Goodbye Volcano High
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Goodbye Volcano High Trailers
Goodbye Volcano High - Launch Trailer
Goodbye Volcano High - Story Trailer
Goodbye Volcano High - Teaser Trailer
Critic Reviews for Goodbye Volcano High
Part visual novel, part rhythm game, part interactive animated movie, Goodbye Volcano High taps into the sacred relationship between music and coming-of-age in ways that would be impossible in any other media format.
There are parts of this game that are highly relatable. You can scroll through social media and see what are essentially Tweets (or Posts, thanks Elon), mostly about the impending meteor impact, that capture Twitter (sure, X) culture with hilarious accuracy. The third act also shines, with tensions between characters finally bubbling over and leading to huge blowouts that feel very true to the nature of teenage friendships. Fang’s relationship to their parents and brother Naser also feel very complex, more than any other relationship they have with the other characters. But none of this is enough to carry the weight of the game’s slow first acts or make up for the game’s unrealised thematic potential, and that’s a shame. What could’ve been a meaningful meditation on the importance of community turned out half-baked. The seeds of something great were there, but it never quite had the payoff it deserved.
Goodbye Volcano High is a heartfelt coming-of-age drama about a group of teen dinosaurs confronted with an uncertain future. Dreamy pop ballads and an absorbing dialogue system offer a gateway into an introspective story about being young, queer, and chasing your dreams in the face of impending disaster.
Goodbye Volcano High is a story of growth, friendship and love and how all these things, already great when taken individually, become giants when mixed together. Thanks to intelligent game mechanics, the story progresses forcefully by affirming the identity of its protagonists while allowing the player to make crucial choices, while the soundtrack (which ended up straight among my favorites on loop) is much more of an accompaniment: it's a co-protagonist, who embodies the anxieties, fears and dreams of this ramshackle gang of friends, dealing with nothing less than an apocalypse.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Goodbye Volcano High is a terrifically-crafted slice of high school drama that succeeds thanks to the strength of its lovable cast of characters, amazing music and a sweet story about perseverance in the face of uncertainty, be it the possibility of your best friends moving on or the possible end of the world.
Goodbye Volcano High is a charming visual novel packed full of great ideas, with a really interesting way of handling narrative choice.
Goodbye Volcano High is a cute looking game about modern western teenagers with some fun characters and memorable indie music.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Goodbye Volcano High is an absolute delight. While the rhythm gameplay segments are a bit of a nuisance by way of their design, the only other real issue is the sorry state of the Trophy list, something that should be easily remedied. If you can look past those fairly minor hitches, then what you'll experience is an exceptionally written game filled out by a cast of characters without so much as a weak link. Combine the incredibly impressive roster of characters with the high caliber of writing capable of delivering an emotional gut-punch just as easily as raucous laughter, this is not one worth sleeping on.
