Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Dec 25, 2020

  "All the good children stay transparent". + Easy game mechanics + Nice art + Fitting music + Interesting story + Worth the price for the length (about an hour of gameplay) ~ Convoluted plot While the story is interesting, the plot is a little convoluted and isn't actually that deep. However, it is still quite enjoyable. For those that may be confused or need help: There are [spoiler] 2 [/spoiler] endings, [spoiler]Silence and Noise[/spoiler]. In order to get the [spoiler]Noise[/spoiler] end, make sure you [spoiler]actually use/interact with/"take" the four Indulgences that you have collected. You do need all four of them so be sure to grab the Euli in the Sunday Class Lesson: Light room. Once you have all four Indulgences, "use" them before having Rem follow Ori through the doors with shapes above them. Follow Ori for the first two (triangle first, circle second) doors but then go through the door that Ori does not use(triangle) the third time.[/spoiler] As for understanding the plot, I will explain what I got from it below. [spoiler]Ori is a Chorister and has entered a mental landscape, the Hotel, which is inside of Rem's mind. Choristers serve the leader, the Conductor, of a religious organization called the Choir. Choristers perform Purification Rituals on people possessed by Celestials, presumably a legion-like/(semi-)hiveminded alien race, by entering their mental landscapes. Rem is possessed by a Celestial, perhaps even the "last one". People who are possessed by Celestials lose their sense of self and are able to remember the past, dream, and create "Narratives". Their minds become loud and the Celestial influence is compared to a cacophonous orchestra. The Choir has somehow modified humans, through poison (metaphorical or physical, not sure) in the water and conditioning of religious beliefs. A modified human free of possession has reached "Enlightenment". The modification renders humans unable to remember the past or to create their own personal narratives. The goal of the Choir is to prevent conflict and pain, making humanity more likely to survive. Celestials stand in the way of the Choir's goals so the members of the Choir are tasked with weakening Celestial influence ("Only then tomorrow will come for humanity"). Choristers go into the mental landscapes of the possessed and destroy the Celestial barriers. Barriers can be things or people inside the mental landscape. Ori ultimately has two options: destroy the barriers and restore Rem to Enlightenment OR to accept possessed Rem as is and run away into the "Dark". The Silence ending is the first option. Ori destroys the barriers of the Celestial possessing Rem and quiets Rem's mind. The final barrier is Rem's body in the mental landscape. Rem is purified and wakes up into reality, showing signs of emotional instability. He does not remember what has happened inside of his mind. The Conductor gives Rem a "rosary" for guidance are it is said to help humans remember "without bias" (sure). He also tells Rem to stay "hydrated" (I assume because the water is poisoned). However, Rem notes feeling "empty" without the Celestial's influence and feels regret. Ori greets Rem and tells him that people who are empty and unhappy are prone to being possessed by Celestials. Ori expresses the desire to see Rem again. The Noise ending is the second option. The Celestial possessing Rem confronts Ori as Ori is only pretending to not know that the Celestial isn't actually Rem. Ori tells the Celestial that he doesn't want the "noise" to stop and that he doesn't want tomorrow to come. Instead, Ori wants to stay in the "Dark" and doesn't want to be Enlightened, saying he will throw away his rosary. Ori decides to grab Celestial!Rem and runs into the Dark. This is how Ori believes he will find meaning to his life. Celestial!Rem claims that Celestials don't dream (it's probably a lie) and that his kind doesn't want to be bound to humans, that humans are selfish. Ori agrees that he is selfish and disappears. Celestial!Rem is back in the Hotel. He looks over the real Rem's essay reflecting on the current state of humanity. Rem's essay expresses the real Rem's desire to remember and to return to the past. Checking various parts of the Hotel also reveals a few facts about the real Rem: Rem was obsessed with hygiene products and was also prescribed medicine to prevent vomiting. Rem would vomit due to (excessive?) crying but threw the medicine away. Celestial!Rem remarks how he feels very weak as his barriers have been destroyed. He hides in a closet to stay safe. However, hearing noises, he leaves the closet in his weakened, and now de-solidifying, state only to find Ori dying in the bathtub. Ori has some sort of dark substance on his body and claims that he ran too far (perhaps into the Dark). As he is dying, Ori asks Celestial!Rem to tell him a story. Celestial!Rem tells Ori of the past. They grieve together for the world of the past. It seems that Ori and Rem die but death is stated to be liminal. The game restarts because the cycle of Ori and Rem's two paths is reset. Ori awakens in the bathtub from what he refers to as a sleep, just like in the start of the game. You will note that the dead bodies of Rem are from previous cycles: the body on the floor is from Ori breaking the Celestial's barrier and the body in the bathtub is from the two characters entering the tub together. Some more speculation on my part: - Rem has a red hair tint, red background, and red eyelids to represent his complete possession by a Celestial* *Celestial!Mari stated that blue is the color of one [being] and orange with a tint of red is the color of two beings. If Celesitals are basically legion, it would make sense that they are red! - Mari and her Celestial are represented by purple/violet because they are a mixture of blue (those who only have one being in their body) and red (the legion of the Celestials) - Ori is obsessed with violet because it reminds him of his possessed sister, who gave his life a Narrative/meaning - Violet represents finding meaning in others through love/companionship/obsession, but if you give too much of yourself to the other, you lose your sense of self like Mari - Rem was obsessed with hygiene products due to something like OCD (the hygiene products were colored violet, representing obsession) [/spoiler]
• gamedeal user

  Oct 25, 2022

  ████████████ █████████ ████████ ███ ██████, █████ ███████ █████████████████ ████████████.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 28, 2022

  evangelion for non-believers
• gamedeal user

  Apr 7, 2023

  I think they should kiss
• gamedeal user

  Jul 1, 2021

  this game felt like a short, trippy daydream. the art style is adorable, i already feel its influence- gritty charcoal bodies contrasted with solid color blocking of lavender and red. it's my first game from this dev; can't wait to try their other title, Hello Charlotte.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 1, 2022

  Tomorrow won't come for those without something: sacrifice, criticism, adversity, obstacles, confusion, suffering, authority, tradition, rebellion, atonement, attention, direction, breathing, tolerance, belonging, character, community, integrity, innocence, abundance, education, evolution, beginning, adventure, awareness, listening, salvation, conscious, happiness, blessings, curiosity. or any other 9 letter word. You define the meaning in the chaos. 6/10
• gamedeal user

  Dec 28, 2022

  i'd reccomend getting both endings, as each of them provide some interesting food for thought. love the art style and narrative color choices. sadly kinda short but i enjoyed my time with it while on the surface one might assume this to be a story about religion, it isn't, necessarily. there's enough subtextual things going on where it really didn't feel explicitly religious to me. faith itself is more of a concept within the overarching theme instead i can't say more without going into spoiler territory so imma just reccomend you play it sometime
• gamedeal user

  Jul 6, 2020

  [i]'We were not unmindful of the difficulties involved. So we decided to go through a process of self-purification' - Martin L King Jr[/i] [b]Etherane[/b] takes players on another allegorical journey of Catholic 'cleansing' as we meet two male protagonists: Ori the Chorister and Rem the 'lost soul' in a hotel. As you advance through this short puzzle & item-collecting story it becomes clear that there are two messages being made by Etherane, the first is through Ori's quest (alongside Rem) and the other being shown through the puzzles themselves that are the Sunday School Lessons. The Sunday School lessons each have themes to the puzzle you are set and, considerately, you're given an opportunity to save progress before attempting each puzzle. Anyone who knows Etherane's puzzles are aware how deceiving they are in their simplicity yet how easier still it can be to hit a stumbling block with them where trial & error becomes the best route. The puzzles were ones I hadn't come across before & I enjoyed the fresh challenge this gave as well as admiration for their concept. They vary from timed item order selection to memory pattern recall and even a chess challenge. Ori's quest has the player seeking out ways to pass through the 'veil' which is achieved by gaining access to the hotel rooms to seek out the requested item (or person in the case of Rem) and, on the first floor (or game-level?), each room provides us with the revelation of why Rem is there & Ori's purpose. As the player progresses past the first floor (or Veil?), the next area offers up the Sunday School lessons where, upon unlocking the next Veil, Ori & Rem advance to the next stage of puzzles that finally takes them through the Final Veil and a test of faith. You will come across item machines on each floor, the equivalent of coin-dispenser machines, that give Ori [i]Indulgences[/i] while one area also offers an alternative option of a PO-KA; alongside these Ori will find Collectible Cards in the form of Card packs referencing micro-organisms. Throughout the journey the player can turn to Ori's Rosary for hints, this is invaluable if you ever hit a dead-end trying to solve a puzzle and it is accessible by pressing [u]R-key[/u]. The remainder of the controls are shown at the game introduction and there are settings to choose a walk/run movement, sound & audio as well as a very useful choice to turn off flashing images before the game begins. The sprites & graphics by Etherane will be familiar to Hello Charlotte players and there is a consistent use of [i]violet[/i] which ties in with both the religious theme & the micro-organism/viral threats that are a constant in Etherane's games. The music and effects are a calming piano with relaxing sounds and, going back to the Indulgences, these offer additional story reveals and ties in with the 2 endings on offer. Overall, anyone who has previously played any of Etherane's games will be in familiar territory discovering teasing puzzles among multi-branch undertones. For anyone who has yet to play an Etherane game, this is a wonderful starter place as it is independent from the Hello Charlotte universe but showcases what to expect there. In my opinion, this game's style & play-length reminded me of Hello Charlotte: Delirium as they were both packed with fun, teasing puzzles and a brief story that [i]could[/i] be seen as pandemic related with its message of methods of approach (the Sunday School lesson themes) and the religious epitaph of [b]purifying[/b]. (<-- 9 letter word!) ~~~ Liked what you see? You can find more reviews at [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32839633]Have a Word[/url]~~~
• gamedeal user

  May 18, 2021

  amazing game thank you for reminding me i have an insane amount of religious trauma
• gamedeal user

  Oct 29, 2021

  such a short game, amazing art style. If you've ever played Omori, i'm sure you'll love this