Despair Springs Eternal
A downloadable game
A project made using RPG Maker MV.
Please note that this is a project in progress! Only an incomplete demo is available for now. The demo offers the full main story, but other things (such as quests, combat, exploration, etc) are largely unavailable yet.
The game tells the story of a mental health patient - 23 year old Oliver. A big and amazing event is coming up for him, marking a turning point in his life. The story follows Oliver and shows how that event unfolds, after all the hardships he went through in his life due to his mental illness.
The story deals with heavy topics, such as mental health, depression, self-harm, etc. Largely based on personal real-life experiences. No offense intended towards anyone affected by mental illness.
NOTE: The in-game credits are outdated, and miss a few credits. The full credits are in the credits.txt file. Please let me know if I missed anyone!
The game's story and script are original work by me! Any similarity to real persons or events (aside from my own personal life) is purely coincidental.
Download
Install instructions
Extract the ZIP file wherever you want, open the "DEMO Despair Springs Eternal" folder, and click Game.exe to begin playing :)
Comments
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alright, i've had some time to gather my thoughts on this.
to be honest, I found myself finding the very serious and somewhat edgy nature of the game to be comical. considering the first half is full of genuine attempts at humor, my mind was primed to be laughing, so that's what I did.
of course, it's possible that I found it so funny because I relate to Oliver's views on death and suicide, pretty much 1:1.
the writing and characterization is consistently portrayed! even if I wasn't able to take it as seriously as it probably wanted me to, I have to give you props for ensuring that characters were well-realized!
i don't know if this is a flattering or unflattering comparison, but my enjoyment of the experience was pretty similar to my enjoyment of Anonymous Agony, a classic edgy RPG Maker game with heavy themes of its own.
where I think Despair Springs Eternal fumbles is that it's waaaayy too wordy! some scenes feel like they linger on for too long. it really struggles to get to the point and move on to the next. this isn't as much of an issue when the dialogue is nonstop throwing out corny one-liners, but whenever it's trying to be serious there's not nearly enough variety or progression to justify how much reiterating there is.
although i wasn't able to enjoy the game in quite the way that was probably intended, i truly do want a full game to come of this. I wish you the best on any future content, or related project. I will be playing it.
Hey, thanks so much for playing my game and leaving honest, constructive, and detailed feedback! It means a lot :)
Being brief has never been my strong suit, so... I'll keep your notes in mind going forward, for sure.
Glad you could relate and enjoy in some way, even if there's still room for improvement! Have a good one c:
well that was a thing