EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER

So quick note here: I don't really know why but my laptop has decided that it doesn't want to take screenshots anymore. I'm looking into what that's about, but for now posts aren't gonna have any pictures. I'll probably go back and add some in when things are working again in the future, but for now, we're just here to read.

EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER is a mech brawler visual novel created by Heather Flowers and originally released in 2018. Now, for this game, I did absolutly nothing more than read the Itch.io page in preperation. No Googling, no going through dev logs, nothing. Was I not super sure about playing a game called EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER, written in all caps? No, I wasn't.

Did I binge it in it's entirety because someone said it was gay? Y e s .

Now, a thing to understand about me is that I will sit through some real, absolute garbage if someone tells me the gays are canon. I have found some absolute gems by doing this but the fact that I marathon read 2312, and binged four years worth of the Magnus Archives in a week, and constantly rewatch both The Old Guard on Netflix for the van scene alone and Gentleman Jack on HBO because Anne Lister owns my whole heart, can probably tell you something about that.

So that means when I read the game description on the Itch.io page and it very clearly said "A serial visual novel/mech brawler about four gay disasters beating up neonazis in giant robots made of meat. Get ready for the worst road trip of all time." please understand, I was enamored. Canonical Gays and punching neonazis? In this day and age?? Gorgeous.

Of course, then there was . . . actually . . . playing the game.

I think I've mentioned in a previous post that all I have is a Lenovo laptop and a borrowed keyboard from my brother. I do not have a mouse, only a trackpad. So that made fighting a little bit difficult. We managed though! Even won some of the fights! Of course, the option to skip the fights if you die was very much appreciated. And was definitly used often.

That being said, the four gay disasters? They're all my children now. I'll even take the questionable cultist.

The worst road trip of all time? Very apt. One of my favorite tropes.

On a more serious note, the game follows the main cast of characters, comprised of Sam, a small town farm worker who's best friend left for the big city after drunkenly getting him to beat up a Fash in a mech fight. Lianna, a wheelchair user and small town grociery store employee who runs a Meatpunk group out of the local church and has some pretty heavy backstory. Brad, sunshine child that he is, a mech enthusist and all around sweetheart that kind of just, wandered into this group. And Cass, Lianna's best friend, perpetually sleep deprived and forced into leadership roles.

The four meet in Lianna's Meatpunk group held in the church community center. And, after a few introduction exercises, the four are on the run from the cops for beating up the town sherriff's son, a Fash who wanted revenge for Sam beating up his "aquaintance" the night before. Both of which were fights you participated in.

Between eldrich teen refill station attendants, and questionable cultist youth pastors, we quickly learn that the desert is a weird place. But it's also where fights happen and backstories are revealed and crushes developed. And, frankly, was just kind of super wholesome despite the whole Meat Fighting Suit connecting to your nervous system and maybe integrating a conciousness with your own and the running from the law aspects of it.

Also, just, the sun? Not existing?

The Youth Pastor Cultist and Brad both having been involved in this sun cult was definitly something I want to know more of. Ominous parting words and odd, kinda esoteric musings were pretty solid curiosity bait for me. And now I'm tempted to get the sequal just to figure out if any more of that story is told.

Where else can you go on a gay roadtrip with your friends and rivals while running from the cops and get to beat up neonazis on the way? All in all, this was super fun. And to think I was not all that interested in this in the begining.

Either way, that's enough from me. It's been a hell of a week.

Drink some water and have some happy dreams.