Presentable Liberty

[blie4]

Just a warning, this game has some depression-related themes. So if you have trouble handling that sort of stuff, you might want to avoid it.

I played this game today after hearing about it from the Game Grumps, and it's really amazing. If I had to categorize it, which is not the easiest thing, it would be a mix between philosophical, visual novel, and, well, just outright strangeness. It's certainly not the game for everyone.

The gist of it is you're stuck in a prison cell, while you play extremely simple yet extremely difficult games on your Doctor Money's Portable Entertainment Product™ (*cough* cheap Gameboy ripoff *cough*) and receive letters from a crumbling society, all while spicing up your cell with...decorations? Pretty bright.

I strongly recommend it to anyone who admires games that have an amazing plot (Portal, The Talos Principle). Even though the gameplay is excruciatingly simple, it's somehow a pleasure to experience.

Also, it's free. So download it HERE.

 

[Alphaesia]

What is the gameplay style and how does it work?

Also, you said "the just of it" rather than "the gist of it".

 

[blie4]

Sorry, fixed it.

Well, you're literally locked up in a cell, unable to move more than a few feet. But throughout your imprisonment, you receive new games for your Portable Entertainment Product, and read the stories of each of the people who send you letters. As each of their stories develop, you slowly see the bigger picture of the situation you're in, and why you're imprisoned in the first place.

It's more of a visual novel than a puzzle solver, or some shoot-em-up.

 

[Alphaesia]

k

Sounds good. Ill try it soon!\

Just tried it, it is kinda boring and the letters are a bit annoying, the game sonsole is iffy.

Don't like it.

 

[Zatharel]

I'll try it when I get back home later today.

 

[blie4]

@Creeper2685 Like I said, its not the game for everyone. I'm a very thoughtful person and enjoy reading philosophy, so this kind of visual novel really spoke to me.

Also, the game console thing is supposed to be cheap and worthless. It's part of the overlying concept of greed from the creator.

 

[awkward_hamster]

Just had a quick playthrough and it's a really cool concept however I personally don't enjoy games that ride off the back off a concept and ignore the actual execution and instead employ the "if you don't like it you don't understand" ethos. The philosophical undertone is sound and interesting but I think if the game mechanics and details were improved then the experience (including the philosophical aspects) would be improved

 

[MeisterXehanort]

Played through, chose the escape ending, the story was pretty predictable and the game console sucked lol

However the characters were pretty good and the story had some metaphorical sense as the sanity of the character equals the motivation of the player, 6/10

 

[blie4]

Ah, seems it may have just been me who thought it was actually a really interesting game. xD

Sorry to have wasted anyone's time.

 

[awkward_hamster]

Not denying that it's awesome, just criticising it's execution. Nice to find some new games

 

[DistinctMadness]

Well being as the game is a visual novel with somewhat of a real time involvement, the core game wasn't about the graphics or the mini-games, but the story of the game.

Despite how little you're actually given of the story if you have an open enough mind to it, you get extremely attached to the characters you are "forced" to talk to. This game isn't about the gameplay, graphics, or even how predictable the story is, its about what the deeper meaning and how you view the characters when it comes down to it.

Spoilers to the game DO NOT READ ON IF YOU WISH TO HAVE A FUN FIRST EXPERIENCE

So this game is about existentialism:
ex·is·ten·tial·ism
ˌeɡzəˈsten(t)SHəˌlizəm/
noun

1. a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.

Now some of you will be looking at me like "alright this man is loopy, this game literally has no free will." Well that's where you're wrong.
First things first:
You do have free will:
In the end you are presented with 2 choices; To stay put and learn about why you were there, or to adventure out into the world.
You can choose to wait on the letters, or stay focused on the games you are given.
But this free will has limits - You're in a cell.
And in the end, we all will die. As of right now, there is no evading death.

But this game ISN'T real. Its all within your mind.
They even hint at it with the letters, and if you choose to go leave your cell, with the way the street looks.
Think about it: Who is delivering those letters to you? How could the letters of Salvador reach you before he dies?
Why aren't the streets bloody like Charlotte and Salvador described?
Or what about this
How could you have survived that fall in the elevator? How could a building be that high that you could free fall for close to a minute without dying?

All the people in the story: Dr. Money, Salvador, Charlotte, Your Buddy. None of them are real.
The game makes sure to keep this true by never revealing a body.
If you choose to escape, you'll go to the bakery and see that charlotte has killed herself but in the back room, which you cannot enter
If you choose to stay, you'll die to Dr. Money's goons, or maybe Dr. Money himself. But even in death, you do not see your own body.

Furthermore, In the game you did not choose to be out into a cell. Similarly you did not choose to be born. You did not choose to to have societal and judicial laws imposed upon you. You do not choose to sleep or to eat to live.
The games you get represent a distraction from whats going on in the game.
You can choose to not care about whats going on and beat all the games, or you can choose to not.
This game works as a parallel to real life in this way, with each character representing a key part of existentialism.
Charlotte: Love and Companionship
Your Buddy: Loyalty and Family
Salvador: Adventure, Freedom, Companionship
Dr. Money: Greed and Knowledge
and you. You get a choice on what you do. On what you represent. You can choose to follow the unnatural rules imposed upon you, or you can choose to break free from them.

What are you choosing to do?

Btw this was the farthest I've ever voluntarily dived into a game's plot and story, so yea... Wasn't easy but it was pretty funny actually

 

[blie4]

I love that analysis, Distinct. Great job with that, I had quite some trouble putting a lot of those ideas into words.