Needy Streamer Overload: Internet Overdose
(Steam code received for free)
Needy Streamer Overload (Also known as Needy Girl Overdose) is incredibly hard to talk about. What the game is or reviewing it on its own isn’t the hard part, but more so due to how deep into modern internet and streamer culture it is directly tied to. There’s memes and references to all sorts of internet and popular culture (namely that tied to Japanese culture) but it’s also steeped in dark themes that don’t make themselves apparent for those not in touch with the game’s general “glitch core” aesthetic. As such, I want to lay some of the game’s more dark themes out in the beginning as a way to explain a lot of what might be obfuscated to the uninformed.
Needy Streamer Overload deals with internet addiction, drug abuse, online harassment, doxxing, internet controversy, self harm, mental health, objectification, self worth in the digital age, streamer burn out, and various other topics. One of the first distressing images I encountered over my initial 4 and a half hour playthrough was a mini-game that triggered when the main character’s stress hit near critical within the first 10 days. The character pleaded for me to cut her. All this before making posts on her private “tweeter” account about how she got instant endorphins from the act. A feeling that surpassed the gratification she got from streaming to a large number of viewers. All this before she streams to her fanbase about how “some girls can’t help but cut themselves into the night”. This is on the lighter end of the scale in terms of dark events that can happen during the game.
That’s not to say that the game isn’t funny or light hearted in parts. The game likes to poke fun at streamer culture but not in a self-deprecating or cynical way. This is mainly highlighted by the existence of Ame (the main character) having an account for her private personal use and a separate one for streaming use. Often tweeting to both within moments of one another. Her public facing persona attempting to be an “Internet Angel” and self-described “savior of nerds” while her private account often mocks those self-same viewers or expressing ideas counter to what she publicly states.
Ame herself is not a character that is depicted as someone to aspire to be. She feels very clearly made as an example of what happens when a mentally unfit woman forces herself to amasses internet fame. She has a nearly co-dependent relationship with her significant other “P-chan” (who the player controls), can’t wake up in the mornings, sleeps in often, regularly abuses her medication, acquires and abuses drugs that are illegal in Japan, is shown to have an addictive personality, gets swept up in conspiracy theories, and appears to cynically chase trends purely for the pursuit of internet fame regardless of her own interest or well being.
The gameplay ties to these themes incredibly well. Each day starts at Noon, proceeds to dusk, and ends at night. Noon and Dusk are used to accomplish certain activates and streaming becomes available only at night since that’s when the most internet traffic is. Certain activates take up two of your three times slots, meaning you have to plan your days effectively in order to come up with ideas for streaming, attempt to maintain your various stats (Stress, Affection, and Mental Darkness), and continue to drive engagement online. This ranges from “vanity searching” (a habit where internet personalities search up their name online to find what people are saying about them), going to various outside locations, sleeping, taking (or abusing) medication, keeping up with social media, practicing video games, spending time with P-chan, or even having sex (both with or without P-chan).
The main goal of the game is to amass a following of over 1 million in the span of 30 days. The game is generous and let’s you start at 1000 followers but that’s a very slim starting point. You initially only have an option for a chat & chill (often referred to as a zatsudan) but Ame later gets inspired to do streams based around let’s plays, ASMR, milestone celebrations, sponsorships, breakdowns, sexy streams, and many more. All of these can only be used once and must be used before you can be inspired to upgrade them for different topics. This means you’re forced to play the role of a variety streamer or else you’ll lose material to stream and drop your stream streak multiplier.
Along with your three primary stats, Ame also has sub-stats that directly tie to her stream performance. These breakdown into Stream streak (consecutive days streamed), Communication, Gamer Girl, Rabbit Hole, Experience, and Impact. Different stats impact different stream types but the most important stat seems to be Stream streak, multiplying your follower count exponentially the more consistently you stream daily. A major downside to streaming so regularly is that your stress fills up often more than you can decrease it through single time slot activities. Any break is incentivized to be few and far in-between. This is much like how streamers/youtubers experience burnout (intense periods of prolonged creative output with little breaks resulting into mental or physical exhaustion) to ensure their channel’s growth and sustainability.
While this is a lot to wrap your head around initially, the game is very lenient during your first few playthroughs. Saving is done automatically in the Noon. Each of your three save slots also records your stats at the start of each day, meaning that premature, or bad ends can generally be undone by just loading your file from a day or two prior to the event you want to avoid. This also makes going for the 21 different possible endings pretty forgiving for those who are simply curious about which options lead to where. Ontop of that, the streams KAngel (Ame’s internet personality) performs don’t need to actually be moderated. Doing so effectively will help lower her stress slightly during the stream, but they can all be sped up, or skipped if you don’t wish to re-read a stream you’ve seen before. In my experience, moderating streams was not necessary in reaching 1 million followers.
On the note of what is “necessary” for amassing internet stardom, the route that I had to take to get to 1 million followers involved discovering a lot of unpleasant aspects of how the game works between these sub-systems. You have only 30 days to reach the goal so just streaming video games and zatsudans only isn’t going to grow your following at the pace you need. Smart routing and moral sacrifices are going to be necessary to succeed. This often means openly engaging with the more sexual aspects of streaming despite their immense cost to Ame’s stats in exchange for a high follower boost.
One aspect that doesn’t tie directly into gameplay much but is ever present are the haters. Frequently nasty or unpleasent comments left on KAngel’s posts or sometimes sent to her during streams (sometimes even as super chats) will appear. They may start as simple spam bots but eventually grow to include harassment involving her looks, personality, “bone structure”, and various other aspects of her being that is also very commonly seen on the internet by real streamers and internet personalities.
Despite all of this, the game appears to have a very genuine heart and fondness for streaming. The game makes numerous references to streaming and YouTube trends of the past decade, as well as going out of its way to include the various different types of streams that are common in even the past few months. It’s not hard to see KAngel as a stand-in for Vtubers as well as just a more traditional streamer. Many of the milestone streams have KAngel reflect on why she wanted to be a streamer and her desire to keep going. Many of the jokes are direct refences to real goings on in the streamer community, as well as an uncanny resemblance to actual quotes seen on these streams both by streamers and viewers alike. Some of it is punched up for fictitious affect but others are lines that feel ripped from any other stream that’s potentially live as you read this.
As the Japanese title captures, “overdosing” seems to be a core focus of the game. Not just in reference to drug abuse but excess and the inverse in general. Too much of anything can contort and severely impact a person’s mind. Too much sex, drugs, sleep, streaming, medication, and even affection can all have negative effects on a person. Even more so if that person is shown to have an addictive personality. Ame frequently mentioning playing Japanese gacha games on her phone doesn’t seem like an idle detail thrown in for laughs just cause Granblue and FateGO are popular. It also ties incredibly well into the glitchcore aesthetic (an aesthetic genre that often depicts excess to the point of literal self-deterioration) that the game is going for.
Needy Streamer Overload is a game that feels like it was made yesterday about the current streaming climate. Its dialogue and depiction of the internet is shockingly truthful and direct, both in its humor and its unrelenting veracity. Ame’s accuracy to how internet denizens speak to one another, as well as her depressive spirals, and myriad of personal issues make her feel like a genuine person. This makes the more unsettling moments hurt all the more because she’s likely not too far off from a real girl trying her best to be a successful (or even just casual) streamer.
Hounded on all sides for existing online both by those who claim to be her fans, demanding revealing pictures of her body or feeling entitled to her attention, and people who tear her down for seemingly no reason other than to cause her distress. Needy Streamer Overload is an incredible experience to go through and its sharp edges cut all the deeper the closer to her position the player is in real life. Even as a general onlooker, the experience of dealing with the mounting stress of streaming constantly, maintaining your sanity, your relationship, your sense of self-worth, and general emotional well being when everything seems to be attempting to crush you is soul-destroying. No other game I’ve experienced has captured modern streaming in such an accurate lo-fi neon soaked visceral detail. Needy Streamer Overload is absolutely worth your time. Just remember to internet responsibly.
