Journal

Tiny but deep, lovely but short. Like life.

Щоб не псувати інтригу буду дуже мінімально згадувати сюжет, хоча одразу хочу зазначити дві речі: ви скоріш за все майже одразу здогадаєтеся, що таке глобальне трапилось, але це ніц не все, а також якби я не грав в першу гру цих розробників, то мабуть не подужав би цю до кінця. На щастя таки подужав й вона того вартувала. [quote]At bedtime tales and fables For your greedy hearts Some have razors Some have keys How they end depend On how you play your part Fortunately how you played your part Has got you here The Devil’s Carnival (2012)[/quote] Почну мабуть з того, що варто тримати в пам'яті той факт, що це спогади. Гра вас навмисне плутатиме й фактично розкриватиме всіх персонажів, крім героїні, героїня... дуже специфічна, їй важко співчувати, за неї майже неприємно грати й стає ще неприємніше з кожним днем, де ми щось нове про неї дізнаємося. А потім ви зрештою подужаєте цей прошарок спогадів й зрозумієте, що до чого. І от оцей фінал, на який я очікував, а зрештою отримав набагато, набагато більше, ніж думав, настільки влучний та зрештою пояснює (не виправдовує, пояснює) попередні півтори-дві години спогадів, що в гру одразу хочеться переграти вдруге, тепер вже знаючи, про що мова. Зрештою тут дуже файна музика, намішано кілька різних візуальних стилей й сюжет, що робить декілька цікавих речей водночас. Якщо не боїтесь повільного сторітеллінгу та історій про біль і втрату - рекомендую.

... I understand what the game was trying to do... but I just ended up bored, uninterested and sometimes even annoyed. The game keeps giving you choices but they're formed with sentiments like "apologetic", "evasive", "love"... which means you're often not really sure what you're actually choosing... but even then they don't matter, you're not influencing much if anything. The game pretends you're following this girl and sharing a story with her but you keep getting the information afterwards... for example something happens, okay... someone says "do you know who did it ?", you answer that you don't know and then the main character says... "Actually, it was me !" Wait what ? When ? How ? Why ? The main character is so unlikable... whatever you try she will end up being horrible to others. I'm sure I could empathize with her if the game actually showed me why I should. Here you get from scene to scene, read uninteresting dialogues, then something suddenly happens, the girl is horrible => next chapter. There was even a point in a chapter where I was asking myself : "wait, did several days go by ?", but nope, it's just that the story doesn't make sense. I know why it's written like this, it's because it's in her journal, it's not objective, memories are unreliable... knowing why doesn't make me enjoy it though and I've been interested in similar plot lines before so it's not just that it's not my type of story. [b][u]Lifespan :[/u][/b] ~2 hours to finish. [b][u]Story :[/u][/b] It's about a girl who is having trouble coming to terms with something and gets in all kinds of trouble. You follow her through her days as she recaps them in her journal. [b][u]Gameplay :[/u][/b] You control a girl on a drawn page and can go from a place to another by reaching the ends. When you get close to a person, you get the option to talk to him/her. Then you have several words that represent topics you can start with this person, you'll get more depending on who you have talked to beforehand. Sometimes you get a choice between several feelings but they don't change much to the rest of the story. The choices matter so little that usually you can just pick the exact same topic again and reread the exact same conversation then change your answer this time. When you've talked to everyone important for the chapter, you get called back to the house to watch a small carnival play ( that's actually more interesting than the main story ) and the chapter ends. [b][u]Achievements :[/u][/b] You'll have to play it once then replay the 1st chapter because you need to do steps in the 2nd chapter that you can't do in your 1st playthrough. Besides that, you just need to play through the game. There are some achievements where you need to do specific things to unlock them but it's really not hard ( I got them without trying ) and guides can help you with that ( basically, be nice to everyone when possible... ).

While I was playing this game I was getting upset with how poorly the story was being told. Why was this kid going around stealing ♥♥♥♥, breaking windows and blaming it on her best friend, and generally being in cohoots with ♥♥♥♥ people while trying to act nice and normal? And what is the cutscenes with this carnival business? The story was confusing and I wanted it to give me the motives for what the ♥♥♥♥ was actually going on. But then the end hits and you're like... WHOA.... THIS IS A TRIP! ♥♥♥♥ MAKES SO MUCH SENSE! Mostly anyway. I think it could've been a touch less innocent and a touch more sensible but overall, it's a storytelling experience I haven't really experienced in other games and really enjoyed! P.S. Secret Ending Is Best Ending. :P

[h3]Circus as a metaphor[/h3] For a story told using paper cutouts, the beguilingly simple distraction-less game mechanic elevates the art of story telling. Journal is hard to describe, without spoiling the expertly written plotline that will have you lied to, believe it and then just as you accept you have been a sucker, you realise that you have lived the same plotline. And then it ends, it's that good. I'm not normally so excited to write a review, so I'll explain what I liked about this game/story right away and not spoil anything for you. [h3]Clean[/h3] [list][*]The soundtrack is just so well mixed to drive the mood exactly where it needs to go, every day has it's own sound that builds to an epic crescendo as the week progresses. It even had me walking back and forth just to see if I was reading the colour and tempo in each location correctly. Music thanks to Kevin MacLeod who hosts incompetech.com . [*]Narration : You have 2 narrators, this is a story about a young girl, and about a circus. So each has their own narrator, and they compete for different halves of your brain. Play it and you will find out why this works so well. [*]Hand drawn backgrounds, childlike, creating this immersion because it removes all distraction and gives the game makers so much more control over what you see. The backgrounds are places you move through, all look run-down. And for me it was weird that there is so much damage depicted in the scenes of your life. After a while it dawned on me, that the child's drawings are actually more honest than they appear. [*]Script, well this script should make you cry or at least tear up, eventually you will recognise some of your own train-smashes of life in the story. [/list] I certainly recognised a lot of my growing up, a lot of my diss-appointments with my own self, and behaviour I have seen in others. There is a fair bit of reading in this game, I suggest you do take it slowly though, it's literally 1.6 hours if you do read it all. [h3]Loss[/h3] Yes, this is ultimately a story about loss, and the collateral damage that is creates. You have been warned. But it does have a good ending. For more games just like it check out this curated list which you can click on and even follow for more https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41773079-EmpathyGames/list/91748/

its a nice storybook game, just made me personally feel sad :{ but its nice :D Some people who are going through similar situations may be able to relate to it. And for others it will open eyes and let you step foot into another person's life.

Note: I will go back to edit this review after a second playthrough. This is more initial thoughts than anything Journal is a very strange game. It's a story about a girl going through difficult times and acting out. The game has a large focus on growing up and dealing with situations which can be difficult for a child. The key thing with this game is the narrator is very unreliable. Having completed the game , some of the things I've seen make more sense in hindsight. I guess you could say the ending started seeping into the rest of the game. But still, the narrator being unreliable is a core part of the game. Frankly, I find this very refreshing considering it's not really something we see in games, especially to this extent. What I also find refreshing is the main character can come off as unlikable quite easily, especially depending on your choices. I think this is fine, a story doesn't always *need* to portray the MC as good (or at least, not all the time), though this might turn off some people. Unfortunately, most of the game doesn't actually get to the heart of the story. The game isn't really about the ending. It's sort of it's own separate thing. I know this doesn't make much sense, but I can't really say anymore without spoilers. Ultimately, I'm not actually sure if I'd recommend this.The characterisation and storytelling was good, though again, keeping the last sentence in mind, the game messed up. It almost feels like the person who wrote the ending was not the same person who wrote the rest of the game. I feel like most of the game's story was sort of irrelevant to the ending (And I do not mean that just because the narrator is unreliable either. It just deals with things which aren't too related to the ending). The ending should've been different or the rest of the game should've been different. Did I enjoy it? Yeah, certainly. Does the game have replay value? Yes, but frankly, I don't feel a strong compulsion to go back and replay it immediately. Not when I know it doesn't really matter at the end. I do feel obligated to say, however, that completing the game once provides a different context to the game when you play it again. At ~2 or 3 hours of gameplay, it's a bit difficult for me to recommend this for the price. Personally, I say wait for it to go on sale.

This is a game where you're a teenager, who's a jerk in a cool beret who does mean things to her friends, and then you get to decide how much of an @%@#! you are about it when confronted by everyone. It's amazing and very cathartic if you just want to be rude. And then at the end, it punches you in the face with sadness. Gameplay, you're just walking around and talking to people, so you don't need to be great at adventure games or puzzles to go through the story. It's very relaxing.

It was an interesting adventure that did a good job at creating emotion and discussing complex topics. Unfortunately, the storytelling is confusing and leads to frustrating situations where the choices given lose their significance, for example when the player to make decisions before they have the information to make them. The lack of foreshadowing/build up of the actual plot makes important bits feel irrelevant or tacked-on. Regardless, it was worth playing and interesting, different enough from other games out there and short enough to be worth the play time.

以一本日记为主题的解密游戏。