The Life of a Pacifist

[gekiganwing]

The person who made Air Pressure a while ago has just recently finished another visual novel. Downloads for all computer formats are available at http://bentosmile.com/gameslist/the-lif ... -conflict/

[Wintermoon]

I like this.

[iskander]

Interesting, as usual...

Also, as usual I caved in, but only then did the learning experience started.

I also like that the author does not hold our hand and tries to over-explain the game. Much better to let us do our ow thinking.

[Alex]

Uh, nice little game...)) Graphics and music make me feel nostalgie about old console games...

and I totally agreed with the main idea - this world is sick.

[Alphonse]

I got scared and stopped playing when the twitching began. ;_; I knew it. Never trust the cute-looking games. EVER.

[Der Tor]

hey, i am beginning to really like this guys games... I love all those things that make you think outside the bun or whatever you call that... but i am still kinda struggling with trying to get an understanding of what i just saw... oh and... this is definitely one of those games that you wanna play at least 3 times, even though the endings aren't much different no matter what you choose... but if you get only one ending and don't replay it after that, the game is totally pointless... regardless of which ending you get, you HAVE to replay it and get the other endings too, otherwise it won't make much sense.

[J. Datie]

Well, I played it and now I'm confused.

So, is the story's theme that generic, "follow-the-leader" type stuff is bad? Because it kind of sends mixed messages about that, you know?

I love all those things that make you think outside the bun or whatever you call that...

That would be "think outside the box". "Think outside the bun" was the the slogan for the Taco Bell restaurant.

[azureXtwilight]

Whoa, the others look so scary when I choose to hate their plans.
X(

[Fluffycrow]

I like the changing character sprites. I think I'll have nightmares about that mouse. *shudder* I've only seen three endings so far, but I'm really hoping that there's a hidden message in this game, similar to Air Pressure...

[IceD]

Great retro visual novel, if we can call it that

[Blue Lemma]

This VN is simple, really... It's standard life at a big corporation

And yes, those animals got CREEPY! I liked Air Pressure better... more metaphorical/interesting to think about.

[Der Tor]

@ Blue Lemma:

yes it seems standard and totally normal, even boring - because we accepted it. Precisely because we are used to violence in media we become numb to it, regard it as normal and don't even think about there being anything wrong with it - we even don't notice it anymore... and i think that's precisely what this VN is all about.

[Fluffycrow]

Having now finished all of the endings, I'm gonna throw my interpretation out there:

I don't think the game is really about violence in media, but rather about how situations change depending on your outlook, and that the whole issue of violent games is just an effective way of showing it. Think about it; there are plenty of menus in the game, but none of them influence the dialogue in a large way/ they're really just a log of what you do or don't view as acceptable. If you think "Okay, this is normal. Nothing bad going on here," throughout the game, then that's how it is portrayed: the sprites continue to look cutesy. However, if you think "The is awful! How can they talk about this so casually?!" then the sprites of the other characters look evil, even demonic. I'd say the overall moral of the game is, "Life's only as bad as you make it."

[Wintermoon]

I don't think the game is really about violence in media, but rather about how situations change depending on your outlook, and that the whole issue of violent games is just an effective way of showing it. Think about it; there are plenty of menus in the game, but none of them influence the dialogue in a large way/ they're really just a log of what you do or don't view as acceptable. If you think "Okay, this is normal. Nothing bad going on here," throughout the game, then that's how it is portrayed: the sprites continue to look cutesy. However, if you think "The is awful! How can they talk about this so casually?!" then the sprites of the other characters look evil, even demonic. I'd say the overall moral of the game is, "Life's only as bad as you make it."

I agree that the game isn't about violence in media, but my interpretation is otherwise the opposite of yours. The game is about how you lose your ideals by failing to stand up for them. The "Why was I worried?" ending is not just the bad ending, but the scariest part of the game.

[Fluffycrow]

I don't think the game is really about violence in media, but rather about how situations change depending on your outlook, and that the whole issue of violent games is just an effective way of showing it. Think about it; there are plenty of menus in the game, but none of them influence the dialogue in a large way/ they're really just a log of what you do or don't view as acceptable. If you think "Okay, this is normal. Nothing bad going on here," throughout the game, then that's how it is portrayed: the sprites continue to look cutesy. However, if you think "The is awful! How can they talk about this so casually?!" then the sprites of the other characters look evil, even demonic. I'd say the overall moral of the game is, "Life's only as bad as you make it."

I agree that the game isn't about violence in media, but my interpretation is otherwise the opposite of yours. The game is about how you lose your ideals by failing to stand up for them. The "Why was I worried?" ending is not just the bad ending, but the scariest part of the game.

I don't see any of the endings as bad ones, really. It's just a matter of perception./spoiler]