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(+3)

Is this based on the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice?

Yes it is! ^^

(+2)

I tried the game, but i feel like 
[SPOILERS]


The fact that we can't actually walk beyhond and have the cat irl is very frustrating. Not because i don't understand the message, but because i'd like to see for myself if - whatever the thing that gave me this opportunity is - would take into account the pain the cat is in, or if the cat would be fine as if they were never hurt to begin with.

I felt like my choice didn't really matter, since eitherway, i would have looked back. I'd like to have had even just a nod to this, maybe having the cat come back, and then immediately collapse. Or let the cat be okay, or hell, even have the cat suffer through the same pain she went through before. It'd be cruel, and that'd be the point of why you'd want to look back.


I also struggled to empathize with the idea of "what would she think?" because i personally see animals in a more cynical light. i tend to not anthropomorphise them as much in everyday settings. So for me, a human, (or an anthropomorphic cat) would have worked better with the whole "do they really want this?"

Like, if my cat was purring, i'd assume they'd be happy to see me. And if they were getting further, i'd assume it'd be either a test from -whatever the thing that gave me this opportunity is- or just her being a cat and having brain space for 1 thought at a time (aka, either walking, or looking around)

/////////////

from a technical standpoint, i really liked the music, it's very soothing. And the SFX choice was also really good!

The visual aesthetic is pleasant, and cozy. And i think that, for people that empathized more with the choice of looking back than i did, it only adds to the feeling of helplessness. There's no sound nor visual of the protagonist. We only read their words, and through them, we think more about how the cat would feel.


[END OF SPOILERS]

(+1)

Thank you so much for playing and commenting, as well as for sharing your insight! I learnt a lot from reading it, and I understand the pain points you mentioned above. 

Truly, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the game!

(+2)

i have nothing amazing to say. just that its 3am and this game made me cry. 

Thanks for playing and commenting ^^

(+2)

I had a female cat when I was younger and she was my closest friend. She had orange and white fur and her name was Sasha. She passed away when I was 9 years old and getting over her was the headrest thing to ever do. I am now 12 and decided to play this game because it looks cute, I chose to trust the cat and at the end when I realized I had to look back I started to sob. Watching the cat fade away and the sounds of the purs leaving made me so sad. For such a short game this is so good despite how upsetting it is having to leave the cat no matter what decision you chose. The grey/purple colors really helps set the mood for the game along with the music. No matter how short the game was it portrayed its message very well.

I'm very sorry to hear about your cat, but I hope that the days you spent with her were wonderful and full of joy. It's always difficult to lose a companion, but I hope you'll allow yourself time and space to process the grief.

Sending lots of love your way, and thank you so much for playing <3

(+1)

spoiler!!



I was choosing to trust her the whole time, but when i realized how much pain she was in being alive, I just had to look back😭

Thank you so much for playing and commenting. Sometimes we do just have to look back </3

Beautiful game. I'm always down for some feels and this certainly delivered. Thank you for making it! <3

Thank you for playing and commenting as well!! <3

(+4)

This brought a tear to my eye. A flawless take on Orpheus and Eurydice, and also just a perfectly executed story about grief and acceptance.

The art is adorable, particularly the cover art (the cat is so cute)! The animation used here was subtle but very well done - it almost looked 3 dimensional in terms of the execution, and really made you feel as if you were going up the stairs. The background is beautifully rendered, with the gradual gradient and fade out at the top of the stairs. The backing track, with its slight humming in the background, was absolutely perfect for the game - reminiscent of a cat's purr. The framing of the choices is simple but also perfect - at each point you can choose to either continue on, or look back. The choice comes frequently, driving home the difficulty of the choice at every step.

===SPOILERS===

I can't gush enough about how perfect the usage of Orpheus and Eurydice is here. Here, you take the role of Orpheus, while Eurydice is your cat, who is terminally ill. Orpheus' "journey out of the underworld" is used as a metaphor for the MC prolonging their cat's life. His refusal to look back is his refusal to accept their death and let them go. As Orpheus ascends the stairs, the cat's purring becomes more and more sparse, until they stop altogether - showing how, even if they're not dead, the cat is in pain, and perhaps letting go would be a greater kindness than holding on. The usage of Eurydice for the cat is such a perfect metaphor, as, like Eurydice, the cat cannot talk - and so Orpheus never knows what they really want. Does the cat want Orpheus to look back or continue on? 

The choices are heartwrenching. At each point, Orpheus can look back, or continue to "trust."  "I trust that she still wants to be with me." "I trust that she still wants to be here." Without knowing what the cat wants, Orpheus has no choice but to continue on. The gradual fadeout of the BGM - as the cat slowly stops purring - is such a visceral and tragic effect. 

As you reach the top of the stairs, instead of entering light, you plunge into darkness. After that, if you refuse to look back, you enter a neverending loop of pleading and begging - as you plead and beg for more time, when there isn't any left. It's a poignant, excellent portrayal of the denial stage of grief. In the end, if you want to escape, you're forced to look back - to acknowledge your cat is dying, and to finally let them go.

If you choose to look back too soon or if you choose to go to the very end, there is regret and sadness either way. If you look back too soon, you wonder if you could have done more, and if you choose to go to the very end, you regret all of the pain that you caused your cat. There's no right answer. 

I love the detail on the settings menu, where there are multiple stairs. Orpheus is on one set of stairs, while the cat is on the other. They're going in different directions now - inescapably separated by life and death, as Orpheus continues moving forward.  

I can't say enough how perfectly executed and framed this story was. Fantastic work.

(+1)

Thank you so much for playing and commenting, and thank you for sharing a breakdown of your experience, as well as interpretations of the game, I really, really appreciate it, and I find it incredibly insightful.

I hope that the experience could express the difficult choices one may have to make while taking care of anyone, humans or pets, at their end-of-life stage. There are so many choices to make, and I believe that there is no right answer, especially when the other party cannot communicate what they want. Many times, we can only guess and do what we think will be best.

Also I'm glad that you noticed that the cat and Orpheus are on different stairs. There is a moment of intersection between them, but it is now time for them to part ways.I believe this was the first time someone pointed that out, it makes me happy that you noticed ^^

Once again, thank you so much for playing and sharing your thoughts on the game. I'm incredibly thankful! ^^

(+1)

This is such a touching reimagining of Orpheus and Eurydice with evocative writing and lovely art!

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! <3

(+4)

We had to send my cat over the rainbow bridge only a few weeks ago (just got his ashes back two days prior to me finding this game) and. wow. Wow, the purring and the bell jingling reminds me so much of him

His name was Ollie, he had FIV so he was already not in the best condition, even for a rescue, but he adored playing and snuggling up to me. He'd cry to be let into my room every night and demanded to be spooned. Wouldn't settle down unless my hand was holding his head and my chest was against his back

It would have been his 6th birthday this August, and it was so hard to let him go after he started deteriorating, but the writing in this game gave me a form of closure that I haven't realised i needed. I felt selfish not wanting to make the decision to stop the pain for him, but it's only because I loved him. And in the end, loving him is the reason I had to let him go, huh

I'm gonna stop my rambling there, and just say how genuinely thankful I am for you making such a lovely game like this. Even though I'm sitting here right now fighting off tears, but in a good way. Thank you.

(+2)

I've lost several cats in my life. our record was our last two who lived to 18. Be kind to yourself. Tears are healing. the love they had for you never fades. My sincere condolences.

Thank you. Almost forgot I wrote this and the tears immediately started coming back. Not usually an easily sensitive guy but I guess it's just one of those days today. Condolences to your cats too, I remember my old childhood furry buddy lived until he was around 19, he's still just as fresh in my mind. Cats have so much love to give and it hurts when we have to let them go

I'm very sorry to hear about both of your cats, I hope that the time you spent with them were filled with joy.

I'm sending you both lots of love, and hugs if you need them. It's never easy losing a companion, give yourself time to grieve and process if you need to, and take care of yourselves. 

Much love,

thank you, much love to you both as well 

(1 edit) (+2)

my cat passed away 4.5 months ago, i thought i was over it but this made me cry a river.

(+2)

grief is often cyclical. I'm sorry for your loss. Let yourself feel and remember the good memories

thank you 🥲

(+1)

you're welcome 

(+1)

Thank you so much for playing and commenting, and I'm very sorry to hear about your cat. Spookysoulgeek is right, grief is often cyclical, and I hope you'll be able to take your time to grieve when you need to. 

Sending lots of love your way <3

i thank you instead! this was a lovely game 

(+1)

This makes me wanna spend more time with my cat, i don't wanna look back and regret every time i ignored her TT

Please do! I hope you get to spend many happy days with your cat with no regrets! <3 (and tell them hello for me, please! ^^)

I don't even have a cat but this game makes me so freaking sad. It's adorable and the one sprite of the kitty is so cute.

I'm glad you enjoyed(?) it ^^ Thank you so much for playing and commenting!

man i knew this game would make me sad without even clicking on it just reading the name yet i still played it and im crying right now good game just sad

Thanks for giving it a spin, even while knowing what's to come <3 

Much love <3

(+2)

I don't know why, but I was hoping for a good ending so much :((  

I'm sorry T_T I hope you're okay though, sending lots of love <3

(+1)

my pet of almost seven years just passed from a tumor, it felt like she was talking to me again

I'm so sorry to hear about your pet, but I hope the moments you got to spend with her were full of joy <3 

Thanks a lot for playing and commenting ^^

This is so nice and lovely, but I'm so sad right now.. Thank you!

Thank you for playing and commenting! sending you much love <3

How to induce crying in 2 minutes.

Crying any% speedrun? (Thanks for playing and commenting!)

Thanks for the game! Interesting thoughts...

Thanks for playing too! ^^

(+1)

this genuinely took like five minutes to play (im usually used to weeks upon weeks of gameplay) but i cried harder than i ever have from a video game before. op i am screaming your praises from the rooftops (my tumblr) this is so gorgeous i will never recover

Thank you for playing and commenting! I'm glad you enjoyed(?) it!! <3

I don't have the words to describe the despair you've inflicted upon me

sdkljklfkljjkks oh noooooooo T_T sorry for the feels and thanks for playing and commenting!

(1 edit) (+2)

I came to itch.io to play a horror game, but I saw the cat and love cats too much to not play this. I'm crying now T-T

(+1)

aww, sorry for the feels and hope you're alright! I also hope that you get to play some awesome horror games after ^^

I CANT IFDIN THE SECOND ENDING

I settled for the "second ending" when you look back sooner. I think that's slightly different than the one where you wait until it doesn't make sense to wait any longer.

Apologies for the slow reply, and don't mind me if you've already figured it out, but the endings are determined by when you decide to "look back"

Cheers

(+1)

i started crying 2 minutes in what the fuck im so sad

sorry for the feels! >_<

but thank you for playing and commenting!

(+1)

I cried so hard I threw up
I miss my cat

aww, sending you love and hugs if you need them. Thank you for playing and commenting!

(+2)

ugh this is short but it made me cry so hard ;~;  This was a really lovely game, thank you for sharing it.

Thank you for playing and commenting as well! sending you lots of love <3

😊👍

Thank you so much for recording your experience and sharing it! ^^

(+1)

I'm not crying, you are

(+1)

(^;w;^) you're right. thanks for playing and commenting!

Ah, the complicated feeling of not being able to be with your cat again, even though you love her so much and have a chance to revive her, as much as you think about her.
The sad feeling of being able to see your cat one last time.
Such a variety of feelings were packed into a short sentence.
It was very good, but I almost cried. meow~!

Thank you very much for playing, commenting, and recording your experience! I enjoyed seeing you play and react, and I really appreciate it meow~ :3c

(-12)

It's too sentimental and linear. I refused to look back even when I got to the top of the steps, but it seemed the only way out was to look back, so I did, and the game ended. "Nice" people might like this game, but shouldn't there be more to it? I don't want to believe in the scented candle or the purr of a cat unless there's something more to it, like casting a spell or riding the cat. Or being eaten by the cat!

(1 edit) (+5)(-1)

the content warnings both in the game and in the page mention pet illness and death, and this was tagged as "tragedy" for a reason. I believe I've been quite transparent that this was going to be a very small, short, sentimental game...?

If you want something different, then I suggest you look at games with the appropriate tags or learn make your own to fit your own tastes, it can be quite fun. cheers.

(-7)

I didn't read any tags, just jumped in. I imagined it might be a game about a cat helping the owner or vice versa, not merely climbing stairs with dialogue and two options, either to trust or look back.

(-4)

While I didn't notice tags in the game (I did notice the pet illness thing), I went back to the listings for browser-based games and saw no tags. In fact, I have to click to show more information before being given "Animals, mythology, Short, tragedy" tags. None of this has anything to do with my concerns. Perhaps I missed that this was going to be a "sentimental" game in the game itself.

(+4)(-1)

Looks like this just isn't a game for you, buddy. Considering you missed the larger themes of the game and cannot engage with the design of the game, why not just move on and find a game you actually like or make something you actually will like? No need to put down other players who resonated with the experience either. It's not for you, and that's fine. Go find something you'll actually enjoy.

Anyway, good luck on future searches. I won't be replying anymore to this thread, cheers.

(-6)

Yes I can see why. Maybe you're the "nice" type who appreciates praise or feedback in line with your priorities and doesn't like criticism of the kind of game you set out to make, something so seemingly basic that it's not very interesting to someone who hopes for something more.

Suggesting you gave warnings that were buried in a drop-down description or even suggesting I missed the "larger themes" is a bit silly, kind of like this game. I'm sure lots of people who played this and commented really feel a weakness for their cats and other pets, and that's cute.

But... don't you think it's a little odd for you to suggest I might "move on" when your game seems to be about the opposite? I play games for distraction, to pass the time to let myself grow stronger until I'm ready to be my best. I hope that a seemingly quality game like yours pretends to be would have just a little more depth and a little less... earnest sentimentality.

But perhaps I've tied you up enough when you're moving onto other things. Best of luck in all your future endeavours, SummerOrigins. Let the kitty litter fall where it may.

(+3)(-1)

Dude... if you didn't like it, it probably wasn't made for you. All of that is up to taste, this game is about loss and when you need to accept death is going to come. 

(+1)(-1)

TLDR: it's not that deep play something els

(-4)

I replayed the game a couple more times (and found the second ending, I think, looking back earlier) but I don't think you said it was going to be "sentimental".

Anyway, this is a good-looking game. Good luck with it and any future projects.

(+1)

i've recently read a discussion online that criticized people that said that in Orpheus place wouldn't have looked back, this seems to be a play on that discussion, explicitely saying that "to love is to look back". So, our protagonist clearly and dearly loved its cat, so of course the choice is taken away from the player.

(+1)

I'm only reading this comment out of context of other replies, but I do wish there was some sort of choice to be made, not the illusion of two choices that finally becomes only the choice of repeating the same scripts or looking back. If the game is made of of two choices, I think it's important that those choices be at least somewhat substantial and maybe involve some "play" for a game.

This reminds me of an art game where the player chooses whether to get married and which direction to go, but always to the right, never able to go back and no matter what they do, they age. It's a short game of just a couple or few minutes, then it's over. But that game there are choices, significant ones.

If I'd ever heard of Orpheus before, it was in elementary school, and I'd forgotten the tale. Maybe it's appropriate. Without that reference, it seems like a "game" where there's neither a way of winning nor a way of taking satisfaction in how the game is played, you know? I was hoping for a cute game like Six Cats Under or a deep, moving art game that shares an intimate experience or is insightful or makes me consider something differently.

(+1)

Absolutely wonderful

(-1)

I'm glad you enjoyed it! <3

(+1)

What an amazing game!! Good luck with your future projects!

(-1)

Thank you very much! I'll keep doing my best (^^)>

(+1)

this game was heartbreaking...I almost cried. makes me miss my own cat. amazing game <3

(+1)(-1)

Thanks for playing and commenting, i hope you're doing alright, sending lots of love <3

o.m.g. AAAGHGGGHGH. this made me legitimately sob. beautiful work <3

(-1)

Thanks for playing and commenting! I'm glad you enjoyed it ^^

OAUGHGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. cried instantly

(-1)

awwwwww sorry for the feels! <3  hope you're okay!

This was sad but relaxing at the same time. I don't have a furbaby, so I have never lost one, but I have family who have. You've depicted the hard decisions and feelings of letting go very well.

(-1)

Thank you, I'm glad you think so! ^^

(+1)

I didn't think i would actually cry, but I did. I grew up alongside my mom's cat. He died many years ago, but this game reminded me of him. It's a beautiful but sad concept, having to let go, not because you want to, but because you have to. I think this game captured that feeling of resignation very beautifully. It's a short but amazing game.

(-1)

aww, I'm sorry to hear about hte cat, but thank you so much for sharing, as well as for playing and commenting <3

I expected a sad story. I didn't think it would bring back the memories of my late cat Otis; but it did. I thank you for that. I miss him so much and loved your story

(-1)

Im sorry to hear about your cat. I'm glad Otis loved and trusted you too <3 

Sending lots of love, and thanks for playing and commenting!

my cat is sick, so this hit REALLY hard... this game is meaningful and heartbreaking, and i love the way the cat is drawn and all the purring

(-1)

Im sorry to hear your cat is sick, I hope both of you are gonna be alright. Sending you lots of love <3

Thanks a lot for playing and commenting!

NOOOOOO, I LOOKED BACK AND IT DISAPPEARED 😭😭 So sad 😢

(-1)

</3 sorry for the feels, but thanks for playing and commenting!

(2 edits) (+1)

What a heartbreaking use of Orpheus and Eurydice's myth. I knew it only had one ending but I still tried to prolong it. I felt selfish, too.

I have a cat, and she's my best friend. I know I'll have to make that decision in real life one day and I don't know how I will be able to handle it. I'm so sorry you're going through the same thing.

Also, I loved the background music! Sounds timeless and melancholic.

(+1)(-1)

Thank you so much for playing and commenting, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it. I hope your cat gets to accompany you for a long and happy time, and do tell them hi for me <3 

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