I think it is a good game with some introspective qualities to it. The art and music are all cohesive to the narrative you present.

From a conceptual standpoint, the narrator disagreeing with your decisions makes sense, especially if we're framed to be playing as the 'voice-inside-your-head' which isnt necessarily congruent to our actions. From a gameplay standpoint though, eh I'm not sure it works, just because you can get rejected from the game loop for something that seems obvious from an outsider perspective.

congrats on the release

Herein, I have to philosophize so either strap in or ignore it, I don't mind either option but I am liable to get baited by content like this. I am also doing this with this game because I think you did a good job at conceptualizing something but might not really have the whole picture.

[ALSO SPOILER WARNING]

I think the "good ending" actions taken by the character can sometimes come across as idealistic (path 3), or the moralising might not necessarily sit right (path 2). Ultimately in a game about self-recognition, I think there are some aspects missing between the relationship between self and society. There are kind of two camps of self-recognition. The first is that as long as you can conceptualize yourself, you are now a single individual unrelated to any other individuals, in an isolated sea of other atomized individuals. (think Descartes, I think therefore I am). The key problem with this is that humans cannot conceptualize pretty much anything in the absence of other humans. Language, education, culture are all shared between other humans and inform our view of the world and our view of our selves. This brings us to the other Hegelian view of recognition, that human's can only really feel recognized when we have a mutual recognition of others. I can provide more resources to this if requested but this is the kind of line of thought I take here.

Path 1 is your strongest path: You present a lot of things in a short space. You point out that individuals can only recognize themselves in post-modern society through the exchange of sign value. The simplified idea is that people no longer have a real representation of themselves as humans, they can only be represented to others by the commodities they own and the status it gives them. I think the corollary you present here is consistent, because you argue that people can regain their representation of self by mutual-recognition of others. And I completely agree, that is the basis of a real egalitarian society.

Path 2: I believe the path you present is good but the moral-of-the-story is kinda bunk. "But he did know that it wasn't on the road to martyrdom. [...] he could feel himself needing that acclaim a little too much". He wasn't getting acclaim from anyone at that point, he overstepped a boundary and credited himself. I believe you imply that, but the text that is actually provided presents something different: it presents that he did the morally right thing despite disrespecting the feelings of someone else. In terms of recognition, Norm is not able to recognize himself because he doesn't really respect or recognize his neighbours wishes or bodily ability - and when he finally gains a view of mutual recognition is when he has an epiphany and can finally recognize himself.

Path 3 is my least-favourite path by leaps and bounds. It's very simplistic in the idea that you can simply let go of things like trauma (described as baggage) by the sheer force of self-rationalization. It's counter to pretty much all the stuff discussed above. No one can really conceptualize healing of trauma, (especially trauma handed to you by other humans) by yourself. Moving away from philosophy for a sec, when was the last time you were really able to correct your bad behaviour without others keeping you in check? I find myself being able to turn over things in my head but its only through the writings of others and the support from found family that I am able to move past certain things. How can individual shame be overcome when the specific ruleset of society still promotes you to be ashamed of these things without actually offering help, only shame.(e.g. if youre an "unmasculine" male who has been shamed for that masculinity by parents, schools and labour, how do you unlearn this shame on your own) 

I think the way letting go of ambitions is framed is a little weird too, just because it's framed in the same way as letting go of trauma, but really it's because trauma and systemic violence that people lose their ambition and willingness to participate.

What a great journey that was! The music adjusted so seamlessly between the scenes without it ever becoming annoying. The art was captivating, simple and yet very effective. The choices were interesting and demanded thought from the reader. The lesson and the ideas behind it are charming and deep. A great and solid entry! And as a visual novel creator I am excited to see quality entries like this! 

Great music and great stories make you think somewhat; not a lot of games do that lately. Pretty smooth!

Nice storytelling! The visuals reminded me of children’s books, everything felt alive. Also the dynamic music was nicely implemented as well!

That was a really nice game, and the music was great! :)

I typically don't play these kinds of games but as soon as I heard that music play I was hooked instantly. I really like how this game explores that doing too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. I didn't get that at first cause I was like "Ya of course I'm gonna keep helping this dude rake the leaves" but then I was like hmmm wait a sec.. I really loved having that realization! The same holds true for the part where we prioritize personal time without considering that its at the expense of time with others, and also the part about how letting go isn't always the way to go. And like I said  the music just fits so very well and just glues everything together. You're a very good writer and composer, really good work!

was quite curious about the multi layered music you talked about on discord and its pretty great! the music is great but you also got a good story and visuals, overall its a well rounded game, congratz!

I'm not really into these types of games but I loved the music and I think it actually made interested and wanting to play more!

Lovely game - the ending especially touched me on a personal level. It's been a very difficult, turbulent couple of years for me, and playing this helped me take a moment to remind myself it's okay to let some of that go - even if just a moment. 

Thank you for this game. 

This game is so engrossing and calming. The touches with the music kept the progress through so well and the sort of paper cut art style is so perfect in its simplicity and works well with the games larger themes.

Did you end up open sourcing this? I'd like to see how you did some of the transitions to get the animations in place.

Hi, I really liked your game, I loved the art style, very original in my opinion, and the atmosphere it sets with the crescendo of the music it's just amazing. I also got blessed with the rng and finished a run very quickly (lucky me). As a comment pointed, maybe the end is a little too sudden, it cuts a little bit the climax that you achieved with the music and all the rest. Still a very great experience in my opinion.

Keep it up and buona fortuna! <333

It it an intersting game. The artstyle is lovely. The story is nice, very down to earth, and perhaps personal. The premise of trying to find your own face sounds scary at first, but the game positively suprises mi with it's lack of jumpscares, and goes into the metaphorical instead.

Unfortunately, a lot is at the mercy of the rng. Once you know what the game wants you to do, you just skip everything and keep rolling the dice, until you get the result you want. Especially since you probably have to visit the same places over and over again.

And... the game immediately ends after you indulged in the casino. I don't know if it's intentional (then some explanation would be nice), or if it is an unfortunate bug, but it makes the black path the most dangerous ot there!