Post by Aural in The Perfect Woman comments

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I love the game<3<3<3<3

The gameplay is perfect; you quickly understand that for Yumeko to survive, you simply have to pretend to be what the "Doctor" wants from her.

But it's incredibly stressful and tiring to listen to his misogynistic monologues, and even more so to lie to him...

More than once, I told the truth despite the consequences because I couldn't stand him, just for the game only cruelly reminds you of the vulnerable position Yumeko is in, and how, at the moment, she simply has no options.

Each ending charmed me in its own way, because they all made me feel something (^///^)

I'm not going to lie. My favorite is "Woman" because it felt incredibly cathartic that Yumeko found the strength to free herself and make that man pay a bit for what he made her suffer (Call me cruel, but what Yumeko did to him is much less cruel than what he's been doing to her all this time...), and I really liked how of the three endings, it is the only one that makes it clear that Yumeko has become a real girl, because it is the only one who no longer has to pretend to be something she is not ; )

The others hurt me because they were painfully realistic...

They really make you understand how a "Doctor" can make you feel so powerless that you only stay with him because you no longer feel strong enough to live on your own.

At least you have a place you recognize by his side, one with rules you know and have already settled into...

How his words and actions have robbed you of the strength that made you "you"...

No victim of abuse is born that way; they are molded, either by circumstances, society, or spending too much time with a "Doctor" without outside support.

These two endings, especially the "Statue" one, are a sad reminder of how abuse can turn a person into something completely opposite of what they were, and it hurts even more to understand why they don't go away...

The narrator voices felt like friends helping Yumeko in her jail<3

I truly applaud you for such a magnificent game. You've wonderfully explained the horror of abuse and how a misogynistic environment affects everyone.

You even made it clear that the "Doctor" was, in some ways, a victim of toxic masculinity, without making his actions justifiable.

I'll be following your projects closely from now on<3<3<3<3

Chattercap271 days ago(+2)

OH GOSH you're too kind 😭😭😭 Thank you so much for the kind words 🥹

I'm really glad that you liked the conceit of the gameplay 😭 It was interesting hearing how different people played - and how quickly people "understood" what I was going for 😂 Some people understood at the very first choice, and some people stood their ground multiple times - hoping for a different result. I talked about it with some dev friends of mine and we theorized that it was related to how comfortable/safe people feel in speaking their mind based on their IRL experiences, though I suppose I'll never know for sure 🤔

😂 AND LOL honestly I was worried that people might find the game too frustrating to play because of the Doctor's rambling 😂 it is part of the intended experience, but... I'm glad that a lot of people played through the whole game regardless LMAO

And I'm so glad 🥹 I have a very soft spot for that ending as well! As much as I like angst, I always want to leave the player with a hopeful feeling rather than despair. But I admit that it's not the most realistic one, as you mentioned 😅 Your analysis captured my intent with the game pretty much perfectly - to convey how being stuck in a toxic situation can slowly rob you of your sense of self until you're molded until whatever you abuser wants you to be (which I thought was a very fitting theme for a "Pygmalion/Galatea" game!)

(AWW I'M GLAD that the narrators felt like Yumeko's friends - when I was writing their dialogue I always envisioned the narrators as Yumeko's older friends or aunties, giving her advice 😂)

Gosh I can't express how thankful I am for your thougtful comment and for taking the time to play 😭 I hope that my future works don't disappoint!

Aural271 days ago(+2)

Personally, I think each ending is realistic in its own way.

Woman: Metaphor that she manages to cut ties with the "Doctor," that he doesn't let her isolate her, and that she manages to move forward in her life by overcoming that trauma. I take this as a reminder that there are survivors who have managed to overcome their "doctors" and move on as free women (Or men).

Wife: I take this as a representation of women who are defined by their circumstances or society, who, in their eyes, truly have no other alternatives and have already grown accustomed to the "doctor's" cage and know the rules to be in his good graces, so despite being unhappy, they stay with him.

Statue: For this, I use it in the most extreme cases (Physical and psychological violence is a common norm in their relationship), where the victim has been completely isolated, and they truly have no means of help, be it friends, family, or even society. Unlike the Wife ending, they don't even have the option to stay out of fear or survival, since they literally have no choice as statues...

(I'd even theorize that this ending represents the murdered victims, although I might be overthinking it.)

My point is not that I think one ending is more "realistic" than another. I simply believe that each one represents, in some way, the fate of abuse victims. Therefore, the Woman ending is my favorite. But we definitely need to be reminded that Wife and Statue are also real things that happens, and we need to have our guard up, whether for our own safety or to help someone who is in a bad situation.

(And the VAs really sold me on the idea that the narration voices were Yuemko's allies, and the representation of her family and close friends<3)

((By the way, in my case, I have a lot of experience with psychological horror games, where the protagonist is in a vulnerable position, and you have to use your intelligence instead of your strength to survive, in this case your emotional intelligence...))

Chattercap240 days ago(+2)

OHH your analysis is very interesting, and honestly incredibly on point 🤔 Of course I try to leave my games up to interpretation, so there is no "correct answer" (especially with a game like this, where the intent is both literal and metaphorical), but you really did capture what I wanted to convey with each ending - how a person might feel trapped in such a situation, and how they might end up - being completely "erased" by the abuse that they face (the Statue), surviving the situation the best they can (the Wife), or somehow freeing themselves (the Woman). Honestly you phrased it better than I could 😂 and I'm really glad it came across!

(And you're very right, the Statue ending is meant to be a sort of "death," both reflecting "the death of the person you used to be before being trapped in such a relationship" and literal death from victims of domestic violence. I'm not a terribly big fan of really graphic depictions of abuse that seem focused on horrifying the audience through sheer shock, so one of my goals with this project was to convey the feeling of physical abuse without the use of blood or gore 😂 Hopefully I managed to convey that a bit!)

And that's very true! I meant to say that it was "unrealistic" if you interpret the ending very literally (Yumeko being able to physically overpower the Doctor in order to escape). On a metaphorical level, you did get my intention exactly correct - I wanted to convey that it's possible to escape these situations, even if it's difficult. Of course these situations are messier and more complicated than I depicted here, and oftentimes you do need support to get out of them (so I'm very glad that it seemed like the narration gave off the impression of representing Yumeko's "allies"!)

(OHH that makes a lot of sense indeed... Honestly I am curious what I would have chosen if I hadn't made the thing 😂 since I wrote it I would like to think I would have chosen correctly, but at the same time I'm not sure if I have that much faith in my emotional intelligence LOL)

itch.io

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