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Sacred Reviews: Doggy Dinner Time
thesacredlobo- 07/26/2022 02:56 AM
- 209 views
Intro
I'll admit I've been thinking about reviewing this one for a while, but finding the right words is a bit difficult since it's hard to review "Doggy Dinner Time" without spoiling anyone that reads this review before playing the game. This is because the game is rather brief clocking in at under 20 minutes. So it's hard to discuss anything about the game's plot without giving everything away about the game's surprise twist ending. In fact, I may have given away too much information already by saying the game has a twist ending, but in order to avoid any more potentially damaging spoilers the story section will be hidden.
Story
Gameplay
You complete a series of mundane chores by interacting with various objects in the environment. There really isn't any challenge to any of this beyond looking for doggy's leash which might take a couple of minutes since you'll probably need to interact with a few cabinets and whatnot in order to find it. Outside of that everything is pretty straightforward.
Graphics
The graphics are pretty cutesy for the most part which helps hide the true nature of this game's story for a little bit. On the other hand the use of certain visual effects in this game is pretty annoying in my opinion.
Seriously why does the ground sparkle like the stars you see in the sky upon first exiting Olivia's house? I'm just saying there are better ways to spruce up the grass in this area like including some flowers or additional bushes. You can even go a bit hog while with them around the mart since cities sometimes require businesses to spruce up the local area by doing some landscaping around their business. At least that was part of the requirements for the fast food joint I work at to get approval for doing a remodel.
The game also features a few instances where the art clashes with the main look of the game.
The best example is probably this missing person poster you can see while walking doggy to the park. It just doesn't match up with any of the other assets in this game.
Sound
I'd say the game's choice in sound effects and music was alright, but not particularly memorable in the long run. Jeez, I barely noticed the attempts to ratchet up the tension at certain points in the story in my most recent play through, but I was trying to blitz through the game's story in order to see the good ending. So I wasn't paying that much attention to anything that wasn't new dialogue.
Conclusion
"Doggy Dinner Time" is a game which hides dark secrets behind a cute color palette. And in some ways this makes what happens far more horrifying since the color scheme contrasts so much with what actually happens. In a way this makes Eggplant's attempts at telling a horror story feel very different. After all, there are plenty of horror games on this site that rely on the darkness to scare people, but not that many that put you in a pretty environment where the horrors are hidden behind bright pastel colors that make you think your playing something super cute and innocent. As such, I do recommend checking this game out if your horror fan since it hits differently from a lot of the game's on this site. And if you utterly hate horror games then I'd suggest giving this one a pass.
I'll admit I've been thinking about reviewing this one for a while, but finding the right words is a bit difficult since it's hard to review "Doggy Dinner Time" without spoiling anyone that reads this review before playing the game. This is because the game is rather brief clocking in at under 20 minutes. So it's hard to discuss anything about the game's plot without giving everything away about the game's surprise twist ending. In fact, I may have given away too much information already by saying the game has a twist ending, but in order to avoid any more potentially damaging spoilers the story section will be hidden.
Story
"Doggy Dinner Time" follows Olivia as she works through a chore list that involves taking care of her favorite pet. In order to avoid spoiling the audience on where the story is going the player is unable to see the entire chore list, but the game definitely hints at the surprise twist at multiple points with dialogue or certain objects in the game.
Yeah, it probably did not that Olivia is going to admit to it.
Yeah, I can already tell someone's going to be turned into ground beef in the near future!
In fact, the surprise twist where Olivia grinds the dog up into food really isn't that much of a surprise in my opinion. The major twist here is that her really pet looks like something out of a story by H. P. Lovecraft.
Oddly enough the game does have a good ending, but accessing it requires the player to be paying attention to both stuff in the game as well as in the game's folder. Some of which are rather obvious and some which you might miss if your not looking carefully.
As for the unresolved mystery of what's inside a drawer that can't be opened in Olivia's house. I'm guessing it ties into the missing person poster we can access while walking doggy.
After all, she does mentions it's a special treat and considering she had a guest over a week ago that goes unnamed. I'm guessing she killed him and stuffed his corpse inside that drawer to serve as a special treat for her little Lulu's birthday party.
And while she does mention it's a hard to come across luxury. I'm guessing it's a lot harder now a days to find missing people you can kill off while avoiding being a suspect in their murder. And while she jokes about turning 53 soon. I'm willing to assume the hell spawn in her basement helps keep her looking young in exchange for a yearly sacrifice.
Yeah, it probably did not that Olivia is going to admit to it.
Yeah, I can already tell someone's going to be turned into ground beef in the near future!
In fact, the surprise twist where Olivia grinds the dog up into food really isn't that much of a surprise in my opinion. The major twist here is that her really pet looks like something out of a story by H. P. Lovecraft.
Oddly enough the game does have a good ending, but accessing it requires the player to be paying attention to both stuff in the game as well as in the game's folder. Some of which are rather obvious and some which you might miss if your not looking carefully.
As for the unresolved mystery of what's inside a drawer that can't be opened in Olivia's house. I'm guessing it ties into the missing person poster we can access while walking doggy.
After all, she does mentions it's a special treat and considering she had a guest over a week ago that goes unnamed. I'm guessing she killed him and stuffed his corpse inside that drawer to serve as a special treat for her little Lulu's birthday party.
And while she does mention it's a hard to come across luxury. I'm guessing it's a lot harder now a days to find missing people you can kill off while avoiding being a suspect in their murder. And while she jokes about turning 53 soon. I'm willing to assume the hell spawn in her basement helps keep her looking young in exchange for a yearly sacrifice.
Gameplay
You complete a series of mundane chores by interacting with various objects in the environment. There really isn't any challenge to any of this beyond looking for doggy's leash which might take a couple of minutes since you'll probably need to interact with a few cabinets and whatnot in order to find it. Outside of that everything is pretty straightforward.
Graphics
The graphics are pretty cutesy for the most part which helps hide the true nature of this game's story for a little bit. On the other hand the use of certain visual effects in this game is pretty annoying in my opinion.
Seriously why does the ground sparkle like the stars you see in the sky upon first exiting Olivia's house? I'm just saying there are better ways to spruce up the grass in this area like including some flowers or additional bushes. You can even go a bit hog while with them around the mart since cities sometimes require businesses to spruce up the local area by doing some landscaping around their business. At least that was part of the requirements for the fast food joint I work at to get approval for doing a remodel.
The game also features a few instances where the art clashes with the main look of the game.
The best example is probably this missing person poster you can see while walking doggy to the park. It just doesn't match up with any of the other assets in this game.
Sound
I'd say the game's choice in sound effects and music was alright, but not particularly memorable in the long run. Jeez, I barely noticed the attempts to ratchet up the tension at certain points in the story in my most recent play through, but I was trying to blitz through the game's story in order to see the good ending. So I wasn't paying that much attention to anything that wasn't new dialogue.
Conclusion
"Doggy Dinner Time" is a game which hides dark secrets behind a cute color palette. And in some ways this makes what happens far more horrifying since the color scheme contrasts so much with what actually happens. In a way this makes Eggplant's attempts at telling a horror story feel very different. After all, there are plenty of horror games on this site that rely on the darkness to scare people, but not that many that put you in a pretty environment where the horrors are hidden behind bright pastel colors that make you think your playing something super cute and innocent. As such, I do recommend checking this game out if your horror fan since it hits differently from a lot of the game's on this site. And if you utterly hate horror games then I'd suggest giving this one a pass.
