Loved

[star-kin]

so, I just played this game. it's called 'Loved' by Alexander Ocias

and...honestly, this is one of THE most deepest games i've ever played.

but HOLD ON

before you play this game, be very careful. it's intense. it’s amazing. but I wouldn't suggest playing if you have a past history of abuse or manipulation

LINK: http://ocias.com/loved.php (please tell me immediately if the link is broken!)

(fyi this is not an advertisement or anything of the sort. i just wanna share my thoughts on the game.)

so for those who don’t know, this game is a platformer in which you play this little creature

this game plays on obedience

the narrator of this game begins by asking your gender, regardless of what you choose, it will misgender you for the rest of the game. (if you're sensitive to misgendering then don't play :0 ) then it asks if you need the to know the controls of the game if you answer

Yes: "You are not deserving of it."

No: "You will fail."

then the narrator starts ordering you to do tasks.

when the orders happened, I felt such a weight with it. It’s heavy. I am really gross playing keyboard games, so I failed lots of times and at some moments I started panicking. the further I went, the more anxious I became.

In the beginning, when you disobey, it’s easy, but you’re consistently insulted. you get called horrible things by the narrator like, i.e, ‘horrible creature’, ‘disgusting’, and the like. The game progressively gets harder the more you disobey. the world becomes more vague. you begin seeing blocks of color and certain things began unidentifiable on the formerly black and white pixelated world. it's unsettling.

Defiance becomes a challenge, and you’re berated horribly when you do defy.

I played through and disobeyed every task asked of me, and it was incredibly difficult.

"Why do you hate me."

"I loved you."

However, obeying in the beginning is rather difficult, given there are more barbs and obstacles. one of the orders basically tell you to kill yourself, too

But by the end, the game is much easier if you simply obey. and instead of insults, you get praise. the world is more clear and detailed. and at the ending (if you choose obey them), the narrator again asks if you're a boy or a girl

Boy: "No, you're a man"

Girl: "No you're a woman"

"I loved you, always."

my theory is that the game is a representation of an abusive relationship/parents but i want to hear your guy's thoughts first

again, It’s a strong game, so be careful.

I promise, though, the messages of it will stay with you for the rest of your lives

so...

[Cepheus]

actually... I thought it was a little too short to have an impact on me...

one or two parts were a bit frustrating due to the moving behavior of the creature... (walking of a 'cliff' lets it slide a half square ahead instead of falling straight down...) but other than that it wasn't to difficult... and I dissobeyed almost always (except for the "Touch the statue" ... because checkpoint-reasons and the final "don't fail")

most of the time I was like: "You are not telling me what to do! I'll go my own path!"

and In the end when it tells you "I loved you" ... THEN WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME TO KILL MYSELF?

jeez... get yourself together first, narrator, before commanding other people around.

But yeah, the thing with the abusive relationship pretty much hits the nail.

In the end I chose "go" and because "why would I stay with someone who orders me to kill myself??? and calls me bad things when I do something my own way?

[SkyRunner]

Wow.

The controls weren't much. It's all too easy to miss a jump, and there are many things that will shatter your character into little shards of glass.

But wow.

I played through it twice, once obeying all the commands, the other railing against all of them save for the final one.

I'm sensitive about misgendering, so I played one saying that I was a man, and the other saying that I was a woman. Of course, that didn't make it any better. It still made me sick to the core, the way that the world became more detailed yet monochrome when you obeyed, or colourful and fleeting if you didn't.

Like Cepheus, I think that it's a representation of an abusive relationship.

In the ending where I disobeyed, I chose to leave.

[Kiroen]

But by the end, the game is much easier if you simply obey. and instead of insults, you get praise. the world is more clear and detailed. and at the ending (if you choose obey them), the narrator again asks if you're a boy or a girl

Boy: "No, you're a man"

Girl: "No you're a woman"

"I loved you, always."

There are probably several endings. I played twice (always disobeying on the first run, always obeying on the second one) and the narrator closed with lines different that yours.

As Cepheus said, it's hard to get too emotionally involved in such a short game (unless you have been close to similar situations irl), but the effort is appreciated. I think our societies could easily change for the better If at least 1 out of 10 AAA games would put effort in introducing people in today's world problems - it's a real shame how we aren't exploiting video games educational possibilities...

[star-kin]

There are probably several endings. I played twice (always disobeying on the first run, always obeying on the second one) and the narrator closed with lines different that yours.

really? what were they exactly? i did hear about a 3rd ending...

and yes, some people don't get that emotionally invested in such a short game. but some people do. it's strange when you think about it. I don’t understand how they perceived the game.

and during the "A Man Chooses" endings, (the disobedience one), i originally chose to go, and did.

"I beg of you to stay"

and on my rerun I chose to stay, just to see what'll happen

"We can begin again"

[Peepeepoopoo]

Very interesting game. Made me laugh, made me smile.

[Shing]

This game is well something new.

Tried it, i guess it's something with abuse of parents or such.

[Kiroen]

really? what were they exactly? i did hear about a 3rd ending...

"It's nice to own you" during the obedience run, or some other bold line.

and yes, some people don't get that emotionally invested in such a short game. but some people do. it's strange when you think about it. I don’t understand how they perceived the game.

It's quite simple. Those who have related experiences are just more likely to remember them, and the emotions attached to them. Also, depending on a person's empathy, some may be able to understand the subtle hints to a deeper grade, such as the constant insults turning the world into a weird, abstract set of squares, probably portraying the victim's sinking to madness/emotional instability.

[dead account]

I didn't get emotionally invested in the game. A bit too short for me, I guess.

I'm a bit thick and I, thankfully, had good parents. And I've never been in an abusive relationship. So a lot of what the game was trying to convey was, no doubt, lost on me.

It's still interesting, I'll give it that.

[Peepeepoopoo]

I love little games like these. Have you played the Stanley Parable? It's a little like this one.

[Shamitako]

Dang, this looks deep. Probably not the safest thing for me to play but meh. I'll comment more once I've finished

EDIT: Okay, holy wow, that hurt. I am literally in tears right now

It felt so oppressive. Whenever I disobeyed I was berated and told it was wrong. And whenever I tried to obey it felt like I could never do good enough and would get yelled at anyways. The narrator forced me into a role I didn't belong in (I'm very sensitive to misgendering ;n;) And tried to tell me it owned me. I was legitimately terrified to fail, and yet I did almost every time. As the game went on the things it asked of me became harder and harder, to the point of being impossible to do on the first try (and you only really get one try) If it hadn't ended where it had I likely would just be curled up in the fetal position bawling my eyes out right now

And despite all this that monster had the gall to tell me it loved me? ;n;

My parents are far from abusive (or at least I assume they are, maybe I'm just naive...) and yet the feelings I harbor for the narrator are nigh identical to how I feel towards my mother. And that, above all else, is what really scares me

[SkyRunner]

I love little games like these. Have you played the Stanley Parable? It's a little like this one.

2 + 4 = fish.

EDIT: Okay, holy wow, that hurt. I am literally in tears right now

*hugs*