Goodbye Volcano High Review (PS5) | Push Square

pushsquare.com:

Canadian developer KO_OP has been away from Sony's ecosystem for quite a while. Its first game, GNOG, launched on PS4 back in 2017 and is a fun, colourful puzzler that works great in PSVR. Fast forward a number of years, and they’ve returned to PlayStation with Goodbye Volcano High, a visual novel about the hardships of discovering oneself with an impending global catastrophe serving as a backdrop.

Goodbye Volcano High is a decidedly bizarre but unique amalgamation of ideas, being equal parts School of Rock, Don’t Look Up, and the Jim Henson show Dinosaurs. If such an odd mashup doesn’t hook you, then the writing most certainly will. In a world where everyone is an anthropomorphised dinosaur, you play as Fang, a student with a goth aesthetic and a penchant for making music. The game opens with you starting your senior year at Volcano High School, getting to grips with what you’re going to do with your future. You’ll also be trying to win a Battle of the Bands competition alongside bandmates Trish and Reed. Early on in the game, you start noticing everyone’s cell phones are experiencing inconsistent bouts of inexplicable electromagnetic interference. For the sake of spoilers, we won’t say what the cause is, but the ramifications of it will hang over the entirety of the six hours you’ll spend with this motley crew of characters.

It’s almost a shame that the title isn't longer, as the character writing is the brightest spot amid a myriad of quality elements. While the primary narrative is no slouch, the character writing is impeccable. Every single core character in this game is great. Whether it’s Fang, her bandmates, her younger brother, or those on the fringe of her core friend group, everyone gets a moment in the