Steam Curator : DaRevieweD

"Life As An Orange..."

Many "bad" points work to its advantage. Art style may be simplistic, but grows on you... By far way better than if I had attempted~

Here's The Thing:
You peer into the life of 16-year-old Alice Lorange, a girl on the spectrum and this is how she copes with things in her daily routine. Social situations, being out in public; scenarios that people may find “easy” or “come naturally”. This is a story about her, people like her, the Others… oh and you too I guess~

[+] PROS;

:) THE LIFE OF A LORANGE-R~
The gameplay is pretty standard of the not-choice-based visual novels. So, no complicated calculative, mechanical demeanor of saving and loading is required, although you are more than welcome to. BUT you do have to tune into your emotional quotient and reevaluate how Alice would be feeling.

With immediate “premature ends” being displayed almost instantaneously for failing to read the situation. Turns out, I am abysmal at this myself! But all jokes aside, I think it ticks the checklist for an excellent VN in terms of navigation, text-skipping and what have you.

It can be finished in one hour or so, depending on your reading speed and whether you’re up to dying “on purpose” to unlock a plethora of optional achievements. There are also the complimentary gallery and music player to give you some respite~

TIPS:
1) For choices; I find that settling on the opposite of what you’d normally think to do helps… kinda!
2) One achievement rests on you having to play it on two separate occasions. If you’re at 29/30 achievements, that may be why~

:) SEEING PAST DISORDER!
The backgrounds are uneven, inconsistent and “simple-looking” which could be attributed to budgetary reasons. But I chose to believe that it worked to its favor instead in illustrating a disconnect between Alice and her environment. It’s also apparent in the way those around her lose color when not in focus…

Audio design on the other hand is finely selected and simply magnifique! Shifting between panic, somber and relaxation fairly regularly. The one-woman voice of French YouTuber Chloé Guerin fit terrifically well, sounding both exasperated and a calm thunderous tone in her delivery, the latter never too far behind. Theme song is moving, but that’s no surprise because I am biased toward the French language~

:) OTHERLY OBLIVIOUS…
The story resonated very thoroughly with me, I felt a pit in my stomach whenever Alice goes on to describe everyday items and places in a troubling fashion. The words clung to my mind and I let out a whimper as I got more tongue-tied. There were even times where I retreated into myself because it got all too real. And despite having been in near-identical situations; I can’t even imagine what being autistic is like nor will I pretend to know everything about it.

After playing it however, I feel like I could understand it clearer, never mind how little or how much- raising awareness is really the best sought out outcome and value proposition of this game. While Alice Lorange is the protagonist, the three Alices have just as much a presence with their signature colors, nationality to name a few faultlessly illustrate what the “spectrum” could encompass.

Don’t be tricked by the anime-style dressing and sparkles, because it can get raw when you least expect it. Dark thoughts plague just about anyone and in this VN, they surface anytime and anywhere. At school, at home and in her dreams. The despair of ceasing to function and “nobody gets me” mentality emerges all too often. But is that always necessarily the case?

:) A-LEASE ON LIFE~
The magical elements to the game are debatable, but I think they are short for “magical realism” in that the Sailor Moon cosplay represents their pure and secret desire to assert a fearless, strong-willed image. The inner voices are their conscience and essentially snapping themselves out of their frozen moments.

Whether the events actually took place or not isn’t the big concern- it’s what the girls were able to achieve as a result of them projecting those facades which are just as much them still. Not being held back or brought down by ill perceptions from the Others. Alice discovering that there are individuals just like her and gradually shattering that “fish out of water” wall she has put up all her life. Finding common ground in humanity that extends beyond borders of race, language barriers was the cherry on top…

Hence, I think 4MA is significant as a videogame precisely because of these empowering and insightful notions. In just one hour, it was able to instill a lifelong amount of sympathy which then grew towards compassion, before manifesting in the form of increased sensitivity and understanding of people on the spectrum. Giving representation to people with autism that they can be superheroes! There’s even a new game+ with a unique twist on rectifying almost all the hurt it had you go through~
I thought I had found the most relatable video game character before... But now it's clear. There is no other contender besides Alice~ 

[-] “♥♥♥♥”;

:( ALICE YOU TRIED…!
I could see why some fixated on the story getting derailed or “worse” with the inclusion of more fictional bits as it progressed. And to a certain extent I agree with that. I found it distracting definitely but it never strayed from the core message to takeaway, to which I only respect it more.

Would I have loved for it to have a straight face beginning to end? Yes, but we can’t always get what we want… In fact, because it did it like that, it was able to distinguish itself with its dark humor and ability to poke fun at the VN genre while being very shrewd in delivering the material on autism~

:( OR IS IT MALICE!?
I guess one thing that did send me reeling back was its price point (which has since been cut down), particularly for the length it stood which is shorter than those of feature films. I understand that a more expensive figure on Steam would denote game as being higher in quality and “worth it”.

But I think it may have a direct correlation to its lukewarm and stagnant reception. For instance, I was similarly dismayed when Blak3 The VN decided on a similar stance, albeit well after launch but even then, it was twice the length of this one~

BUGS:

x Not actually bugs but some nuances in text is too Google-translatey. Really isn’t too bad~

NITPICKS:

~ I think having English subtitles for the theme song would be lovely!

"-Sometimes It's Bitter, Other Times Gets Better~"

The narration makes you out to be a bystander or even worse- in Alice's shoes in the face of danger... I can't tell which is worse! 

Last Words?
VN that not only steals hearts, changes them too… Fantasy elements flesh out autism as a very misguided phenomenon. Price bit steep, falters as it goes on but stands its ground with an OPTIMISTIC end~

If you want to learn more about autism in an accessible and magically real manner. If you would like to advocate and support it as a worthy cause… This short but provoking VN would make for a phenomenal start~

8.5 / 10

A wholehearted backing and thanks towards Mia for the key! Please cheer up, you did great~

Don't forget to follow my curator DaRevieweD for more games!!!