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All There's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Implementation of Theme | #5 | 4.256 | 4.256 |
| Story | #10 | 3.953 | 3.953 |
| Creativity | #12 | 4.116 | 4.116 |
| Presentation | #14 | 4.163 | 4.163 |
Ranked from 43 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
What is the name of your wolf/wolfess/wolves?
Remi
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A wonderful visual novel with one of the most fleshed-out and interesting character(s) from the whole jam! Despite being only half an hour long, Remi feels like the most developed character I've read about in a while. Using the visuals and audio to convey their inner struggles, as well as subtly breaking the 4th wall when Remi calls out the UI textbox for not having the right names for their friends, it all works to make the story more engaging in a way not possible through writing only.
It's obvious Pink put a lot of thought into not only the individual pieces, but how they fit together! Other things I really liked were: the inclusion of accessibility features (beyond the stock ones Renpy comes with), the subtle ATL animations (the swinging lighting fixture), as well as all the little details (like the title disappearing from the title screen after the ending). This is already an amazing amount of work, but the fact that it was all done by a single person, one that was already helping out on another Maywolf in the meantime? Like, how. *Chefs kiss, but like with tongue...*
Bold and moody. The writing is pleasing and just enough to dig into a deep theme. I love how the visual elements carry the storytelling. The sound design is good, though I feel the choice of music with that kind of beat perfectly fits the tone. All in all it’s a great short read!
I thought this one was really cool
'All There' is a mature and harsh look into the mind of a person who is dealing with an episode of serious mental illness. The presentation of this visual novel is it's strong suit, as it both uses minimal assets to their highest effect. The small details of a light in the corner of your peripheral vision, the way the light source slowly sways, the subtle changes in who's talking to whom really settle the reader into being the one looking back at yourself in the mirror.
The story is also one that's concise and only tells as much as needs to be told. We understand the anxiety and the self-loathing that comes from this character, and the way that it manifests itself as they try to settle themself as they dissociate. Their trauma playing through their head, was also something that is inherently raw but was tastefully presented. The circular reasoning that proceeds really hits home on how difficult it is to deal with that kind of episode, when you're stuck in you're own mind. Obviously, a character isn't going to solve their problems through one self-talk in the mirror, so having a character arc being that Remi is able to be more honest with their friends, is a nice positive step that they takes.
This project sets out to depict what it wants, and it achieves that excellently. It fits the theme of the game jam literally, calling the voice in his head 'the light' and their psychosis 'the dark', so it's an interesting interpretation. It paints the light not so much as a good or bad force, just a force that exists, and whether that's a good thing or not is all in the context. It's a pretty flexible way to approach the theme, though I feel like it might lean a bit too much into ambiguity. Granted, that is the nature of this story, a mature and sincere recounting of what an episode feels like.
Spoiler Alert!
A short and impactful story, and also one of the best MayWolf entry this year. The story manages to be really creative with just one scene (and one* sprite). I love the interconnected use of ‘You’ and ‘I’, really gives a sense of not being in reality. The writing was amazing, giving enough room for me to keep up despite alternating between You/I and Jes,Bel/with their real counterparts.
For the presentation, the music is fine, though I don’t think it necessarily fits too well. Another thing, is the differing static audio intentional? I can barely hear the static from ‘Light’ even with max setting while ‘Bel’ and him are wayy louder than the rest. Also the last instance of Bel and Jez does not have that static, which I’d assume is Remy not being to differentiate between fake and real for that one second, though I’d love some type of clarification on that (maybe like one line asking are you real?) or sth idk. The shift between the spiraling to the sudden ‘Remy, I’m not real’ is sort of sudden, but it do be like that sometimes.
P.S I ran out of witty comments :(, I guess I’ll just become another one of those meat with nervous tissues.
Rating: 5545
Edit: Rebalancing of rating to 5555
Thank you for playing and everything you wrote <3
I'll write out the thought process over what you were wondering about:
The differing audio levels for the static is indeed (mosly) intentional. The Light's more subtle volume is as such due to being a part of Remi - barely noticeable as being 'off' to them. His is extremely loud, Remi's fear drowning out everything else. (Bel's is a little bit too loud though, unintentionally).
And the absence of static for the part where they can't tell if the friends are real is because the friends are actually speaking, static being a representation for what it feels like to me when I 'hear' fake speech like this. Remi can't tell, but the absence is meant to hint to the player that it's different than before even before it's confirmed.
Really good! The one-shot conceit stays engaging throughout thanks to the short length and all the flourish, and the mirror is also just a very clever trick for making the visual language of VNs work in what essentially amounts to a monolog (at least in the sense of the other party being a spiral of light it feels right to not center visually). The gimmick does come off as a good way to add a layer of disorientation and irreality, too, since the surface of a mirror feels like more of an "objective" medium than just seeing the events through a character's eyes directly. The audio design might deserve as much credit; I especially like how the game plays with the volume of a music, a too often forgotten way to add some variation and emphasize shifts in mood. All in all, in terms of presentation, it's a great concept pulled off with style.
And the writing is just as excellent and just as great conceptually – this certainly makes for one of the most creative ways to use the jam theme I've seen so far. The game's formal tricks help it convey information very naturally, and the character voice works. One thing I was left feeling sort of hesitant about is whether the protagonist's internal journey really lead into the resolution naturally, but to make up for that, there is plenty of catharsis in the final scene. A good read all around in a very polished package.
A nicely written unfortunately familiar story. I really dig the presentation and I feel you handled the stuff with Valdislav incredibly well, though I think the ending could've been blended into a little better as right now there feels like there's a bit of a harsh disconnect between Remi spiraling to them being more composed and seeking their friends out, right now it sorta' just happens. Overall it's a pretty efficiently and effectively told story, well done.
also wanted to add that Remi struggling with the personal pronoun “I” when talking to themself was just such an effective way to show their disconnect to themself and is a manifestation of feeling disconnected to one’s self/body that I don’t often see utilised despite experiencing it myself. I really like it!
Practically everything in this story is pulled from my own experiences, so it's been 'nice' with lack of a better word that there's been quite a few people who recognise themselves in details like this. Makes me feel less alone in it, and it was my hope while making the game it'd do the same for others by showing struggles I know can be very hard to talk about <3
GOOD. Love to see amab non binary representation! God Remi is so hot. i'm so sorry for focusing on that alongside their mental breakdown, but like. HOOGH. Like come over and we can get you some antipsychotics and some t4t sex. Fix you right up. Tummy.... see through shirt... tight pants...
seriously though, really good, short, succinct... sweet? Sweet enough? I work in psych so it's a good representation of an episode. I love the art, and the use of both noise and music. Great interpretation of the theme. I'm looking disrespectfully and with solidarity and fondness.
This was really good! It makes great use of the visuals and visual effects. The vibes and emotions were spot on, and the dialogue really helps with that! It expresses trauma and mental illness in a very evocative way. You can especially feel what Remi is going through in this VN. And it's very tight doesn't have any filler. The overall vibe I get is similar to one of my favorite vaporware albums: I'll Try Living Like This by Death's Dynamic Shroud. This VN is definitely worth a read if you can stomach dark psychological stories!
Is just good. Really good.
Pink is truly a master of bringing the elements of the medium together not just tell a story, but to cause an experience. As someone with diagnosed schizoaffective disorder, and from watching my mother over the years who was schizophrenic, many of these experiences are quite relatable to me… PTSD, Panic Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, Crippling, Disassociation, Unreasonable Fear… and I also enjoy the message at the end… the realization that someone else may be experiencing the same trauma you’re going through, and having the presence of mind to try and get them help, even if you yourself cannot do it because you are experiencing that yourself.
Translating these complex, abstract and often confusing when they're happening experiences in a way that gives others a glimpse into what it's really like living with it was a challenge. But from all the comments and such, it seems like the raw authenticity I put into it had a strong impact - and even more importantly, there's people who feel a little bit less alone because of it :')
(And you nailed what I wanted to say with the ending. Pushing through the fear to help someone else when they can't even help themselves, because they know it's a shared fear and it's right, is what makes Remi a truly strong person.)
Bizarre and haunting. Loved the use of audiovisual effects to spice up the storytelling despite it all happening in a single room. It really enhances this rough and emotional story of a traumatized person. There was a lot of obfuscating language but I felt the plot was simple enough to follow despite that, so it all ended up in a neat and well written package. TBH, I felt like this was stretching the definition of a My Wolf (it's more of an I/My Wolf lol) but I think the concept is creative enough to give it a pass.
I think my rating may be a bit skewed from this being my first rating, but wow!
I due my due diligence to try to be understanding of specifically invisible and mental disabilities, so this kind of take is a soft spot for me. I love the use of music, sound effects, and the restricted space. It reminds me of the original Saw movie, which was made by a group of film graduates who rented out a single room to make their movie in, and told a story of being trapped there.
Limitations like that often end up making good art 🤭 Wanted to see what I could make with, mostly, just a dynamic CG - and it supports Remi's perception of isolation and being trapped with their own mind more than if the game didn't have that limitation :')
And a major intent of this game is precisely to make others understand disabilities like this a bit more, and I've been happy to see it's something people are taking to heart 🩷
Okay, two VNs in and this rating thing is gonna get real hard real quick if they keep being this good. Sheesh.
Possible spoilers below.
Breaking things down by jam criteria:
Implementation of Theme:
I liked it. Having the "light in the dark" reflect the darkness of someone's struggling mind was a creative approach to the premise, and I liked how the light ended up being just that: a light that allowed Remi to better understand part of their psyche. At least for the moment.
Story:
As mentioned, I liked the take on the prompt and twisting the "My Wolf" idea to represent someone appreciating themself rather than an external target of affection. The description of other partygoers as meat pretending to be people was very fun, even if that was just part of Remi's mind talking.
I liked the positive ending, and I don't think at all that the tone should be changed, but it did feel like it wrapped up just a touch too nicely? Like almost... flowery in comparison to the rest of the story. I'm kinda waffling back and forth on whether to stress that since I don't really know how I'd write it instead, but something just felt a touch off.
The Eloise resolution felt much more concretely off though. I think it's a bit unclear whether all of the interaction between Remi and Eloise's boyfriend actually happened or if some of that was embellished by Remi's psyche, but like, even if a little bit of it is true, I understand not wanting to talk about that memory, but "hey your boyfriend tried to sexually assault me" should be enough grounds for termination of that relationship. Just felt weird that Remi would phrase it as Eloise potentially being abused rather than focusing on the experience he had.
Presentation:
Really liked the visuals here. Setting the whole story as the view through a mirror with some added flair like the spotlight/shadow effect for the flashback was great as were the bits of sound design for the light "talking". This VN clearly took a very minimalist aesthetic but it used what it had very effectively.
One complaint I had here was the music playing over the first part of the story. It feels like it's trying to convey the club-style music playing at the party, but it kind of just felt grating. Maybe it would have helped to have at least some kind of muffle effect since it wouldn't be that clear through a locked bathroom door. I could see the argument that the music was meant to contribute to a sense of disorientation or something, but I didn't really feel that either. Uplifting music at the end was nice though.
Creativity:
So, full disclosure, Red Ballet has been sitting in my backlog since approximately the Jurassic period, so I can't say with certainty, but this sort of aesthetic seems to be firmly in your wheelhouse. That said, I think you leveraged that to make a really effective story that touched on really important and difficult issues and to be able to mold that to the premise of the jam is impressive. No complaints in this category from me.
Also, "Jez and Bel". Clever.
Also also, this has pushed Red Ballet up my queue. Looking forward to seeing more from you.
That was great. The writing really fits the idea of the story (or what I know about it at least). The presentation is really top-notch too, it’s an extrememly polished game overall. I don’t much to say, just that it’s hard to imagine a better version of this. The way it subverts the theme is not particularly interesting, but outside that consideration, it’s my favorite VN of the jam so far. Totally expecting you to be at the top of my tierlist, once again.^^
Heavy and Impactful.
Copy pasted from the discord since I probably shoulda just put it here haha:
As someone with some similar brain issues under specific duress it was a great little dialogue about it. Inspiring to try and tell some of my stories also in this medium.