Lookouts is a free-to-play role-playing game from indie developer paranoidhawk. This 2D visual novel features a unique art style to deliver its spaghetti western-inspired storyline. In a world of cowboys and outlaws, you play as one of the gang lookouts sent in advance to scout a supposedly rich village ripe for plunder. However, the other gang has also sent their own. The two lookouts develop an unlikely friendship over the course of their work.

With a premise similar to Romeo & Juliet or West Side Story, Lookouts is a great story. For visual novels, you can try Someone Stole MY LUNCH.

Follow an unlikely romance

More than a romance between opposing parties, Lookouts actually dive deeper and try to explore love between two men in the Old West. As mentioned, the two titular lookouts find each other in the middle of their respective scouting duties. Watch as an uneasy encounter turns into friendly conversations about life and love. Just this premise is enough to get you curious about how one thing leads to another.

In terms of visuals, it skips high resolution and detail in favor of in-depth storytelling. Looking at the game, characters look like silhouettes–similar to how characters in Patapon look like. Even its background uses muted colors mostly shades of brown and orange, with slight greens and purples for additional details like buildings or shrubbery. Overall, the design choices work toward maintaining that Western genre feel.

Be warned, though, as the game expectedly contains mature content that contains audiovisual references to gun violence, death, blood, and even references to transphobia. These are only light allusions or descriptions, but be warned of the effects they may have on players. In terms of gameplay length, enjoy over 45,000 words worth of dialogue and storytelling–sure to keep you on your toes for hours on end.

Unexpectedly profound

Overall, Lookouts establishes itself as one of those unique stories that address a larger issue in its own way. It focuses more on the story instead of the usual video game fanfare. It uses anthropomorphic characters that prevent physical stereotypes, thus making them more relatable to a wide audience. As a visual novel, it has a fairly long playthrough with sufficient content to properly deliver its premise. It’s highly recommended.