became one big gag rather than the backbone of the game.
My final verdict
Before I get into my final thoughts on this game I do actually want to chat about North Korea. While this game kind of brushed over it, and I suppose I can understand why, North Korea has committed many, many, violations on its own people's human rights. 25% of children are malnourished, political prisoner camps, yes, camps are a thing as are public executions. Freedom of speech is basically nonexistent and speaking out against the government is a great way to get yourself killed. There is no freedom of movement, no religious freedom, and collective punishment which is basically not only you but your whole family being punished for something. What I'm trying to say is that it's a dire situation over there.
Liberty In North Korea is a fantastic organization dedicated to helping refugees and their families fleeing North Korea's regime. I know it's preachy but given the subject matter of this game I 100% feel it's important to link these guys as a resource if you want to learn more. The work they do is monumental and it wouldn't feel right not to use my albeit tiny blog to raise awareness on this.
This game wasn't a dumpster fire but honestly, I wish it had of been better. I'm giving it two bottles of vodka out of five.
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