This game is cool!
Likewise to someone else, I figured to put different name combos to see if any would stick: Demyan (subsequently Agapon), (All the other seasonal rotters, even though I had doubts if they'd even apply here since the games are meant to be seperated) Spring, Kivu, Snare, Elk... though only one produced a response!
I would say I like the music choice, but someone's already spoken of that too!! So, I wanted to think about what makes this music enrich the environment. Along that, I wanted to think about what the story is going to be about (some speculative theorizing)
I have fed you manes, I have brought you hares.
Cruelty they may say, the people raise deray.
"Come forth and fess! For a priest shall bless!"
Hence beneath sacred hands, all flesh were assessed.
After a short definition search and cross-referencing, I think the first line of this poem is meant to describe the world setting. Although the poem is really really hard to understand (surface-level understanding here!) Some unknown religion preys on appraised/ respected people. Manes are defined as revered dead spirits, or in roman it’s dead spirits who are given sacrifices.
For the second line about hares, I want to first point out a poem by James Stephens called “The Snare” which talks about a rabbit. Hares and rabbits aren’t the same, but I’ll hold my disbelief. The poem is about trying to find a trapped rabbit, but being unable to find where it is by sound alone. In the game and in Stephen’s poem, some individuals are trapped (physically or figuratively) and unable to be found.
The player is kidnapped, but there are no mentions of rescue or aid coming. The demon from the beginning of the game is said to be hiding; figuratively trapped by its affectionate feelings for the player and unable to act on them. Demyan is hiding from strangers/ neighbors who are trying to find him.)
They mirror the dilemma the rabbit is literally in.
For a more likely theory, the hares and The Snare poem could be talking about innocence. The Manes are respected dead people, and likewise the hares are meant to symbolize innocent living people. So together, they’re meant to emphasize that the religion is preying on the good inside people.
^ Maybe this is why Demyan targeted the player. As an outsider to whatever issue Demyan has, they are oblivious/innocent to him.
Visually, I like how the game looks. The dialogue box's right end looks like vines or horns, perhaps of an elk's. The composition for the forest's shot was very well done, as the contrasting lights instantly pull you to look at it (almost like a snare set to capture someone?)
This game is made specifically for Demyan, as his character's color scheme blends harmoniously with the red/pink.
Interesting that everything aside from Demyan is a magenta color, not completely red. This could be an invisible desensitizer for the player to make them comfortable with a supposedly dangerous color (as red stands out as being dangerous). When the environment stops being magenta/ pink, and it's only Demyan's red eyes staring at the player, that desensitization rolls back and allows the audience to feel afraid again.
There's a heavy emphasis on sight, I believe! Demyan's red eyes being the icon of the game, a red eye being the sprite for an unnamed meter, his red glasses to force more focus on his face, the demon entity's wish to see more of the player... there's a lot of attention to finding/ seeing something (This might be related to that The Snare poem!)
There's a couple of cases where there might be a connection, but I'm not perceptive enough to draw a definitive conclusion.
Beneath the flowers, it seeps red.
You don't remember the last time you had the chance to breathe.
The creature wails in anger, he heeds his hands much to wonder.
For all he hears is left to yonder, yet he takes his step to seek the acker.
Demyan, referred to as the creature by the demon entity by the beggining of the game, is angry.
Demyan hears something and seeks to find it. (A possibly third reference to the Snare poem)
After that, the text describes the neighborhood as peaceful (a reference to the game page descritpion.)
It mentions a missing person, possibly a rabbit or hare (aka a innocent person) who is lost and cannot be found (as that would follow the lines of being missing).
The missing case makes the player feel uneasy. Demyan also feels uneasy when kidnapping the player, so there's some similarity in word choice.
I'm pretty tormented by no sleep so my mind wasn't in the right condition to actually piece together a full conclusion from everything /// it's also partly because deciphering meaning to poems aren't my strength, as they can be too wordy for me! I hope that me yelling out random theories signals something in Vivu and that makes them answer questions for me <_< heh hee