Goodbye Volcano High review

Now it may not be to everyone’s taste, but I love a little bit of teen drama in my video games. After the success of Life is Strange developers from far and wide realised that a high school setting was ideal for narrative games, because we all remember being anxious little adolescents. Well Goodbye Volcano High thought that swapping out the teenagers with dinosaurs might shake things up a bit, and I have to admit that they were right on the money.

For our protagonist Fang, life is all about music, and they play in a band called Worm Drama with their two best friends. After a slightly dull summer full of song writing, Fang gets the news that Worm Drama has an audition at Battle of the Bands. Fang is extremely excited to tell Reid and Trisha that all their musical dreams could be about to come true, but a lot has changed over the summer. A difference in priorities might just threaten this tight knit group of friends, and that’s not all they have to worry about.

It turns out that there’s an asteroid that could possibly be on a crash course for earth, and it threatens to wipe out all dino life. With an uncertain fate rapidly approaching, the teens understandably have a tough time coping with this threat to their very existence. Initially there are memes on social media and a whole lot of scepticism that this asteroid really could spell the end, but eventually everyone has to think about the possibility that their time is drawing to an end. There are some seriously emotional scenes throughout Goodbye Volcano High, but between the dark times are moments of joy and friendship.

The cast of characters you’ll be making memories with are incredibly endearing. There’s the outgoing and fabulous wannabe chef who always brings new snacks for the group to try; your bestie who is obsessed with bugs and completely scatter-brained, and the nerdy herbivore who is always aiming for perfect grades. My favourite of all of them though, is Fang’s sibling Nasir, who is always feeling pressure to be the perfect son for his parents, but is just a lovable weirdo at heart. Getting to know all the characters is great, and as long as you’re nice to them you’ll grow closer.

For most of Goodbye Volcano High you’ll be making narrative choices while talking to your group of friends. The game doesn’t just give you options to choose from though, it actually changes them on the fly based on Fang’s feelings. Apologising to your sibling, for example, is tougher than just brushing him off, so you’ll need to hold down the shoulder buttons to steel yourself to do the right thing. Sometimes in the heat of the moment Fang will think of something particular harsh to say to a friend, but as you start to select it the text fuzzes away and is replaced by their inner thoughts about not being too mean to a loved one. It’s a really clever way of subverting the usual visual novel choices, and helps build Fang’s character even when you’re the one in control.

Alongside chatting with your buds, you’ll also spend a lot of time in Goodbye Volcano High playing songs with the band. These rhythm game sections are a fun change of pace from the narrative, and are actually pretty tricky. There are a few types of notes you need to hit in these musical numbers, involving tilting the left stick to hit white orbs and hitting the face buttons in time to enclosing rings. It’s admittedly gameplay feels pretty familiar, but it’s still a lot of fun and the music you’re playing along with is fantastic.

A lot of the music you play is also customisable in song writing sections throughout the game. You’ll be given a few key lines to choose from when one of these scenes pops up, and depending on what you pick the lyrics will change entirely. It’s really cool, and makes the music you play feel like something you created as opposed to just something you’re playing along to.

Songs are one thing, but a band is nothing without branding. In another rather genius way to break up the dialogue heavy sections, Goodbye Volcano High gives you logos to design during class and posters to customise before shows. This just involves selecting a few options for font and artwork, but the things you create then turn up in the game and are just another element you feel ownership towards.

The little details are what makes Goodbye Volcano High special. Like the dinosaur themed touches, from emojis with horns to Jurassic Park references. The game is also just so joyfully inclusive, with a non-binary main character and plenty of LGBTQ+ representation that you just love to see.

There’s not a whole lot I didn’t enjoy during my time with Goodbye Volcano High, but it does have some small issues. For me the art style was probably the most off-putting part of the game, as well as the lack of animation in certain scenes. It’s all a matter of taste ultimately, but something about the way the character’s mouths move just kept distracting me.

Goodbye Volcano High is a creative and charming visual novel, with plenty of teen drama and existential dread to keep you hooked from start to finish. The way it handles narrative choice is incredibly clever, and with rhythm sections and song writing you’re always doing something interesting between conversations. It may be Jurassic in theme, but this game definitely ain’t no dinosaur.