I'm a Copycat Review 👯♀️
TL;DR: Declan is fucking nuts, and if you thinks that's fucking nuts, wait until you figure out the MC's back story because it's also, you guessed it, fucking nuts ... fuck.
Game Link: https://drcllemlon.itch.io/im-a-copycat
Notable Features: Side-image sprites, named MC, she/her MC, Yandere LI Spiciness: 1/5 -- Pretty wholesome, for the most part. A sex scene was implied and there's a suggestive-ish cg, but...meh, super tame LI Red Flags: 3.5/5 -- Gaslighter, animal abuse, stuck in the past, physically abusive
Want to know more? Well, let's get into it!
Yeah, I don't know why I dropped the "f" bomb so many times...? Well, anyways...
Okay, so, excitingly enough, this was actually a requested game! Not only was it requested, but it was requested by the dev themselves. Allow me to flex for a singular second or two.
No, like, deadass, can everyone just forget about the game for two seconds and focus on me? Like, I'm actually hype about this! I didn't have to go game hunting! The game hunted for me. THE DEV hunted for ME. I'm just mad excited about that. That being said, if you didn't know you could send me requests, now you know lol.
Anywho, so, the game!
Admittedly, this game was a lot better than initially expected? If you've read my reviews before, you know I'm conceited and want to be absolutely immersed and live out my sick, twisted fantasy by self-inserting. Unfortunately, this game isn't a self-insert, and the start was a lil' slow, not gonna lie, but like once shit started rolling? I no longer cared about the lack of self-insert because lmaooooo it got kinda wild.
There really is something so lit about a game that you're like "...Yeah, I don't think I'm feeling this" or "I don't think I'm going to vibe with this" but then you're suddenly super invested, and you're just sitting there like "What the hell is going on?!". I can honestly say that that was exactly what happened, and gods damn it, am I glad that I stuck around for the madness.
That all being said, I think the intro is long enough. Let's get into the game, because lowkey excited to tell you guys about it. As always, I will give you as much information as possible without actually spoiling it because you just may have to gotta, really, totally play this for yourself
So, boom.
We do the generic wake up in the morning feelin' like PDiddy thing and welcome the day with positivity. After admiring the sky for a little, we notice that there is that good breakfast smell in the air and rush into the kitchen, but not before putting on the glasses that our loving boyfriend always reminds us to wear -- don't wanna trip over any steps or anything like that haha ha... ANYWAYS!
Before we see the breakfast, though, we see the absolute snack that's in front of us. The snack is bae, and the bae's name is Declan. Look at this little cinnamon roll.
To go off topic for a bit, I've seen cuter/more hot LI's but this one got the "adorkably cute" aesthetic pretty good, because he is lol. He's a dorky cute, and frankly, it's fitting.
Anywho, so we exchange our good mornings, eat our breakfast, and help Declan clean, even though he's adamant that we don't have to. I mean, sure, we could've not helped, but what kind of partner doesn't help with household chores?! Nah, we're gonna help the bae! So, we do, and...we get hurt in the process. It hurts, and Declan's freaking out a bit, but we get patched up -- even though we're not bleeding or anything -- and life is all good again.
We get dressed, making sure to wear our super cozy jacket to make sure we don't get cold -- even though, we're never cold but Declan always insists that we are -- and get our day with Declan officially started, but not before this weird little quip happens.
See, Declan gets a call from work, right, and he's trying to explain to them that we still aren't well after our car accident. Apparently, it was pretty bad, and we got some kind of amnesia from it, so Declan took some time off work to get us reacclimated to...well, life, but corporate ain't trying to hear that and told him to bring his ass back into work, like, yesterday. So, Declan somewhat finesses it and is able to get an extra day, but he's super sad that he has to leave us, and the feeling is definitely mutual. No worries though! Why? Because we've still got two days, so why not just make the most of it while he's here with us! Until...he falls ill, that is.
So, us being the amazing girlfriend that we is, we take care of Declan like he's been taking care of us. After a little while, Declan just opts for sleep, and we let him do so. Sleep does help a lot when you're sick, after all!
Tending to ourselves, we try to make ourselves a fat bowl of totally not Lucky Charms, but Luck Jewels -- totally different, and not at all the same, so don't argue with or "@" me. Whether we're eating knock off Lucky Charms or a totally different cereal doesn't matter though because there's not really any of it left except the dust, not to mention we totally wrecked the shelf while trying to find something else to eat.
This is a bit of a problem because we don't have a screwdriver to fix the shelf, and we're still damned hungry! We don't really have any choice but to go to the store, but for some reason, Declan's really weird about us leaving the house since we're still struggling with amnesia and remembering how certain things work, let alone how to actually do it properly or so he tells us. So, we put on a brave face, get dressed, take some money from his wallet, and head on out!
While scoping out the supermarket, we make note of these really bomb cupcakes in the window of a bakery and make a note to visit another day, but right now, we're on a mission, and we must stay focused, my bois! As planned, we get in there, get our cereal and a screwdriver. Okay! So far so good! Well, our plan kind've diverged when we run into this girl, and...huh...
She damn sure looks...
...a lot like us. More than a lot, actually. She's pretty much an exact copy. Well, that's...slightly uncomfortable and extremely confusing.
Clearly, she's thinking the same thing about us because she kind've rushes out before we can think any more about it or even say anything to her about it. We decide to follow suit and rush home ourselves to fix the shelf and finally eat something! We messed up a little though because we had gotten hurt -- again -- and Declan isn't exactly wearing glasses for no reason; he immediately noticed. We handle it pretty well though through some innocence and tears, and Declan drops the topic as soon as it comes up. Everything is gucci, again, and we're able to move on with our day and go to bed like normal.
The next day rolls around, Declan goes to work, and we officially have the house to ourself and our trusted stuffed companion, Bruce. After some debate, we decide that today is the day we could go to that Bakery that we saw and get some of those cupcakes that we saw in the window. When we get there, something really odd happens.
The guy who works in the bakery is talking to us like he knows us, even going as far as to mention our dad. He starts trying to follow up with us and mentioned stuff about a break up, and this evil man, and someone named Mittens and...what the hell is this guy talking about?
So, of course, we're just standing there, because we came in for cupcakes, and this man just comes out of the woodwork with all this...information, and we don't know how to respond to any of it, but here's the even wilder part. Remember that doppelgänger we had saw yesterday? She's ends up coming into the bakery during all of this, and immediately, the man takes note of his mistake and allows us to go on our way. Like...what the hell was that?
Whatever though, we eat some of our cupcakes, hide the rest when Declan comes home, skip dinner (for obvious reasons), and get to bed. Fast forwarding a bit, we end up leaving out again, and we're feeling a bit adventurous and decide to buy some hair dye to color our hair like the girl that we saw because...well, we thought it was super pretty, and we wanted to be pretty, too, so it felt like the right thing to do lol. It...didn't come out well.
Like, at all. Aside from the absolute disaster that our hair came out to be, we have an even bigger worry: How is Declan going to react when he sees us?
Yeah, that's...what I thought.
Well, now...this is damned embarrassing, but still, Declan is our sweet and loving boyfriend! He loves us! Surely he wouldn't think it silly of us to want to dye our hair. Surely he wouldn't make fun of us for failing so miserably. Surely he wouldn't get angry that we snuck out to buy the hair dye. Surely he wouldn't get angry when he figures out that this wasn't our first time sneaking out. Surely he wouldn't lash out and turn into someone he isn't...
Surely not.
And that's all I'm going to tell you! Aht, aht! Don't make that face! You know that I (usually) never tell you about how a visual novel ends! You gots to play it for yourself if you want to know how it ends, and trust me, you're going to want to know. Just a tip, this isn't even the "true" ending, and believe me when I say...
It gets pretty wild.
Okay, so this game is actually pretty good!
Y'all know I wouldn't lie to you, even if a dev specifically asks me to review their game, and let me tell you, I was not feeling it at first. I honestly truly wasn't. The start was kinda slow, there was a side-sprite of the MC, and there wasn't an option to put your own name in. I was pretty bummed because one of the main things for me is the option to self-insert, so for me, the game was kinda doomed from the start, and I probably wouldn't have downloaded it if I was just scrolling along and saw this game on my own, but listeeeeeen.
The plot itself, while it's nothing super innovative or anything, it was pretty damn solid. I really want to tell you the specifics but it would literally ruin the game as a whole. Honestly, from the title and just what I told you, you can probably gather what's going on, but how everything goes down and the information that we find out and ultimately how it all ends is a bit wild.
It's not a super choice heavy game, but the choices that are available -- and pay attention because this is about to be a "pro not really pro but something I think would be helpful to point out" tip! -- are essentially options that dictate how the second half of the story goes and what points you to the "bad" ending, the "good" ending, and the "true" ending, so keep that in mind.
The only gripe I have about the game is that the title is kind've a dead giveaway as to what's going on, especially when you play through like the first couple "scenes" or so of the game. Other than that, it's a pretty good read! It definitely kept me interested despite it being more "novely" (if you read my other review, that's a word I use to describe visual novels that have a more linear story line). Not to mention, the art style was pretty damn adorbs, and I liked that there was a lot of different CGs. I haven't run across a visual novel yet that's had as many CGs as this one has, so that was definitely a welcomed change because...well, I like art/drawings lol. Like, look at some of these images!
Ugh, the amount of CGs just scratched my brain so correctly. I am a visual novel CG slut, I tell ya. Anytime there's a CG in a visual novel? I'm all over that shit. I love CGs. CGs for life. CGs forever.
Okay, that's enough gushing about the CGs...
ANYWAYS! That is my review of the game! Again, I thought it was a pretty solid read, and I recommend! It's free, so, what have you got to waste other than time? As per usual, I provide a link at the top, bottom, and within the review, and it is right here. Don't be shy! Go ahead click it, download it, play it, and share your thoughts on the dev's game page! Send them those lovely words of reassurance to let them know "Hey you! I liked your game, and I think you should make more!". As always, donations are super helpful as well, and if you want to be extra fancy, here is a link to the dev's tumblr page!
All righty! That's all from me this time around! Drink water, don't be dumb, and hope to see you around~!
I'm a Copycat