Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Jan 25, 2022

  ironically, Mallory took a little warming up to, for me. she is much more of a "real girl" than many of the girls of Crush Crush, and at first that turned me off; however, I grew to like her through the choices and the dialogue revealing her character over a few playthroughs (you have to get at least a couple of the bad ends to fully flesh her out). This game has a compelling story, smart characters, and it was enjoyable enough to read through. Little things like Mallory playing with baby chicks, or you coming downstairs one morning to find out gasp your piles of dirty laundry had been washed, and the floor had actually been [b]swept[/b] for once, made Cabin Fever a surprisingly fun visual novel. If I was able to change anything, I would change text color that had already been viewed during a playthrough, and I would allow the skip feature to be toggle-able so that people could stop the fast forward at will, rather than having to wait until the next choice came up. The music was fine, it just wasn't very memorable, excepting the main theme. I'd give the game 9/10. the bad endings are heartwrenching, the good ending felt like I had accomplished something good, the characters are actually believable for the story they are in, and Mallory had just enough magic in her that I kept coming back so that I could find out everything about her. I also liked how the main character had a bit of personality of their own, instead of just being an empty shell for the reader to inhabit.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 25, 2022

  It's a beautiful game. The character, backgrounds and music are all S rank. I only wish there was more than 1 happy ending. It's a very solemn and sad game and I got only bad ends my first 4 times which made me very discouraged and melancholy. If only one ending is happy is feels as if its an illusion of choice rail road after all, despite your choices giving you the option to get one of the many bad endings. Since no one actually wants bad endings, it does seem like there is only one ending and a lot of game overs instead.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 26, 2022

  Decided to check out another Visual Novel and the story behind this one sounded interesting. After playing through it and grabbing some of the endings, I was very happy with it...despite one or two things. Cabin Fever has you playing as a protagonist in a world very much like our own. A pandemic has taken over the world and things have gotten harder for society. While some people are struggling to live in the city, some have decided to live off-the-grid and just survive out there. You are one of the off-the-grid peeps and you are relaxing in your family cabin when you hear someone get caught in one of your bear traps outside. You find a young woman named Mallory (best girl) was lost in the woods and happened to find your cabin. You're been alone for a very long time, and the weight of the pandemic is still on your mind, but you're not gonna abandon this lost woman, are you? I really enjoyed the writing in this game. The setting is very down to earth, but silly at the same time. The "gameplay" is basically you making choices in different parts of the chapters and seeing the outcome of said choices. Most of the game is voice acted and it's pretty nice. It'll mainly be your character and Mallory talking to each other, but the banter is really nice. I really liked the art and the soundtrack to the game as well. The writing was really well done and I found myself getting weepy eyed at certain parts of the game too. Despite this being a 2-3 hour game, it was a really nice story to read through. It was nice to see the protagonist warm up to Mallory and see them grow closer. I also really loved how they give you a nice summary on farming and homesteading. They go over composting, solar panels, etc. and I found those parts fun and educational without ruining the pace of the story. I think I only have one gripe with the game. There are dozens of bad/joke endings and not that many good endings to unlock. It was very depressing to see these two get so close only to have a bad ending. It's even worse when I find out that the reason I got said bad ending was because of a choice I made early in the game. Aside from that, everything else was peachy! Final verdict? If you're looking for a nice slice-of-life Visual Novel that has a very likable character and some really emotional and comedic writing, then I recommend Cabin Fever. It doesn't take up too much of your time, and there are plenty of guides that you can read that will lead you to the good endings. And if you really want to add some "spice" to the story, the DLC does add some "heat" to one to one of the chapters *wink*. Thanks for reading and Mallory is best girl!
• gamedeal user

  Apr 18, 2022

  Cabin Fever fall into a category I will start calling "mom's cookies." They're not surprising or life changing, and it's not as if they'll consume your daily life (looking at you, Key), but nothing will change the fact that they taste amazing every single time. There's a comfort in knowing that, despite the hardships and drama, there will be a happy ending. Just as mom's cookies will be there to comfort you through hardships, these types of VNs offer kind fictions in a harsh reality.
• gamedeal user

  May 13, 2022

  I haven’t finished it yet, but I've played a decent amount and I absolutely cannot stand this game. [b]TL;DR[/b] for everything I'm about to say: the story/relationship felt rushed and disingenuous from the start for me. Despite the fact that the protagonist isn’t meant to have a canon gender, I had no way of connecting or immersing myself in the story because the protagonist [I]low-key[/i] comes off as a creepy/pathetic simp and the ‘male gaze’ vibes are strong. (I'm going to preface everything by stating that im OBSESSED with crush crush & blush blush, owning the nsfw dlc for both. due to what can only be described as mental illness, I’ve completed the storyline for crush crush and am just starting out in blush blush. some of my fav girls are bonni, blanche, pamu, ayano and nova. It's pointless to list my fav dudes cuz I find them all hot + loveable. What I'm trying to convey with this disclaimer, is that I'm in NO WAY some kind of ‘sarkeesian-esque’ game-hating puritan) I came into this expecting a heart-wrenching, somewhat slowburn romance. Early on, the game was giving a bit of ‘planetarian, reverie of a planet’ vibes. It made me feel very nostalgic and eager to delve into further the story. I love romance and I fuckin love tragedies! Unfortunately, my enthusiasm and respect for the game would quickly begin to drain out, little by little. For one, the game really hits u over the head with descriptions of mallory’s body and her “revealing” clothes?? After u bring mallory inside ur cabin to dress her wound, the protagonist becomes distracted by her “threadbare”, “revealing” dress. Excuse me but WHERE?? She then changes into loose button-up shirt as a nightgown. But the shirt is just about the same length as the dress she was just wearing (probably shorter), and she didn’t even button it up very far so u get a lot of cleavage action. So, if anything, her new change of clothes should be just as, or [I] even more[/i] uncomfortable & distracting to the protagonist? Maybe this scene is something that only makes sense if u own the nsfw dlc? (which I didn’t bother getting because I deemed it unworthy after reading the reviews) The attachment the protag develops for mallory all happen so fast. Day one they meet this stranger and by day 3 they’re all [I]“oh nooo! [/i]Not my [I]beloved mallory![/i] I could [I]never[/i] allow my pure little angel to [b]dirty[/b] her tiny little frail fingers with the [I]notoriously arduous[/i] task of lightly raking up the leaves! Her [I]poor[/i], frail, little paper-origami crane body just [I]wouldn’t[/i] be able to handle iit all!! Like, excuse me? THIS is your perfect dream girl???? (Literally how she is described during the rake scene) shes the perfect girl why? Simply because she a frail little girl that’s been cooking and cleaning ur home for u? That’s it??? Where's the connecting?! Man, I just I [I]can’t[/i] get immersed in this story as the role of the protagonist because I'm so busy ‘white guy blinking’ at how pathetically simpy the they are. I can’t get into their mind at all! and they really do [I]love[/i] to reiterate just how small, fragile and delicate mallory’s supposed to be. It's like they REFUSE to pass up an opportunity to describe her body in this way. These may seem like small things, and they [I]are.[/i] they’re small things on their own. But descriptions and scenes like this are peppered throughout the story and I cant help but wonder. Who is this for? It can’t be for me. [I]clearly[/i] this was NOT meant for me. But it’s [I]supposed[/i] to be for me- what with the ambiguous protagonist and the promise of a funny & romantic tale. I LOVE romance, ESPECIALLY if it’s sappy. So what’s going on here? This feels like it was written for a specific type of audience. People whose waifu type are “delicate weak girl whom I can protect so she can admire me” and lemme tell u, ppl who are into that are [I]pathetic[/i]. This is why I say I feel like this was written as a male fantasy. TBH, as soon as I started realizing that this game wasn’t for me, I fully intended on refunding, but tbh, I was streaming the game to a group of friends in discord from the start (again, because I expected this to be a gripping, heartfelt and gut-wrenching tale) but instead we were all baffled by the protag’s descriptions of mallory and their overall narration of the situation, that it still ended up being entertaining once we treated it as a pure comedy- it's one of those ‘so bad it’s good’ situation type deals. We spent the night ragging the protag and making all kinds of jokes. I can’t wait to see how it ends and report to them on what kind of fake-deep bs transpired. Tbh again, this game kind of put a damper on most of my excitement and anticipation for hush hush. crush crush is such a quirky and charming game. The dialogue and characters are silly and enjoyable. I'm down horrendous for those anime bitches. My heart gets mushy and I feel [I]super embarrassingly gay [/i] in the cringiest way possible when elle responds via text that she loves me too, when bonnibel calls me her sunshine, sweet summer rain, or when cassie simply [I]exists.[/i] If Sad Panda was able to get me [I]this[/i] attached to a ton of bitches in an idle clicker game, then I was STOKED for what they could do for me in a romance VN dedicated entirely to a single girl... but man... what a disappointment. Anyways, in the end, I don’t regret getting this bc like I said, I still had fun tearing it apart with my friends. And even if I didn’t, I could still try to justify the purchase as simply another means of supporting the devs that brought me the crush crush I love so much. But damn, I wish it didn’t have to be this way.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 24, 2022

  The only game to make me both depressed and happy at the same time.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 4, 2022

  A lot shorter than their new game. But still a good story. Sad Panda know how to write good stories, and this was only a peek into what they had coming up. I bought the game back when it came out and got the Crush Crush Mallory bundle for free, but I never really played it fully until after seeing how good of a story Hush Hush has. Gotta say Sad Panda are probably one of my favorites for visual novels and I cant wait to see what they bring out next.
• Hotaru

  Sep 28, 2022

  The part when Mallory asked for "Honey?" but then you replying with "Yes, dear?" has made me screaming for the past 10 minutes. I love this game.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 19, 2022

  This game is the most heart warming & heart breaking story I've ever played, specially when it comes to fighting off a killing virus. It really hurts me the most is that 8 out or 9 endings all involves dying in the end of this love story, only to find at least 1 happy ending. Which is very ironic that most "love" stories I read are always like that, an interesting, romantic, deadly, "Shakespeare" type. If players like you enjoy love games like this, this game will definitely bring tears out of you, because it made me feel questionable, like "I don't know what true love is anymore."
• gamedeal user

  Dec 30, 2022

  Short, slice-of-apocalypse romance. Choices definitely matter. I enjoyed it, but I would get it on sale considering the length. This is one of those instances where the 18+ patch didn't really add anything to the story - it's just one short scene - but it's not like it's expensive so feel free if it's of interest.