‘Class of ‘09: The Flipside’ is a weak ending to a beloved trilogy

The final chapter in the Class of ’09 trilogy, The Flipside, has fans divided.

On September 23, 2024, Wrath Club and SBN3 released the final installment of the Class of ’09 trilogy, The Flipside. Unlike the last two games in the series, which focused on Nicole, The Flipside centers around Nicole’s best friend, Jecka. The player must help Jecka navigate life after high school graduation. As expected, the endings are dark with a humorous spin. However, the game falls flat in comparison to the other two games in the franchise.

Spoilers for Class of ’09: The Flipside!

The lack of choices and routes to take

The game itself has an interesting premise. Jecka has taken center stage, and players are given a better look into her abusive household, drug problems, and insecurities. However, for a game in which we are meant to help Jecka navigate her life, players are barely given any options to choose from. On top of that, there are only five endings. For reference, Class of ’09 had 15 endings, while Class of ’09: The Re-Up had seven.

Each route only provides two or three choices. For the rest of the game, you simply watch the events of Jecka’s life play out. While the dialogue is still dark and witty, the beauty of a visual novel is making decisions for the character and seeing where your choices take you. With barely any choices, we’re basically just watching text run through a screen.

That’s not to say seeing Jecka’s life is boring. In the previous two games, we only see fragments of Jecka’s troubled life. Here, we see Jecka as a person who responds to trauma and doesn’t just blindly follow Nicole. However, as the player, you feel like you don’t have much control over what happens in Jecka’s life.

The themes are trying too hard to be edgy

Class of ’09 set itself apart from other visual novels because of the story’s dark themes. The trilogy focuses on themes of drug abuse, sexual harassment, depression, bullying, and more. These concepts were handled in a jarring and darkly funny way, which is why the game went viral on TikTok in 2023.

One of the biggest complaints for this installment is that, though it focused on the same themes, it felt like the developers tried to push these dark topics to their limit. Sadly, the execution was poorly done. The endings felt more disturbing than satisfying (especially Jecka’s slave trade ending).

The game showed Jecka as nothing more than a victim—a victim of her father’s abuse, objectification, and her teacher’s pedophilic fetishes. While players expected the game to be dark and graphic, it felt like the creators were trying too hard to be edgy. Jecka has no happy endings; they all end in her demise. It would have been nice if they included an ending where Jecka wins, one where she meets a nice, honest man or goes to college and escapes her abusive father.

Besides the disturbing take on the game’s more graphic narrative themes, one thing that stood out was how differently Nicole was portrayed in this installment. In the previous games, Nicole was bratty and abusive, but mostly towards men. In Re-Up, she was abusive towards her girlfriend Ari, and Jecka called her out on it. However, Nicole has shown that she cares for Jecka and sees her as her only friend. In The Flipside, however, we see Nicole being mean and spiteful towards Jecka, which is out of character even for someone as evil as her.

But hey, there were some good parts too

If there is anything I want to applaud this game for, it’s the art and the music. Compared to the previous games, there were more animated cutscenes. Class of ’09 had practically none, and The Re-Up only used animated cut-scenes in some routes. The Flipside, however, implemented animated cutscenes in almost every route.

The score was also amazing. The game is set in 2009 and the music definitely takes you back there. This, paired with all the Y2K references, hits you like a blast from the past.

The voice acting was stellar, too. The cast reprised their roles amazingly, especially Kali Mills, who voices Jecka. With the characters usually staying still and only their expressions changing, their voices brought the characters to life. It almost animated them.

Overall, I would give Class of ’09: The Flipside a 6/10. If you loved the previous games, then check this out. If not, it’s worth skipping.