Phew, the #yanjam this year has me running around all over the place, which is so nice but it's a lot of games. House Check is an interesting one because the protagonist, Arlon, is the yandere in this one coming into his crush's house and spying on him. Currently, since it's a demo, there isn't a whole lot, but it does set up the suspense of what may come in the future.
The game starts with Owen talking to someone on the phone, seemingly desperate for them to not leave. We immediately cut to Arlon, who has went into Owen's house after he went out to teach, with Arlon letting himself in to check on the house. Arlon checks throughout the house with descriptive details on Owen's day to day life, from the number of eggs Owen has eaten to the types of TV shows he watches. After he's done checking the house and finds nothing strange, he wonders about Owen's increased phone calls. The next day, Owen gets a call revealing that he loves someone before leaving the house. Arlon comes in worried that he's falling for someone, but clears his mind to do the check in his room. He finds a handkerchief inside one of the bags embroidered with the name Diana. At home, Arlon laments about how Owen has taken a trip to Pablo and how he can't watch over him. As Arlon ponders about their relationship, his two maids Jerelyn and Freya worry over him as Arlon attempts to get the two to stop bothering him. Meanwhile, Owen seems to be hanging out with another women named Lyra who is comforting Owen and the two hang out for ice cream.
Arlon upon seeing them and entering the room starts to freak out because he feels Lyra's traces everywhere. As a result, Arlon attempts to clean everything to purify Owen's place from Lyra's corruption, even in places that she likely didn't touch, disgusted by her. He calms down after cleaning everything, but has a nightmare the next day with Lyra taunting him. He wakes up crying with the maids attempting to comfort him. He asks the two maids about Pablo and if they have any experience there while also revealing that he has a crush on someone.
So far, House Check is fairly short but I think has a good premise so far. Like I said earlier, it's generally pretty rare for me to find a game with a male lead as a yandere and I always think it's interesting as we get to see more into their thoughts and actions on why they do what they do. It usually shows up more in BL type stories (for obvious reasons) but I think it can work with a female lead as well, so as long as we see the world from the male lead. I digress though, we don't know too much about who Owen is seeing, though we do know he seems to have a strained relationship with this Diana character. I am curious to see how Arlon and Owen initially met, especially since Arlon seems to be stuck at home most of the time.
Speaking of Arlon, I am actually curious to see if Owen is aware at all of Arlon's presence. Arlon seems to describe Owen as a "dear friend" but we never see Owen interacting with him in any capacity, making me believe he's likely a delusional yandere. Considering how he believes that it's okay to break into Owen's house and clean everything for him (because he's such a good friend) it's not incredibly surprising, but I do think that Owen likely just doesn't know that Arlon exists. Arlon of course also seems to periodically watch and stalk Owen through cameras and knows a bit too much about his life, even going to his apartment to clean it. His reaction to seeing Lyra in his house is interesting as well, seeing he has a sense of seeing other people who might take him away as "corrupting him" causing him to clean every surface. These kinds of yanderes can often have a interesting backstory to why they might be like this, so perhaps this might be due to why Arlon seems to be at home most of the time if he's not breaking into Owen's apartment.
Overall, the game itself so far is pretty interesting in terms of premise. I'm curious to see where it will go since I think it can be a pretty dark game if the creator so deems it. If you like the premise of it so far, please give the demo a try.
92NY's Extraordinary Women Awards November 14 Hosted by ABC News' Juju Chang
92NY’s Extraordinary Women Awards November 14 Hosted by ABC News’ Juju Chang
92NY’S SEVENTH ANNUAL EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN AWARDS IS IN PERSON AND ONLINE NOVEMBER 14HOSTED BY JUJU CHANG OF ABC NEWS’ NIGHTLINE, WE HONOR LUMINARIES INCLUDING SURI KASIRER, DR. BECKY KENNEDY AND ERICA BELSKY, VALERIA LUISELLI, JERELYN RODRIGUEZ, AND SUSAN ENGEL
Performances by Michelle Dorrance (Dance), Kate Baldwin (Voice), and Georgia Stitt (Piano)
On Monday, November 14, the 92nd Street Y,…