Spoiler Alert!
First entry I’m reading, might be a lil rusty. Also, the rating is based on the English copy of the entry, and I highly recommend people read the original Chinese version (it’s just that I can’t speak Chinese)
The first thing, and also probably the best thing about this entry is the vibes. When I’ve read through it, I feel what the story wanted me to feel. Alden’s introspection, “the story”, and the same repeated notes make me feel like I’m going insane at one point (especially since one of the problems is that it’s so hard to reach an ending). The various amounts of easter eggs add a good amount of depth and meta-ish feel to the story, but sometimes is a bit overdone.
Implementation of Theme: Folklore, in essence, is a story. And in this entry, it is represented through many ways. “The story” (or “The narrative”, I’m not sure), is a character, and it (through Cael) spread folklore to others. “Transmission”, as the story called it. Within each character, there is story, and then there is folklore, which is an idealized version of said story. In one of the endings, we’ve learned that “The story” reshaped Alden’s memory to an idealized version, possibly also representing the idea that as stories spread, the individual behind it is forgotten. The author’s notes, in contrast, try to make the reader remember the individual behind the story, of the version that is more “human”. I wholly believe that without folklore, the story couldn’t be what it is now.
Story: With that said, the story felt like it tried to cram too much into a limited word count. There is an implication that Cael was from a different world, and got thrown here by a “threshold” of sorts. Furthermore, within the files, it has a faint mention of an experiment or something like that, but none of that was mentioned within the game, and it is also unclear if this is before or after the plot of the story. At the same time, there is also the subplot of Alden’s mom having Alzheimer’s, which he kept returning to. Some of these points are integral to the story, and some just create more confusion and is unneeded. Also, a few lines on the subsequent playthroughs also don’t make a lot of sense, and it felt like “The story” is trying to break the fourth wall and speak to the reader. The title lines in the main menu also tried to convey something, but it feels like sometimes it’s the story speaking and sometimes it’s the author himself speaking. Overall, there are too many plot points to cram and it’s sometimes quite confusing which one is which.
Presentation: I thought it was unique and that it’s very cool. And as said before, the vibes are still immaculate. But I cannot stress enough the amount of runs I had to do to get the endings. After the first playthrough I had a vague idea of how to get the endings but it took me 10+ runs to actually get them all. From the 5th run, it felt like I’ve seen everything but the ending sequence, so what was shown became a chore to skip more than something that requires attention. That begs the question: If your other endings are as hard to get as the “hidden ending”, wouldn’t that mean all other endings (except ending C) are hidden endings? In the entry, you have to pick a very specific set of choices to even get endings A and B. There were no clear hints as to what the choices actually are, just a feeling of the direction (doesn’t help that some choices don’t affect anything except making it harder for me to guess lol). The variations in the quotes and lines doesn’t help much either, as sometimes it hits but often it misleads (or maybe my understanding of the quote is wrong). Regarding the assets used, it is a bit barebones: ie. the ringing of the bells was presented to be important, but there was seemingly no audio; the same forest background (with a tiny bit variation) was used even when the scene is supposed to change (they cuddle in a treehole or sth). Overall, it’s…alright. Not too great, at least I do love what it got going for it.
Writing: There are some highlights to the writing, especially in the ending scenes. What was depicted was really beautiful and is a very rewarding read with how crazy the requirements for some of these endings are. However, the writing for most of its run time felt flat out confusing, Alden and Cael contradicting themselves sometimes, and way too much usage of emphasis (ie: Not this, but this; Just…; etc). As a result, what needed to feel impactful was diluted and what could be read in passing had unnecessary attention paid to it. Also, even though I can somewhat see the constant referring back to Alden’s mother as him trying to keep her alive in his mind, it is not presented in a way that makes the reader feel that way and it just feels repetitive to me. On the first playthrough, the story constantly made me feel like I’m missing something, but everything ended pretty simply. It feels to me like the story implied and try to make you see multiple layers of meaning, but never expounded on it (or the answer is unrewarding). For example: the mention of bells, the folklore about bells and the bible verses combined made me think of protection, but then it seemed like the ringing of the bell meant that the infection was spreading further (I think?). And in the end, it’s just answered with “someone gave it to me.”. Overall, its has its highs and its lows, but probably better than average (idk this is my first entry)
Creativity: The functions and easter eggs of the game (at least, some of it) was really unexpected. Some of it just doesn’t work tho, like the line changes depending on the ending (Apparently there is one line for each ending, but after the first ending (C) it kept displaying the line for ending C). The idea itself was hauntingly beautiful, and “the story” being a character itself in a sense is also a good plot point. Regardless, it was an unexpectedly enjoyable and creative entry, looking forward to see more from you!
P.S I have become Alden so can Cael become mine <3
Rating: 5-4-3-3-5