Bully Spiritual Successor Launches to Negative Reviews on Steam

Agefield High: Rock the School, an anticipated sim following the story of a high-school student, developed and published by Refugium Games, was released on August 12, but the reception didn't go as well as it might have been expected.

As of writing, the game's Steam reviews currently fall under the "Mostly Negative" category, reflecting a critical response from early players. While players appreciated the concept of a spiritual successor to Bully, capturing the nostalgic atmosphere of the 2000s and a coming-of-age story, criticism has centered on the game's execution: players have pointed to glitches, awkward combat mechanics, a lack of emotional depth, and dialogue that feel "robotic." Some players also reported hard crashes, alongside the need for polishing.

At the same time, many players have defended the game, pointing to its indie roots and praising its storyline and overall vibe, which exceeds some technical difficulties. An interesting feature pointed out in one of the reviews is that character customization carries over to the cutscenes.

The day after the release, the devs issued an update that makes the music minigames easier to pass and fixes lots of smaller issues.

Agefield High: Rock the School is an open-world UE5 adventure, following the story of a new student, Sam, who has three months left at school. The game features story-driven missions, a Time & School system with school attendance, exploration, combat, and mini-games.