You’re a delivery driver and just stopped off for some coffee in what seems like torrential rain. The waitress has said that she just needs to pop across the road for 15 minutes. Can you, an absolute stranger, manage the shop in her absence? Whether you decide to or not, Man I Just Wanna Go Home is going to be an eventful night.
A choose-your-own-adventure from JZPS Games, your objective in this visual novel is to get home safely. That’s it. The key events through the narrative include a murder, and whether you get drawn into that or manage to navigate away from it entirely, it’s almost always going to be a dangerous path with an almost instant death. From murders, ‘accidents’ and mishaps with the police, there’s a good deal of variety here with about 13 different endings, with some being a little more abrupt and bleak than others.
As a visual novel, there’s nothing in the way of challenge besides recalling which direction you took last, as that will influence whether you’ll unlock a new ending. With this being a Ren’Py title, save games are immediate and can happen on the fly, including pivotal scenes. This means you can keep your fingers between the pages, peek at the consequences, and see all of Man I Just Wanna Go Home without having to restart each time. But… If you do start again, you can fast-forward dialogue and jump to your available choices, provided you’ve experienced that narrative thread.
With that in mind, the lure will be the story and, arguably, the presentation. For the latter, I really like the artwork, how it was animated, and the colour palette. In a world where everything is AI-generated, it’s so refreshing to see something really unique that isn’t 3D either. Not that I have anything against 3D, but it’s nice to have variety and see some raw talent. So yes, visually, Man I Just Want To Go Home is great, and so is the story.
It’s a simple and relatable tale. Granted, we aren’t all delivery drivers or recipients of a wedge of cash a stranger has left behind. However, as this isn’t a fantasy tale and doesn’t bore the player with unnecessary facts to fill the time, the overall pacing and visceral decision making make it immersive to the point where you’ll instantly replay it at least several times after your first run, or, like me, unlock everything in about 90 minutes. 90 minutes and you’re done? Perhaps. Though considering how enjoyable this is, and for the price? Well, it’s way less than a coffee and more depth and interactivity than renting a film from Amazon. You get to keep it, too. If that’s not clear enough, yes: I recommend it.
