I spend about 2 months – on and off – playing this game. I find it really difficult commenting on LD. I contributed music to the game and I befriended Snek. So, I’m not coming from a neutral place >.< Regarding the story tho … It was clear from the get go, that the story and its characters would be wildly outside of my own experience.
And this is what makes it so difficult to comment on for me. I really wanted to be into the story as others described – instead I found myself disagreeing a lot with the characters. I simply lack the experience in a lot of places. It was like getting shown a different (tragic and difficult) world.
What made this read easier to wrap my head around, was writing kinda live reactions to Snek, and using the scenes as conversations starters. I found that between all the grime in the story there were always moments of wisdom and care. Also: The writing is hella good. It is funny how much of Snek’s “voice” is shining through in these dialogs. I snickered at a lot of the narrators remarks. And, the use of the multiple text boxes was simply outstanding. It really created a cinematic feel in some cases and skillfully overwhelmed me in others. There were mayne more instances were she used the interface to great effect.
I loved Blood Machine’s art work. This digital drawing-over-an-existing-painting/photograph-style was really cool.
I’m enthralled by how skillful Snek picks and uses music. The music came from three people composing directly for the game and a range of licenced / CC songs. And they still feel super cohesive and fit each scene so well.
Some closing words for this comment ^_^ : Those girls are neither in a good nor stable place. But, I think LD shows that despite everything life goes on, and it is worth sticking through, because there is tangible hope for things and people to improve.