To provide context for how insane this is, Shujinkou is a brand-new IP from a studio with no other titles at all, and has only been out for a grand total of four months. It literally started from zero clout and track record. And while sample size certainly is playing a role here, the critical response has been heartwarming and consistently stellar. The fact that it’s sitting above the wildly popular Clair Obscur is wonderfully affirming. Whether this is a momentary anomaly or a long-term honor, it feels good to be making a splash like this, particularly after such a long and grueling development cycle.

For those of you curious to try the game, there is a free demo on Steam here. I also highly encourage you to check out the soundtrack, which has nearly seven hours of music from myself and four other talented composers, with styles ranging from rock to epic orchestral to traditional Japanese folk and so much more. We also tried our best to feature live musicians as much as we could manage on our shoestring budget, and so talents like Zac Zinger and Sasha Y helped to elevate key moments in truly lovely ways.

The cherry on top is how many of these reviews are specifically shouting out the score. I went over some of this in a previous blog post, but some examples of that are below!