The settings with volonteer people was a little bit different from the other drama with the same plot. But the rest was pretty the same in the different personalities (villain, mad, traitor, etc.) and the gratuitious violence. I didn't feel attached to the characters, so I didn't really care for them. I watched it completely detached from the story.

Personaly, I'm the opposite of @missvictrix, this kind of violence doesn't affect me but the one in DP did a lot.

Unlike other Netflix shows, this doesn't have the oomph factor. The characters' desperation are all what we have seen multiple times in numerous dramas, but this time around they don't seem to have any effect on the audience. Maybe it is because the dialogues aren't that heart wrenching or it is more of story telling through visuals. Even the characters seem detached which is either intentional to portray the driving force for the game or just the direction in general ( because I know the cast can act very well ) .

I am on episode 3, but I don't have the curiosity to check if they survive or if anyone even gets the promised prize money. I kept checking the time in episode 2, that if I keep up with same, I might as well drop it.

The Gong Yoo cameo definitely caught me off guard. When he sat down, before we could see his face clearly, I thought “Wow, this guy’s profile looks a LOT like Gong Yoo’s…but they wouldn’t get him for a cameo right?”

Overall I quite enjoyed the first episode, even if it was pretty standard and formulaic by Battle Royale/Death Game standards. Has a nice style, and good artistic direction, which I feel is a must for these types of shows to differentiate from other similar ones. I haven’t seen Lee Jung-jae in many things, but he always kills it, so no surprise that he’s consistently good here as well.

Oh. The last paragraph. That was my wish too.

It's good thing this is only ep1 review. There is no need to review the whole series. It would be a waste.

Excellent budget. Crappy storytelling.

I got a Beanie for Squid Game! I'm completed the whole 9 episodes of Squid Game after episode 9 was such a tearjerker and of course, my massive, emotional sadfest in this episode despite of another Gong Yoo cameo. T-T Episode 9 was rarely found the Christmas scenes just one year later after the first Squid Game even a lot of snowy scenes during Christmas. In overall episodes, I screamed for Gi-hun an ultimate winner so he made it to be the first Squid Game winner and I didn't believe that Squid Game was just an imaginative dream, not a reality. I was hoping and looking forward for second season of Squid Game.

This is my genre... so I liked it, bonus is my hubby watched this with me which is rare. Stylized violence indeed it is, eps 1 to 3 were a bit slow-paced but it amped the pace after. Yes, not new in how it depicts human nature in the face of greed or desperation to survive, been the running theme in all survival,apocalyptic shows whether korean or not, but it did not pretend to be otherwise so it is what it is. And yes, there is no hero in this show, from the get go we were shown the players are not your heroic types, they after all got to be the players because they are indeed the dregs of society, the ones whose life outside the game is worse than inside the game. Villains - the game masters etc are one dimensional, sure! They are not even central to the story, as the true villain here is greed. So dont expect to root for a winner. At the end ,perhaps the question to ask is: if you are one of the players, will you survive? Me? I'd probably die at game 1.

It was my first time watching Lee Jung Jae and I found him very compelling. I really appreciate it when actors don't care about showing themselves "pretty" and just plunge into the role.

It was also my first time watching Park Hae Soo getting so many lines, ha! I've only seen him playing silent types before (Prison Playbook, Alhambra and Time to hunt) , so I was surprised at how good he is playing the smooth talker, the kind of dude able to cheat people out of their savings 😂
My only quibble was Wi Ha Joon's arc, that really didn't lead anywhere besides showing new dimensions to the horror and paving the way for a second season. I still enjoyed watching him as a badass cop after seeing him playing lovelorn second leads. Besides being super handsome, dude has a bit of range - although he was a little bit too ruthless and efficient a killer to be on the right side of the law, wasn't he? That felt a bit weird scriptwise, but he did a good job!

I see that the reviews here are mixed, and the Korean audience seems to hate it, but I liked it. It doesn't break new ground, but I thought it told the story stylishly (those sets were awesome) and effectively. I could see why characters living in hell, either because of their own actions or because of the world they were born into, would choose to play a deadly game for money. Sometimes shows with this theme will strive to keep the hero's hands clean, but I liked that there was no hero in this story.

My favorite thing was the use of simple, childhood games. The dalgona game was brilliant. The marble game heartbreaking. Episode 6 was definitely the best episode IMO.

There were things I didn't care for, like the investor bit. The cop showed us a different side of things, but his arc was a little pointless. They certainly left it open for a second season, but it would be a very different show. I'm good with just this one, it felt complete.

Gong Yoo😍😍😍😍😍, I can't comment without spoiling, so that is my comment.

I do not expect a second season. Netflix has a way of keeping open space for second seasons; however, there are so many cases left the audience at the first season.
The show is not for the faint of the heart definitely. Rather it is for people who enjoys watching fighting without getting emotionally attached.
It was also a good experience for actors/actresses to show their capabilities. There is no emphasis on keeping the beaty or good character here, which is something I do not enjoy in kdramas.
The characters were easy to connect. Somehow I find some behaviors in kdramas extreme or unrealistic. Things related to honor, gossip and being noble are a little contradictory or confusing for me. With this drama, I was really comfortable to understand the characters. Maybe my culture is very different with that of korea.
Ocerall I enjoyed the drama. My only complain is about the last episode and how it handled the life of the winner after the game. Ooooh I ca not find a way to explain it without spoiling the drama ....

Squid Game reminds me of another Netflix drama, Alice in Borderland. I hope this will do better than AIB. AIB was lacking in storyline towards the end. I like how the participants are given a choice to leave the game unlike Alice. Hope we'll get to see more of Gong Yoo later in the story.

I agree with a lot of the comments being that the shaw was pretty meh overall. I had beeen eagerly waiting for it to come out but it ended up being more of a letdown. The cast and prodcution value were great. But the script, dialogue, and characterization were poor. I never fully cared about the characters. Expect Ali and Sae Byeok. And that had more with them being somewhat unique and choosing to play because of the life that they had been dealt vs poor choices. The show truly went downhill though with the VIPs. The dialogue and jokes were so bad. Also why just a few white guys (and all American) and one other accent I couldn’t place. Them explaining the things they were watching while we are watching ourselves didn’t help either. Should have kept them silent. And had more diversity if they are insistent on it being an international thing. Which also makes no sense. They made it sound like it is played in different countries each year, but the new game at the end of the show was recruiting Koreans again. If every year 400+ Koreans go missing within days of each other, it’d get noticed. I wish they had just had Korean actors and not made it international. Clearly I am thinking too much about this. Overall the show had potential with the concept of playing children’s game to the extreme, and great actors that were letdown by a poor script and characterization. Sucks even more compared to the other gritty Netflix shows that were actually fantastic (Kingdom, Extracurricular, D.P.).

ah, so Gong Joo is not a zombie any more.

Interesting that the first ever Korean show to hit #1 in the U.S and #2 Worldwide for Netflix isn't being reviewed in whole. I really dug this show, I thought it had some heart & some truths about human nature. The games were all well designed, and the world building was epic. I for one expected (from reviews that this was going to be meh/no heart), and was surprised in a good way that wasn't the case at all. While there were some things that could've been addressed, I think the show made me think and re-assess certain things. It reminded me a bit of Parasite but the game version lol.

Only quibble is, Lee Jung Jae sorta over-acted at times, he did a good job but he could've toned it down sometimes. Overall, solid watch, good pacing, great use of sets, colorful characters, & assured director behind the helm made this one of the best Netflix Korean Originals since they began doing so.

I can finally read the comments now that I finished watching this drama. I did get spoiled on who lives and who dies and who are the villains due to Twitter memes but I still enjoyed the series. I thought it was written well and tightly plotted. And, I actually quite liked the ending.