willow blossoms

I liked this game, but it feels kind of wrong “reviewing” it. It feels autobiographical, but more than that it feels confessional, like a diary. It doesn’t feel like something for general consumption.

Description of the main plot: (Spoiler - click to show) the story is about a teenager who just graduated high school. She had recently made a suicide attempt which left her hospitalized, and caused her to miss her graduation and prom. So her two best friends give her something like a prom, with just the three of them. Overall, it’s a rather uplifting story, as far as "twines about mental illness" go. It’s a story about recovery, of moving on from a traumatic moment. The dialogue all feels pretty well-realized; some meta moments almost make it seem like they're copied from the author's own conversations.

In terms of interactivity, well, for the most part the story acts as a kinetic novel. Links usually act as pacing mechanisms. There are a few moments of choice, but I don’t think there are any downstream consequences. Using choice mechanics to represent mental illness is a common trend in twine, and it’s occasionally done here as well. I'm not a fan of how the screen flickers when clicking on a link, but that's a common twine issue.

The story builds its mood through its musical choices, provided as youtube links. The musical choices are kind of... twee, I guess? Is that the right word? But it’s dangerously similar to my own tastes so I enjoyed it. Actually, the previous sentence sort of applies to my experience of the story as a whole.