Actual Sunlight

i recommend it, its great short game. it shows how being lonely is hard and how u can easily get into wrong train of thought. i wasnt expecting things to end up like that but it sure has a message for people who are struggling.

I usually like these kind of emotive and raw small games done in rpg maker, but unfortunately I can't recommend this one. Obviously, this is totally story (text) driven, so I won't talk about the simple to none gameplay that it has, where a lot of other similar games at least have a little more detail to in general and are less "boring"; just by focusing on the story, I think the game has really nothing interesting to say besides and amalgam of what depression could feel like in some cases, with just a ton of self-deprecating texts and what I think its a really shallow and explicit standpoint. I've seen a lot of better indie works on depression, even in the same medium, some small like Depression Quest, or Omori at a much larger scale, so I know that this is a really important topic to talk about, and at the same time that makes me understand that it can't be taken as "lightly" as some do; maybe I can get the point of the straight forwardness that Actual Sunlight kind of takes, but still I don't really appreciate the way is being handled and actually makes me kind of worried if the person who make it is going through something remotely similar of what the games describes.

I came for an easy achievement, I left with emotional damage.

Powerful. A story that needs to be heard.

Meh..

This game is sad, bleak, and hopeless, but I really liked it. It seems like the author poured their depression into it, which gives the whole experience a raw, personal, and sincere quality. It is hard to call it enjoyable in a traditional sense, yet it stayed with me precisely because of its honesty. P. S. The only achievement in the game seems to be unobtainable on Mac.

While I don't disagree with the basic concept, or even some of the points presented - I know all too well just how soul-crushing and lonely it can be to be depressed, and what sort of things suicidal ideation can foster within you, I can't say that this game handles it all that well. It essentially seems to be a longhanded version of "Everything sucks, I messed it all up, I don't have the confidence or will to fix it, so It's all over for me now". It's... odd. I see the problems the main character has and my mind immediately goes to solutions, to remedies. Maybe he'd be able to afford a better life if he stopped mindlessly spending, maybe he'd have an easier time connecting with people if he could stop shooting himself in the foot, maybe he'd have more fufilment in life if he set small, but reasonable goals and worked towards them. As said, I know it's not that easy - I've been where this person is, I know how it weighs, but at least to me it seems as if this person became enamoured with his own misery. He uses his sadness as a shield to protect him from any attempt he might make to fix it all, trying anyways and blaming the failiures on his inherrant traits. It's always "I'm fat" or "i'm unattractive" or "I'm white" (for some reason?), and while i get that sort of self-hatred and how much those personal flaws can feel like terrible wounds, The truth is evident - it's not what he is, but who he chooses to be. Depression doesn't have to mean that you act sad, and damage other people. It might sound crude to say - but an important part of living is learning not to take other people down with you. It's normal to be sad, and while it's less common, it's normal to be depressed - terrible things happen, and life will sometimes deal you a bad hand - but you don't have to make that sadness other people's problems. This all feels like someone who turns to excessive spending as a coping mechanism, but then can't find a way to afford it due to terrible job prospects, until the inevitable end. Perhaps that's why I find it hard to be as sympathetic as I want to be - spending money you don't have is always the beginning of a road to ruin, and it's a choice that's oftentimes easily avoided. Based on all the text, it doesn't look as if he had to spend nearly any of the money he did - and with what he saved, he could've made that better life. Perhaps i'm just older, or more experienced with such thoughts now, or maybe just a bit numb to it all. Perhaps, though, this game is depressing without any real... weight to it. The ending was expected (in fact, it was even spoiled right near the start), but it didn't feel like there was much gravitas to it. It just... happened. I appreciate trying to tackle difficult and mature themes, but the overal experience didn't leave me feeling as if I'd learned anything, or seen something that I didn't know before. The weight of life is always heavy, sadness is always there, but it's the choices that matter. It's hard for me to sympathise with those poor choices, especially when they seem so... pointless. The main character was doomed, yes, but doomed of his own choosing. Depression is different for everyone, but this man's and mine are clearly worlds apart.

hauntingly beautiful and brutal portrait of someone worn down after years and losing their battle with their own brain

我不想说这是一个很好的作品，其本身想表达的东西很大程度上基于玩家自己的经验。有过类似体验的人很容易就能带入进入游戏，但反过来并没有过任何相似经验或者比较麻木的人可能对这个游戏就会完全无感。从这一点上来说本作作为视觉小说或者说rpg的说服力其实并不强，更别提需要手动debug才能继续游戏的素材缺失问题和短的不能再短的流程。 但是本作胜在完整，作品本身想要传达的那种焦躁以及无力感在这个作品的每一处都体现的淋漓尽致。乍一看没有说服力且空洞的故事情节以及无意义的互动实则每一处都恰到好处的体现了这种让人连连叹气又难以捉摸的情绪。就像作品一开始在房间醒来环境文本告诉你的那样，一切都好像要开始，但是始终没有开始，好像完成了的事物背后又有一个巨大的空洞，但是一切看起来好像还是那么正常却又缺乏意义。