I loved it!! I read it all in one sitting, and while my eyes are sort of killing me, it was worth it. 😌💖 The writing is incredibly immersive, all the characters (including the Operative) immensely vivid and complex — which can make their interactions/relationships with each other both fascinating and frustrating.
MILD SPOILER warning (mostly an analysis of the Operative as a character tbh). Also. Very, very long comment. 🥹✨
I really like the pacing of Operative's relationships with the other characters. While most, if not all of them have a rocky start, you can practically feel their relationships slowly evolving over the course of story. Impressions shifting or reaffirming, hostility turning into fondness, or indifference turning into hostility. The subtle shifts in the undercurrents of the characters' relationships with each other feel really natural — at times, rewarding — and I enjoyed exploring them very much 💐
This game has a way of pulling you into its narrative — a way of subtly wrapping you up in a burrito blanket of the Operative's mind. I normally play IF games from an omniscient perspective. The emotions of my MC are usually kept separate from my own, though I do try to nudge them into ✨healthier✨choices. Despite that, even I had a difficult time extricating myself from the Operative's narrative — which, I must say, is all thanks to the incredible writing within the game. I felt the Operative's frustration. I felt their pain, their anger, and their instability. I felt their exhaustion. Their bitterness. Numerous complex emotions intensified by the trauma they had just experienced, and had not had time to process or heal from.
The Operative is not a blank slate. I understood that from the very first chapter. From the very beginning, they are shown — even stated — to be impulsive and arrogant. They're not completely open about their emotions, often preferring to deny they exist rather than processing them. To put it simply, they're not one for introspection. They're also very allergic to showing vulnerability or anything that could be perceived as weakness. The prologue served to show us how our Operative normally is when in... more carefree, more familiar conditions. When they still felt invincible. When they still had IVI. When IVI was taken, they lost both a friend and a piece of their metaphorical armor. As of chapter 4, most of the Operative's thoughts and actions seem to be driven by the trauma and emotions that they haven't had room to address. They're cooped up in a ship that's steadily losing power and they're stuck with the very person who had stolen something they held dear through inexcusably horrific means. Basically, they're in a very, very bad place mentally.
(Sidenote: that was not a dismissal of Rohan's value as a character. I find xem fascinating. I could gush a whole paragraph of everything I love about Rohan's relationship with the Operative but I'll spare you from that 😔💖 )
As I followed the Operative through the story, I often had to remind myself that what the Operative was saying and perceiving did not encapsulate the bigger picture of the situation — nor was it supposed to. The Operative is very much an unreliable and extremely traumatized narrator who has just had their entire world upended. And to most of the people (and aliens) on the ship, the Operative is a heavily wounded, potentially dangerous, and slightly(?) unstable person who is clearly familiar with death and danger — one that they've only known for a week at most.
(My Operative is at 12% health. Send Help)
I'm very, very fond of the Operative — especially the one that emerged from my first playthrough! They're actually my favorite character :D They're my poor traumatized slightly manic little darling alright I'll stop But as stated in the game's description:
- Participate in a character-driven story, with an emphasis on relationship-building and character growth
This game places a heavy emphasis on character growth and relationships — including the growth of the Operative as a character. It's perfectly understandable to be protective of your Operative! In fact, I think it makes the experience all the more impactful. I really think that the author did an incredible job of portraying the delicate, tenuous nature unique to bonds formed under less than stellar circumstances. Most of the characters don't trust the Operative, not yet — and the Operative may not necessarily trust them either. It's a slow process. They've only known each other for a week. A week filled with tension, anxiety, and pent-up trauma. It will take time.
The game takes its time with forming relationships. Slowly, gradually, like clouds passing over a moon. The tentative beginnings of trust, the cautious camarederie, and maybe the hesitant appearance of the tiniest piece of vulnerability... well. This game takes such a unique approach to relationship building, and it's been a wonderful — albeit Stressful, but hey, that's part of the fun — experience. I can't wait to see how the rest of the story unfolds.
If you've somehow read this far, then thank you! Thank you very much!! My apologies for such a monstrously long comment, but after seeing some recent discussions regarding this topic I wanted to throw in my own two cents ^^ If this comment is too long for an itch.io comment section, then I'm really sorry — I'm not well-versed in the unspoken rules and etiquette of this site. :') Please inform me if this comment is inappropriate, and I'll immediately take it down!!
And, finally, for the wonderful dev of this game: thank you so much for sharing such an intricate and complex story with us!! I really enjoyed playing through it, churning roller coaster of emotions and all. I can't wait to see how the rest of it unfolds 🥹✨ thank you, and once again, please inform me if I crossed a line!!