59 | DELIQUESCENCE
59 | DELIQUESCENCE
by: Not-Only But-Also Riley
Progress:
- I played through a few different times, spending around 15 minutes on this one.
Things I Appreciated:
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One of the more disturbing things about the game is the hidden real-time timer that seems to dictate when she dies. I’ve become accustomed to taking as much time as I need to consider my options in a choice-based game, but here, the abruptness of the menu opening and immediately closing because time is up is disconcerting. It’s worse the more you play it, because it emphasizes the inevitability of the melting. You are trying to think of anything else to do within that time that would make a difference, knowing that you have to at least pick something from the many unappealing options or else just wait it out while offering no comfort at all beyond your presence.
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There’s something cruelly realistic about the sliver of the hope the piece creates. It isn’t lying to you. It is, as they say, exactly what it says on the tin. But in the context of a form often used for games, and with front matter that says that there’s five different endings, isn’t there a part of you that’s like, maybe there’s something I can actually do to prevent this? As if you’re going to have a breakthrough and solve The Melting Issue™ with something in your immediate vicinity in the next 90 seconds or however long it is. But no, nothing (as far as I found) will prevent it from proceeding at that awkward speed: you wish it was either faster so she would have to suffer less, or slower so there was time to do anything substantive. It’s essentially a grief horror simulator that will feel familiar to anyone who has lost a loved one (especially to a longer term illness like this).
Feedback/Recommendations/Questions:
- The main thing I wonder about is the complexity of the menu given the amount of time you have to do or say anything. On one hand, I could see this being meant to create an emotional response where you are aware of the clock and overwhelmed by the options. But on the other, I found it more distracting to try and navigate the layers of the menu looking for the type of thing I wanted to say (I wanted to make a comment about melting witch in The Wizard of Oz to see if that made her laugh at least) where realistically, I would just say whatever morbid or cursed thought crossed my mind.
What I learned about IF writing/game design:
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This was a thematic use of a real-time time limit with a hidden timer, which isn’t too common. For a short piece with a clear sense of purpose, it worked really well.
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For a short piece, this gives ample opportunity to provide a density of flavor text. I found that there were kind of a lot of different disturbing ways that you could see/hear the melting take place based on the descriptions. Had this not be developed as much, it would’ve made the piece feel a lot flatter given the likelihood of multiple playthroughs.
Quote:
- “She has been a solid and your friend for a long time.”
Lasting Memorable Moment:
- This might be a weird one, but I found the moving liquid in the title screen mesmerizing in a kind of disturbing way. It’s so rhythmic as to almost be peaceful, but reflects something much more sinister. I would often stop just to look at it and think about its ceaseless gentle sloshing.