pumping my fist in the air a bit. thank you so much for indulging me with your answers! i totally get the hesitation to imply a correct interpretation, but i do love getting 'director's commentary' on things like this if only so i can compare and contrast my experience of the story with the writer's intent. family themes <3
i hope you have a great summer! o/
I finished this a couple of weeks ago, and the longer it has to settle in the back of my mind, the fonder I become. I'm a really big fan of the way the game rewards the player and the angel on how deeply we're willing to engage with the setting and characters, and the way that ties into the overall themes of the story. Part of that was being able to take my time to feel my way through each level's zone at the start and having the puzzles kind of click into place (for the most part - skill issue but I'm so bad at maps that chapter 2 probably took me the longest).
Trying to be vague for spoiler reasons, halOPE felt very intentional in the way it approached its themes and characters in the best way possible. Every interaction was one you could connect to a chapter theme, and the development (and not just the reveal) of the silent protagonist felt very earned.
Thank you so much for making and sharing this game!
[Spoilers below!]
I'm always such a sucker for games about family and the complicated relationships that are born from duty and cycles of expectation and grief, and it was such a pleasant surprise to play halOPE. Like going out to the grocery store to shop around for snacks and finding out that someone has baked me several cakes. I love the relationship between each angel and their world/chapter as reflected in the names, and what Hope experiences and gains from each level.
Getting to the end with Regret's little island with bottled letters and a compass was also very bittersweet - the complicated relationship you can have with your long-awaited chosen youngest sibling when all you have is the idea of them vs when you are confronted with the reality of a Person, and what that means re: 'the culmination of the cycle that took everything from me'.
I loved the little scribble 'first creation' we see in Hope's world as it starts to gain substance, too! Like 'manifestation of baby's first Want'. And the way it's informed by the world Hope experiences and connects to through playing the game!!
Speaking of which, I hope this is an okay place to ask (and that I did the spoiler thing right because I don't really. use itchio much): there are a couple of things that really stick with me after playing the game for me to roll around in my head and I'd love to hear what you intended with Community's gift of scissors at the start of the game, and then Love/Regret's compass and the direction it points once you're past the maze.
I initially interpreted the scissors as symbolic of community (literal / support system) allowing one to 'cut free' from a cycle of violence, or maybe a gift allowing Hope to 'shape' their own self or future, as a positive reflection of the hole in their chest (esp. as you can use it to take Mother's life and place, so it ends up being a choice on how you use it). And I think in that final confrontation (or just before it? I should have taken notes but didn't, rip) it looked like the compass was showing the "correct" direction as back, which I thought was maybe Regret trying to urge Hope away from danger (this one I may be fully imagining. Wish I'd taken notes for real, sorry).
Were either of those close at all, or was the intent totally different?
Regardless of whether or not I read the game totally wrong, I had a really good time playing it and I hope I didn't offend haha. Thank you so much again for the great game, and I hope you're having a great month!
