Goodbye Volcano High
Goodbye Volcano High is a narrative adventure game developed and published by Montreal-based video game studio KO_OP. The game was released on 29 August 2023, for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows.

Gameplay 
The game features narrative segments, and rhythm minigames during performances by VVorm Drama.

Synopsis 
Set in a world of anthropomorphic dinosaur characters, the game centers on the members of the band VVorm Drama; the non-binary lead vocalist Fang (Lachlan Watson), guitarist Trish (Ozioma Akagha) and drummer Reed (Mark Whitten), alongside the school's student council president Naomi (Allegra Clark) and Fang's brother Naser (Abe Bueno-Jallad), - as they venture through the highs and lows of their final year as Volcano High seniors with graduation looming over the horizon while coming to terms with their own impending extinction from an asteroid.

Development 
The game was initially announced during Sony's "Future of Gaming" online presentation on 11 June 2020, with a release window of 2021. In August 2021, KO_OP announced a delay of Goodbye Volcano High release until sometime in 2022. The developers wanted to avoid crunch related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and had already brought in a new writing team from Sweet Baby Inc. in June 2020 to reboot the game's entire narrative direction. The new narrative direction was largely inspired by the experiences of high school seniors graduating during the pandemic. In November 2022, the game was delayed to 2023. A new gameplay trailer premiered during a Sony "State of Play" presentation on 23 February 2023, announcing a release date of 15 June but was delayed to 29 August.

Reception
Following the revamped game's showing at PAX East 2023, it was positively received by critics. Kyle LeClair of Hardcore Gamer praised the game, saying its rhythm game elements had the "perfect level of challenge", and that its music was "ear-pleasing". He called the character designs "striking", praising Fang as a "terrific and likeable protagonist" with "great voice acting", and predicting it would be a "deep and unique tale". Rachel Watts of Rock Paper Shotgun wrote that she "had a great time with the demo", comparing it to the adventure game Life Is Strange.

The game's use of LGBT characters and themes resulted in harassment campaigns by 4chan users, including Discord raids that forced the development team to lock their server. One anonymous group of developers, under the name of Cavemanon, created Snoot Game, an "anti-fangame" visual novel parody intended as a rival version of the game with alt-right themes, which was described by the developers as "not made in good faith". The game formed its own community with "nearly indistinguishable" fan art, complicating efforts to stop trolling. A representative of the studio told Kotaku that developers of games featuring queer characters "will face harassment no matter where you go", stating, "we care deeply about the work we are doing and are excited to share it with the world."

Awards
The game won the Tribeca Games Award at the 2023 Tribeca Festival, where it was featured as part of the "Games & Immersive Experience" selection.

References

External links 
 

2023 video games
Adventure games
Video games about dinosaurs
Fictional musical groups
High school-themed video games
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the video game industry
Indie games
KO OP games
LGBT-related video games
Apocalyptic video games
Alternate history video games
Music video games
PlayStation 4 games
PlayStation 5 games
Rhythm games
Single-player video games
Video games developed in Canada
Video games postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Visual novels
Windows games