Fishbowl

とてもおだやかで、やさしくて、楽しくて、そして悲しい。 毎日の生活の繰り返しの大切さに改めて気づかせてくれるいいゲームでした。

I'm a bit conflicted because I love the artstyle, played the demo and enjoyed it enough to buy it. I'm not opposed to cozy story driven games (Coffee Talk is one of my favourites) but this one got to a point where I was just skipping the dialogue. It got really repetitive and really boring, the "gameplay" loop is quite literally the same for WAAAAY too long and once i maximized the bar enough i just started skipping the chores (because they literally felt like chores lol). Honestly got to a point where I was just powering through to see the end. Also is it just me or the fish literally does ... nothing? I don't think I did anything with it other than read their "oh no oh no" dialogue every time the main character had their depression moments. Idk, feels like not much wouldve changed if the fish wasn't there. I feel like there is more that could've been done with this game, or put a little bit more ... story? I can't express enough how boring the dialogue got (and the game is all dialogue pretty much lol) just because nothing was happening and the story was essentially the same the whole game. A bummer.

This was the perfect game for me. A new favorite. I had almost no idea what to expect, but this game moved me like only the best pieces of art can. Alo is a young woman at the start of the pandemic. She has just moved to her own apartment and started a new job. Her Jaja has also recently passed away. You help Alo with self-care tasks and see her better cope with her grief the more effort you put in. However, the game does not present mental illness as a choice, but gives actionable steps to improve like doing small tasks and reaching out to your loved ones and friends. Alo is also a poet, though she has lost touch with her art in her grief. You go on a journey with Alo, learning about herself and her family as you unpack her Jaja's things. This game means the world to me. I am also a poet dealing with depression. It was almost too on the nose. But wow did it help me see both my mental illness and my art better. I am so grateful to the creators of Fishbowl for this game.

The gameplay loop consists of emotional storytelling, chatting with people on video chat (because it's during COVID lockdown times), and doing minigames for your part time job. Honestly, the plot is REALLY sad. Like she's basically sad and mourning the entire game, so if that's not something you want, I wouldn't recommend this. Some of her dream sequences also really scared me with the music. Overall, the game is kind of like taking care of a single sim. You remember to do daily tasks for her to stay alive, and it's very much spoon theory in my opinion. I was absolutely obsessed with the art style of the characters as well as their video chat backgrounds. You won't like this if you're not okay with repetitive gameplay, but it was a really meditative experience for me. Finished? Close! Steam Achievements? Will need to find a guide. There are missables. Steam Deck? Perfect Rating? 8.5/10 My curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45865425-CozyAriGames/ Full videos on Youtube.

What a lovely and cutesy game! The story is quite relatable, really like the graphics and mechanics as well, I recommend it to anyone who needs a chill game <3

Sorry, but this game is extremely boring. Even though it’s meant to be a storytelling and visual novel experience, it feels far too monotonous. There are many story driven games that make me curious about what will happen next, but this wasn’t one of them. My bad for not researching the gameplay beforehand. I initially bought it because I’m a huge fan of pixel art graphics.

es increible como me hizo llorar este juego, parece cosa del destino pero mi abuela me decia muchas frases de las que le dice a ella y es todo demasiado igual a como vivi yo el duelo. Es de estos indie que te marcan para siempre mas que cualquier triple A.

Mam duży problem z tą grą. Gdyby się dało – otrzymałaby ode mnie ocenę neutralną. Ale że się nie da – zostawiam pozytyw, ale z pewnymi zastrzeżeniami. Zaczynając od plusów: warstwa graficzna jest naprawdę przyjemna dla oka. Ujęła mnie także historia rozgrywająca się w tle – tak na bieżąco, jak i w retrospekcjach oraz wizjach bohaterki – nawet jeśli pewne smaczki będą zrozumiałe tylko dla mieszkańców Indii. Uważam też, że duet twórców doskonale poradził sobie z pokazaniem, jak wygląda rzeczywistość osoby fizycznie odizolowanej od świata, borykającej się ze stratą i depresją. Powtarzalność czynności, jakie wykonuje zamknięta w czterech ścianach bohaterka – mycie, jedzenie, picie, sprzątanie, praca, scrollowanie, z czasem też pisanie dziennika czy podlewanie kwiatów – może wydawać się męcząca z perspektywy gracza, ale dokładnie tak wygląda życie, kiedy musisz przetrwać. Czasem właśnie ta schematyczność trzyma nas w pionie – i to w tej historii widać doskonale. Podobnie, jak to, z jakimi myślami, wizjami i koszmarami boryka się człowiek cierpiący. I o ile jestem w stanie zrozumieć wspomnianą wyżej powtarzalność, która niektórym pewnie wyda się monotonna, o tyle sama nie przetrwałam licznych dialogów przewijających się w tej grze. Ostatnie 30% czasu gry było dla mnie frustrującym i przykrym doświadczeniem. Część rozmów przeklikałam, ale nawet to długie przeklikiwanie było już męczące. Pewnie to rozwleczenie było celowe – ale mnie pokonało. Pewną iskierką radości było natomiast zakończenie, które pięknie domknęło tę opowieść. Tym bardziej dla mnie – bo też zajmuję się pisaniem. Dlatego mimo iż przez ostatnie godziny układałam sobie w głowie negatywną recenzję „Fishbowl”, końcówka zmieniła moje zdanie i wynagrodziła te trudy. Warto było, choć nie jest to gra dla każdego.

This game was on my wishlist well before it released and was one I was really looking forward to long before my grandma died. She passed away exactly two months before the game released. It's been a wonderful companion through the grief process. Such a special and lovely game from the way it's written to the way it looks. I've been taking it slow but really loving it a lot.