itch.io

i played this a few days ago and i kept on putting off saying anything bc, best put, i simply js didn't know what to say? i don't think i cry very often when it comes to games tbh

the writing of the author rlly resonated w me, and maybe it was bc it was very eerily similar to some of personal writing that i keep to myself. i kept rereading the author's posts and as much as he would've hated it, saying i have terrible taste, consider me a fan. the feeling of putting so much worth into what u create. the characters were well written in a way too, they weren't rlly written to be likable but they all served such a big part of the story's purpose. the fan seemed to say my thoughts out loud and how they js seemed to have such intense care for a "stranger," smth that felt so "insignificant" in the midst of all the deaths that happen in the world. i don't want to be forgotten either. the lover/lake's feeling were all so conflicting, and i get it. all those layers of defense. and i js love komi so much!!

 it's an amazingly difficult feat to make one feel seen and heard yet also somewhat naked and exposed at the same time. this level of rawness and authenticity is unmatched.

i think i'll prob come back to this game often (saying this as someone who usually rarely replays games despite loving them) even tho i told myself i prob shouldn't be playing this at some point. 

i'm so glad (and proud) of the bravery it took u to put this type of vulnerability on the internet. i forever wish that every survivor out there finds that hope that seemed to be so barely faint on certain days and then nonexistent on other days, and the strength to overcome the struggles they need to pass to get to that hope. i hope that this game eventually reaches to even more ppl who r in desperate times and need it. giving u a virtual hug xx

this game feels comforting in a way?? idk it punched me way too hard in the gut for smth i found randomly

u can tell this game was the product of much passion and love, and there's so many little details like how in the wallpapers, liz tries to cover up her face (esp her nose) or how on the insta profiles at the end u notice that em and lawson end up a married couple tgt despite them being liz's bsf and crush making the fact they moved on add even more salt to the wound. they js left bc once someone is gone... they're gone. and then lawson's profile also mentions john 3:16 which states: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life," and that's so much more eerie considering liz believed in this cult and then now is stuck, immortalized as her teenage self FOREVER in the other world. there's more small details i was going to mention but forgot abt and then prob even more that i didn't even end up noticing but i'm proud i was able to notice those ones.

and js the feeling of wanting to escape, hating how u look and all those other insecurities, those little things of being a girl, having immigrant parents. and then the idea of how the past only occurs once. everything is so temporary. u can't go back and hold everything close again. we forget to cherish life in fear of that fact. to learn to live and let go is a skill to be proud of <3

in the chats she tells em to drag the music player over the box on the wallpaper so listen to the songs in that order and pay attention to the numbers in the lyrics, if ur still stuck spoiler below

if ur still stuck: 7436

u should go to the fountains, look at the symbol at the bottom and click on the buttons that make up that symbol (do this in order for all the symbols at the bottom), the way the liquid falls from the fountain it should make the shape of a letter (so each symbol represents a letter). then once u figured out the whole word go back to "a simulation a fever dream or both" and click on the same letters in order to form the word

if u still can't figure out, then spoilers for what the letters to click below

the word is "forever"

1) for getting in to the computer it's her dog's name then the yr she was born (hint: she wasn't born in 2000, that was when the wallpaper photo was taken so her 8th bday)

2) if ur talking abt the zip files then in the chats she tells em to drag the music player over the box on the wallpaper so listen to the songs in that order and pay attention to the numbers in the lyrics, if ur still stuck spoiler below

if ur still stuck: 1) Scotty1992 2) 7436