That's You Review: It's All About You!

That's You!

   Released on the 4th of July and created by Wish Studios, That's You! is a multiplayer party game for the PlayStation 4. Featured free for PlayStation Plus members during July, That's You! starts off the new upcoming PlayLink games, which feature being able to use your smartphones as a method of playing party games in a more accessible manner, coming to PS4!


   Seeing as this game is all about playing with friends and seeing how well you each know one another I thought it only right to get more than just my opinion on this. After playing multiple times with friends Cerys Mees, Zoe Curry, Abigail Such, and Nicole Aitken, I've requested (coerced) them to tell me what they thought was good and what needed improvement. Mainly we all agreed with one another (perfect for the game I know) but this review is not just my own opinions on it, but a mash-up of the 5 of us. That was a long-winded way of saying that hey I have friends and they helped so, hey I have friends and they helped.

   Despite a terrible advert that promotes That's You as a very awkward party game that your drunk aunt might suggest at a family gathering, it actually does provide a great amount of fun and humor. The overall premise of the game is that a (surprisingly) funny and sometimes incredibly strange narrator asks you and your friends questions. From this, each player has to vote on which of them - using personalized selfies as `playing cards` - they think best suits the answer. (e.g Who here is the most likely to join a cult?). 100 points are earned per person you have the same answer as while being the lone person that thought they were hilarious gets absolutely nothing. On top of this, you have `jokers`, bottle caps that allow you to double your points in an attempt to claim the lead. Starting with three, you earn a singular new one per round and an extra one every time all players act in complete unison and vote on the same answer.

   I'm not going to lie I had basically no hopes for this game to be that funny. It seemed the kind of game that's too toned down and only gets an odd awkward chuckle out of you and maybe one other mate. However, the default questions are actually a good balance between tame, and more risque. By this I mean the narrator never outright asks you who's going home to have sex with the first person they meet at a bar, but rather gives more suggestive questions from time to time that you can take as you want. On top of this, the game gives the players a lot of creative freedom. Some rounds require you to draw something (e.g Draw what so-and-so would end up in jail for stealing) giving the players roughly 70 seconds to quickly try and become a pure artist using their finger on a smartphone screen... which usually results in lots of penises. Every round. Guaranteed. But maybe that's just my friends. Players are also able to add in their own questions (one question per player) which they can pre-write and save to their own app whenever inspiration strikes.

   In terms of actually playing the game we found that it has strangely stunning graphics for the scenery, Considering that the majority of the game is spent looking at your smartphone and not the actual TV, the settings for each category are genuinely beautiful to look at which is... kinda confusing. Similarly, the comments from the narrator, which primarily go ignored because you're all talking to one another and quoting inside jokes, can be not only hilarious but very questionable (he has always flirted specifically on my profile and none of my friends - getting that virtual D). This is a nice addition to the game as it sparks up conversations between you and your friends when one of you does actually manage to tune into whatever he's saying - especially his constant referencing to a guy called Russ... or Rosco... I never quite catch it but I want to know who he is.

   The gameplay is repetitive yes. If you keep playing it with the same people constantly you're soon going to find yourself about to jump out of the nearest window the minute somebody suggests having a game. But that also adds to its charm. It's great to play with a mix of different people as the reactions will always be different and the humor and fun you guys put into it will always change. So far I've played it a ridiculous amount with the previously mentioned friends and more throughout the last few weeks and not only have we not had a category repeat yet, but each game has been funny in its own right, with some rounds being so funny we struggle to actually submit our answers.

   On a side note: That's You! is ideal for turning into a drinking game that you can play at pre-drinks and is guaranteed to get you more than a little tipsy. Sometime soon I'll be posting some drinking rules for it that the 5 of us have come up with!

   One of the most frustrating things about That's You! is the fact that the intro just cannot be skipped. After you play it once you literally don't need it anymore. With each new addition to the game you'll find yourself and your friends summarising the rules and gameplay faster than the narrator manages to, and the time it takes is just annoying and a skip option definitely needs to be added. But hey, it's new and that might come in an update soon enough.

   As previously mentioned it can get quite plain at times, and if everyone is always picking the same answers not only do the scores never change but the entertainment starts to fade. This can be put down to the scoring system needing some improvement so it's not consistently the same points being acquired, and also that the players may need to take a long break from it or play in different groups.

   Overall we struggled to find too many main criticisms for the That's You! due to the fact that it's almost entirely player oriented, but the main issue is 100% the intro scene. Other than that it's a great game to play with up to 6 friends but unfortunately needs to be rationed. If you're a PlayStation Plus member, I definitely suggest getting it while it's free if you haven't already, because... well why not it's free and you might find it a great form of pass time!