A little chat about Slow Damage
Added 2025-07-23 14:00:16 +0000 UTCSpoiler free at the start for the premise, general thoughts, and Why You Should Play.
I wasn't able to finish my playthrough on camera due to time constraints and mental health, but I didn't want to leave such an impactful story hanging. To make up for it: here's an hour of my notes, thoughts, and why something this unapologetically dark meant so, so much.
Trigger Warnings: Mention and discussion of sexual assault, self harm, depression, child abuse, alcoholism, and what formative trauma does to a person.
Comments
Really glad to hear your final thoughts after playing all the way through; you touched on all the core aspects of what makes Slow Damage a worthwhile experience and called out dimensions to the story I hadn’t given a lot of consideration! If there are any other longer pieces of media you’d like to share with your community but don’t have the bandwidth to record, I think just having a chat about them like this as a video or a short stream is a great way to make it more feasible. + SPOILERS + I don’t have a ton to add, but I do want to highlight some things about the game that have stuck with me, years after playing: - The reverberating damage of trauma on even those who inflict it was so well done. All of Euphoria’s subjects (outside of the LIs) having been Towa’s previous tormentors and directly responsible for some of his scars was a little on the nose for me when I first got the reveal, but after realizing the layers it added to their psychology, I ended up appreciating that choice. We’re left with the ambiguity of how much of their fixations/tendencies were nature vs nurture, especially with Kirihara, who would have been so young at the time. How he even ended up at Euphoria hurting another child is harrowing to think about. - I really enjoyed that none of the routes played out like an “ideal” romance. After finishing most routes, I had a lingering sense that things weren’t fully resolved - like how you don’t get the truth from Taku, and he’s been a surrogate father figure to Towa in a lot of ways, which can be thorny emotional territory. I admire the devs for not “fixing” the unlikable or uncomfortable parts of the LIs through the relationship, and Towa doesn’t always get to confront his past - yet, he always finds happiness with the people he loves, however complicated it may be. It left me thinking about how so many hurt people don’t always get to heal from trauma in the “right” (very big quotes around “right”) ways in their lifetimes, and how that doesn’t diminish the joy they create for themselves. - I played the scene where Fujieda finds Towa about to immolate himself and his paintings without any background music on, and I’m so glad I did. The silence made the scene so much more impactful for me, like the oxygen was sucked out of the room just by the threat of the fire. - Nitro+Chiral has matured so much with their storytelling, I’m really proud :’) This game really feels like an amalgamation of the best parts of their previous games, particularly Togainu no Chi and Dramatical Murder.
movrena
2025-07-23 22:46:14 +0000 UTCFirst of all, if anyone has thought of getting into this story but is scared of how dark it is, YES! It's amazing. Yes, it's dark, but it all has a reason and it's ultimately a story about healing. Healing is messy and Towa's story is very messy. SPOILERS I could write a thesis on this story so I'll just go through the cliff notes. First, the colors! Just like how the word okay (daijobu) was a trigger, the colors that we normally see everywhere and think well that's just how the game looks, nah it's how Towa sees the world in his messed up mind. I'm still recovering from that, and how they changed the menu for every story that progressed. I had to play Fujieda's story twice because the first time I really thought he had sent the box with the bunny and pictures and I couldn't understand his behavior half the time because of this misconception. If you have time, do check the Mad endings, they're all pretty good. Don't be scared of Fujieda's Mad ending. It's as you said, I mean it's hardly a spoiler because they make you choose between Towa and Maya. Honestly, you should watch it if only to appreciate how nuanced they made the difference in his face and the way he says "daijobu" between being Towa or Maya. I'm still floored because it's so subtle but it's so different. Also, if you haven't yet, check out the extra scenes in the TV. They give a bit of extra tidbits on the characters, but particularly Ikuina's is his background which we hardly got any in the story itself. And fun fact, the original Towa is a one eyed cat that a team member adopted.
Mara R
2025-07-23 17:53:53 +0000 UTC
