itch.io

this game is difficult for me to talk about but i want to find the words anyway because i ended up really liking it. this game was upsetting and painful, but i like that. i found it both relatable in a very real way but also less relatable in others. still i took those parts that aren't relatable to me and handled them with empathy. art that is challenging is important, for many reasons but especially for taking in other perspectives that could or will conflict with your own and so i enjoyed it for that especially.

it's hard to talk about without going too in depth about my own experiences. my mother never did anything as bad to me but she was still cruel to me in ways that were often very subtle and i still ended up developing feelings for her despite that, feelings that i still hold now. the depiction of that attraction, of wanting to please your mother, of wanting to save her, even of the mother encouraging that behavior was all very cathartic to read written out like this. i think that i have come to a better understanding of my own relationship through reading this work.

something i am still ruminating on is your depiction of plurality. i related to this less but i do think that is natural between plural experiences, as these sorts of things aren't set in stone and are highly variable from person to person. additionally i have found the depiction of plurality a difficult thing to undertake for many. i think you did well, it not being totally clear working well with how unclear it is for the characters themselves. at least in my case i didn't catch on to what was happening until later within the work, which feels consistent with how plurality often develops unnoticed before becoming more apparent later in life.

the letters in particular are probably my favorite part of the game as a whole, and i made sure to finish reading them all before leaving a comment. i found them a good look into your thoughts while writing, putting much of the story into context and clicking into place the last remaining pieces in my understanding. they are personal and messy and conflicting and indicative of the sort of emotional state that comes from undertaking a project like this. i think their inclusion isn't just insightful but necessary.

i have more thoughts but i would rather not get into them in a public space for how much they relate to my own experiences.

thank you for writing this,

~plushie

really well done, using the medium to it's full advantage. love all of the spritework. what especially stood out to me was the sound design. all of the music is really fun and the sounds the characters make while talking are full of character. excellent work, and very impressive that it was made for gameboy.

~plushprey

Hiii!!! Hihihihhiiiiii!!! 

Opening on Fio's prayer as a child had me hooked from the jump. I enjoyed how you struck a good sense of clarity even while jumping around so much in time. In the present, Fioretta is depicted as this ruthlessly efficient girl in contrast to the absentee Apollo, and in the past we get a younger, more vulnerable Fio, and also we have an Apollo who's settled in herself and her profession and knows what she's doing, capable of coolly carrying out a premeditated murder. The way we see the shadow of her cast onto Fio in the present is delicious. Fioretta is such a cool character with a really strong introduction, and I'm really interested by her murky role in the narrative. 

The mythological connections are so evocative, and Apollo's line, "I played with fire so long it made me fireproof," called to mind the theft of fire by Prometheus, in much the same way she steals young Fioretta. I really enjoy the clashing elements of the down-to-earth dirty business with the mafia, and the way it contrasts with a lot of the high-minded religiosity. 

Looking forward to the way things develop in the full version!! Let me know when it's out!!! Specifically!!!! Tell me all about it!!!!!!!!! 

~Pendulumgraph

I am like obsessed obsessed obsessed with these two and their world. From the very first lines there is this very poetic vibe—rhythmic, almost melodic. The meter really establishes this sense of physicality—of neurons firing, of blood pumping—underscored by so many turns of phrase that I can’t even pick favorites.

I love the Warden, love how foreign she seems through Jocasta's eyes. Her omnipotence over Jocasta, to the signs of her own vulnerabilities. And Jocasta's narration, frenetic/chaotic and numb/sedate all at once as she meanders through the tangled haze of her memory. Drinking, no doubt to cope with her life, and claiming power over someone so much smaller so that she can feel some semblance of it —but she never had any power in that moment at all.

This VN has simply made me so insane. I have committed crimes of the heart and mind thinking a lot about the Warden's tongue. If there's anywhere else I can see more of your art let me know!!!

~Pendulumgraph

oghh,,, this one is miserable (positive <3), the way in which everyone is terrible to each other is wonderful, i like that no one here is a good person. watching kayleigh slowly push robin into doing what she wants is tense, and robin's inner monologue throughout is really fun. well done!

-plushprey

Bwaaahhh thank you! Their loneliness, or rather their alienation, is a really key part in why things end up coming apart the way they do; and their blackness is a really important part of that. Thank you for playing, and I'm glad you enjoyed!! 

~Pendulumgraph

thank you!! a lot of thought was put into their loneliness and pendulumgraph's art played a huge part of conveying that, it really made the visual novel what it is. i'm glad you found it impactful! their oppressions is something i felt very important to depict and a lot of care was put into depicting it.

~plushprey

Ooh I reaaally liked My Friend Snowy! I love how miserable it is, prescient in a way that is really good. The way that capitalism and imperialism are marching predictably on but Danica doesn't comment on any of it since she's too busy with escapism in the cartoons she liked when she was a kid. I love and hate the way Snowy just makes Danica worse by affirming her worst behavior, a sort of long-term look at AI psychosis... The way she hasn't "developed" much since being a child. Really really good!!

~pendulumgraph

thank you for all the kind words!! we're really happy you enjoyed it so much! We put our heart and soul into it so we're really happy it resonated! worked hard on the music, first time doing it in years so i'm glad you found it impactful ^w^ 

~plushprey 

This comment is so so so lovely... I keep reading it and rereading it and kicking my feet sososo cutestyle like a little school girl. Thank you so much! I am so unbelievably proud of Plushie for its work on Letty. It wouldn't be a fraction of what it is without it and its music, I think it pairs really well with the high-contrast artstyle. In my other work, I tend to write in a way that isn't fitting for the inner thoughts of a little girl, but Plushie thought it really fit. It added a lot weight to Letty's thoughts, and so I'm glad that those sorts of lines stood out in a good way! 

~Pendulumgraph

there's literally a .sh script in the folder, run ./hole.sh in your terminal

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!!