Consume Me

Consume Me is a pure delight to indulge in with a style that makes the mundane life of a teenager look exciting and like something straight out of a manga, but with messaging that hits home and touches on very real topics that harm a lot of teenage girls. It’s interactive storytelling at its best with RPG elements and a management system that had me scratching my head and even resetting a few times, which added a layer of challenge that made me want to master its mechanics. This is a true gem that has definitely come from the heart of its devs but with comedy that had me in hysterics, I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Despite its incredible presentation and interesting ideas about narrator reliability varying through story and gameplay, Consume Me’s ending left me wondering what the entire experience was for.

Gamifying your food habits is, indeed, an awful idea, and Consume Me lays it out in a manner I found deeply compelling and entertaining. Even if you ignore the content warning, its message is clear from its opening moments. If its ending hadn't stumbled, it might've been one of my all-time favorites, but there's still a lot to love here despite that underwhelming conclusion. Consume Me is teeming with creativity and personality, and for that, it's earned a special place in my heart.

Video games rarely get to be autobiographical, but this indie gem is a funny, touching, and endearingly honest portrayal of one person’s difficult student years.

Consume Me is funny, it’s emotional, and it got me thinking about some of the things people in my life went through to get to where they are today. If the purpose of art is to provoke thought and introspection, Consume Me accomplishes that goal. Just don’t go in expecting a fun roller coaster ride.

More broadly, Consume Me succeeds because it makes fun of Jenny without judging her; the narrative and its interactive delivery mechanisms are direct and unpatronising, criticising diet culture while demonstrating why someone could be ensnared by it. We aren't made to feel that we're being lectured or tricked into a cheap emotional response. Rather, Consume Me transcends the expected commentary on dieting and becomes a critique of self-improvement culture in general, without losing the sense of humour that makes its message digestible. [Issue#416, p.123]

Jenny Jiao Hsia's dazzling, semi-autobiographical tale of teenage life finds wit and warmth in its WarioWare weirdness, even as it deals with difficult themes.

There is a lot to love in Consume Me; ironically, the game’s main issue is that it doesn’t have enough bite. Even still, the narrative is deeply relatable, the art style engrossing, and the minigames are more than enough fun to keep you entertained throughout the entire runtime.

Consume Me offers an inventive take on narrative design in gaming. In how it blends mechanics and story, it uses the power of the medium to create something that's uniquely engaging and empathetic, and leaves a lasting impact that helps to cement it as one of the year's best indies.

I have reviewed a ton of life-sim titles here at RPGamer, but I can say with certainty that Consume Me is a unique one. I found myself both completely invested in Jenny’s story, wanting to help her find success, and yelling at myself whenever I failed her goals. While the gameplay has some blemishes, the overall experience is as stressful as it is fun, especially in its short runtime of six hours to complete. Consume Me is a heartfelt look at personal struggles, finding courage, and finding compassion in a world obsessed with physical appearance. Consume Me is a difficult, hopeful experience worth playing, reminding anyone going through these motions that they are not alone.