Hey there, first post here. Found some pretty interesting VNs browsing this thread, so thanks guys.
And I really enjoyed your writeup on Fata Morgana, Arcus
It is pretty ingenious how the game
This wouldn't have worked this well in any other medium. The punchline on the store page "you could bear them cause they weren't your tragedies" wasn't just for show.
Edit: added a few points I missed
And I really enjoyed your writeup on Fata Morgana, Arcus
It is pretty ingenious how the game
reflects Michel's (and by extension the reader/player's) increasing agency in the story throught its interface.
1)All the character sprites in the first three doors were facing each other, as if we were watching a stage play, subtly creating a sense of detachment.
2)From Door 4 onwards, every sprite now faces the screen. We're no longer mere spectators of a story, but confronting our own past. (Also notice how the game starts glitching out once "Giselle's" portrait came up in Door4 from Michel's POV)
3)The exception being Door 6 and 7, which are the dark, repressed memories of Giselle and Michel that they were trying to distance themselves from; the portraits in Door 7 are straight-up black and white.
4)In the final chapter, the VN employs a JRPG-like textbox+portrait combo at the bottom of the screen since, as you said, Michel (along with the reader) is now a "player" in the story. All characters from the first three doors now have new sprites facing the player.
And I don't think it's a coincidence that the choices/dialogue options in this VN are backloaded in the second half, particularly in the final chapter.
1)All the character sprites in the first three doors were facing each other, as if we were watching a stage play, subtly creating a sense of detachment.
2)From Door 4 onwards, every sprite now faces the screen. We're no longer mere spectators of a story, but confronting our own past. (Also notice how the game starts glitching out once "Giselle's" portrait came up in Door4 from Michel's POV)
3)The exception being Door 6 and 7, which are the dark, repressed memories of Giselle and Michel that they were trying to distance themselves from; the portraits in Door 7 are straight-up black and white.
4)In the final chapter, the VN employs a JRPG-like textbox+portrait combo at the bottom of the screen since, as you said, Michel (along with the reader) is now a "player" in the story. All characters from the first three doors now have new sprites facing the player.
And I don't think it's a coincidence that the choices/dialogue options in this VN are backloaded in the second half, particularly in the final chapter.
This wouldn't have worked this well in any other medium. The punchline on the store page "you could bear them cause they weren't your tragedies" wasn't just for show.
Edit: added a few points I missed
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