Melanie

I'm not very good with words so please, bear with me as I try to express myself.

The very beginning of the game had me feeling anger and frustration for how abysmal contemporary civilization is and it made me apprehensive of where the game is going. Then, when the next phase of the game shows the Twilight Realm and then there is, standing in stark contrast, Melanie with a lightness to her, I was very intrigued and wondered if there was going to be more depth to the game than I dared to wish for.

And, to my surprised delight, there was so much more.

I'm attempting to avoid going into too much detail so as not to reveal spoilers. I'll probably fail for how strongly I like this game and have a drive to say lots about it; alas, I can but try to rein myself in...

I guess the most important thing I want to convey is how great the game is from the writing to the art (character & background) to making such great use of the simplicity of the standard visual novel gameplay design and how they all come together to tell an incredibly well thought-out and executed story that has so many layers to it. Layers which are camouflaged behind the obvious.

DoubleH did a phenomenal job exploring very important concepts both overtly on the surface, and with more subtlety when one steps one's view of the game back from the up-close perspective of keyboard clacking player to a more distanced perspective of thinking about the work as a whole (the meta-level, I guess is what I'm getting at). It is more than just a story; it's a very significant analysis of culture and what it values and how it comes to both scapegoat people through labeling them using baked-in and hateful hypocrisy stemming from accepting social moors which originated from patriarchy and institutionalized discrimination as spheres of control and domination, and drives people to be on the outside and why; as the game also shows, in glorious art & design, and through the very limited but extremely poignant for it's lack of choice and options gameplay, the effect all of this has on the human psyche while also being a commentary on the futility of all expected (and socially acceptable) choices leading in a circle to the same horrible outcomes. Essentially making the point that 'playing the game' is a futile, enervating, soul-sucking, and destructive path to walk (or in game terms, choice to make) yet we are all (mostly) stuck within the constraints of this framework.

All the elements of the game come together so well to tell the story so beautifully even with the subject matter being complex and emotionally & psychologically more difficult. The themes aren't presented in too much depth nor with much detail and it doesn't get gruesome nor linger on a too oft employed fetishistic level detail, rather it uses the Twilight Realm as the vehicle to bypass that so players can absorb it at whatever level of depth they can/want. And that is incredibly amazing storytelling since it mirrors how society "knows" yet refuses to know the dark underpinnings of how it goes about choking and slowly decaying itself as it perpetually sacrifices it's individual members to keep writhing in it's slow apoplectic death as it takes down everything else with it.

The Twilight Realm is such a brilliant way to represent human civilization, human consciousness, and the individual landscape of the human psyche in one. How they all touch upon each other, affect each other, are dependent on each other. Being unable to escape when one holds onto believing in the system and those who are stuck within it playing their parts; repeating the patterns, the act of trusting the questionable stranger rather than assuming he's lying, trying to help... all of these elements weave so many layers of intersecting levels of depth showing how from the individual to the global civilization we are trapped within, playing by the set rules, having faith, trying to do what is good when it's upholding the system all lead to a continuation of the cycle.

I truly believe this game is a masterwork for it's subtlety and depth. For how brilliantly the gameplay becomes a part of the story telling, for the character art telling it's own story of what lurks behind the characters; especially the contrast of the showy Jester vs the cardigan wearing Melanie and the ninja-esque Faith. It's brilliant.

You have pulled together, and within the game jam restraints to boot! such an amazing game. I cannot heap enough praise upon it and you. There is a lot more which should be said about this game, especially if one delves into more detail and philosophizes, but I'll spare y'all my going on about it.

Thank you for sharing this game. I am especially grateful it's free. This is one of those rare gems where things came together so incredibly well and it tells a compelling multi-layered and deep story which seems simple on the surface. Extremely well done!