This review contains spoilers
I read a review a couple days ago that described this game as "wordy." And that is most certainly true, a dictionary and thesaurus should be on hand at any given moment when playing this game. But somehow, through all the pretentious French pronunciations and political jargon, the most effective lines in this game for me, were some of the most simple.
In a sort of flashback-dream sequence, the protagonist of our detective story; Harry, faces his ex-wife frozen in time, like he has probably done a million times before the events of the story. Her bags are packed and she is still as beautiful as the day she left. The glow of a video-rental store backlights her familiar figure, but she is anything but familiar.
She has long since let go. He's a distant memory to her, but she is still his whole life. She is thriving. He is dying. Harry is picking up scraps looking for anything she might still feel for him. Nothing. Their fates are already decided.
"...you have to be alone -- in hell, forever. That's just the way it is."
It cuts through you like a hot knife. An affirmation you always wished for but never wanted to hear, not from her.
If you choose, it gets to the point where he is practically begging to try again. If what we had was so beautiful, what does it matter how many times we try? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind style. But she has long since made her decision. In her words:
"You get sad, Harry. Too sad. People can't get that sad. It's impossible to watch... Other people get sad too, but not like you, you stay down for too long."
It's like you've swallowed a bowling ball. You felt that one. Oh god, is that how people think of me? Is that how I think of myself? Is that what's wrong with me? It's in your throat now, like a frog trying to leap out. Is it true? Am I meant to be in hell forever?
And then you meet the phasmid, and everything makes just as much sense as it doesn't.
It's not easy to find media that describes feelings like this so effortlessly. It's almost embarrassing how much of myself I found in this game, how many times I would read a line that felt an x-ray diagnosis of my very being.
It's very possible that you play this game and don't feel a damn thing. But... if you get it, you get it.
In a sort of flashback-dream sequence, the protagonist of our detective story; Harry, faces his ex-wife frozen in time, like he has probably done a million times before the events of the story. Her bags are packed and she is still as beautiful as the day she left. The glow of a video-rental store backlights her familiar figure, but she is anything but familiar.
She has long since let go. He's a distant memory to her, but she is still his whole life. She is thriving. He is dying. Harry is picking up scraps looking for anything she might still feel for him. Nothing. Their fates are already decided.
"...you have to be alone -- in hell, forever. That's just the way it is."
It cuts through you like a hot knife. An affirmation you always wished for but never wanted to hear, not from her.
If you choose, it gets to the point where he is practically begging to try again. If what we had was so beautiful, what does it matter how many times we try? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind style. But she has long since made her decision. In her words:
"You get sad, Harry. Too sad. People can't get that sad. It's impossible to watch... Other people get sad too, but not like you, you stay down for too long."
It's like you've swallowed a bowling ball. You felt that one. Oh god, is that how people think of me? Is that how I think of myself? Is that what's wrong with me? It's in your throat now, like a frog trying to leap out. Is it true? Am I meant to be in hell forever?
And then you meet the phasmid, and everything makes just as much sense as it doesn't.
It's not easy to find media that describes feelings like this so effortlessly. It's almost embarrassing how much of myself I found in this game, how many times I would read a line that felt an x-ray diagnosis of my very being.
It's very possible that you play this game and don't feel a damn thing. But... if you get it, you get it.