Skip to main content

Goodbye Volcano High’s dinosaur drama is more enticing than its rhythm interludes

Teen dramas are all the rage, but society is running out of ideas. How many ways can you spin the same coming of age story? Developer KO_OP has risen to that challenge with its upcoming narrative rhythm game, Goodbye Volcano High, by daring to make something new: a high school dinosaur simulator.

Goodbye Volcano High - Story, Gameplay & Release Date | PS5 & PS4 Games

Goodbye Volcano High ditches your regular old mammals and instead focuses on teenage dinosaurs on the brink of extinction. Fang, a senior with lofty dreams of becoming a musician, has one year to live out their dreams before a meteor threatens life as they knows it. It’s up to the player to choose how they live their last year of high school, whether its smooching their friends or rocking out.

As an absolute fiend for young adult stories, I’m ready to see its story all the way through based on a demo I played at PAX East. It’s a narrative experience that explores growing pains in a unique circumstance that teenage dramas typically steer clear of: the Big Bang. However, limited dialogue options and an iffy rhythm component have me feeling like I’ll have more fun watching than playing it.

Rhythm and blues

Goodbye Volcano High has two main components to its gameplay: decision-making and rhythm game interludes. Any choices you make can impact its ending, according to KO_OP. Later chapters force the player to choose between focusing on Fang’s band, her friends, and other priorities.

Adding a musical element to the game makes sense because of how important Fang’s music is to them. However, Goodbye Volcano High‘s current iteration of the minigame doesn’t quite feel intuitive yet. Many successful rhythm games (or mini-games in existing products) involve pressing buttons at the right times, like in Guitar Hero, simulating beats and rhythms. Most of the satisfaction comes from pressing the keys on beat, to the point that you can listen to the song for the cues without looking at the screen if you’re really locked into the music.

Fang playing bass rhythm game in Goodbye Volcano High
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Unfortunately, the controls didn’t quite come together for me during my hands-on time. Musical segments prompted me to hold the control stick in different directions based on clear visual cues, but I needed to time my inputs slightly ahead of when the prompt would actually appear because of lag (it’s unclear if that was an issue with the way the demo was set up or a timing quirk in the game). Some prompts involved timing control stick inputs and button presses at the same time, which felt like the gameplay version of patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time.

If it were a movie

Despite some issues with its controls, the bits of story I saw signaled a promising teen drama. I could believe Goodbye Volcano High would be a Netflix animated series if it weren’t a video game. That’s where I’m left wondering about the final product and how much interactivity makes a difference in the final experience.

KO_OP describes its game as a “playable cartoon” or “interactive movie,” which it pulls off with its fluid, hand-drawn animations and evocative voice acting. Though there was some inconsistency in the acting during my demo, the talent in Goodbye Volcano High adds depth to the characters down to the tone of voice and cadence in their speaking patterns — like the way actual teenagers would talk to each other rather than a rushed voice-over.

Fang, Trish, and Reed playing in Worm Drama band
KO_OP

I’ll give Goodbye Volcano High the benefit of the doubt on its limited dialogue options, as the demo didn’t progress far enough to lean toward a particular ending. I didn’t even get to the realization that the world was ending, only learning that it’s Fang’s last year of high school and they submitted a song for Battle of the Bands that clashed with their band’s original vision. As seen in the trailer, the stakes will eventually rise higher than the lighthearted demo lets on. Though I’m not sure how I’ll feel about it as a video game, that story tease still has me eager to see how it all unfolds. I’m willing to see Fang’s story through to the end (of the world).

Goodbye Volcano High launches on June 15 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Editors' Recommendations

Jess Reyes
Jessica Reyes is a freelance writer who specializes in anime-centric and trending topics. Her work can be found in Looper…
Three classic Grand Theft Auto games are coming to Netflix next month
Key art for GTA: The Trilogy on Netflix

Netflix and Rockstar Games revealed that Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition will come to the services game catalog in December.

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is a package that features remasters of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. It was first released for PC and consoles in late 2021. Although the ports were derided for having a plethora of technical problems at launch, they have improved since then. Now, Netflix is making a major play by bringing these remastered GTA games to the service around the same time a Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer is expected to drop.

Read more
Nintendo Switch vs. PlayStation Portal: which portable device is best?
playstation portal review remote player vs switch oled

Handheld gaming has come back in a big way this past generation. Nintendo formerly held the crown as the king of the dedicated handheld market with its unfathomably successful DS line, which would eventually combine into a home console with the equally impressive Switch. PlayStation attempted to get into this market with the PSP and PS Vita but appeared to bow out of that competition when the latter failed to achieve much success. However, the new PlayStation Portal device could provide players with an alternative to Nintendo's aging system.

If you're debating between the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Portal, here's a full breakdown of how the two devices stack up.
Nintendo Switch Vs. PlayStation Portal specs
When it comes to specs, let's start with the easy comparisons.

Read more
Best Buy deals: Save on laptops, TVs, appliances, and more
best buy shuts down insignia line smart home products store 2 768x768

One of the best places to shop for almost anything involving electronics says so right in its name: Best Buy. The retail giant has a ton of departments with some of today’s most popular devices, components, and appliances for sale. It also offers a lot of these at a discount, which is certainly what we’re seeing right now. Some of the best TV deals, best tablet deals, best laptop deals, and best phone deals can currently be found at Best Buy, and those are just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve tracked down all of the best deals you can shop at Best Buy right now, so read onward for some gift ideas for yourself or a loved one and for some great ways to save.
Best Buy TV deals

There may be no better place to purchase one of the best TVs than Best Buy. There is almost always some huge savings to find on TVs at Best Buy, and that’s certainly the case right now. You’ll find deals top TV brands like Sony, Samsung, and LG, and more budget-friendly brands like TCL and Hisense are in play, too.

Read more