I Was a Teenage Exocolonist Reviews

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is ranked in the 96th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Polygon
Top Critic
Unscored
Nov 4, 2022

Teenage Exocolonist rounds out to a moving, challenging coming-of-age story with genuine stakes and exceptional replayability. If you don’t like the way things went — and in early playthroughs, you probably won’t — there’s always your next life. There are more friends to be made, more crises to avert. With 30 potential endings, the options abound.

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9.5 / 10.0
Jan 23, 2023

A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage.

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8.5 / 10.0
Sep 5, 2022

A deep and immersive narrative experience with a gameplay that shortly falls into a repetitive loop.

Review in Italian | Read full review

TheGamer
Top Critic
Aug 25, 2022

Northway Games has crafted one of my highlights of the year with this narrative adventure. It’s wonderfully engrossing and hiding so many worthwhile character moments and gorgeous secrets well worth uncovering. I’ve already spent so many hours with the game and feel like I have barely scratched the surface, prepared to dive back in and live out this life over and over again until I settle on an imperfect resolution that feels well and truly my own.

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8 / 10
Aug 25, 2022

I Was A Teenage Exocolonist is a fun visit through adolescence which begs the player to keep living life to the max, experiencing all the game can offer. It's a beautifully artistic game, with many opportunities for a unique experience every time you play.

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9 / 10.0
Aug 25, 2022

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is an engrossing social sim that offers up deep roleplaying and a wonderfully-realized universe, with fun collectible card game mechanics as a bonus. Perhaps more importantly, it’s one of the best distillations of growing up I’ve ever encountered in a video game. It doesn’t matter if you’ve left the era long behind, don’t miss out on getting these teenage kicks.

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9.5 / 10.0
Sep 5, 2022

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a storm of punches that hits straight in the stomach. It's a video game that monopolized my free time and that I'll continue to dissect well beyond my (current) fourth playthrough. It's a game that has crept between my mind and my heart, something that I'll hardly be able to chase away from there. Not that I'd want to, to be honest. Northway Games has managed to create something that transcends genres, a video game that I'd like to be enjoyed by as many people as humanly possible.

Review in Italian | Read full review

7 / 10
Aug 25, 2022

Every single thing about I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is nice, from its appearance to its sounds to its writing – nice, even, to a fault. As a plot device, it makes sense that the utopian vision of the Exocolonists is all very lovely, with its impeccable inclusivity and anti-capitalist teachings, but at some point, if things are going to go life-or-death pear-shaped, the niceness really ought to give. Overall, the game lacks bite, but with so much love and niceness oozing from every facet of it, it is, by the same token, impossible to dislike.

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9 / 10.0
Aug 25, 2022

Not often do we see a narrative RPG with so much squeezed inside a relatively small package. I Was a Teenage Exocolonist will leave you thinking, laughing, crying, and even blushing. With beautiful character illustrations and a story that feels genuine from start to finish, this is a must-play for anyone who enjoys narrative games. Though one playthrough will run you around 5-10 hours, the things you missed will have you coming back for one more playthrough every time.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 21, 2022

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is well built and crafted, and it will make you live a pretty memorable journey.

Review in Italian | Read full review

GameSpew
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Aug 25, 2022

If you thrive when immersed in a rich narrative and like the idea of shaping the life of a youngster growing up on an unknown planet, then I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is for you. This narrative RPG may be slow-paced, and its narrative can get rather dark at times, but it’s excellently written and filled with heart. Add to that some truly stunning artwork, and you’ll be compelled to see exactly how this teenage exocolonist’s life turns out – time and time again.

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Unscored
Aug 29, 2022

I may have some complaints about the game’s overall design choices and gameplay mechanics, but I will certainly give it another playthrough or two and may well change my mind. If that ends up being the case, you’ll all be the first to know, as there’s a ton of potential here. And in the meantime, if you like what you’ve seen and heard so far, you’ll almost certainly find something of worth here — so I encourage you to check it out for yourself.

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GameGrin
Top Critic
10 / 10.0
Mar 25, 2023

I Was A Teenage Exocolonist is not short of becoming an exemplary title in fantastic writing and storytelling, and easily my favourite entry into the visual novel genre thus far.

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7 / 10.0
Sep 5, 2022

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist has a beautiful artwork and really attractive characters. Live, grow and die, the pillars of this adventure full of personality.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

4 / 5.0
Sep 11, 2022

It’s a game that delightfully demonstrates the importance of connections, with each other or one’s surroundings, and of reaching out.

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9.3 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2022

Emotionally charged and aesthetically pleasing, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is an RPG that will appeal to those seeking a narrative close to the heart of anyone who tends to look back on their lives and think about the different choices that they might have made. The game will get you thinking about life, cherishing the best moments, and lamenting the lows, all while looking fantastically good and providing even more incentive to jump back in for one more run. Even on an alien planet, the power of human relationships has never been more evident or intriguing to experience.

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Recommended
Nov 9, 2022

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is an engaging narrative RPG where you can boost your stats, make friends, and explore through several routes as you grow.

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4.5 / 5.0
Nov 20, 2022

Games like I Was a Teenage Exocolonist are few and far between. The aesthetics are stunning, featuring eye-popping colors and gorgeous music. The story is intense, keeping you on the edge of your seat for hours on end. And the replayability factor is massive, with at least two playthroughs required for optimal understanding of the world and its inhabitants. I fell in love with every last character, their strengths and flaws often making them endearing — or, in the very least, human. If you want to live a multitude of lifetimes exploring a whole new world each and every time, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist invites you to become part of theirs.

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9 / 10.0
Nov 26, 2022

At its core, Exocolonist is a fascinating story about collective survival, finding harmony with the planet, and how a blank slate for humanity is, well, not really a blank slate at all. The memory of the crumbling planet Earth pursues these colonists, literally. And with the colony constantly on the brink of disaster, the old systems of militarization, power imbalances and overconsumption of resources starts to make a tempting appearance. It’s up to you as the player, and as part of the colony, to decide if you’re willing to give into that ghost of a collapsing society or if it’s better to try something new.

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Feb 14, 2023

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a beautiful game, a synth-laden ode to growing up and allowing yourself to fall, fail, succeed and explore in a posthuman world that asks thoughtful questions about what it means to exist alongside the natural environment.

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