Adventure-horror game “My Big Sister” features a young girl who tries to save her older sister after they are both abducted from their home. Stranga Games — a one-man independent game company — takes an “Alice in Wonderland”-esque approach to twist mature content and place it within an eight-bit world. You don’t play as the sweet girl Alice but rather as a hungry, sarcastic and independent 12-year-old Luzia.
Not all areas in “My Big Sister” are accessible or explained, leaving plenty to the player’s imagination. The designer never hand-feeds direction to the player, but rather leaves the player to figure out what is the right thing to do next and what exactly is going on in the game. Environments are rich with fantasy and mystery. One minute Luzia is in a run-down Chinatown and the next she’s in a magical forest. It may be easy to skim through these scenes, but if you examine closely, you can tell that there was a considerable amount of love and hard work put into the game’s making.
Verdict: 8/10
In conjunction with Ratalaika Games, Grab The Games and Adventure Game Studio, “My Big Sister” was recently adapted for the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation Store and the Microsoft Xbox Store. While the storyline starts out strong, there are moments where it seems to falter on the follow through or wrap-up, especially given the game’s psychological and impactful themes. However, it was certainly worth the play. The game feels unique compared to other games out there, and it’s important to support independent developers. Overall, gameplay didn’t feel stagnant, characters and places felt like they were straight out of a Studio Ghibli film and Luzia’s personality and character arc complimented the unnatural environment. There are multiple endings, but which one is the true ending?