YMMV / Road 96

• Anvilicious: Totalitarianism only flourishes when the people aren't willing to stand up against it, either via democracy when it's still possible or revolution when that option is taken away.
• Awesome Music: The game boasts an eclectic and very listenable soundtrack, featuring everything from tense techno, metal and breezy folk music.
  • "On The Road", AKA Zoe's Leitmotif. A very chill and very catchy folk tune extoling the good parts about wandering the roads of Petria.
  • "The Brothers", theme of Stan and Mitch. A bumping, bass heavy bit of club music that will have you bopping your head.
  • "Home Call" is a haunting techno track that suits a roadtrip along Petrea's scenic, albeit lonely desert road towards the border.
• Base-Breaking Character: Zoe is either a likeable character who isn't afraid to stand up against tyranny, or is seen as The Load who causes problems in all of her appearances.
• Better as a Let's Play: The huge variety of events in the story and unexpected reactions to choices, which can even include the player's arrest or death, makes this a fun game to watch others play once you've finished experiencing it yourself.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: While 99% of the game is a grounded story with no fantastical elements, three encounters along the road take a bit of a left turn.
  • "Living La Vida Loca". If one looks out the window at night, the story takes a wild swerve into a full on ghost story.
  • "More Than Words". Walking through a tunnel, the hitcher is sidetracked on spotting what appear to be two ghosts, discovering the story of their love and eventual separation.
  • "You're The Inspiration". What starts as an average encounter with Sonya turns into a full blown Mushroom Samba, complete with an out of nowhere rhythm game.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • The smuggler who takes the hitcher across the border is demanding and will quickly bail on you if you don't cough up the dough - in the worst case scenario, it's possible for her to take $135 from the hitcher, despite the initial cost being $50. As such it can be somewhat satisfying to see her get killed by the border patrol while you and another teen escape.
  • Once you've learned more about Robert Winters and his use of children to fight against Tyrak, seeing that Jarod managed to grab him in the end feels like just desserts.
• Complete Monster: President Tyrak runs Petria with an iron fist and is willing to go any length to keep it that way. Having anyone who opposes him killed or arrested for treason, Tyrak bribes the police to arrest and lock up runaway teenagers who are trying to escape the country, keeping them locked in facilities where they are relentlessly beaten, and then transferred to the pits where they are likely to be killed. Tyrak also has his guards beat up and gas any protesters who support his opponent in the presidential race. During the climax, it is revealed that 10 years prior to the events of the game, Tyrak was the cause of the rockfall which killed numerous innocent people. When rioters breach the border security, Tyrak gives the security full authority to open fire and kill said rioters. In the endings where Tyrak wins the election, he makes the country of Petria even more oppressive and controlling.
• Genius Bonus: John's Affectionate Nickname for Fanny is 'Mama Bear', which is CB slang for a female police officer.
• Spoiled by the Format: Each episode ends with the hitchhikers attempting to cross the border, with helping Zoe being a one-time alternative, and after using one it is permanently closed. When the menu indicates that the latest episode will be the final one, with there being no more screens after it, it makes sense that the final hitcher to reach Road 96 will be captured as it's closest to Election Day.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Fanny falls into this. In a game full of interesting and likeable characters with unique perspectives, Fanny is intended to be seen as the most normal and down-to-earth of the cast, being a Token Good Cop working for a corrupt government and systems that protect that corruption. However, encounters where she's arresting runaway teenagers despite being the mother of a runaway herself, forcing a teenager to take part in a high speed car chase against the Black Brigades, and pulling her gun out in a crowded bus (and possibly firing a shot into the roof if her stress level is high enough) make her seem less like the Reasonable Authority Figure she's intended to be and more of a hypocrite who protects the corrupt system than she claims to dislike. The fact that she can potentially kill John, arguable the most likeable and popular character of the game, doesn't win her any points either.