Whenever I talk about nostalgia here at Loot Level Chill, it’s usually in relation to video games. Obviously with over thirty years of history playing games, I have a shed load of precious memories relating to Mario, Sora, Link and dozens more characters who shaped me into the nerd I am today. It’s easy to forget there’s nostalgic joy to be had from other sources though, like the early days of the internet. As a nineties kid I was perfectly positioned to enjoy these early years of online exploration, playing Flash games, watching Quicktime videos and chatting on forums. I was taken back to the days of Lenny Loosejocks and Salad Fingers thanks to Videoverse, a coming of ages narrative game set entirely in a noughties online space.
In Videoverse you play as Emmett, a normal fifteen year old who loves gaming. After he’s done at school there’s nothing he likes more than jumping on his Kinmoku Shark, be it to play Feudal Fantasy or chat to other gamers on Videoverse. Videoverse is an online community built into the console, that’s sort of like the Miiverse from the Wii U but ten years earlier. It’s here Emmett chats to his friends, likes posts from randoms, and occasionally even shares his art.
Emmett’s dream is to be a video game artist when he’s older, but after some trolls made fun of his last drawing he’s nervous about sharing his work again. Fortunately there are plenty of nice people to be found on Videoverse too, who are happy to encourage our Emmett to follow his dreams. When Kinmoku announce Videoverse is closing down to make way for the new console though, all these connections are suddenly at risk. This is especially concerning as he’s just started to make friends with a girl called Violet, and is totally falling for her.
The story of Videoverse is charming and heartfelt, and it’s made all the more special by the way you experience it. The entire game takes place on this retro inspired online world, with different forums you can browse. You’re able to like posts, make comments by choosing from a few options, report trolls, and even DM and have video calls with friends you make along the way. Scrolling through pictures in the art corner is always a joy, especially with references like Badger Badger Badger sprinkled among the low quality drawings.
The narrative and nostalgia is absolutely the focus of Videoverse, but there are also some nice bits of customisation you can mess around with too. You can create your own avatar, and also choose from different two colour themes. You’ll unlock more of these by helping the Videoverse community, by liking enough posts or reporting enough trolling. It’s a nice way to encourage you to really fully embrace this virtual world, which I was more than happy to do.
From my first moment in Videoverse I was hooked by its charm, but I wasn’t quite prepared for how emotional it would be. There are some seriously deep themes you’ll explore in this story, from love and rejection to disability. Emmett is a privileged boy who is unaware of how lucky he is, but by socialising with all sorts of people online he learns about all the struggles the world can throw at people. I won’t spoil any of the especially impactful moments, but this game hit me in the feels multiple times and I loved every minute of it.
There’s not a whole lot I have to complain about when it comes to Videoverse. Visually it can be a little unclear what option you have selected on the screen, especially if you use certain themes. On PC or Switch you can just play with mouse or touch controls to counteract this though. The game likely won’t hit quite as hard if you weren’t online back in the late nineties-early noughties either, but there’s not much that can be done about that.
Videoverse is a beautiful coming of age story, packed full of wonderful retro internet nostalgia. Getting to explore this fictional online world is an absolute joy, and is a delightful way of framing the narrative. There’s much more to Videoverse than meets the eye too, and if you’re looking for a story focused experience there are few better options than this noughties flashback.