I love Dead Plate, Married in Red and Elevator Hitch, and now Rot in Paradise is another banger of a game by Studio Investigrave. Man I LOVE THE CHARACTER DESIGNS SO MUCH, especially my guy Ryan. The story is short but really well written, and the horror elements are... disturbing. Even the endings are so ambiguous that it left me really shaken up.I probably won't be going to the ocean anytime soon XD
Can't believe I played this so early! It was a great game, short but good, although the art could've been a bit better when compared to Rachels other games, but I rate it a solid 8/10!
as someone who feels kinda left behind by a lot of people this hits (not that i was really left behind, it was moreso that we drifted apart and now im here, still a bit stuck again. slowly moving on though)
all around excellent game. excellent visuals, music (one song in particular really stood out to me, the one that plays at the bar at night), the story is very classic short story vibes (i'm not sure what people are being left confused about...?), the character designs are awesome (@ june ily.i'm with you re:the dames! and i have a bit of a crush on you also), etc. etc. etc.
there is a typo during the segment where you're exploring and weird things are happening, don't remember exactly where, i think it might be the buffet?: "conscious" is misspelled. also using the keyboard for 90% of the game and then having to grab the mouse for the map is kind of awkward, but it's also quite true that coding it so you can select your destination via keyboard as well in rpgmaker would be time consuming and perhaps not worth the resources for a jam game especially, so it's very understandable, just something i noticed.
so yeah anyways this game deserves the high praise it's been receiving :) yay!
On a literal in-universe level? No idea, besides the base level "people are being driven towards it in a state of madness" thing (i did think of "her" as being the ocean (or i guess an entity within it but that distinction doesn't really matter imo) (which i think is kind of fun because of the whole deal where historically the ocean has been gendered like that (similarly to boats))).
I think the reason I wasn't left confused/maybe unsatisfied was that I just don't really care to know exactly what events are taking place, especially because from, like, June's perspective, she has no idea what's going on either, and that adds to the horror of it, like "hey what's happening why are these people who i know and love acting like this!?" Like a short story, which is kind of what this is, just in video game format. Then I can try and wrap my head around what I think is happening on a more thematic/figurative/allegorical level (still working on that one, but I have enough to go off of that I don't feel let down) which is the part I just generally care more about in fiction. It's a balancing situation where if more is explained, it gets less scary, which is bad for a horror game, and maybe it doesn't work as well as a vehicle for whatever themes the author is trying to communicate, but also the audience is left hanging on some points that they'd maybe really rather not be. I don't know. word vomit reply. tldr i'm as unsure as everyone else on some key points i'm just coming from a different angle i guess which makes me fine with it (and both ways are fine obviously etc. and my previous comment was maybe a little misworded lol)
I appreciate the response. Although I don't need a full grasp of the horror elements of the game (as you said, knowing everything would diminish the horror) I find it difficult to be scared at all when there is so little to go off of. Say like with zombie shit, that shit scared the FUCK out of me, and its due to the infectious nature of it. At first I thought this was going down a similar route, but June, our player character and therefore audience insert, is seemingly unnaffected, which separates me from the whole horror of being infected. Now obviously homegirls who go into the ocean die from at the very least drowning, but the reasoning why, if hinted at, could add to the horror or depravity in my eyes. Was it all for nothing? A revenge plot by the sea herself, as if, like in the novel Solaris, it was a living breathing being? I think I completely agree with you about knowledge and horror, and that knowing too much certainly diminishes the tension of the scary media, but I also think knowing too little can do that too, and that's how I feel about this game hah. Sorry this is a lot lolz, didn't expect to get so into it, but for me at least, this has been a pretty interesting conversation haha!
looks like this game has its own original soundtrack, which hasn't been released that i know of as of yet, though it looks like it'll be up relatively soon. the composer (listed in the game description) tweeted out track names , and my best guess is that it's probably "Drown Me Deep (feat. Brubs)" though of course we'll find out for sure when the soundtrack drops ^_^ looking forward to it!
in the meantime you can listen to it via the game's files (/www/audio/bgm)
I absolutely love this!!! A horror with mystery??? Tragedy??? Death??? Yesssssssssss
The story might be confusing to some, but I do enjoy this kind of thing~! The sound design were bopping and terrifying! And the characterssss yesssss love them <3
I love the cute artstyle, and I really like this style of horror. Murder and stuff makes me sad, but returning to the deeps is more properly spooky to me. (And it's where we belong!!!)
Awesome game!!! Loved the art and the story, it was great!! One small question though, I can't seem to delete the game off of my PC. I normally download games and delete them afterwards to save space, but every time I go to delete it.. file explorer stops responding and my PC crashes. Any tips on how to delete it? I've tried dragging and dropping into the trash bin and pressing shift+delete and they don't work.
Really nice game! The art, the story, and the music are perfect! Though I’m still a little bit confused about the story, especially the ending. Was still nice to play it!
Art and character's are good but story so rush that leave many unanswered questions. I feel like I play the story doesn't have main part and only have prologue and epilogue. Hope this is just a demo and will get developed
I played through both endings. I'm going to write something more in depth later, but this is most obviously about eating disorders. I'm almost certain it's about THAT 2010s internet thing.(also why is there no WASD..)
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE GAME, so maybe don't read if you haven't played it for yourself yet.
hi :) this comment is all over the place so i apologise in advance xD i want to give you my thoughts on the game so far.
game's size is really bugging me. it seems that unused assets- both from rpg maker and your past games- take up nearly half of it. would be nice if it could be dealt with in the future. outline on the mc's sprite (specifically the head) flickers from light brown to black when you go between walking and standing in place. some text barely fits into the message window (no right border padding). for me the map was not very informative- while it does it's job (fast travel, or, uh, just travel since there's only one place where you can switch between screens by walking), it didn't really stitch those different places together for me. i didn't get the picture of what the island is supposed to look like. interacting (Z) with stuff felt unintuitive and clumsy. i didn't know what i could interact with, sometimes pressing Z didn't do anything (i think this has to do with walking/running at the same time), and a few times i missed the hitbox by moving too far right. mix this all together, and you end up with a not-so-pleasant experience. maybe adding highlights around the items/people you can interact with that shows when you are getting close to them or some sort of an indicator would be nice.
story felt very short, and we didn't really get to know any of the characters. mc's friends (excluding Ryan) seem dismissive about things that concern her, and i can't tell for sure whether it's because of whatever is going on on that island or because they're a 'bad company'. mc seems confused about why they are like this. we actually don't know how long they've known each other and thus can't tell if this behaviour is unusual or they are just dicks. or maybe they are just really tired or spooked out and just want to enjoy their vacation? there are some possibilities to explore.
i guess the whole thing was about how people sometimes suddenly change for the worse. you don't know why and you cannot do anything about it (the waves push mc back when she reaches forward). so you either leave, feeling confused and maybe betrayed, or end up harming yourself by sticking to them, fearing that leaving is the wrong choice (in one scene mc questions herself to ryan, what if she's the one who is weird?). i don't know how eating metal comes into this though. or drowning yourself. or flooding your bathroom. or waiting for 'her' in the water in the middle of a storm. or giving back the fish. maybe friends' weird behavior was hyperbolic to point out that yeah, they ARE acting strange (and maybe even self-destructive, but pushing away any help?), and mc is not acting hysterical. regarding the self-destructive note, you can't help those who do not wish to be helped. and it's definitely not fair if they treat you badly (or hit you. geez, mccoy).
that's all, i think. i love all work and care that goes into indie games, so you guys did great. hope to see more from you in the future :)
"oh. i just noticed my cooler was empty" :D love me some humor in dire situations.
Some very interesting details in the game, for example: the house was intact when the heroine fell asleep on the last night, and everything became a ruin when she woke up. But in the end it was an open ending, and it seemed that she was the only one left... Compared with "Dead Plate", this game is already very harmonious. At least there was no bloody scene... (except for the protagonist getting a slap).
"I thought the heroine got pregnant because she just became an adult and didn't understand those things... But it seems that she was just fat." <- what an odd thing to say, especially when the rest of the comment had nothing to do with it?
Your country probably has different customs, but just know that a lot of people here don't like when someone talks about appearances of both real and fictional people, especially if it's not relevant to the story. It might seem strange to you, but games from English speaking communities usually have more characters with vastly different body types, and mentioning an external trait of a character that's less portrayed in media might sound rude towards real life people that share that trait. Hope this clears up any confusion you had!
Although the ending or the overall plot of the game in general is left with some questions that are unanswered, I commend it for the foreshadowing and themes that it left behind for the players to pick up and intepret on their own with enough to draw their own conclusions. This is in style of many Studio Investigrave games and I personally don't mind it.
The art is beautiful as always and has a nice cast of characters that you could also picked apart in the little time we known them in both their charms and later flaws hidden beneath them. While the plot may seem to be heavily involved with something supernatural to explain the weird stuff happening in the story, I like how it also ties into the very real fears of social pressure and toxic friend groups that we get to see firsthand instilled into our protagonist, June (who I quite adore :D)
Overall, it was a nice experience for me to pass the time, and funnily enough, it was also raining heavily when I was playing it. I guess you could say it was a somewhat immersive experience for me too XD
Spoiler and a theory ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………. …………………………………………………….
I think that the ferry sank, and June is the only one that had the ability to survive. The "Follow" ending probably shows that she gave up, the other one seems to indicate that she kept fighting and managed to survive. What I think supports this theory, is the beach being empty and sunny when she's back to the shore, whereas before she sees Roy for the last time, it's full of clothes and, well, the weather.
I ain't no MatPat, but this was fun to think about.
I really enjoyed the game, second sigverse game I'm on time to! I love the difference in art style (like the scrawl of the colors, with the border, during the CG scenes, gives off "vacation card"! I love June and Carmen a lot (Carmen's design is cute), June's character isn't perfect, which I find realistic and amazing! Overall, awesome game!
So. My guess at what is going on is maybe something with the water effecting the characters, maybe that is why the people that get effected are turning suicidal? Thats just what I got out of it.
But well, for a game jam, its alright, still up to par with rachels other games, but maybe there coulda been more to it.
I do think the general theme of the game, is one that I think a lot of people do need to hear, because yeah, it sucks you can’t really save your friends, especially ryan since he just went crazy with no explanation, not following a bad crowd and getting taken advantage by bad friends is a good theme. I think a lot of people do need to understand that sometimes you have to cut people out that are bad influences, or not helping you.
Art isn’t bad, do like the varied character designs, not as much of a fan of protag’s design, but that’s just a personal preference. I do think if this coulda been expanded upon more as its own longer game, it would be A tier.
JOGO INCRIVEL NOSSA , TODA A RELAÇAO DO PESSOAL NO COMEÇO E COMO TUDO FOI ABORDADO E TALS nao sou fan das pontas soltas deixar a historia na incognita porem caralho que jogo bomm
por enquanto o jogo ta incrivel cada cutcena perfeitinha porem na parte de procurar os amigos ai temuma deitada no chao e tal fui ver um video e a cutcene do ryan nao acontece eu entro e re entrou no lobby e nada
crazy interesting. i like how theres more than just 2 characters even though 2 are def main ones, in longer studio games this wud be crazy cool if we could learn about more people individually sum more + the open ended stuff left and right is definitely different and i like it a ton. this my fourth fav of these its sick
i played this last night with my friend and it was so fun AHHHHHHHHHH!
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spoilers kinda
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I believe the island isn't actually real. Almost none of the story is. In the beginning it's described how almost no one spent time together cuz they were busy right? And this was like the only time they hung out together. For once they're actually all together everything starts falling apart. The ones clean and crispy personas are falling under their own pressure and everyone around them. Once everything starts going wrong June starts to see who these people really are but she doesn't understand why they're acting like this. She's starting to see the real them but she doesn't understand that's who they really are. The drinks are more like a metaphor rather than to be taken as drinking itself. They represent problems just issues themselves. Not specific ones but issues nonetheless. The seafood I believe represents addiction. And then the ocean represents falling so deep that you can't get back up like when everyone was tying anchors to themselves. In a lot of promo art the friend group is not all together either one person is off or they just kind of seem separated. I think this was an intentional choice by RachelDrawsArt. I see the other people on the "island" more so as factors rather than actual people like representations of maybe the others issues. Least that's my take?
I think the storm represents you know everything's trying to collide everyone's issues personalities again not supposed to be taken literally. And everything's a shitstorm. Carmen is rude and not as nice as she usually is. McCoy is struggling with something and is taking it poorly so much that he hit June. And it's clear that Vonnie is struggling with something (the seafood) and just isn't herself anymore. The only one who actually seems okay is Ryan. So him and June are planning either to just leave the friendship or maybe try and salvage it at least the bits and pieces of it. But at the end everyone's struggling with all the issues and no one can be saved they're all drowning themselves, again not literally. And even Ryan is not safe cuz even he is too far gone. The worst part is that he's savable to June he could have been saved but it was just too late. Since everyone knows but for them they've been long gone. So at the end of the game June has a decision she can get your sink with the rest of them which will inevitably cause her demise, or she can leave with the jacket on her back. Representing the baggage she'll have to carry on for the rest of her life. Knowing that she could have saved them but that they were so gone and she didn't even notice.
Hi I'm the friend and since I'm so nice I'll add some more context!
Character Breakdowns:
McCoy: He's the "nice" guy and a charmer. He's sweet and just the greatest guy ever, right? Well he's struggling with something. I'm not sure exactly what it's supposed to be, but he's becoming distant and when becomes destructive in behavior (the water jug) and when you try to help him he'll take it out on you. Then he'll feel horrible and he'll become more destructive until... I think you know.
Carmen: My interpretation of her is that she's a love bomber! In the beginning was the closest and the nicest to June, but when problems arise she turns into an ass and insults June. And basically is a verbal abuser when she can't have something she wants aka validation. When someone doesn't say what she wants, she turns on you.
Vonnie: She's the one I least understand but here's my idea! Vonnie is characterized as Smart, Organized, but Blunt and can be rude. And one thing that stood out to me was the Seafood (Addiction) and she has accommodations. She has to resist it but she eventually succumb to it but once she starts she can't stop, until eventually Ryan doesn't even recognize her.
Ryan: He's the "worst" one in the beginning, at least compared to the others. A cynical and lazy guy! But once everyone true colors are showing all of sudden he's the most reasonable one, besides June. But he's also not a great friend. It's clear he only thinks of himself and doesn't try to help his friends (like at the beach with everyone, when he doesn't want to interact with anyone.) or when everyone is struggling. He literally talked to mean Carmen once. He saw Vonnje struggling but didn't even try to help, and he just completely forgot about McCoy. The worst part is he knew something was up but he didn't even try and help at least with June she was oblivious, with Ryan he was aware and compliant.
voy a admitir que realmente me impresiono, aunque la mecánica 2D no me gusto tanto, la historia y el arte son fabulosos, studio investigrave jamás me decepciona
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I can't wait to play it!!
RAAAAAAAH RACHEL MADE A NEW GAMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. CAN'T WAIT TO PLAY IT!!!!!!
I love Dead Plate, Married in Red and Elevator Hitch, and now Rot in Paradise is another banger of a game by Studio Investigrave. Man I LOVE THE CHARACTER DESIGNS SO MUCH, especially my guy Ryan. The story is short but really well written, and the horror elements are... disturbing. Even the endings are so ambiguous that it left me really shaken up.I probably won't be going to the ocean anytime soon XD
Here's my full playthrough! Hope you enjoy ^-^
Can't believe I played this so early! It was a great game, short but good, although the art could've been a bit better when compared to Rachels other games, but I rate it a solid 8/10!
as someone who feels kinda left behind by a lot of people this hits (not that i was really left behind, it was moreso that we drifted apart and now im here, still a bit stuck again. slowly moving on though)
all around excellent game. excellent visuals, music (one song in particular really stood out to me, the one that plays at the bar at night), the story is very classic short story vibes (i'm not sure what people are being left confused about...?), the character designs are awesome (@ june ily.i'm with you re:the dames! and i have a bit of a crush on you also), etc. etc. etc.
there is a typo during the segment where you're exploring and weird things are happening, don't remember exactly where, i think it might be the buffet?: "conscious" is misspelled. also using the keyboard for 90% of the game and then having to grab the mouse for the map is kind of awkward, but it's also quite true that coding it so you can select your destination via keyboard as well in rpgmaker would be time consuming and perhaps not worth the resources for a jam game especially, so it's very understandable, just something i noticed.
so yeah anyways this game deserves the high praise it's been receiving :) yay!
You seem quite assured of the narrative, so do tell, what is going on with the ocean?
On a literal in-universe level? No idea, besides the base level "people are being driven towards it in a state of madness" thing (i did think of "her" as being the ocean (or i guess an entity within it but that distinction doesn't really matter imo) (which i think is kind of fun because of the whole deal where historically the ocean has been gendered like that (similarly to boats))).
I think the reason I wasn't left confused/maybe unsatisfied was that I just don't really care to know exactly what events are taking place, especially because from, like, June's perspective, she has no idea what's going on either, and that adds to the horror of it, like "hey what's happening why are these people who i know and love acting like this!?" Like a short story, which is kind of what this is, just in video game format. Then I can try and wrap my head around what I think is happening on a more thematic/figurative/allegorical level (still working on that one, but I have enough to go off of that I don't feel let down) which is the part I just generally care more about in fiction. It's a balancing situation where if more is explained, it gets less scary, which is bad for a horror game, and maybe it doesn't work as well as a vehicle for whatever themes the author is trying to communicate, but also the audience is left hanging on some points that they'd maybe really rather not be. I don't know. word vomit reply. tldr i'm as unsure as everyone else on some key points i'm just coming from a different angle i guess which makes me fine with it (and both ways are fine obviously etc. and my previous comment was maybe a little misworded lol)
I appreciate the response. Although I don't need a full grasp of the horror elements of the game (as you said, knowing everything would diminish the horror) I find it difficult to be scared at all when there is so little to go off of. Say like with zombie shit, that shit scared the FUCK out of me, and its due to the infectious nature of it. At first I thought this was going down a similar route, but June, our player character and therefore audience insert, is seemingly unnaffected, which separates me from the whole horror of being infected. Now obviously homegirls who go into the ocean die from at the very least drowning, but the reasoning why, if hinted at, could add to the horror or depravity in my eyes. Was it all for nothing? A revenge plot by the sea herself, as if, like in the novel Solaris, it was a living breathing being? I think I completely agree with you about knowledge and horror, and that knowing too much certainly diminishes the tension of the scary media, but I also think knowing too little can do that too, and that's how I feel about this game hah. Sorry this is a lot lolz, didn't expect to get so into it, but for me at least, this has been a pretty interesting conversation haha!
Going to have to copy you and say that I appreciate the response, haha. There's definitely a lot to think about here! :) good discussion
Do you know the name of the song that plays at the bar at night? I too liked it a lot but couldn't find it anywhere online!
looks like this game has its own original soundtrack, which hasn't been released that i know of as of yet, though it looks like it'll be up relatively soon. the composer (listed in the game description) tweeted out track names , and my best guess is that it's probably "Drown Me Deep (feat. Brubs)" though of course we'll find out for sure when the soundtrack drops ^_^ looking forward to it!
in the meantime you can listen to it via the game's files (/www/audio/bgm)
Ok, Thanks.
i wuv gaeme eit was so gud :3 meoooooow also ye i liked the story it wus gud much agreemenet witn u
The story might be confusing to some, but I do enjoy this kind of thing~! The sound design were bopping and terrifying! And the characterssss yesssss love them <3
I love the cute artstyle, and I really like this style of horror. Murder and stuff makes me sad, but returning to the deeps is more properly spooky to me. (And it's where we belong!!!)
Nice plot and very interesting atmosphere. Great game! ALL ENDINGS HERE:
Really liked the game but the ending came so unexpectedly it gave me whiplash
Awesome game!!! Loved the art and the story, it was great!! One small question though, I can't seem to delete the game off of my PC. I normally download games and delete them afterwards to save space, but every time I go to delete it.. file explorer stops responding and my PC crashes. Any tips on how to delete it? I've tried dragging and dropping into the trash bin and pressing shift+delete and they don't work.
Really nice game! The art, the story, and the music are perfect! Though I’m still a little bit confused about the story, especially the ending. Was still nice to play it!
Art and character's are good but story so rush that leave many unanswered questions. I feel like I play the story doesn't have main part and only have prologue and epilogue.
Hope this is just a demo and will get developed
I played through both endings. I'm going to write something more in depth later, but this is most obviously about eating disorders. I'm almost certain it's about THAT 2010s internet thing.(also why is there no WASD..)
The story was absolutely crazy! I really love how the dialogue was written and how everything built up!
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE GAME, so maybe don't read if you haven't played it for yourself yet.
hi :) this comment is all over the place so i apologise in advance xD i want to give you my thoughts on the game so far.
game's size is really bugging me. it seems that unused assets- both from rpg maker and your past games- take up nearly half of it. would be nice if it could be dealt with in the future.
outline on the mc's sprite (specifically the head) flickers from light brown to black when you go between walking and standing in place. some text barely fits into the message window (no right border padding).
for me the map was not very informative- while it does it's job (fast travel, or, uh, just travel since there's only one place where you can switch between screens by walking), it didn't really stitch those different places together for me. i didn't get the picture of what the island is supposed to look like.
interacting (Z) with stuff felt unintuitive and clumsy. i didn't know what i could interact with, sometimes pressing Z didn't do anything (i think this has to do with walking/running at the same time), and a few times i missed the hitbox by moving too far right. mix this all together, and you end up with a not-so-pleasant experience. maybe adding highlights around the items/people you can interact with that shows when you are getting close to them or some sort of an indicator would be nice.
story felt very short, and we didn't really get to know any of the characters. mc's friends (excluding Ryan) seem dismissive about things that concern her, and i can't tell for sure whether it's because of whatever is going on on that island or because they're a 'bad company'. mc seems confused about why they are like this. we actually don't know how long they've known each other and thus can't tell if this behaviour is unusual or they are just dicks. or maybe they are just really tired or spooked out and just want to enjoy their vacation? there are some possibilities to explore.
i guess the whole thing was about how people sometimes suddenly change for the worse. you don't know why and you cannot do anything about it (the waves push mc back when she reaches forward). so you either leave, feeling confused and maybe betrayed, or end up harming yourself by sticking to them, fearing that leaving is the wrong choice (in one scene mc questions herself to ryan, what if she's the one who is weird?). i don't know how eating metal comes into this though. or drowning yourself. or flooding your bathroom. or waiting for 'her' in the water in the middle of a storm. or giving back the fish. maybe friends' weird behavior was hyperbolic to point out that yeah, they ARE acting strange (and maybe even self-destructive, but pushing away any help?), and mc is not acting hysterical. regarding the self-destructive note, you can't help those who do not wish to be helped. and it's definitely not fair if they treat you badly (or hit you. geez, mccoy).
that's all, i think. i love all work and care that goes into indie games, so you guys did great. hope to see more from you in the future :)
"oh. i just noticed my cooler was empty" :D love me some humor in dire situations.
Very interesting plot and amazing artwork. ALL ENDINGS HERE:
Some very interesting details in the game, for example: the house was intact when the heroine fell asleep on the last night, and everything became a ruin when she woke up. But in the end it was an open ending, and it seemed that she was the only one left... Compared with "Dead Plate", this game is already very harmonious. At least there was no bloody scene... (except for the protagonist getting a slap).
"I thought the heroine got pregnant because she just became an adult and didn't understand those things... But it seems that she was just fat." <- what an odd thing to say, especially when the rest of the comment had nothing to do with it?
Sorry, none of the international languages are my native language, I use translation software...
Your country probably has different customs, but just know that a lot of people here don't like when someone talks about appearances of both real and fictional people, especially if it's not relevant to the story. It might seem strange to you, but games from English speaking communities usually have more characters with vastly different body types, and mentioning an external trait of a character that's less portrayed in media might sound rude towards real life people that share that trait. Hope this clears up any confusion you had!
Did anyone else have trouble being able to save?
Absolutely loved this. amazing atmosphere, and i love being able to interpret things.10/10
Although the ending or the overall plot of the game in general is left with some questions that are unanswered, I commend it for the foreshadowing and themes that it left behind for the players to pick up and intepret on their own with enough to draw their own conclusions. This is in style of many Studio Investigrave games and I personally don't mind it.
The art is beautiful as always and has a nice cast of characters that you could also picked apart in the little time we known them in both their charms and later flaws hidden beneath them. While the plot may seem to be heavily involved with something supernatural to explain the weird stuff happening in the story, I like how it also ties into the very real fears of social pressure and toxic friend groups that we get to see firsthand instilled into our protagonist, June (who I quite adore :D)
Overall, it was a nice experience for me to pass the time, and funnily enough, it was also raining heavily when I was playing it. I guess you could say it was a somewhat immersive experience for me too XD
Spoiler and a theory
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I think that the ferry sank, and June is the only one that had the ability to survive. The "Follow" ending probably shows that she gave up, the other one seems to indicate that she kept fighting and managed to survive. What I think supports this theory, is the beach being empty and sunny when she's back to the shore, whereas before she sees Roy for the last time, it's full of clothes and, well, the weather.
I ain't no MatPat, but this was fun to think about.
ill even be delulu and say that her friends lived and they went home and it was all just a hallucination
Nooo, noo. Wouldn't say so. I think the rate they turned was the rate they drowned in.
You always make such enjoyable games! Please keep doing what you're doing.
the concepts of your games are always so unique and genuinely cool. yet it still has the investigrave touch. thank you for everything you fellas do!!
I really enjoyed the game, second sigverse game I'm on time to! I love the difference in art style (like the scrawl of the colors, with the border, during the CG scenes, gives off "vacation card"! I love June and Carmen a lot (Carmen's design is cute), June's character isn't perfect, which I find realistic and amazing! Overall, awesome game!
SPOILERS
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So. My guess at what is going on is maybe something with the water effecting the characters, maybe that is why the people that get effected are turning suicidal? Thats just what I got out of it.
But well, for a game jam, its alright, still up to par with rachels other games, but maybe there coulda been more to it.
I do think the general theme of the game, is one that I think a lot of people do need to hear, because yeah, it sucks you can’t really save your friends, especially ryan since he just went crazy with no explanation, not following a bad crowd and getting taken advantage by bad friends is a good theme. I think a lot of people do need to understand that sometimes you have to cut people out that are bad influences, or not helping you.
Art isn’t bad, do like the varied character designs, not as much of a fan of protag’s design, but that’s just a personal preference. I do think if this coulda been expanded upon more as its own longer game, it would be A tier.
JOGO INCRIVEL NOSSA , TODA A RELAÇAO DO PESSOAL NO COMEÇO E COMO TUDO FOI ABORDADO E TALS nao sou fan das pontas soltas deixar a historia na incognita porem caralho que jogo bomm
por enquanto o jogo ta incrivel cada cutcena perfeitinha porem na parte de procurar os amigos ai temuma deitada no chao e tal fui ver um video e a cutcene do ryan nao acontece eu entro e re entrou no lobby e nada
consegui arrumar, eu tinha dado f5 e fechado o jogo mais o problema era no saves tive que voltar uns saves atras pra conseguir a cutecene
crazy interesting. i like how theres more than just 2 characters even though 2 are def main ones, in longer studio games this wud be crazy cool if we could learn about more people individually sum more + the open ended stuff left and right is definitely different and i like it a ton. this my fourth fav of these its sick
THIS GAME WAS GREAT AHHHHHH
the endings were really unsatisfactory but in a good way, like I'm thirsting for more. I need to know everything about this story RIGHT NOW.
me too, omg, this is sooo good
Maybe this was their plan after all...to make us thirsting for more too
i played this last night with my friend and it was so fun AHHHHHHHHHH!
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I believe the island isn't actually real. Almost none of the story is. In the beginning it's described how almost no one spent time together cuz they were busy right? And this was like the only time they hung out together. For once they're actually all together everything starts falling apart. The ones clean and crispy personas are falling under their own pressure and everyone around them. Once everything starts going wrong June starts to see who these people really are but she doesn't understand why they're acting like this. She's starting to see the real them but she doesn't understand that's who they really are. The drinks are more like a metaphor rather than to be taken as drinking itself. They represent problems just issues themselves. Not specific ones but issues nonetheless. The seafood I believe represents addiction. And then the ocean represents falling so deep that you can't get back up like when everyone was tying anchors to themselves. In a lot of promo art the friend group is not all together either one person is off or they just kind of seem separated. I think this was an intentional choice by RachelDrawsArt. I see the other people on the "island" more so as factors rather than actual people like representations of maybe the others issues. Least that's my take?
I think the storm represents you know everything's trying to collide everyone's issues personalities again not supposed to be taken literally. And everything's a shitstorm. Carmen is rude and not as nice as she usually is. McCoy is struggling with something and is taking it poorly so much that he hit June. And it's clear that Vonnie is struggling with something (the seafood) and just isn't herself anymore. The only one who actually seems okay is Ryan. So him and June are planning either to just leave the friendship or maybe try and salvage it at least the bits and pieces of it. But at the end everyone's struggling with all the issues and no one can be saved they're all drowning themselves, again not literally. And even Ryan is not safe cuz even he is too far gone. The worst part is that he's savable to June he could have been saved but it was just too late. Since everyone knows but for them they've been long gone. So at the end of the game June has a decision she can get your sink with the rest of them which will inevitably cause her demise, or she can leave with the jacket on her back. Representing the baggage she'll have to carry on for the rest of her life. Knowing that she could have saved them but that they were so gone and she didn't even notice.
I AM THE NEW MATPAT TRUST 🙏
Hi I'm the friend and since I'm so nice I'll add some more context!
Character Breakdowns:
McCoy: He's the "nice" guy and a charmer. He's sweet and just the greatest guy ever, right? Well he's struggling with something. I'm not sure exactly what it's supposed to be, but he's becoming distant and when becomes destructive in behavior (the water jug) and when you try to help him he'll take it out on you. Then he'll feel horrible and he'll become more destructive until... I think you know.
Carmen: My interpretation of her is that she's a love bomber! In the beginning was the closest and the nicest to June, but when problems arise she turns into an ass and insults June. And basically is a verbal abuser when she can't have something she wants aka validation. When someone doesn't say what she wants, she turns on you.
Vonnie: She's the one I least understand but here's my idea! Vonnie is characterized as Smart, Organized, but Blunt and can be rude. And one thing that stood out to me was the Seafood (Addiction) and she has accommodations. She has to resist it but she eventually succumb to it but once she starts she can't stop, until eventually Ryan doesn't even recognize her.
Ryan: He's the "worst" one in the beginning, at least compared to the others. A cynical and lazy guy! But once everyone true colors are showing all of sudden he's the most reasonable one, besides June. But he's also not a great friend. It's clear he only thinks of himself and doesn't try to help his friends (like at the beach with everyone, when he doesn't want to interact with anyone.) or when everyone is struggling. He literally talked to mean Carmen once. He saw Vonnje struggling but didn't even try to help, and he just completely forgot about McCoy. The worst part is he knew something was up but he didn't even try and help at least with June she was oblivious, with Ryan he was aware and compliant.
YOU AND YOUR FRIEND BOTH HAVE GREAT TAKES, THIS HAS CHANGED MY VIEW ON THE GAME THANK YOU
NEW GAME NEW GAME NEW GAME NEW GAMEEEEE
Ryan my beloved
voy a admitir que realmente me impresiono, aunque la mecánica 2D no me gusto tanto, la historia y el arte son fabulosos, studio investigrave jamás me decepciona
Hey, i was playing the game and encountered a bug, it could be from my end but just incase!
This happened to me too! But closing the game and reopening it made everything work just fine.
i looooooovvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetttttttttttttttt i want to know more about the story!!