So incredibly formulaic that it could be read as parody. It’s not even that bad, it’s just kinda boring. I know that’s a completely meaningless critique, but that’s how i feel about it. Interesting idea to make the monsters not just sympathetic, but actual life forms. Not just a swarm of beings, but giving them personalities. The Cuddlesome are vaguely Silurian in that way, as much as they can be. I like what they did with the Cuddlesome creator, and it’s actually a pretty dark and serious thingy thing compared to the rest of the story, you know it’s about trauma and mental health and how society molds children into being unhappy adults, and then it’s back to “Hey, you just like, totally killed me there dude!” (Which now that i write it down could work as a really sad moment where the limited programming of the Cuddlesome tries to convey a sense of what death is like a child, but it never really came over to me like that in the story itself.)

Oh euh some dialogue is pretty bad imo, very explanatory and unnatural way too often. But there’s also as many lines i think are genuinely funny, so that evens it out or something.

I think as a free story someone might’ve gotten, it’d be really fun. I can imagine finding it as one of if not your first Big Finish, or getting it with DWM back in the day, and that sounds like a very enjoyable experience. I think i would’ve liked this more earlier in my Big Finish journey instead of almost a year later. But it’s still enjoyable. Just, when you also have a hundred other things to listen to, this isn’t one I’d choose quickly.

Felt like the sound design was kinda very limited because of course, it’s a free release, but the songs slapped tbh. That We’re gonna change the world tune i really like. It’s gotten stuck in my head even.