Spring Gothic by Prof. Lily, Kastel, Lacunova, Nitori, Noelle
Playtime: 58 minutes
This made me want to talk about:
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I was glad that I had at least some control over the text-advance speed. (I chose fast.) I also like that there’s a back button—sometimes in text-advance style games something on page 8 makes me realize I want to re-read page 6 and it was nice to have the option to do so easily.
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Interesting visual design—I was mildly frustrated on the initial pages, thinking “I want a clear view of the character portrait, but it’s blocked by text and this gray box!” and then when I got such a view at the end of the chapter, it occurred to me that it may have been intentionally withheld.
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Very of the moment (refers to Donald Trump as president and his policies)
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Nica and Chun were both very well sketched, incredibly realistic characters, chock-full of idiosyncratic beliefs, insecurities, etc. At times it was almost painful to me how realistic I found them (one reaction that I have sometimes is a feeling of discomfort when playing/reading something where the characters feel extremely realistic but are also expressing views / doing things that I find inimical—which happened frequently!–I think probably akin to how some people feel strong secondhand embarrassment during media).
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There was an interesting push/pull in the way I identified with Nica and Chun—on the one hand, being closely in their perspective and wanting them to have good things and find happiness, on the other hand a recurrent feeling of “oh, the kids are not alright” (around, e.g., serious problems expressing boundaries, communicating about relationships, unrealistic / unhealthy / not shared expectations for relationships)
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most horror beat in a non-horror game: the horror of living in a gated community with your parents without access to a car
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there is a real fascination in seeing the interactions from both sides (and in some pretty subtle ways, e.g., Chun is a lot more concerned with money than Nica [perhaps fitting with the fact that Nica’s parents seem loaded?]
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I felt a real sense of recognition when they went back into VR, it’s definitely the case that different media affect how we communicate, and there are some types of conversation that are much more likely to happen in IM, text, or email.
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I was a bit surprised as what a high % of the game occurred in basically “real time” (i.e., every action described, dialogue presented directly, as opposed to presenting things in summary). At times this was gripping, and it helped with giving a view of the exact same events in the alternating POV sections, but it also dragged at times when I was less interested
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Made me look up the referenced Sophie Lewis essay (although in perhaps an interesting example of indirect characterization, I didn’t get the sense from the in-character summary that the essay was funny, but it is very funny!).
Notable line:
My one fervent wish:
I would have liked something to do! This is very much at the “visual novel” end of the spectrum, and I didn’t feel super engaged as a player (other than in the ways I engage with static fiction) and would have appreciated the chance to interact.
Overall, a very specific exploration of two characters with a real feeling of verisimilitude and rootedness in the current time. May create feelings of second-hand discomfort?