Weird Grief

Weird Grief took me a little less than an hour to read. It is a pretty straightforward story that doesn't have any puzzles and very few choices. It is told from the perspective of a person who has lost a friend and must provide comfort for the deceased's partner, as well as find comfort of their own. Much of the story is conversation between a close circle of friends as they deal with grief and try to find ways to help each other through several days of mourning. It did a good job of giving me some sense of how difficult getting through a time like this could be. I found it to be sad yet hopeful, because even though the characters had gone through a tremendous loss, they still had each other and seemed willing to do anything for one another. I especially like the character narrating the story, Juniper; they were the one I was most concerned for. I had some moments of discomfort where I wondered if (Spoiler - click to show)Juniper's self-worth was too closely tied to Roger's needs. On one hand, Juniper seemed to only do what they were comfortable with, but I still got a strange sense that there was an unequal power balance (I understand that this was a difficult time for them both, but especially for Roger, and he may not have been entirely himself; yet, some of the things he said and Juniper's reactions triggered my suspicions. I do believe that the three central characters of Mike, Roger, and Juniper had a relationship whose dynamics I did not entirely understand, and that they only wanted the best for one another. I think I what I am trying to say is that the writing was strong enough that it got me to reflect a lot about this character and kept me apprehensive about their well-being). This game shares characters with another story by the author titled "The Dead Account." I played "Dead Account" first, but afterwards wished I had gotten to "Weird Grief" before reading the companion piece.