OK, this story was honestly very weird… But I love weirdness.

It is difficult to actually have conclusions regarding this game, each path you decide to follow in an attempt to seek an explanation bifurcates into more paths that guide you to such conflicting answers, and I think that was what the game was searching for, a complete lack of answers.

Maybe Cheery is a representation of a God, and Leeroy is the humanity, maybe the island is an analogy for the last moments of Cheery in their war against the ocean, or maybe this story never happened in the first place, so it is useless to even try to get a conclusion.

The story presents a lot of concepts that never receive a conclusive explanation, like the nature of the islands, the identity of the characters, the reason why those objects hurt Cheery, the implications of the time loop, or what that clam is.

I can’t say a lot more about this game because I can’t fully grasp all the dimensions the game tries to project, yet I like it a lot. After all, I’m all in for everything weird.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's anything I can say in this review that can top C_Mooon's "Albert Clamus". That is just a Category 5 devastating pun. But hey, you know what, I'm gonna try my best anyway. 

So most of the comments here are some flavor of "I didn't get it," and sure, I'll be transparent and say that I probably didn't "get it" either - this feels deliberately obtuse, so that's likely part of the point. That said, I think "deliberate" is an operative word there - I think it would be a disservice to this game to call it surrealism for the sake of surrealism. 

I like chmron's approach here, and I want to give my own thoughts about my reading of the VN as well. Will I make a fool of myself in the process? Oh, yeah, for sure. But I did get something meaningful out of this, and I think it's worth sharing even if it's a bad take. 

Before we get into it though, I'll touch briefly on 

Presentation:

I mean, I thought it was pretty good, to be honest. There are a lot of eclectic choices here, but I think they suit the dreamlike, absurdist feel of the narrative. This is a VN that has both happy steel drum reggae and moody, melancholy piano pieces, and I think both illustrate the emotions their scenes are trying to convey. The art can be really striking - sometimes it's lighthearted and playful (I love the "woa" sprite so much) and that makes the sudden shifts to carnage or the world being on fire so much more impactful. 

There were definitely some proofreading errors here though, and as others have pointed out, this isn't particularly helpful when your text is already intentionally somewhat difficult to parse. 

I think the presentation generally got the job done though, and if it feels like I'm rushing through this section, I am, because I really want to talk about

All That Other Stuff:

I think there are a couple different ways you could read the actual "setting" of the story, and I think whether you interpret the island as physically existing in space somehow and the magic being real, or whether you see this as a kind of "Owl Creek Bridge" scenario where Cheery is contemplating their existence in their moment of death, or whether the island is some kind of supernatural purgatory isn't really material since the thematic throughlines are the real draw of the VN.

Ultimately, I see this as a meditation on agency, power, failure, and redemption. Maybe that sounds pretentious, but if you're still with me let me walk you through it for a minute. 

Our protagonist is someone who has never really had any agency in his life. He was in an army. It's a pretty nondescript army, but it's clear he wasn't the one making decisions, and while he had some regrets here and there, he was content being a follower. Once the God of Leaves begins to take over the world, the protagonist is chosen by the God of Leaves to work for him, rather than the protagonist seeking him out, and he continues to follow the god, putting so much faith in him that he calls him "Dad". There is no order that shouldn't be followed, even if that means snuffing out the lives of everyone in the vicinity of a volcano or sacrificing himself on a pointlessly suicidal effort to fight the ocean for little more than the god's whim. 

Once the effort fails, the god abandons him and sets events in motion that end the world. Finding the clam gives the protagonist an opportunity to finally make a decision for himself, something he wasn't ordered or guided to do, but he can't do it. 

Lacking their own agency, he creates a fantasy for himself. Not just of the physical setting of the stereotypical deserted island, but also of an authority figure. The player, like Leeroy, is a construct of the protagonist, someone to make his decisions for him  so he bears none of the responsibility. As the story develops, the player choices become fewer, then eventually drop out entirely as the protagonist accepts the responsibility for guiding his own path. 

Of course, you can't live in denial forever, and the fantasy is shattered by the indelible scars left by the God of Leaves on the earth. At that point, the protagonist begins getting the first notions of responsibility, but he doesn't recognize the opportunity. It's strange and unfamiliar, and the first instinct is to just pass the buck. Give the clam to the wolf, and no matter what happens it's not your fault anyway because you literally didn't have an option not to. But that doesn't work; it only leads to pain and suffering. 

So the protagonist tries again, and this time he begins to take more responsibility, remembering some of the objects emblematic of his guilt, as painful as they are to touch or even see. He's beginning to have accountability, both for himself and someone else he cares about, and then he's given the axe. A chance to use that tool that caused so much guilt and pain for something he chose. And whoops he fucked up and killed the wolf because he didn't really know how to handle that yet.

But the protagonist keeps making progress. He kicks out the "god" he invented for himself and he really digs deep, engaging with the reasons he holds so much guilt, the ways in which he failed. And of course, he fails again, since that meant neglecting the other person he was supposed to be looking out for. 

But eventually, he gets it right. He figures out a way to confront his own demons and finally become his own person. Rather than the speaker, on the final round, he is Cheery. He has actualized to the point where he not only has his own identity, but can take on the burdens of others as well. The wolf isn't just the wolf anymore, he's Leeroy (or whatever Cheery chooses, because that's a decision he can make). And once Cheery can make those choices, and have that agency, he can take that a step further and grow to love and appreciate someone else rather than just follow them. And at that point, out of the shadow of his past, he can finally make the choice to move beyond this life and the burning world left in its wake.

To put this back in the context of the jam theme, maybe we put too much emphasis on "folklore." We have legends and gods, and we want to follow their example, if not their lead directly, because their agency feels like it has more weight than ours. When the God of Leaves tells you to do something, when he gives you that power and calls you "son", who are you to say no? But to quote the text, "Gods are just people." Power over someone else doesn't mean you know what to do with it, and the God of Leaves is just as susceptible to human impulses and flaws as any mortal. 

As comforting as it can be to put your faith in something else, you still have the ability to choose for yourself. And that choice may not always work out as you intend. How many times did the God of Leaves or some other deity fuck up the whole world and cause it to end in a big fucking fire? How many more times are they going to do it after this one stops burning? It took Cheery four tries to figure it out, but eventually he did, and I think that's important, because it implies that there's hope that the gods will too. And not to get too sentimental about it, but in a world that constantly seems like it's on fire, maybe having that hope that no many how many times you fail, one day you will get it right is a powerful message. 

Or, like, hey, maybe none of that is even remotely supported by the text and I'm doing a bunch of heavy lifting for an author that didn't intend any of that. What do I know, I'm not even a real opossum.

Final score of 12 shellders out of 4 bowls of chowder.

Also if we ever do a clam-themed VN jam can we call it Pearl Jam

Clam Story is a cautionary tale about clams. And the crushing feeling of isolation and godhood. The prose feels very stilted, clumsy even, and I’m certain it would turn a few people away. The art is consistent, and honestly very dreamy. I couldn’t parse the “folklore” other than the small bit about The God of Leaves, but this is definitely an experience to read.

You got me, I'm too dumb for this so I won't embarrass myself by giving an attempt at analysis. Sorry that happened to you I think? Loved the absurdist vibes!

To briefly do a more 'traditional' review before I get to the stuff I actually want to talk about - at the end of the day, I think there's some flaws with the VN's presentation - the art style is consistent but hard to parse, the constantly pausing and shifting dialogue was sometimes hard to get through. This is specifically referring to the effect of characters pausing mid-sentence, not to the actual writing - the writing's really good, though the tone of the characters and their ways of speaking felt inconsistent from sentence to sentence which made it a bit rough at times. In general, I feel as though the presentation ultimately does the story here a disservice by making the VN a bit harder to get through than it should be - because I actually really really enjoyed the story here.

Now, in lieu of talking about the specifics... I just kinda want to share my interpretation of this story, because it's interesting and makes me want to talk about it and my interpretation of things (which might be wrong in places, but I feel as though it's better to share it than not to at risk of being wrong).

That said, I do want to give a warning and say that I think this story is best experienced blind, so to anyone reading this who hasn't played it, I'd recommend doing that first.

To me, Clam Story feels like a story about gods - both in the very literal sense of 'godhood' as an extradimensional being of a higher status messing with the world, and in the more metaphorical sense wherein one is in control of their own life and way of viewing the universe. Cheery has been toyed with endlessly by gods, has lost any and all sense of self, but within a world so devoid of everything - of culture, of people, of anything but the vastness of the ocean (which itself will soon disappear as the world 'ends' and Cheery dies) - they effectively become a god as well.

Much like how the god of leaves toyed with mortals endlessly in their pursuit of conquest, Cheery finds himself toying with Leeroy as well - in his endless pursuit of keeping the wolf from eating the clam, an act which will inevitably end the world by ending Cheery's own 'fantasy' of godhood. But... it's not as though said 'fantasy' is worthless - in the various loops that occur, we see a variety of possible ways in which things could shake out - Cheery could be crass, kind, to-the-point, omnicidal... and in viewing Cheery's shifting emotions, we get a glimpse into why the god of leaves might have acted the way they did - after all, what importance do the lives of mortals have to gods? What importance does Leeroy's life really hold to Cheery, when they will inevitably find themselves back on that beach after the world ends again?

Well, it's not like Cheery was all that happy when they were being an asshole to Leeroy, right? So why not be kind? Why not celebrate Leeroy's 'birthday', and make Cheery's own last few moments before death as kind as they could be by showering Leeroy with gifts and enjoying the little time Cheery has in spite of the pain of existing? In spite of their own failing bodies?

Or at least, that's the conclusion I came to from reading this. I do think there's also a lot to be said about Leeroy being a standin for humanity as a whole - a being so caught up in momentary pleasures and desires that they can't help but kill themselves due to eating the clam. That said, I've rambled enough already, so I'll leave it at that.

In conclusion, in spite of all I said - Clam Story did get me rambling a whole lot - and it made me give a spoiler warning so that people reading it will be encouraged to experience it for themselves, so... great stuff!

Clam Story is a surreal VN that I couldn't quite vibe with. In many ways, it's artistically obtuse, but at the same time, I can't help but feel some of its density was a product of clumsiness.

First and foremost, I must commend the vibes here. Visuals and plot work together to give the surrealist setting aesthetic cohesion without being overbearing. However, the project is written with several mistakes that made the reading experience noticeably worse for me. It's gravest problem in that regard is that it makes an already complex narrative harder to follow.

Additionally, I cannot quite see this as a VN as "cerebral" as others seem to. On one hand, it came off to me as the writer offering unique explorations through dreamlike imagery, but at the same time, some scenes and plot points feel straight out of a shitpost. As I warmed up and got engaged with the game as I read it, the game seemed to poke fun at me for taking it so seriously, which I saw as flippancy and bothersome.

Audio-wise, the project is a mixed experience too. Music tracks are all over the place, but that came off to me as intentionally beguiling, like so much of the project is. The real problem lies in a constant use of breathing sound effects I found extremely unpleasant; to the point I had to turn down all sounds about halfway through.

But are all these issues I mentioned intentional parts of the experience? Honestly, who knows. There are definitely aspects to this project I've enjoyed, but so many others that harmed my experience. I cannot confidently say I understand all of what Clam Story is going for, but I do not think all of its complexity was an artistic choice.

Clam Story feels like the kind of story I've always needed to read. It feels like its main goal is to get you thinking, and feeling, engaging with it on a level most stories feel too scared to. It leaves a lot of space for you to explore the way the themes and events make you feel, in a way that compliments its themes. I wish more art-pieces did this. I can't help but leave this story with a cynical sense of optimism, a desire to believe that happiness can still be ahead, even when the world is ending. I truly loved the characters and seeing what they can each mean for each-other. I'll keep thinking about Clam Story for a very long time.

If you're on the fence about it, please, give it a read.

I'm leaving my review short purposefully because I think otherwise I'd be here writing about it all night. It's very cerebral, it's right up my alley, I liked it quite a lot.... I also think it will kill most casual readers. I hope you make a post mortem talking about your influences and thoughts, because I'm very curious what inspired you, and what this work meant to you... besides running out into traffic. great work!

Well, putting the obvious aside, this is an entirely abstract story with a lot of peculiar language and symbolism... I think? To be entirely honest, when it comes to abstract stories like this, I tend to expect there to be a hidden meaning that will slowly become revealed to me. Or maybe something clicks later on and I finally figure out what the metaphor is, and it becomes really satisfying and makes me reevaluate everything. I... would have liked to get that experience this time around. But I don't think I did. Perhaps it's because the story dragged on for a little bit long in my opinion, but eventually it became hard to figure out the deeper meaning, if there even is one. Eventually I ended up just coasting, not thinking much about what was happening. So... I dunno. Something's missing. Not sure what it is because I didn't actually understand a lot of the symbolism. I'm hoping it's not one of those cases where I'm overlooking something completely obvious that would explain everything. Anyways, as far as I could tell, it's a story about two wolves that cannot die. They are stuck in a time loop of some sort, following the end of the world. There's some raging about it, but ultimately they accept their lot in life and make peace with each other. Well. If it sounds like I pulled that out of my ass, I kinda did. At least I enjoyed the visuals and some of the metaphors. The creativity is definitely high in this one, maybe a bit too high for me even. I regret that the story never clicked for me, but I still applaud you for trying.

OMG IT'S ALBERT C(L)AMUS! The story did not captivate me at first, as at the start I was convinced that it was strange for the sake of being strange and obtuse on purpose to pretend it had depth. I was wrong.

That, however, does not mean that I won't have a problem rating this VN, as no frame of reference holds up. The presentation is basic and very charming at times, but ranges from highly effective to actively detracting from the story (the heartbeat). I am very pleased that the story never states any answer outright, but I know that it bordering on incomprehensible might not score it great notes with everyone.

My favourite element of the novel is how the grand narrative could be interpreted in a couple of ways, none of which were proven or disproven, leaving the story in a sort of quantum state. Hard to say a lot about it, really, but I enjoyed it much more than I expected to, and it's one of my favourite entries in general!

So it's kinda awkward that this will be the first May Wolf I'll be reviewing, I do want to preface that I quite enjoyed this VN. With that said, what the fuck. Like what the fuck. What the fuck just happened? I think I have a good idea on what's going on, but still, what the fuck?

Okay, with that done, this is a very abstract VN that's very bizarre unlike any other VN I've ever read. From the visuals, to the dialogue, to the overall setting, it's very surreal. It reminds me of one of those animated surrealist shorts like Umbra by Malcolm Sutherland where nothing makes sense at the start and by the end nothing still makes sense, but you kinda get what's going on. This is why, even though folklore isn't really mentioned, it does feel like a folklore story, the sort that's very cryptic and would have scholars debating its meaning for years to come. The last thing I'll say is that there are some weirdly sweet moments near the end of the story. I still can't comprehend it, but I'd say it's heartwarming. If you like surrealist works of art, you should definitely at least take a look at this VN.

'Clam Story' is an existential, surreal, and dreamlike recursive story that seems to be a Rorschach test for the reader to implement their own introspective thoughts and feelings as to what the 'true meaning' is actually about. The deceptively simple title and the hand-drawn art betray the intensity of what the story wants to convey to the reader. Is the creature human? Is it a demon? Is this even furry? Is this world based on Earth? Is this a metaphor? Is this a time loop? Do I take this at face value? Is this actually nothing? (Yes and no to all of these questions really.) Does the author care? Does the reader care? Should the reader care? (I just spent an hour of my life that could've been spent reading and reviewing someone else's entry.) Does this author even want me to give it a fair shake? Are they laughing at me? Are the concerned that I don't understand it? Is there some kind of prose that's happening here so profound that it's going over my head? Does it even want me attempting to decipher what it could mean? Is it about environmentalism and global warming? How about a commentary on the ruthlessness of war and sociopolitical environment that cultivates it? Is it a metaphor for mental health? How about the value of art as a concept? Is there a religious angle to it? Maybe it's about love and acceptance? Is it about pointlessness and tragedy? Is it just provoking me in the way you slap someone in the face just to get a reaction?

(I can't answer that.)

The story is about a creature on a beach. A wolf exists. There is a clam. Stuff happens. The world ends. The end.

The presentation is surprisingly competent. The art is very simple and crude, the wolf taking on an almost child-like drawing appearance, yet the backgrounds and text boxes having deliberate animation and text font changes. This gives me the impression that a lot of this is done deliberately by design. Little things like how detailed some of the props are or the drawing of the leaf-god with so many little leaves leads me to believe that there's just a tad too much effort put into this to be a shit-post. Yet, I also know the lengths one would go for a shit-post are far greater than I can reasonably fathom. Is the prose good? IDK. Does it have anything to do with folklore? No. Is it creative? If you consider a rage room to be an artistic creative endeavor, then sure.

Even checking the history of the author, comes up empty. Am I being trolled? I don't know. The author clearly put a lot of effort into the presentation and substantial word count, so does it deserve praise for that alone? Is it hiding behind a facade of obfuscation as to avoid criticism? Is to even attempt to give constructive feedback a fools errand? Am I to be mocked by this? Am I to be shunned for questioning the integrity of the author? Does the author care about integrity to begin with? I've spent a second hour of my time towards trying to provide a proper critique or feedback, so take that time spent as a gift, for any feedback I could give is nothing. I feel like others may appreciate this entry more than me. Good for them.

I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts about this VN into words. "Surreal" is the best word I have. "Clam Story" is incredibly surreal. I found myself confused in some scenes, and actively disturbed in others. I'm not sure if this directly draws from anything, but this certainly feels like a folktale playing out if that makes any sense.

I enjoyed my time with it. I feel like this is the kind of story you need to read multiple times, which is both a blessing and a curse. 

This feels like something out of one of my nightmares in the absolute best way possible. Please continue whatever this is 

A cryptic, yet strangely confident story that manages to be somewhat cohesive.

That was weird… It isn’t that the story is hard to follow, but that the settings and characters work in very foreign ways. And then there is the story in the middle that feels like it’s going to explain things but it doesn’t really. I liked it.

The characters are really charming. The folklore theme is not directly referenced (does this reference a real world folklore in some way? idk), but the whole thing felt like it’s folklore itself. Like a story of how the world came to be, except it’s after another ceased. Or something.^^

The graphical style is really distinctive, it works with the surreal vibes of the story (although, the wolf’s mouth being higher than its eyes was a bit too weird for me…). The ‘animations’ being pretty slow and choppy sometimes made me wonder if I should click to continue or wait, that was a bit annoying.

Overall, I really liked this, great job!

It was like a fever dream, things happen in a funny way, it was a strange yet good ride!

Surprisingly, one of the best entries I've played so far, never stop creating art. I don't even know what else I can say, I am flabbergasted. This was wonderful.

after the fixes and after properly  reading it. i can say this one is a surprise. though the visuals are very simplistic it only adds to the very sureal flavor this vn has, defently something very unique.

that said i would like a bit more of the visuals i know this was made in a month but i would like a few more. but thats me.