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- Thread starter Rodrigoofb
- Start date
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New
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about Chapter 2!!!
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New Devlog on my
Also a
Happy Halloween!
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Page!Also a
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to celebrate!Happy Halloween!
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Just a few days left before Chapter 2! Check out my new
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for more details.
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I’ve uploaded a free Christmas wallpaper on my
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— feel free to grab it!
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The wait is over — Chapter 2 of Against Yourself is
Release schedule:
¡Happy holidays! ✨
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!Release schedule:
- Top-tier $10: Available now
- Mid-tier $5: December 19
- Low-tier $2: December 26
- Public release: January 2
¡Happy holidays! ✨
Quetzzz
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Some feedback:
Suggestions:
Edit: Replayed with a few different choices.
The bad ending relating to drinking feels too premature and risks teaching players that they should just always pick the rationally positive options. This stops the game from being a nuanced exploration into depression, I think. If depression wasn't a main theme, then I wonder why it's portrayed so heavily. It also undermines Josie. While it's great that she has boundaries and realizes the MC needs professional help, it also indicates that she was overly naive by taking him in. He wasn't a lost puppy, and even if he was, she wouldn't get rid of it after it shit on the floor a 2nd time. By taking the MC in, she assumed a certain duty of care. This should be part of her personality and character arc, I think.
A longer spiral would also better reflect how depression and addiction actually work... It's slow, messy, and full of setbacks, instead of a quick "two strikes and you're out."
I'd like suggest that bad choices lead to an actual route through the game with opportunities for the MC to redeem himself toward Josie, or end up on the tracks anyway. Josie would restrict the MC's freedom until he proves he is trustworthy. She'd force him to get professional help with dedicated services if he expects to sleep in her apartment and presses on him that he needs a small job to help pay for expenses. Even with the dice rolls I think the MC is making good decisions too quickly, and that the "small victories" snowball too fast.
On the topic of the dice rolls, I have to say that I think they're genius. When a roll succeeds you're giving the player the same dopamine hit that the MC feels because of the small victory. The only downside is that rerolling on failure doesn't come at a cost.
I think the concept of winning streaks or making future dice rolls more difficult depending on the amount of retries could be interesting. Does the MC put all of his willpower into overcoming this issue right now, or does he relent and save some energy for later?
- UI:
- Basic UI is fine
- Font size of the UI and dialogue is too big
- Layout of the textbox and nametag could be a lot tighter
- Writing
- The quality of writing is fine. The language that's used feels like actual dialogue, which I like.
- Overall, the portrayal of the MC is great. He's self-loathing, feels hopeless, isolated, and ruminates about his loss.
- The MC feels too self-aware at times. He consciously speaks to his "inner voice," which I think is a mistake.
I get what you're trying to do; the Inner Voice is his intrusive thoughts, his depression that's egging him on. But this would be the reverse in someone who's depressed. For someone on the edge of suicide, the intrusive thoughts are the ones that tell him to pick himself up and keep going with negativity dominating his conscious mind. He would actively argue against doing the healthy thing. - I think the MC is relieved that Josie stopped him, but this needs to be driven home. He cries for 2 lines, then is OK.
The biggest gap is that we don't know what the MC wants instead of death in the immediate aftermath. He needs a small, external, even guilt-based reason to pause. Not hope, not insight, just a reason not to finish the job tomorrow. - A large part of being depressed is the habit of being depressed. Being in a new environment is both helpful and stressful; the change is sudden and could be too much pressure. The MC can't be left alone for days with only his Inner Voice as company. That's a recipe for him throwing himself off the roof. He needs stimuli and distractions, and new and healthier habits.
- The MC's reasoning feels disingenuous at times.
If the player didn't shower and bought alcohol, would the MC really care if Josie and Amanda liked him?
Would he find it so easy to open up about his trauma? Or would he feel ashamed and withdraw? - After making bad choices, Josie admonishes the MC.
I don't think his reaction fits those choices or his inner voice. He's agreeable, but I think this should be left up to the player.
Why not give the player the option to withdraw from conflict (shame, avoiding accountability) as well?
Depression can take different forms depending on the person's history and personality. So to sell us on a certain reaction, we first need to learn who the MC is so we can see that this reaction is entirely in line with his personality.- If the MC is ashamed of not being strong enough, then criticism can cause a shame spiral that pushes him even more into negative coping mechanisms.
- If he feels helpless and powerless, then admonishment can cause him to flee
- If he's afraid of loss, then he'd be very slow at making new connections, and disappointing people is a safety mechanism to push them away.
Since loss is the core reason for his depression, I don't see why he wants Josie or Amanda to like him. He can't trust them not to leave. He'd feel motivated to test their boundaries, making them miserable in a never-ending quest for proof that they won't abandon him, just like everyone else has.
- I like it when Josie and Amanda ask about Melody, and I think this should've been the start of the conversation.
When the MC is drunk, Josie hears him talk in his sleep. She could just ask the MC about the name she heard, with him slowly opening up and feeling a kind of relief when sharing positive memories about her.
Suggestions:
- Give the MC two inner voices, one giving a voice to his depression, the other to hope.
Over the course of the game, as the player makes good choices, the voice of hope gets more prominent. - Play with the font size of choices depending on the MC's mental state. At the start, good choices could have a smaller font size because the voice advocating for that choice is weaker.
- Have Josie open up immediately. The MC needs something that drives him forward.
Let's say Josie tells him that her best friend killed herself and that she's now seeing the same signs in the MC. But now she can help, and she needs this redemption so she can finally let go of her guilt.
Something like this could gnaw at the MC; he doesn't care if he dies; he's alone. But now his death would impact someone else; that's different. He needs something to live for, even if the reason is to avoid hurting a stranger. It's a small way for him to regain control. - The positive changes the MC makes feel too abrupt. I'd like to suggest adding some choices that are between bad and worse to showcase that he isn't thinking clearly and is still prone to making bad decisions.
- The whole heart-to-heart at the dinner table makes zero sense for someone who was prepared to jump in front of a train less than 24 hours ago.
We've been told time and time again that the MC blames himself, and he refuses to think about his love in any meaningful way. But he just opens up at the dinner table. What changed? Why is he feeling stable and secure enough to trust them with this information? Why wouldn't they hate him for his failure to protect Melody?
Even if he consciously realizes that they're his only hope, he needs to want it first. And even if he wants it, it doesn't mean he can bear the memories and emotions. Starting with positive memories first would help ease him into speaking about losing her. - I highly suggest not making the MC do anything positive that the player doesn't choose. The martial artist bum? Great concept, but the MC is too receptive. Over time, as the MC's psyche becomes more stable, it's easier for the audience to understand his autonomous and positive decisions.
If the player keeps refusing every outstretched hand, then a bad ending is an option. - Give Josie or Amanda a backstory that lets them know a bit about psychology, for instance, due to an elective at college.
They'd be amateurs but at least have an idea of what they're doing and the dangers they're facing. This could tie into Josie's backstory as well. - The MC thinks he's responsible for Melody's death, but her plane crashed. Use this more in his inner dialogue. His depressed side holds himself accountable, but there's still that tiny rational voice that will say that he couldn't have known, that he needs to forgive himself, and so on.
- The victimized reasoning of "I should have stopped her because I had a bad feeling" risks making the MC appear weak to players who can't sympathize. He has no culpability, which conflicts with the responsibility he feels. I get it, survivor's guilt is irrational, but some culpability would make it easier for the audience to relate to his situation.
- His survivor's guilt would effectively stop him from grieving. As long as he holds himself responsible, then he can't accept that Melody is gone. This needs to be shown so that the audience can relate. His guilt would be at the forefront of his thoughts. Does he deserve that good thing he's experiencing? How's that fair to Melody? He should be suffering as penance. He should go live on the street; a failure like him doesn't deserve a bed.
Drive home what his guilt and depression are causing; show the unhealthy way of, not just thinking, but existing. - Show the MC relapsing, and that overcoming depression isn't just a conscious decision to make better choices. It's not that easy. This process can take months or years. Allow the player to spiral, where a setback triggers bad behavior like drinking, which then elicits guilt for disappointing Amanda... Until there's an intervention by his support system.
Likewise, have Amanda and Josie learn that (as an example) admonishing the MC isn't helpful to him but creates more negative thoughts.
Edit: Replayed with a few different choices.
The bad ending relating to drinking feels too premature and risks teaching players that they should just always pick the rationally positive options. This stops the game from being a nuanced exploration into depression, I think. If depression wasn't a main theme, then I wonder why it's portrayed so heavily. It also undermines Josie. While it's great that she has boundaries and realizes the MC needs professional help, it also indicates that she was overly naive by taking him in. He wasn't a lost puppy, and even if he was, she wouldn't get rid of it after it shit on the floor a 2nd time. By taking the MC in, she assumed a certain duty of care. This should be part of her personality and character arc, I think.
A longer spiral would also better reflect how depression and addiction actually work... It's slow, messy, and full of setbacks, instead of a quick "two strikes and you're out."
I'd like suggest that bad choices lead to an actual route through the game with opportunities for the MC to redeem himself toward Josie, or end up on the tracks anyway. Josie would restrict the MC's freedom until he proves he is trustworthy. She'd force him to get professional help with dedicated services if he expects to sleep in her apartment and presses on him that he needs a small job to help pay for expenses. Even with the dice rolls I think the MC is making good decisions too quickly, and that the "small victories" snowball too fast.
On the topic of the dice rolls, I have to say that I think they're genius. When a roll succeeds you're giving the player the same dopamine hit that the MC feels because of the small victory. The only downside is that rerolling on failure doesn't come at a cost.
I think the concept of winning streaks or making future dice rolls more difficult depending on the amount of retries could be interesting. Does the MC put all of his willpower into overcoming this issue right now, or does he relent and save some energy for later?
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Sorry for the late reply — I was away on a short vacation and wasn’t checking social media.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to write such a detailed and thoughtful comment. Honestly, reading feedback like this makes me really happy — it’s clear you engaged deeply with the project, and I truly appreciate that level of commitment.
I agree with you that the portrayal of depression could have been handled in a slower, more gradual and realistic way. That’s a very fair point. At the same time, I also have to balance that with the overall pacing of the story. Slowing things down further in the early chapters would risk hurting the narrative rhythm, and that’s a trade-off I’m not always able to make in this project.
Regarding the idea of adding an additional “hope” voice: I do find the concept interesting, but in practice I feel it might become excessive. The protagonist already has two internal layers (his thoughts and the intrusive inner voice), and introducing a third one risks making interactions harder to follow or more confusing for the player.
About the dice mechanic — while I personally liked the idea and I’m glad it resonated with you, it was overall poorly received by most players. Because of that broader feedback, I’ve decided to remove it and simplify the experience.
As for the UI and font size, I understand your point. However, I’ve chosen to keep the font relatively large intentionally, mainly for accessibility reasons. I want the game to be comfortable to read for players with visual strain or weaker eyesight, even if that means sacrificing some visual tightness.
Again, thank you for the time and care you put into this feedback. Even when I can’t apply every suggestion, comments like yours are genuinely valuable and motivating for me as a developer. I hope you enjoy chapter 2 too.
Quetzzz
Well-Known Member
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While I like that the dice mechanic shows how powerless someone with depression could feel, it also makes the player feel powerless, and that isn't fun. There are a few ways to mitigate this (I realize these are out of scope):
- Have the failure path lead to unique content that the player can feel positive about.
- Let good choices accumulate, resulting in easier rolls
- Every time the MC retries repairing the faucet, the chance of success increases (he's stubborn and is learning while doing)
- If the MC repaired the faucet, then the roll at the shop could have an 80% success rate instead of 50%
You're welcome! I'm certainly checking back for chapter 2.
While I don't entirely agree with the direction (or how I perceive it), I do understand that realism has to take a backseat to gameplay and the actual story you want to tell.
Personally, I hope the MC is lying to himself, that his sudden social media addiction is just another way of coping, as well as his infatuation with Angie. But this would mean that the MC is an unreliable narrator, and that risks making him impossible to sympathize with. So, if we can take him at his word, then he went from rock bottom to finding some kind of closure in the span of 48 hours, brought about by just hearing a diagnosis. And that's just not how it works. The realization in itself isn't a cure, but maybe Angie is slipping him antidepressants, bringing him some additional relief.
Fernqvist
Newbie
- Jul 16, 2020
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So all the previews are just bait to get someone to download the game since the game looks NOTHING like that.
why is it all cartoony now ? looked way better before now i cant even bring myself to play it ,im not trying to be rude but going this route is defiantly going to ruin the game
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oh45
Member
- Jul 1, 2017
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The developer deliberately decided to move away from the semi-realistic artwork to a hand-drawn style. (This is also closer to the style of their first game as well.) Clearly the OP pictures should be updated to reflect the art going forward.
ok pic 4 in the main is not in the game its not the same girl but anyway goodluck with this game
why you change the style to hand drawn i do not like it i would have realistic so no for me until it chanhes and this is out of no where
xizaaR
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Hello everyone
I understand that the new cel-shaded look won’t be to everyone’s taste, especially for those who preferred the previous style.
This wasn’t a sudden change. As I mentioned in a
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a few months ago, while working on Reunion I realized that I had lost some of my visual identity along the way. I want to keep using 3D models, but with a more personal and expressive style — one that better represents me as a developer. Moving toward a cel-shaded, more stylized approach is part of that long-term direction. I appreciate everyone who has shared their thoughts, even when opinions differ.
Warsteel
Active Member
- May 26, 2017
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Well, thanks for that chapter 2 change log. Locked behind a spoiler tag making you think it's extensive only to open it and find... "N/A".
hmmmmmmmmm69
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DIKHammer
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Dev probably didn't want to pay for DAZ assets seen a few AVN's do this now, its trash