Introduction
Nowhere Girl is a visual novel adventure, developed by Trainwreck Studios. It was released in 2018 on Steam. It was then ported to Console by Penguin Pop Games and Ratalaika Games in October 2021.
Review
Would you do anything to change your life? Especially if it’s a stranger in a bar asking you said question? How far would you go? Would you leave everything behind? In this visual novel adventure, you may not get too deep into all those questions, but it still asks some hard hitting questions.
You play as whoever, as you actually get to name your character, and choose your gender to boot! But I’m pretty sure that doesn’t affect the story. It may change some lines here and there, but nothing too major. I ended up playing as a female, and named her Abbey, as that’s the default name shown, so I typed it in. Though little did I know, the “Nowhere Girl” was actually referring to someone else.
As Abbey, you go to work at an app developing company, who also helps troubleshoot people’s issues. But they also seem to make websites. It seems like they were a big company that did a lot of things. Abbey, being unfulfilled with life, goes to a bar one night and meets Baraqiel, who asks her simple questions, until it gets to the big one. “Would you change your life if you could”? Thus begins your adventure, as you get shackled to a ghost named Pseudo. How do you get this ghost off your ankle and back home? Well you need to fall in love with her of course!
The game has a lot of emotions and plays out over about a dozen chapters. The game tells a story about how quick it can truly be to fall in love with someone, if they’re right for you, and how it can change your life, rather significantly. Even make you enjoy things you once thought you’d grown out of. The game actually has a ton of dialogue choices you can make. But I tried a lot of them and I always ended up in the same place. The only choice I found that actually did anything was the last one. Which actually determined the ending I got. But maybe if I was a jerk for the entire game, it would’ve been different.
The characters themselves are well written, especially Pseudo. As she discovers more about herself, considering she has no memories of her living life. Though there are scenes in the game that bring more questions than answers, and this bugged me. But as I got to know her, I loved her. She’s weird, she’s quirky, she screams at the most random times. It’s even funny watching as Abbey tries to talk to get in public, and they realize she may look like a crazy person.
The game does go off the rails though in its last chapter. Not in the sense that it loses itself. But more in the sense that it starts the conversation of “the afterlife”, which I was just not fully expecting. But I will say, it seems to have set itself up for a sequel and I am more than happy for it to happen.
Rating
Pros:
- Great Dialogue
- Interesting Story
Cons:
- Choices Don’t Feel Like They Matter
- Brings Up Questions With No Answers
Summary
Nowhere Girl was a fantastic story about love and loss, and what someone would do to change their lives. With some great dialogue and a loveable little cast, the game is definitely worth a read. Though I do wish all the choices mattered a bit more, and some questions I had were answered better, I truly hope we see a sequel with the same cast.
If you enjoyed this Review, why not check out some more we have on site.
You can also chat to our writers and friends by joining us on Discord with this link – Discord Invite
Game & Developer Information
Developer Website: Trainwreck Studios – Steam
Publisher Website: Penguin Pop Games
Publisher Socials: Twitter
PSN Store Links: £5.79/€6.99 Europe / $6.99 North America
Trophy Information: 19. 
1 / 
8 / 
6 / 
4
Images – https://www.penguinpop.com/
NODE Gamers 