MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THIS GAME!!! AND FOR THEIR MOST RECENT GAME ROT IN PARIDISE!!! THIS COMMENT TALKS ABOUT THE NARRITIVE OF BOTH!!! PLEASE PLAY BEFORE READING!!!
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Ive loved elevator hitch for a long time now, but after playing rot in paradise and having that game resonate with me so much, it made me look back and look at elihitch with fresh eyes.
i havent had a good chance to replay it after playing RIP, but even from just what i remember theres so much hiding underneath the surface that i completely missed, all because i was looking at it from the surface.
its a given that we don't get any clear information on protags past. most of the analysis i see is from floor 4, which makes sense. the cross above the bed and how protag reacts to it indicating a bad and unfortunate past with religion and the ending four: parents are the two i see most often, and there are other things that some people pay attention to on this floor, including the sleeping pills themselves (personally i think they hint to protags deeper problems with anxiety and how its effected his sleep)... but there's another floor that i havent really taken into account when trying to understand protag more until now.
presenting the thing that spawned this whole essay:
floor 8.
when i first played elevator hitch the doppels were just something that inflicted that same feeling of confusion i get when first playing a SIG game, "confusion" as in "lack of information". at first glance it just looks like they took protag and coworker and flipped their personalities, but as i talked with them more my ~writer senses~ were screaming at me. i was fasintated by how their personalities were changed, but what i was able to deduce at the time, which was just them falling into desperation due to isolation, just made them feel...shallow. it was part of it, but none of what i could come up with, nor what i read from other people, felt like it was encapturing the whole picture.
then i played rot in paradise.
i already wrote an entire essay about the narritive and how much i loved it in the comments of that game, and to summarize the points i made in the conclusion is that SIG games are rarely ever about what's physically there- its about what those things represent. thats why the thing, the "she" thats being refered to in RIP isnt ever explained, because its just a vehicle for what the game is actually about: the narritive.
after i wrote this multi-paragraph comment, i started thinking about this game. elevator hitch, the one i love and will always hold a special place in my heart, and realized the game isn't about the physical horror of being trapped in a death loop.
its about protag.
i realized that what i was missing in understanding the doppels wasn't missing, i was thinking that the whole entire purpuse the doppels were there was to enforce the horror of being trapped, but that was only there as a vehicle for protags narritive.
i think the doppels purpuse, specifically antag, is to show more about how protag was raised by his parents.
realizing this felt like my brain was being rewired. it felt so clear! of course the game is about protag! he's litterally the protaganist! this made me think about other things i was confused about while playing this game- what does the raidioactive room represent? why is the answer to the test in there? is the floor connected to the fake cubeicule where you get the cake? if so how???
the reason RIP resonated with me so much is that i knew people like june's friends, i had a best friend like vonnie! (even down to the food disorder- like that was kinda dejavu-ish ngl) AND i had someone like carmen- a best friend who was a terrible influence on me. this is what i love about how Rachel and rix write narritives. they write for themselves, for what they've experienced, and in doing so they attract such a loyal and passionate fanbase that feels seen. all because two artists have a passion.
thank you so much for sharing these games, they genuinely leave me feeling chilled and evoke that specific feeling of terror, and you both write stories in a way that i havent found in a long time, and i hope people feel as connected to my stories one day that they feel connected you yours. you both are my inspiration, and i want you to know that these games- and your studio as a whole -has cemented its place in my heart, and will always be special to me.
thank you. <3