What's the story of this game?

[feige110qq]

I don't understand the ending

[Vahnkiljoy]

I do wish they had elaborated more on what happened to her, it was a fun game but I felt wanting for a 'why or what happened' afterwards.

[D:ricegon]

I think the game indicates that the protagonist had an mental illness in many ways?

Like how the first act is literally a hospital, the yellow subtitle guy keep telling her to breathe

[OldCaptainWZJ]

I believe the game is about the mental process of the protagonist overcoming her "fear of light" (this can mean many things, like fear of spotlights, or something else) under a therapy. The whole game feels like a therapy, the man voice sounds like a therapist, a room that looks like a therapy room shows up repeatedly in the first act of the game which is literally a hospital, the sections are called "sessions" and the game's world is often dream-like and everchanging, depending on the mental state of the protagonist(s).

[Fayreewings]

I gathered that she probably suffers from schizophrenia... she's seemingly paranoid and (possibly) has a multiple personality disorder. I think the her fear of the light reflects a fear of being judged, as is mentioned in Act 3, I believe whereas her alternate persona (the shadow) is afraid of the dark. I think that aspect reflects a fear of being forgotten, having no direction or maybe even being afraid of failure. Or maybe all of the above. The male voice is for sure a psych doctor. I have to admit that when they, "light" and "shadow" starting arguing, she lost the doctors voice. Her inner conflict kept her from hearing the doctor trying to guide her. That was a nice touch.

I totally agree on wishing the end was a bit... MORE.

[darkspiderx]

I think this game is about having autism. There's several clues:

1. The puzzle piece collectible. That specific style of puzzle pieces is a well known symbol of autism awareness. Google it, it looks just like the puzzle piece symbol in the game. As for why it transforms into an origami bird, I'm not sure but I'm guessing it symbolizes how the girl is trying to find peace with her autism. I think those origami birds typically represent peace.

2. The girl's shadow is referring to the concept of having a "shadow self". Your shadow self is generally your negative personality and traits that you try to hide from showing people. But with autistic people, they have problems socializing with people in general, so their real autistic personality ends up becoming their shadow self that they're scared to show people. This sucks for autistic people because they want to show their real personality but they have trouble doing that.

3. The girl is afraid of the light because the light reveals her to people. Autistic people are generally treated badly in society and they're judged badly for being bad at socializing with people. The girl is afraid of this judgement and is thus afraid of the light.

4. The girl's shadow self seems older because there's a trend for autistic children to seem and act older than their peers. As the autistic child grows up into an adult, they seem more childlike compared to their adult peers. The mature sounding shadow self could actually represent both of these concepts: Either an autistic child that's wise beyond her years or an adult trapped in the exterior of an "childlike adult"

5. The game is about the girl trying to accept her shadow self....her autism. A traumatic event happens at a tree swing that causes her to have a nervous breakdown and require therapy. Its implied that she was with a group of kids and she did something "autistic" which caused her to be bullied. The tree swing could also just represent her childhood in general and how she was traumatized by it due to her autistic difficulties.

Throughout the game, the girl is learning to work with her shadow self, her autism, to navigate the challenges of life. Her therapist chimes in every once in awhile to coach her through. Sometimes the girl and her shadow self bicker, and that symbolizes how autistic people try to hide and distance themselves from their autism, but that inevitably leads to pain and misery.

I'm pretty sure that each act theme relates to specific challenges that autistic people face. But I would have to play the game again to truly analyze it. But off the top of my head, the circus theme relates to the chaos autistic people endure in their inner lives.

6. The biggest clue for me is the last act of the game. The girl's shadow has to learn to use puppets in order to enter the light, while the girl herself still can't enter the light. The puppets represent the autistic concept of "masking". Masking is when an autistic person manually "performs" certain social mannerisms in order to fit in with the average person. Its exactly like actors playing a part in a play, except that its real life. If an autistic person is bad at acting like an average person, then they get picked on for being awkward...so they have to learn how to act like an average person well enough.

So the girl's shadow self...her true personality, has to use the puppets in order to walk in the light and not have the light hurt her. Or in other words, the girl has to learn how to act like a regular person in order to fit in with people and not be judged badly by them (remember, the light represents people watching her and judging her, like a spotlight). This is also why the final act takes place on a stage...it represents how the girl has to become like an actor to fit in.

Once the girl's shadow self learns to fully control the puppet and "act" like a regular person...that's when her shadow self finally merges with her real body. It symbolizes that the girl gains the confidence to showcase her shadow self...her autistic personality, to the world and she's no longer afraid of people's judgement.

So yea, that's all the clues I picked up on that this game represents autism. I could be wrong and this game might just represent having a mental disorder in general. But I'm pretty certain the devs had autism in mind

[lauracocagne]

To me, it represented the challenge to grow up and leave his childhood behind. The fact that the "real girl" talks in a childish way, how the world she evolves in is at first something colorful, with games, plushies and imaginary friends, to places more menacing to the child, being afraid to know others and prefering to stay in her world. The shadow is more mature, talking like an adult and wanting to face her problems. And when the voice said "you need to leave her behind", it's like someone telling her to leave her childhood behing, represented by the little girl.

That's my interpretation, of course. I find the ending really cool, because it let eveyone have their own interpretation of it.

[Mono832]

yeah it was strange. Kinda sounded like the girl just gets possessed by her shadow. But it was a good game. And the music was great

[Astro]

Both the child and the shadow overcome their differences working together in the game and become one. The child this time looks different in their moves, more badass that is the shadow personality.They walk by the swing and now they didn´t care.. just pass by, the swing could be a problem they solve in the therapy journey.

[Holzkerbe]

Originally posted by darkspiderx:

I think this game is about having autism. There's several clues:

1. The puzzle piece collectible. That specific style of puzzle pieces is a well known symbol of autism awareness. Google it, it looks just like the puzzle piece symbol in the game. As for why it transforms into an origami bird, I'm not sure but I'm guessing it symbolizes how the girl is trying to find peace with her autism. I think those origami birds typically represent peace.

2. The girl's shadow is referring to the concept of having a "shadow self". Your shadow self is generally your negative personality and traits that you try to hide from showing people. But with autistic people, they have problems socializing with people in general, so their real autistic personality ends up becoming their shadow self that they're scared to show people. This sucks for autistic people because they want to show their real personality but they have trouble doing that.

3. The girl is afraid of the light because the light reveals her to people. Autistic people are generally treated badly in society and they're judged badly for being bad at socializing with people. The girl is afraid of this judgement and is thus afraid of the light.

4. The girl's shadow self seems older because there's a trend for autistic children to seem and act older than their peers. As the autistic child grows up into an adult, they seem more childlike compared to their adult peers. The mature sounding shadow self could actually represent both of these concepts: Either an autistic child that's wise beyond her years or an adult trapped in the exterior of an "childlike adult"

5. The game is about the girl trying to accept her shadow self....her autism. A traumatic event happens at a tree swing that causes her to have a nervous breakdown and require therapy. Its implied that she was with a group of kids and she did something "autistic" which caused her to be bullied. The tree swing could also just represent her childhood in general and how she was traumatized by it due to her autistic difficulties.

Throughout the game, the girl is learning to work with her shadow self, her autism, to navigate the challenges of life. Her therapist chimes in every once in awhile to coach her through. Sometimes the girl and her shadow self bicker, and that symbolizes how autistic people try to hide and distance themselves from their autism, but that inevitably leads to pain and misery.

I'm pretty sure that each act theme relates to specific challenges that autistic people face. But I would have to play the game again to truly analyze it. But off the top of my head, the circus theme relates to the chaos autistic people endure in their inner lives.

6. The biggest clue for me is the last act of the game. The girl's shadow has to learn to use puppets in order to enter the light, while the girl herself still can't enter the light. The puppets represent the autistic concept of "masking". Masking is when an autistic person manually "performs" certain social mannerisms in order to fit in with the average person. Its exactly like actors playing a part in a play, except that its real life. If an autistic person is bad at acting like an average person, then they get picked on for being awkward...so they have to learn how to act like an average person well enough.

So the girl's shadow self...her true personality, has to use the puppets in order to walk in the light and not have the light hurt her. Or in other words, the girl has to learn how to act like a regular person in order to fit in with people and not be judged badly by them (remember, the light represents people watching her and judging her, like a spotlight). This is also why the final act takes place on a stage...it represents how the girl has to become like an actor to fit in.

Once the girl's shadow self learns to fully control the puppet and "act" like a regular person...that's when her shadow self finally merges with her real body. It symbolizes that the girl gains the confidence to showcase her shadow self...her autistic personality, to the world and she's no longer afraid of people's judgement.

So yea, that's all the clues I picked up on that this game represents autism. I could be wrong and this game might just represent having a mental disorder in general. But I'm pretty certain the devs had autism in mind

That's an impressive take on it and it absolutely makes sense! Thanks and just got an Steam Award for it. Well deserved

[Katty Nat]

I'm honestly taken by the autism + trauma theory. Hard to argue against that when you think about the last act (which is where the game lost me). My mind tries to counter by wondering where the obsessive focus is... it's probably somewhere in all her books she wanted to go back to, but they're not academic since she didn't remember what she learned.
Origami being a passion would also fit the bill.

Personally I ended up feeling like I was dealing with a clash of myself and the lover-I'm-still-in-contact-with-but-it-didn't-quite-work-out (no points for figuring out why).
But then it felt like it was the arguments I have in my own head.
Felt a very *very* strong parallel with (quiet) BPD, but that perception didn't quite feel like it fit in the last act. There's a lot of trying to "just be normal" involved there, too, but didn't quite fit without the autism.

Yay games that possibly identify with my brain and make me fall apart from too much self reflection.

[76561199435453692]

Originally posted by Astro:

Both the child and the shadow overcome their differences working together in the game and become one. The child this time looks different in their moves, more badass that is the shadow personality. They walk by the swing and now they didn´t care.. just pass by, the swing could be a problem they solve in the therapy journey.

I completely saw it from this perspective as well. Having been to a psych hospital before, I did have the sudden realization there that your darkness was not a battle to fight or be won, but rather, to surrender to in order to embrace yourself fully. Not letting your darkness defeat you, but finding a way to work with it instead of against it. Ever seen the music video "Now" by Paramore?? It's just like that! I also really loved how Hannah Murray was the voice, I could tell right away and went to be sure. She's got such a unique and lovely voice!

[vainglory]

Originally posted by darkspiderx:

I think this game is about having autism. There's several clues:

1. The puzzle piece collectible. That specific style of puzzle pieces is a well known symbol of autism awareness. Google it, it looks just like the puzzle piece symbol in the game. As for why it transforms into an origami bird, I'm not sure but I'm guessing it symbolizes how the girl is trying to find peace with her autism. I think those origami birds typically represent peace.

This is incorrect. The puzzle piece symbol is used by non-autistic people and organizations that like to speak over actual autistic people (e.g. autism speaks, which is considered a hate group by many autistic people), and is hated by many autistic people as a result. It plays into bigoted stereotypes of autistic people as puzzles to be solved, which is part of a long line of negative stereotyping of autistic people, similar to how we're often depicted as being like computers, or even outright alien. The symbol autistic people use for ourselves is the rainbow infinity symbol, which represents autism being a form of neurodiversity - an equal but different way of interacting with the world, as opposed to a thing to be fixed by others.

That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if this game *is* trying to depict autism, albeit very, very poorly, as the writers clearly are not particularly well versed in mental health. The therapist is as bad as I've ever seen depicted in a piece of media outside of maybe horror. You do not get someone to accept themselves by constantly putting the blame on them and telling them to 'just try harder' - if anything that kind of treatment is what makes autistic people mask in the first place. Though it is worth nothing that this sort of 'therapy' is in line with ABA, a form of conversion therapy (literally, it was pioneered by the founder of gay conversion therapy) which teaches autistic people to ignore their own needs and boundaries and mask so as to appear normal. The end goal is not the welfare of autistic people so much as it is making it easier for other people to deal with them. The therapist's behavior is in line with this - at no point does he ask how the girl feels; his therapy is a constant stream of "you should" this and "you should" that. Good therapists do not tell you what to do - they listen to you, help you re-examine your thoughts, and offer suggestions. This therapist, on the other hand, comes from the position that he knows what is best for the girl, without fail - her feelings are irrelevant. It's the behavior of a person trying to fix a broken *thing* - and autistic people are all too used to being treated like *things*.

Even the game can't seem to decide whether or not this therapist is decent or not - *both* selves agree that he's pushy and negative, only for the shadow self to keep concluding he's in the right. Her dialogue supports the idea of this treatment being a form of ABA - "I'm afraid she won't forgive me. Do you think she'll understand?" - as well as multiple comments about her taking charge, and leaving her regular self behind. The fact that the light girl goes from begging to not be forgotten to simply repeating what the shadow self says, if even that, supports this idea of domination and being supplanted. The constant repetition of "we need to try harder" and talking about "acting it out" supports that the result of the therapy was not some kind of inner peace, but rather, simply, masking. You seem to view masking as a positive thing, but it is anything but. It is a trauma response. It is the result of autistic people realizing that we are viewed as fundamentally abnormal and inappropriate. Masking does not lead to the confidence to "show off one's autistic personality" - it is the result of losing that confidence.

So if anything, if we're going with an autistic interpretation, the light girl is the 'autistic' self, and the game is about curing her and releasing the 'normal' shadow self who is being suppressed because the light self is afraid of the real world. You can make a valid argument that autistic people tend to act mature for their age as children, however this is just another form of masking. The shadow self does not display *any* autistic traits whatsoever - the introversion, trouble with social cues, obsession with toys, and general anxiety about going outside are all present in the light self. The shadow self masks not because she is the girl's autism, but because she is everything but - for the entire game, she has wanted to go outside; she has been pushing the light self past her boundaries. The shadow self *is* masking. She is a false persona created specifically to suppress the girl's autistic traits which are framed as weakness. There is nothing to suggest that there is a peaceful transition - all we get is sorrow from the point of the light self, and regret as to hurting / abandoning her from the shadow self, and then nothing. The light self gives up and is subservient to the shadow self, and only the shadow self's desires matter past that point. There is no more talk of books, or staying inside, or anything else; just leaving and going outside, which has only ever been the shadow's desire. Hell, the reversing of power dynamics is one of the primary themes of the game - at first, the shadow is constantly following the light self and dependent on her. And then, at the end, the light self is dependent on the shadow, and has no agency whatsoever - in fact, she is *completely useless*. The shadow self is able to not only navigate her 2D spaces, but is also able to navigate 3D spaces and do everything that the light self can do without the constraint of not being able to go into the light. And the levels are deliberately designed to make this even more severe. The fact that the shadow self is completely subservient to the therapist, who has, again, treated her more like a broken thing than a person, is just further proof that she is not any sort of true personality - she is masking personified. She has accepted that her autism is inherently weak and repulsive, and that it is something that needs to be suppressed and shunned. As she says, "I will look like them. Act like them. Become them." She no longer needs her autistic personality, because she has embraced being a falsehood.

And then the girl is forced into the light, terrified, and lies there, completely motionless, almost as if she is dead, only for the shadow to possess her body the same way she possessed the lifeless puppets before that It is a strange world indeed where this is seen as a happy, tranquil ending, and not borderline horrific. If this is, indeed, a story about autism, then perhaps the puzzle piece was a good choice for it. Because it is abut autistic people as a problem to fix, and not about autistic people as human beings.

Of course, the game doesn't necessarily represent autism. If it represents mental illness in general, you could make a stronger case for it, as mental illness does tend to be more broadly negative as opposed to just a fundamentally different way of perceiving and interacting with the world. However, the same problems with the godawful, manipulative therapist remain, and frankly, there is not a mentally ill person on this earth who hasn't been told that they need to try harder enough times in their life. All in all, it is an artsy game that has a lot of flare and an interesting way to tell a story, however, the story itself is hindered by the fact that it is very obviously written by somebody who has never experienced mental illness or neurodivergency except as an outsider, resulting in a very typical "I hope those poor, broken mentally ills can get the help they need :((" piece of inspiration porn that any neurodivergent person has seen a thousand times before.

[Neoviper]

I believe you're onto something pandora. I also found the other/therapist character extremely offputting, and would concur that the increasing cooperation with him as the game goes on represents a move towards self-suppression. It seems somewhat explicitly stated that the "real" girl is a memory, so perhaps it's simply meant to be about moving on from trauma? If that was the point, I'd say it was very clumsily conveyed. Alternately, they may even have intended to show the ending as disturbing and negative if you look beyond the surface. Very hard to say for sure, and doubtful there'll ever be a clear answer given.

[FvZj]

Originally posted by vainglory:

Originally posted by darkspiderx:

I think this game is about having autism. There's several clues:

1. The puzzle piece collectible. That specific style of puzzle pieces is a well known symbol of autism awareness. Google it, it looks just like the puzzle piece symbol in the game. As for why it transforms into an origami bird, I'm not sure but I'm guessing it symbolizes how the girl is trying to find peace with her autism. I think those origami birds typically represent peace.

This is incorrect. The puzzle piece symbol is used by non-autistic people and organizations that like to speak over actual autistic people (e.g. autism speaks, which is considered a hate group by many autistic people), and is hated by many autistic people as a result. It plays into bigoted stereotypes of autistic people as puzzles to be solved, which is part of a long line of negative stereotyping of autistic people, similar to how we're often depicted as being like computers, or even outright alien. The symbol autistic people use for ourselves is the rainbow infinity symbol, which represents autism being a form of neurodiversity - an equal but different way of interacting with the world, as opposed to a thing to be fixed by others.

That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if this game *is* trying to depict autism, albeit very, very poorly, as the writers clearly are not particularly well versed in mental health. The therapist is as bad as I've ever seen depicted in a piece of media outside of maybe horror. You do not get someone to accept themselves by constantly putting the blame on them and telling them to 'just try harder' - if anything that kind of treatment is what makes autistic people mask in the first place. Though it is worth nothing that this sort of 'therapy' is in line with ABA, a form of conversion therapy (literally, it was pioneered by the founder of gay conversion therapy) which teaches autistic people to ignore their own needs and boundaries and mask so as to appear normal. The end goal is not the welfare of autistic people so much as it is making it easier for other people to deal with them. The therapist's behavior is in line with this - at no point does he ask how the girl feels; his therapy is a constant stream of "you should" this and "you should" that. Good therapists do not tell you what to do - they listen to you, help you re-examine your thoughts, and offer suggestions. This therapist, on the other hand, comes from the position that he knows what is best for the girl, without fail - her feelings are irrelevant. It's the behavior of a person trying to fix a broken *thing* - and autistic people are all too used to being treated like *things*.

Even the game can't seem to decide whether or not this therapist is decent or not - *both* selves agree that he's pushy and negative, only for the shadow self to keep concluding he's in the right. Her dialogue supports the idea of this treatment being a form of ABA - "I'm afraid she won't forgive me. Do you think she'll understand?" - as well as multiple comments about her taking charge, and leaving her regular self behind. The fact that the light girl goes from begging to not be forgotten to simply repeating what the shadow self says, if even that, supports this idea of domination and being supplanted. The constant repetition of "we need to try harder" and talking about "acting it out" supports that the result of the therapy was not some kind of inner peace, but rather, simply, masking. You seem to view masking as a positive thing, but it is anything but. It is a trauma response. It is the result of autistic people realizing that we are viewed as fundamentally abnormal and inappropriate. Masking does not lead to the confidence to "show off one's autistic personality" - it is the result of losing that confidence.

So if anything, if we're going with an autistic interpretation, the light girl is the 'autistic' self, and the game is about curing her and releasing the 'normal' shadow self who is being suppressed because the light self is afraid of the real world. You can make a valid argument that autistic people tend to act mature for their age as children, however this is just another form of masking. The shadow self does not display *any* autistic traits whatsoever - the introversion, trouble with social cues, obsession with toys, and general anxiety about going outside are all present in the light self. The shadow self masks not because she is the girl's autism, but because she is everything but - for the entire game, she has wanted to go outside; she has been pushing the light self past her boundaries. The shadow self *is* masking. She is a false persona created specifically to suppress the girl's autistic traits which are framed as weakness. There is nothing to suggest that there is a peaceful transition - all we get is sorrow from the point of the light self, and regret as to hurting / abandoning her from the shadow self, and then nothing. The light self gives up and is subservient to the shadow self, and only the shadow self's desires matter past that point. There is no more talk of books, or staying inside, or anything else; just leaving and going outside, which has only ever been the shadow's desire. Hell, the reversing of power dynamics is one of the primary themes of the game - at first, the shadow is constantly following the light self and dependent on her. And then, at the end, the light self is dependent on the shadow, and has no agency whatsoever - in fact, she is *completely useless*. The shadow self is able to not only navigate her 2D spaces, but is also able to navigate 3D spaces and do everything that the light self can do without the constraint of not being able to go into the light. And the levels are deliberately designed to make this even more severe. The fact that the shadow self is completely subservient to the therapist, who has, again, treated her more like a broken thing than a person, is just further proof that she is not any sort of true personality - she is masking personified. She has accepted that her autism is inherently weak and repulsive, and that it is something that needs to be suppressed and shunned. As she says, "I will look like them. Act like them. Become them." She no longer needs her autistic personality, because she has embraced being a falsehood.

And then the girl is forced into the light, terrified, and lies there, completely motionless, almost as if she is dead, only for the shadow to possess her body the same way she possessed the lifeless puppets before that It is a strange world indeed where this is seen as a happy, tranquil ending, and not borderline horrific. If this is, indeed, a story about autism, then perhaps the puzzle piece was a good choice for it. Because it is abut autistic people as a problem to fix, and not about autistic people as human beings.

Of course, the game doesn't necessarily represent autism. If it represents mental illness in general, you could make a stronger case for it, as mental illness does tend to be more broadly negative as opposed to just a fundamentally different way of perceiving and interacting with the world. However, the same problems with the godawful, manipulative therapist remain, and frankly, there is not a mentally ill person on this earth who hasn't been told that they need to try harder enough times in their life. All in all, it is an artsy game that has a lot of flare and an interesting way to tell a story, however, the story itself is hindered by the fact that it is very obviously written by somebody who has never experienced mental illness or neurodivergency except as an outsider, resulting in a very typical "I hope those poor, broken mentally ills can get the help they need :((" piece of inspiration porn that any neurodivergent person has seen a thousand times before.

BUADAMPİŞİRMİŞAMINAKOYAYIM ama keşke TL;DR koysaydın be usta

[GarudaKali]

Originally posted by lauracocagne:

To me, it represented the challenge to grow up and leave his childhood behind. The fact that the "real girl" talks in a childish way, how the world she evolves in is at first something colorful, with games, plushies and imaginary friends, to places more menacing to the child, being afraid to know others and prefering to stay in her world. The shadow is more mature, talking like an adult and wanting to face her problems. And when the voice said "you need to leave her behind", it's like someone telling her to leave her childhood behing, represented by the little girl.

That's my interpretation, of course. I find the ending really cool, because it let eveyone have their own interpretation of it.

I have the same conclusion, dont forget about change of shadow voice. In later part of the game its vibe is more mature, and child some sort of puberty...
Acceptance od grown up... (ending where she give up on the swing)