Forums > Submission Feedback > EmP's Actual Sunlight review

This game sounds like it was a nightmare to review, but you did a really great job.

Thanks. It’s the third game I’ve reviewed this year that contains strong vibes of mental illness so perhaps I’m finding a really unhealthy niche to exist within. I’ll expect some kind of intervention if the next review I write is for something as bleak and depressing.

This sounds a little too much like my life at the moment that I'm morbidly curious to give it a try.

I'm thinking that I had probably best avoid it, as the last thing I need is to spend too long exploring such unpleasant themes in my escapism, but the game also sounds ambitious in what it attempts. Great review, Gary!

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

It does have moments that are very powerful and is very likely to strike a few chords with whoever the player is. It's also set in Canada,which, as we know, is the most miserable place on the planet. I honestly couldn't recommend it more as an experience; I'd love for some of you to pick it up and share their thoughts on the subject. But I'll certainly not blame anyone if they choose not to.

That's somewhat interesting, because the few people I've spoken to who have tried this game (including myself -- I often talk to myself. I'm great company) were more or less suckered further in by the first half an hour or so by the first wave of Evan's memos. If the game's writing fails to pull you in by the end of the first chapter, then stopping there is probably for the best.

I've seen Depression Quest banded around after the Greenlight drama it's been hit by (twice now, I believe) and plan to give that a go at some point.

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