Number of Reviews: 3
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Deeply moving game with deeply flawed implementation, November 24, 2023This game is based on the emotional true story of the author's mother having deep dementia, causing her to lash out at those around her.
I can't even imagine what that would be like. When I was young, I lived with my great-grandmother in her 90s who had dementia, but she was rarely violent, just forgetful, sometimes thinking she was a little girl, and only occasionally lashing out. I remember it being scary as a kid, but she seemed nice. Now, as an adult, thinking of that for my parents, and much more violent, is terrifying.
As a game, the mechanics are simple. You explore the world around you, which is hostile, and you try to get rid of that which is causing you pain.
I immediately came in planning on giving a score of 5 just from the opening scenes, and despite the typos and the difficulty with implementation, I thought of keeping it there. But I had more and more problems interacting with the game; many commands repeat text that doesn't make sense; many commands return nothing at all, especially when the darkness covers the door. I tried to find a guide, but everyone's comments only talked about the story, so I had to decompile it to find what to do.
In a way, the difficulties with typing commands can simulate the frustration and unfamiliarity of dementia, but I don't think it was intentional.
Storywise, of course the game deserves a really high rating, but this author is of such a high caliber I think that she would prefer a rating that reflects the whole experience (but feel free to message me if I'm wrong, author!). I think this game could be helpful to others in the future who have similar experiences, and smoothing out a couple of the bugs could enhance their experience.