A Hint of Purple
released on May 25, 2023
A short visual novel about queer love and art. Follow Maya, a once-celebrated painter now paralyzed, as she struggles to accept her new reality and its effects on her relationship. Argue with your Prefrontal Cortex, insult an art critic, befriend the elderly.
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Living trapped in your own body, always wondering what the incentive is to keep moving forward, even with nothing very hopeful happening other than the prayers of those who love you well, even though you are oblivious to everything and everyone and even yourself, you continue to believe in that hope which serves as a palliative between pain and death,
but you are doing well, living, trying, striving. You've already won and your prize is tomorrow, congratulations.
but you are doing well, living, trying, striving. You've already won and your prize is tomorrow, congratulations.
Don't mind me, I'm just bawling my eyes out over the squeak of a toy...
Captivating... no... rather, terrifyingly captivating, yes, I think that's the better term, the one I'd use to describe A Hint of Purple. Such a profoundly personal and deeply saddening tale that grabbed and didn’t let me go until the very last words was said, and one that in spite of its brevity manages to say so much and making some really smart decisions in the process.
One thing is to take player interactivity, the thing that characterizes the videogame medium as a whole, and use it against the player itself to make feel powerless, and another thing is to extrapolate it to this setting, this terrible and terrifying situation to be in, one in which it you cannot move nor speak, being at the mercy of those around you and the memories of the past, haunting you in your dreams, which is at least better than the coldness of nothingness. It doesn’t matter what you say or choose to express, nobody knows it and nobody can react. Not even the void pays mind to your words. It puts you in the shoes of Maya, it makes you feel the same pain and anguish without fully really knowing her, and it makes you value the little snippets of the outside beyond the hospital room, to value getting to see a new beautifully painted new portrait, and getting to know that person whether it’s through memories or revelations; but also fearing when seeing something inhumane, barely distinguishable, to abstract to be familiar. There’s only one voice who can hear you and to whom you can tall back, but it’s not a really amicable correspondence, and it merely exist to remarks Maya’s struggles and insecurity, to torture her even more in this nightmare. It’s all beautifully narrated, all wonderfully shown to the point of uncomfortably; Maya is a prisoner of her own body, and you are too, and your hopes of improvement is only met with coldness.
Is between those moments of anguish, those small interactions with Kai and their own struggles, and the flashbacks that showcase more of them two and their relationship, that gives meaning to the unfinished portraits and explores Maya’s character even more, those moments are what make A Hint of Purple so special as much as the oppressive nature of everything surrounding it. The anxiety and calmness take turns with one another, or maybe it would be more correct to say that they dance with one another, sometimes blending, and is in those explorations of pain, of fear and self-discovery in which the humanity is seen, where the voice is quite and there’s only room for smiling or tearing up, maybe even both at the same time. Nobody really wins in this story, and some struggles go unheard for everyone but you, some characters not even getting the beginning of being heard of that they yearn for; but it’s a story about changing, about the pass, about the present, about hearing and seeing, a story of love and art indeed, but for ones self as well as for others.
Even in the final moments of the game, even with Maya gets a moment of respite despite all, nothing truly ends. Life moves on, and the last inkling of information we get is that hopefully, for the better. Curious, isn’t it? In a game in which you can’t really do anything or even be heard, the connection you can feel with it is enormous.
Beautiful in every way, and the amazing collection of tracks doesn’t do anything but help its case even more; a look into a sad reality, one that feels both afar and close, one that I don’t feel ashamed of tearing up over it.
Captivating... no... rather, terrifyingly captivating, yes, I think that's the better term, the one I'd use to describe A Hint of Purple. Such a profoundly personal and deeply saddening tale that grabbed and didn’t let me go until the very last words was said, and one that in spite of its brevity manages to say so much and making some really smart decisions in the process.
One thing is to take player interactivity, the thing that characterizes the videogame medium as a whole, and use it against the player itself to make feel powerless, and another thing is to extrapolate it to this setting, this terrible and terrifying situation to be in, one in which it you cannot move nor speak, being at the mercy of those around you and the memories of the past, haunting you in your dreams, which is at least better than the coldness of nothingness. It doesn’t matter what you say or choose to express, nobody knows it and nobody can react. Not even the void pays mind to your words. It puts you in the shoes of Maya, it makes you feel the same pain and anguish without fully really knowing her, and it makes you value the little snippets of the outside beyond the hospital room, to value getting to see a new beautifully painted new portrait, and getting to know that person whether it’s through memories or revelations; but also fearing when seeing something inhumane, barely distinguishable, to abstract to be familiar. There’s only one voice who can hear you and to whom you can tall back, but it’s not a really amicable correspondence, and it merely exist to remarks Maya’s struggles and insecurity, to torture her even more in this nightmare. It’s all beautifully narrated, all wonderfully shown to the point of uncomfortably; Maya is a prisoner of her own body, and you are too, and your hopes of improvement is only met with coldness.
Is between those moments of anguish, those small interactions with Kai and their own struggles, and the flashbacks that showcase more of them two and their relationship, that gives meaning to the unfinished portraits and explores Maya’s character even more, those moments are what make A Hint of Purple so special as much as the oppressive nature of everything surrounding it. The anxiety and calmness take turns with one another, or maybe it would be more correct to say that they dance with one another, sometimes blending, and is in those explorations of pain, of fear and self-discovery in which the humanity is seen, where the voice is quite and there’s only room for smiling or tearing up, maybe even both at the same time. Nobody really wins in this story, and some struggles go unheard for everyone but you, some characters not even getting the beginning of being heard of that they yearn for; but it’s a story about changing, about the pass, about the present, about hearing and seeing, a story of love and art indeed, but for ones self as well as for others.
Even in the final moments of the game, even with Maya gets a moment of respite despite all, nothing truly ends. Life moves on, and the last inkling of information we get is that hopefully, for the better. Curious, isn’t it? In a game in which you can’t really do anything or even be heard, the connection you can feel with it is enormous.
Beautiful in every way, and the amazing collection of tracks doesn’t do anything but help its case even more; a look into a sad reality, one that feels both afar and close, one that I don’t feel ashamed of tearing up over it.
I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through. Completely invested and holding out hope like you wouldn't believe. I guess there was some catharsis in the end, although I've felt it happened at a rather miscellaneous time... I can see the merit, life at its finest.
It's nuts how much engagement one can feel about a game spelling out for you that nothing you'll do matters. But still feels interactive. That's one of its merits as a work in the video game medium, for that I'm glad to set this rating so high despite the lack of...content. The UI being so similar to Disco Elysium is not the best or worst thing, I like the style and you should too!
It's nuts how much engagement one can feel about a game spelling out for you that nothing you'll do matters. But still feels interactive. That's one of its merits as a work in the video game medium, for that I'm glad to set this rating so high despite the lack of...content. The UI being so similar to Disco Elysium is not the best or worst thing, I like the style and you should too!
Really great for what it is trying to be, and explores some really interesting topics while being visually appealing and having generally well-written characters.
My only issue with it is that the idea of not listening to partners and loved ones, a topic I think is very important and needs more exploration of this kind, is kind of handwaved. Maya basically flips a switch and simply decided to listen to people from now on, and her issues are solved. I think this could've been expanded on by having the prefrontal cortex continue to be self-depricating, and put it at the feet of the audience to "filter" those comments out and select the dialogue option which shows you are actively trying to listen to the other person. Maya is clearly dealing with a lot of self-hatred and zoning out, and issues like these are not fixed overnight. They require constant effort from Maya's side.
Besides that critique, I have little to complain about. Interested to see how Dormin's writing and art style translate over into their upcoming game "Locator"!
My only issue with it is that the idea of not listening to partners and loved ones, a topic I think is very important and needs more exploration of this kind, is kind of handwaved. Maya basically flips a switch and simply decided to listen to people from now on, and her issues are solved. I think this could've been expanded on by having the prefrontal cortex continue to be self-depricating, and put it at the feet of the audience to "filter" those comments out and select the dialogue option which shows you are actively trying to listen to the other person. Maya is clearly dealing with a lot of self-hatred and zoning out, and issues like these are not fixed overnight. They require constant effort from Maya's side.
Besides that critique, I have little to complain about. Interested to see how Dormin's writing and art style translate over into their upcoming game "Locator"!
This game puts you in pretty much the most horrifying position I can imagine; being unable to interact with the world.
For its relatively short runtime (took me 30 minutes), the game deals with a lot of interesting issues. While it doesn't end up having anything groundbreaking, I think the overall premise as well as the writing are worth checking out
For its relatively short runtime (took me 30 minutes), the game deals with a lot of interesting issues. While it doesn't end up having anything groundbreaking, I think the overall premise as well as the writing are worth checking out
I'll post here the same thing I said on steam:
Taking into account how often videogames tend to be bloated, "content filled"messes that serve to their audience the same purpose that a set of dangling keys serves to a baby; and how they reduce narrative and dramaturgy, the main pillars of basically any other art, as a barely coherent glue to try to hold said mess together, it feels good when one can play a game that offers not only an unique approach to storytelling, but also a narratively satisfying one, without having to sink a hundred hours on it.
Taking into account how often videogames tend to be bloated, "content filled"messes that serve to their audience the same purpose that a set of dangling keys serves to a baby; and how they reduce narrative and dramaturgy, the main pillars of basically any other art, as a barely coherent glue to try to hold said mess together, it feels good when one can play a game that offers not only an unique approach to storytelling, but also a narratively satisfying one, without having to sink a hundred hours on it.