I’ve been a little leery of western-developed visual novels for a while now. I know that there are some genuinely good ones out there — but there are also a lot that play up the obnoxiously ironic, self-referential angle to such a degree that they’re hard to take seriously.

I’m not sure what made me think that Class of ’09, which describes itself as “the anti-visual novel” would be any different, but nonetheless something attracted me to it and made me think it might actually be worth a look. The fact it was £3 on sale at GOG.com helped, too, I must admit — even if it turned out to be complete horseshit, I would have spent less than the price of a cup of coffee on it.

Thankfully, it did not turn out to be complete horseshit. Nor, I’d argue, did it turn out to really be that which it described itself as. But it did turn out to be an enjoyable, worthwhile experience that I’m glad I spent four hours playing through. So let’s take a closer look at exactly why.

Class of ’09 tells the story of Nicole, a self-professed sociopathic teenager who has had a pretty fucked up childhood; through a combination of her mother’s perpetual marriage-divorce cycle (at the time the story unfolds, her mother has had eight husbands, and Nicole is just 16) and witnessing her father’s suicide — with a note suggesting that it was her “fault”, no less — she is, it’s fair to say, pretty heavily traumatised. And rather than retreating into her shell as a result, she has pretty much completely had her own sense of empathy for others completely eroded.

The reason Class of ’09 describes itself as “the anti-visual novel” and “a rejection simulator” (as opposed to a dating sim, see) is that a character who may well be one of several heroines in a “conventional” (by this game’s definition) visual novel is actually the protagonist here, and there is absolutely no emphasis whatsoever on cultivating a romantic and/or sexual relationship with the other major characters.

I’d argue that none of those things preclude Class of ’09 from being a visual novel, and reiterate something that most of you reading this already know: a visual novel is not a dating sim is not a visual novel. Moreover, I’d suggest that Class of ’09’s choice to market itself in this way may actually be somewhat offputting to members of its potential audience who would enjoy it; it very much is a visual novel, and even though its emphasis is not on securing an intimate relationship with a partner, its various narrative routes do all explore the way in which Nicole interacts with various different individuals.

I don’t want to get too hung up on this side of things, mind, because it’s by far the least interesting thing about Class of ’09 — plus there are myriad other examples out there of games “misselling” themselves as one thing when they’re actually something else. This is particularly evident in the eroge space (as opposed to nukige), where visual novels are often marketed as being heavy on the explicit sexual side of things, when in many cases sex is a relatively minor part of the experience as a whole (and often well-integrated into the story when it is present) compared to the overall narrative.

So with that in mind, let us return to the main point of Class of ’09.

Class of ’09 is the work of a YouTuber known as SBN3, also known as SoulBroNo3. I had never come across this person before, so there’s not a great deal I can tell you about them other than the fact that they work on all manner of creative endeavours online, including movie reviews, comedy dub videos and standalone comedic videos.

In some respects, I’m glad I was unfamiliar with them, not because I’ve subsequently discovered them to be dislikeable, but because it meant I could go into Class of ’09 with pretty much nothing in the way of expectations other than the vague feeling it could either be great or awful, and likely nothing in between.

Class of ’09 is apparently based on some real experiences that SBN3 had in their earlier life (presumably around ’09 or so) — though it seems likely that more than a touch of artistic license has been taken here and there for the sake of comedy. Class of ’09 is very much a game that embraces the idea of comedy through happenings that are simultaneously both quite extreme and surprisingly believable; it’s very much entrenched in American culture (or perhaps more accurately, the assumptions many of us make about American culture from around that period) and thus, while there are some fairly wild happenings that can occur as a result of the decisions you make on Nicole’s behalf, none of them are entirely surprising as such.

One of the interesting things about these decisions is that it’s pretty rare you have binary options between “good” and “bad” things that Nicole can do. Nicole is a sociopath, remember — and one who recognises she is a sociopath, moreover — and as such much of her decision-making process revolves around herself. How can she extract herself from a situation she doesn’t want to be in? How can she amuse herself or come out on top with regard to a situation she has become embroiled in? What would be the most hurtful thing for her to do at any given time?

There are ways you can play Class of ’09 that allow Nicole to make something approaching a meaningful interpersonal connection with another human being, but even this tends to end up not exactly going as expected. Taking the “nice” options leaves Nicole feeling trapped in what she describes as “hostage friendships”, and ultimately, without spoiling things, this causes things to escalate quite considerably — in this instance, through no fault of her own.

Interestingly, as “villainous” as Nicole can seem at times, there are lines even she finds herself drawing. Several routes explore how ideas of white nationalism can easily take root among an impressionable community such as a group of teens, for example, and Nicole is remarkably resistant to all of it.

While she’s not above pushing those who find themselves adopting extreme viewpoints to see exactly how far they will take their supposed beliefs, there are times when she feels like the most sensible person in the room; times when her looking out for herself and herself alone seems to be the best way to approach the increasingly unhinged happenings around her. This is true not just of the white nationalism story sequences, but also in her dealing with multiple characters who have paedophilic tendencies.

There are no real “good” endings to Class of ’09. There are 15 normal endings plus a final ending that unlocks after you’ve seen all of them (and the anonymous text messages that appear after you discover a new one) — and very few of them end on an upbeat note. Some of them even conclude with Nicole taking her own life, while others see her ending up in a situation from which there doesn’t appear to be any real means of “recovering” from.

It’s tragic that there’s no real way to “save” Nicole, in a way, but there’s something else worth noting about the experience as a whole: the game is very, very funny throughout. Class of ’09 has some very sharp, witty writing that very much seems to have been written with verbal delivery in mind, rather than elaborate prose and dialogue intended primarily to be read.

This is perhaps another justification for the game describing itself as an “anti-visual novel” — the excellent voice acting (seriously, I cannot overstate quite how well the actors’ performances fit the tone of the whole thing) and generally high energy of the script, plus the fact a single playthrough takes about 15-20 minutes tops, gives Class of ’09 a very distinctive feel from other visual novels out there, both eastern and western. It’s more like a radio drama or animated short than a “novel” as such.

At its high points, Class of ’09’s humour feels very much along the same lines as stuff like South Park in its prime. It’s wilfully offensive — or perhaps it’s more accurate to say it’s unashamed of the subject matter it chooses to address — and that gives the whole thing a very strong feeling of honesty and genuineness. It’s not afraid to crack jokes about things like white nationalism and paedophilia, as noted above, along with other “sensitive” topics such as school shootings, drug abuse, teenage depression and suicide.

It’s honestly quite refreshing to play something that really doesn’t feel like it holds back with regard to the things it talks about — but which also manages to get this across in a way that doesn’t feel self-referential, full of memes or insincere. At no point does Class of ’09 feel like it’s doing anything just for the sake of being “edgy” — there always feels like there’s at least an attempt at some biting social commentary.

There are a couple of things that might seem a little mean-spirited at first glance — most notably the stereotypical nature of the “anime nerd” character — but taking a step back and thinking about things a moment makes it clear that Class of ’09 is not about making sweeping statements. Rather than saying “all anime nerds are like this”, it’s saying “this kind of anime nerd is the absolute worst”. And, speaking as an anime nerd who has, on more than one occasion, been very keen to distance himself from certain quarters of the “community” online, I can absolutely agree. Jeffrey is the absolute worst.

And it’s not as if he’s the only character who gets this treatment. The “jock” character, likewise, isn’t in there to suggest that everyone who likes sports is an awful person. It’s poking fun specifically at the type of person who attempts to make sports their entire personality and reason for being — much as the game criticises those for whom their love for anime girls is their entire reason for existence, or the guys who attempt to lure girls in by being nice to them, then hit them with an unsolicited dick pic.

Plus you have to remember that we’re seeing the whole thing through the eyes of a self-professed sociopath, not an objective outside non-participant viewpoint. Nicole doesn’t understand these people, and moreover has no desire to understand these people. But she’s also not the sort of person who shies away from interactions with others — so sometimes, when she is forced into having to deal with those people she has no desire to understand, she ends up doing things that those of us with a tad more empathy would see as clearly being hurtful.

It’s a prime example of a game that depicts things but doesn’t endorse them. To return to the example of the anime kid, at no point is Class of ’09 saying that bullying people who are into anime is a desirable, worthwhile thing to do. It is, instead, saying that Nicole is the sort of person who would bully someone who is into anime, because that’s just the sort of person she is. And, going on the evidence of the rest of the game, we can confidently say that Class of ’09 isn’t attempting to make Nicole out to be a role model or anything.

What Nicole is, however, is an interesting and entertaining character. There is value in fiction that is specifically about awful people, because it can sometimes make you feel quite a bit better about yourself. Or it can open your eyes to the fact that different types of people behave and react to things in very different ways to you. And in the case of interactive media that is specifically about playing as a horrible person, it can feel oddly empowering to explore a way of behaving that you wouldn’t even consider adopting in reality.

I felt a bit of all of these things while playing through Class of ’09. And I came away from the whole experience feeling oddly attached to Nicole, despite all the horrible things I saw her do over the course of the game as a whole. She’s an incredibly memorable character, and I’m curious to see what goes on with her in the follow-up, Class of ’09: The Re-Up. That’ll have to be a tale for another day, though.

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More about Class of ’09

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