The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories

If you're trans or even any sort of queer please I beg of you to please play this game. It's a very very wonderful game with a fantastic story that is sure to hit home with anyone under the queer umbrella. Some puzzles may be irritating, the voice acting a little odd and the animations a bit slow but it is so worth it for the story the game tells. This game shook me to my core and i'm sure it will with many others as well. Please please play this game.
"This game was made with the belief that nobody is wrong for being what they are"

The MISSING is a lovely and interesting story that was greatly hindered by gameplay, especially towards the end. It left me so frustrated and I feel the gameplay section of the finale could have been handled a lot better, as it greatly soured my overall enjoyment and left me struggling through, until I could finally see the credits roll. However, I am still going to say, it is a game one should experience for themself.
It is VERY in your face with the story it is trying to tell, so I don't understand how so many people miss the mark by such a large margin. Yes, the collectibles give you more tidbits, but even without getting a 100% the game still shows you EXACTLY who J.J. is, and I loved every second of it.
The voice acting was interesting, if a little lacking (once again towards the end), but it blessed me with such a fascinating new vocal stim of "Major hemorrhage"so, thank you based doctor.
This game was made with the belief that nobody is wrong for being what they are.

bruh this game is too goddamn relatable it gets even more viseceral when my deadnames initials are also "J.J."

on a more serious note its a relatively short but easy play even if ur horrible at platformers like me there typically checkpoints close enough and I only ever needed a guide for collectibles and 2 puzzles

I have been wanting to buy and play The Missing for what seems forever (probably since it was released on Steam) and am glad to have finally indulged myself after all these years.
In a way, it feels like a game I should have played years ago, when I was still getting into indie games, especially those focusing on queer narratives. It would probably have packed a bigger punch if I didn't have already quite a lot of other references. For example, The Missing heavily borrows from Limbo in its gameplay, and having played games like Celeste, If Found... or Get in the Car Loser certainly draws high points of comparison.
This being said, story-wise and level design-wise, JJ Macfield's adventures hold up really well. What seems simplistic at first comes around quite well once the player hits the ending and epilogue(s). The real problem, imho, stems from the commands, which are a bit clunky, and the way too long cutscenes that plays whenever JJ is injured (which is to say, all the time). First time around, it's grotesque and fun, but after 50+ times, I basically played on mute, lest poor JJ's screaming drove me insane in turn. I'm also quite intrigued by the choice made to have virtually no soundtrack bar a couple specific pieces here and there.
All of this is to say, if you're looking for a good LGBT+-focused game, The Missing has something good to offer, including great character design and a very convincing English localization/dub. But make sure you are ready to go through some 10 hours-ish sometimes tedious puzzle-solving/platforming first.

If you had told me a week ago that one of the most heartfelt and powerful queer narratives in all of gaming was a game made by Swery, I would have laughed at you. The idea sounds ridiculous—Swery? The Deadly Premonition guy?

But it's true. I teared up when I finished The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories. The integration of the gameplay with the story elements is masterful, elevating both and putting you into that emotionally raw place of alienation, dysphoria, and self-hatred right there with the main character.

On top of that, it's also a legitimately very fun puzzle-platformer that manages to strike an excellent balance of difficulty and that uses its dismemberment mechanics to their fullest potential, without overstaying its welcome. Besides maybe one or two sections I got stuck on for an extended period of time because it wasn't clear what the game wanted from me, the game manages to stay consistently challenging while never putting up a brick wall of a difficulty spike.

There are parts of the game that are rough around the edges—the voice acting is stilted, some of the animations (particularly those around the neck-breaking puzzles) get repetitive with how slightly too long they are, and a few controls could have been explained better. But honestly, to me, those imperfections just make the game feel that much more human and sincere.

Another great game from SWERY and unlike Deadly Premonition, gameplay is not terrible. Loved story and message, puzzles were not very difficult but interesting, which is fine by me. Can recommend to anyone who not foaming at the mouth over LGBTQ+ themes.

A mixed bag of good and bad. I prolly had my hopes too high in this one. Definitely there is that unique Swery's touch and I did feel the story and its characters, but nevertheless it just felt bit flat and simple. As much as I was hyped for its first input text saying "This game was made with the belief that nobody is wrong for being what they are" and info that this game is about gender-identity, I still was left a little disappointed in the end.
This reason for the sullenness might actually become from feeling of lost opportunity because I really was waiting some deeper story and even more this philosophic pondering about body, existence and identity. While the story brings these things up I did not like or care too much of supporting storylines, which although matter but mostly they are just nonsense with poor writing and moreover the chat windows for minor characters is not the most effective way to build tension or emotion. The game's story imo could have been so much better with live characters with voices feeling shame, anger, grit, happiness and joy. I also felt that some characters were written in just to add some so obvious stereotype of over conservative parent or a rich bully and the dialogue just made me sneer rather than getting deeply into. That alas is a huge shame for ending part again is quite good and warming, but it could have been so much better if that journey into that time and place'd have offered more.
In gameplay aspect it's very medicore platformer with the light puzzle designs, but I did find the gore theme very unique and an original and a bit pervert feature to actually hurt yourself to get further and solving puzzles takes the cake. Sometimes the game can even punish you by making clarification that you could have gotten past something without severing your limbs or cracking your skull. In the end this won't matter too much for protagonist can heal herself back to normal, but I have to say that every mistake I made during this game felt much more grim than any other platformer.
This self harm plays huge part in the game and I felt that its presence was one of the best feats in the game technically but especially in storytelling aspect - for the pain can be and is a metaphor about something else.. If I should recommend this game for anybody I'd say those beautiful people and souls who struggle with identity or have a crisis in their existence. I have read some other reviews and I do have a positive impression that this game possibly can offer some support and courage to push forth in life. The Missing J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories ain't truely the best or most wholesome game in the market but I totally can see the potential it can offer to people if the timing is right. <3 The most powerful thing is love.