The game's art looks quite nice and the soundtrack is good too. I wasn't too hooked on the story, I honestly felt like I was being nagged at the entire time and didn't really understand what was going on. Good for fans of RPG maker type games.
This was an interesting game. You can definitely feel its RPG Maker DNA but as far as art goes its on the higher end of the scale. The game drags a little and some of the more action-y portions aren't all that fun, but the story is pretty intriguing regardless.
This game needs to SHUT UP!
Pocket Mirror keeps dragging itself so much that I've already figured out what it's trying to say halfway through. These characters keep yammering on and on and ultimately say nothing. Every interaction with Harpae is the pure definition of "padding"; her conversations go like this:
-"Didn't I tell you to not wander off?"
-"I'm sowwy...."
-"It's okay!"
-"haha yayyy!!!"
And let's talk about the gameplay. Every RPG Maker veteran knows that if it's a horror game with a little girl protagonist, it's bound to have frustrating trial and error. But just because it's a tradition doesn't mean I'll excuse it. The lack of consistency in this game is infuriating. You're subjected to elementary-level puzzles one moment, then thrust into bullshit luck-based "guess the right choice or die teehee" the next. Even the chase sequences, which should've been cool, are marred by vague design choices. Your dumbass steps a couple of paces further than intended without any indication of what to avoid, and you're met with an agonizing 30-second game over screen because this game's evil.
But uuuuh, The sprite work is cool i guess?
Pocket Mirror keeps dragging itself so much that I've already figured out what it's trying to say halfway through. These characters keep yammering on and on and ultimately say nothing. Every interaction with Harpae is the pure definition of "padding"; her conversations go like this:
-"Didn't I tell you to not wander off?"
-"I'm sowwy...."
-"It's okay!"
-"haha yayyy!!!"
And let's talk about the gameplay. Every RPG Maker veteran knows that if it's a horror game with a little girl protagonist, it's bound to have frustrating trial and error. But just because it's a tradition doesn't mean I'll excuse it. The lack of consistency in this game is infuriating. You're subjected to elementary-level puzzles one moment, then thrust into bullshit luck-based "guess the right choice or die teehee" the next. Even the chase sequences, which should've been cool, are marred by vague design choices. Your dumbass steps a couple of paces further than intended without any indication of what to avoid, and you're met with an agonizing 30-second game over screen because this game's evil.
But uuuuh, The sprite work is cool i guess?
PEAAAAAK
I literally don't know what to say about this game; there's just so much and I can tell my journey with it is far from over, even though I just finished NG+ today. But it's my Game of the Year, so I felt like I had to post a review. Please consider playing Pocket Mirror, even if you aren't into horror games or adventure games. I'm an ignorant fool not even into the genre, but this is just special, I can tell.
''Memories are gifts to be held dearly, as they are the remains of what once was the subject of our love.''
As a reference: I saved this review until I was able to get all the achievements in the game.
This game is a masterpiece. The game starts off slow paced and picks up quickly during the last part of the game. In the end, it's more about discovering and accepting yourself, no matter how flawed or troubled your past is.
One thing I appreciate is that I never really knew what to expect. Each section of the game was different from one another, each tragic for one reason or another once you could make sense of the story. The game was very obviously worked on with a lot of love by the creators.
The soundtrack is lovely, each setting the mood whether it's a more light hearted area or not. The ones especially played during the cutscenes feel memorable and ones I want to look back into.
My only big complaint is that this game takes several play throughs to really understand the story, and even then, the bad ending is what really gives you an idea of what the writers were trying to do. But, it's worth the playthrough if you enjoy indie horror games! I highly recommend at least giving it a try.
As a reference: I saved this review until I was able to get all the achievements in the game.
This game is a masterpiece. The game starts off slow paced and picks up quickly during the last part of the game. In the end, it's more about discovering and accepting yourself, no matter how flawed or troubled your past is.
One thing I appreciate is that I never really knew what to expect. Each section of the game was different from one another, each tragic for one reason or another once you could make sense of the story. The game was very obviously worked on with a lot of love by the creators.
The soundtrack is lovely, each setting the mood whether it's a more light hearted area or not. The ones especially played during the cutscenes feel memorable and ones I want to look back into.
My only big complaint is that this game takes several play throughs to really understand the story, and even then, the bad ending is what really gives you an idea of what the writers were trying to do. But, it's worth the playthrough if you enjoy indie horror games! I highly recommend at least giving it a try.
Ib + Witch’s house + dash of Madoka Magica. Puzzles are decently engaging. Amazing atmosphere. Spooky. Excited for their new game coming out!
Half a star off for those moments where I had to sit through dialogue/cut scenes when I died. ( and those were the sections where you’re expected/very likely to die with no prior knowledge of the area)
Half a star off for those moments where I had to sit through dialogue/cut scenes when I died. ( and those were the sections where you’re expected/very likely to die with no prior knowledge of the area)
''Memories are gifts to be held dearly, as they are the remains of what once was the subject of our love''
even after finishing it with seeing two endings myself and other three from watching a playthrough there are many things I dont get it but thats probably what pocket mirror goes for. (I need a commentary or theory video about it asap :crying emoji:) side characters knows protagonists past but doesnt give any info regarding what happened to her memories or they dont even say her name if they know it and even if they say protagonist cant hear the words and you cant read, its a blank text, piece of infos you find are cryptic at best or incomplete, just as the main character you try to comprehend what is happening but you cant and after some point like the the main character you stop caring for the details and try to confront or focus on each side characters struggles with protagonists past playing a role in those struggles.
if you need to look for guide when you get stuck or for making the best choices when prompted, try walkthroughs (and you will probably need it for getting harpae's good end), because wiki ruins one of the mysteries. you are nameless all the time until the end but they went and added main characters name in their guide. another tip I can give is try to interact with every object because some of them give currency for bonus rooms. you can get additional dialogues and get to know about characters more in there. if you want to see all of it yourself, you need to find two hundred currency or so. I dont know if you can go there at the beginning or mid game because I didnt try but I would recommend waiting until the end because obviously thats spoiler nest.
its one of the best looking rpgmaker games out there with astonishing pixel art style and has good puzzles. sound design is also great and there are some puzzles that use hearing. there are chase segments (not surprising its horror) and also one of the most creative chases out there accompanying banger soundtrack
unrelated but sometimes the setting and musics gave me umineko vibes so thats a plus. while seeing pocket mirror everytime I open itch.io for years, I actually decided to play this from seeing little goody two shoes trailer, astral shift's garnered my attention with how polished goldenertraum and little goody two shoes looks. I will wait for their new games. also, finished it right before the day sequel (or prequel?) comes out, the peak timing.
even after finishing it with seeing two endings myself and other three from watching a playthrough there are many things I dont get it but thats probably what pocket mirror goes for. (I need a commentary or theory video about it asap :crying emoji:) side characters knows protagonists past but doesnt give any info regarding what happened to her memories or they dont even say her name if they know it and even if they say protagonist cant hear the words and you cant read, its a blank text, piece of infos you find are cryptic at best or incomplete, just as the main character you try to comprehend what is happening but you cant and after some point like the the main character you stop caring for the details and try to confront or focus on each side characters struggles with protagonists past playing a role in those struggles.
if you need to look for guide when you get stuck or for making the best choices when prompted, try walkthroughs (and you will probably need it for getting harpae's good end), because wiki ruins one of the mysteries. you are nameless all the time until the end but they went and added main characters name in their guide. another tip I can give is try to interact with every object because some of them give currency for bonus rooms. you can get additional dialogues and get to know about characters more in there. if you want to see all of it yourself, you need to find two hundred currency or so. I dont know if you can go there at the beginning or mid game because I didnt try but I would recommend waiting until the end because obviously thats spoiler nest.
its one of the best looking rpgmaker games out there with astonishing pixel art style and has good puzzles. sound design is also great and there are some puzzles that use hearing. there are chase segments (not surprising its horror) and also one of the most creative chases out there accompanying banger soundtrack
unrelated but sometimes the setting and musics gave me umineko vibes so thats a plus. while seeing pocket mirror everytime I open itch.io for years, I actually decided to play this from seeing little goody two shoes trailer, astral shift's garnered my attention with how polished goldenertraum and little goody two shoes looks. I will wait for their new games. also, finished it right before the day sequel (or prequel?) comes out, the peak timing.
Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum (what a wonderful mouthful of a subtitle) was one of the games on this RPG Maker journey I knew the least about going into it. A friend just sent me the Steam page for it when it went on sale and I picked it up more or less on a whim. In many ways I was expecting another one of those, and in most aspects it is a fairly typical RPG Maker horror game, but its scope and structure does a lot to elevate it to be easily the most unsettling... and probably the most impressive.
In many ways, the game I want to compare it to most is Yume Nikki. They are drastically different games, yet Pocket Mirror hits at the same feeling of wandering aimlessly through lurid landscapes with but a vague idea of what your end goal is meant to be. There is plenty of dialogue and NPCs and jokes and the like, but the game remains oppressively opaque in its structure from start to very near the finish, keeping information on the world and your end goal dangled precariously in front with only vague hints given. Every time you try to claw for more information, the game gives off just a trickle of the truth, before taking another step back into the darkness.
The game's length benefits this a lot as well; in general just having more stuff in the game makes it harder to gauge where exactly you're at. There's little padding here. The number of different locations with completely unique visuals you go through, many of which you're in for barely more than a couple minutes, is downright impressive. Particularly in the last 2 hours, the game funnels you through setpiece after the insane setpiece that left me constantly awestruck. The production values are ridiculously good, easily the highest of any of these games I've played. A particular highlight from early in the game was when a character stomp down and it caused the screen to have a massive crack it in, which remained for that entire gameplay segment.
Another surprise is the fairly low gameplay density. Most of the game is just wandering down hallways and experiencing the vibes, with a couple of chase sequences throughout. Puzzles are strewn fairly far apart from each other and mostly take the form of riddles, albeit pretty well-done ones, and even they more or less disappear towards the end of the game. Ib easily has more puzzles in it overall despite being a fraction of the length. This isn't particularly an issue--as I said before the vibes each new area give off are more than enough--though a couple more puzzles in the final sections would probably smooth out the experience a bit more.
The game's opacity is most strongly felt in its story, almost to a frustrating degree. Even single major character in the game feels like they're leading you on, knowing things you don't and refusing to divulge no matter how much you beg and plead. There is a decent bit of drawn out, repetitive dialogue between the main characters that you KNOW will lead nowhere, but the main character is desperate enough to keep on trying. It treads a fine line between being endearing and annoying, but I think it ultimately tilts a bit more towards the later. Once I hit the credits, I still only had a vague idea of what the game's story was actually about. After reading another review and the developer's AMA, I more or less understand what happened, but its something I'm not sure I would've pieced together fully on my own.
The game have 5 endings total and I only got the first one, the one most people would get on their initial run, and then watched the bad ending on YouTube. Siliconera's page titled "Here's How to Get All Endings in Pocket Mirror GoldenerTraum" says the bad ending ironically spells out the game's story most clearly. I don't know if I agree with that assessment but I get where they're coming from. I do wanna go for the true ending soon--and it's one of those I don't know how you would get without a guide unless you were really lucky with dialogue choices--but the game's length is putting me off for right now. Soon though! I'll update this review when I do if I feel the need to.
Despite a couple of minor frustrations, the game holds one ultimate success so few games are able to: feeling like an honest to god adventure. Going through so many different locations, having not a faintest clue what couple be around the corner, interacting within this tangible world, it's all really impressive. I don't think there's any one thing in the game that elevates it to something truly special, but it remains an enchanting experience I thoroughly enjoyed.
In many ways, the game I want to compare it to most is Yume Nikki. They are drastically different games, yet Pocket Mirror hits at the same feeling of wandering aimlessly through lurid landscapes with but a vague idea of what your end goal is meant to be. There is plenty of dialogue and NPCs and jokes and the like, but the game remains oppressively opaque in its structure from start to very near the finish, keeping information on the world and your end goal dangled precariously in front with only vague hints given. Every time you try to claw for more information, the game gives off just a trickle of the truth, before taking another step back into the darkness.
The game's length benefits this a lot as well; in general just having more stuff in the game makes it harder to gauge where exactly you're at. There's little padding here. The number of different locations with completely unique visuals you go through, many of which you're in for barely more than a couple minutes, is downright impressive. Particularly in the last 2 hours, the game funnels you through setpiece after the insane setpiece that left me constantly awestruck. The production values are ridiculously good, easily the highest of any of these games I've played. A particular highlight from early in the game was when a character stomp down and it caused the screen to have a massive crack it in, which remained for that entire gameplay segment.
Another surprise is the fairly low gameplay density. Most of the game is just wandering down hallways and experiencing the vibes, with a couple of chase sequences throughout. Puzzles are strewn fairly far apart from each other and mostly take the form of riddles, albeit pretty well-done ones, and even they more or less disappear towards the end of the game. Ib easily has more puzzles in it overall despite being a fraction of the length. This isn't particularly an issue--as I said before the vibes each new area give off are more than enough--though a couple more puzzles in the final sections would probably smooth out the experience a bit more.
The game's opacity is most strongly felt in its story, almost to a frustrating degree. Even single major character in the game feels like they're leading you on, knowing things you don't and refusing to divulge no matter how much you beg and plead. There is a decent bit of drawn out, repetitive dialogue between the main characters that you KNOW will lead nowhere, but the main character is desperate enough to keep on trying. It treads a fine line between being endearing and annoying, but I think it ultimately tilts a bit more towards the later. Once I hit the credits, I still only had a vague idea of what the game's story was actually about. After reading another review and the developer's AMA, I more or less understand what happened, but its something I'm not sure I would've pieced together fully on my own.
The game have 5 endings total and I only got the first one, the one most people would get on their initial run, and then watched the bad ending on YouTube. Siliconera's page titled "Here's How to Get All Endings in Pocket Mirror GoldenerTraum" says the bad ending ironically spells out the game's story most clearly. I don't know if I agree with that assessment but I get where they're coming from. I do wanna go for the true ending soon--and it's one of those I don't know how you would get without a guide unless you were really lucky with dialogue choices--but the game's length is putting me off for right now. Soon though! I'll update this review when I do if I feel the need to.
Despite a couple of minor frustrations, the game holds one ultimate success so few games are able to: feeling like an honest to god adventure. Going through so many different locations, having not a faintest clue what couple be around the corner, interacting within this tangible world, it's all really impressive. I don't think there's any one thing in the game that elevates it to something truly special, but it remains an enchanting experience I thoroughly enjoyed.
BONITO.
I am still trying to gather all my thoughts, but this was a wonderful game that hit home a lot for me. The symbolism was beautiful, meaningful, and expressed so well that I honestly cannot relate to those who found their questions to be unanswered. The answers were within us all along
As well, while playing I made a reading list on goodreads for books mentioned on the shelves, as well as a bonus "The Divine Comedy" given the large amounts of utilization of it's imagery in the latter half of the game.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/160184233-nalka?ref=nav_mybooks&shelf=pocket-mirror
As well, while playing I made a reading list on goodreads for books mentioned on the shelves, as well as a bonus "The Divine Comedy" given the large amounts of utilization of it's imagery in the latter half of the game.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/160184233-nalka?ref=nav_mybooks&shelf=pocket-mirror
Man, I really wanted to like this one. I'd been wanting to play the original for quite some time only to find that a deluxe version was released just about a month ago - it felt like it was meant to be. BUT, I have to be completely honest and say it wasn't worth the price of admission.
To start with the good, the presentation was fantastic. The pixel art to the backgrounds to the hand drawn aesthetic pieces, it is all just gorgeous. The soundtrack, likewise, was pretty much perfect. The puzzles struck just the right amount of challenge without being too obtuse (with a few exceptions).
The issues arise with the characters who embody the "refuses to elaborate, leaves" meme coupled with the spineless protagonist. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times she would ask a question and get ignored, interrupted, or get "I can't answer that" as a response, only for the same thing to happen in the next (or even the same) conversation. Meanwhile, everything else she says amounts to "I'm sorry", "It's not like that!" or "I...". It just became so unbearably grating witnessing every conversation go the exact same way and makes the whole thing so much less enjoyable when you're not actively solving puzzles or gawking at the visuals. The story is, ironically, at its peak when none of the characters are talking.
All of it would be just a mixed bag normally but then the neutral ending swoops in feeling like a joke ending and leaving a bad taste in my mouth with how bizarrely the tone shifts into almost parody territory. I might change my opinion after going back to get the other endings, but as of right now, this is where it's at.
To start with the good, the presentation was fantastic. The pixel art to the backgrounds to the hand drawn aesthetic pieces, it is all just gorgeous. The soundtrack, likewise, was pretty much perfect. The puzzles struck just the right amount of challenge without being too obtuse (with a few exceptions).
The issues arise with the characters who embody the "refuses to elaborate, leaves" meme coupled with the spineless protagonist. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times she would ask a question and get ignored, interrupted, or get "I can't answer that" as a response, only for the same thing to happen in the next (or even the same) conversation. Meanwhile, everything else she says amounts to "I'm sorry", "It's not like that!" or "I...". It just became so unbearably grating witnessing every conversation go the exact same way and makes the whole thing so much less enjoyable when you're not actively solving puzzles or gawking at the visuals. The story is, ironically, at its peak when none of the characters are talking.
All of it would be just a mixed bag normally but then the neutral ending swoops in feeling like a joke ending and leaving a bad taste in my mouth with how bizarrely the tone shifts into almost parody territory. I might change my opinion after going back to get the other endings, but as of right now, this is where it's at.
Hold your memories close to your heart. You shouldn’t ever let it go, do you understand?
It was certainly a treat to go through this game again. Now despite my rating, no this game isn't actually perfect. I just love it that much on a personal level. I love the characters, the story, the visuals, the new animated opening, the absolutely spectacular soundtrack and so on so forth. It's a beautiful package.
Gameplay and pacing-wise is where I see people having some problems with this game. Of course some puzzles aren't perfect...the sound puzzle was updated to include visual cues to make it much easier but it's still not very great. Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure the mirror maze was made easier but I've forgotten how exactly it worked in the original so it may just be my memory playing tricks on me.
The pacing is a little all over the place. with some chapters being full of puzzles and slow development (Fleta and Harpae's, then the later ones like Lisette's and Enjels are mostly just walking through linear corridors while being given their exposition. It's unfortunate that there was nothing added to fluff these portions up a bit more.
Even those sections are great though. Lisette's atmosphere comes together very well, with the heavy use of symbolism within the area. The circus portion is one of my favorites, even if it is pretty short. Just being able to explore heavily themed areas in this RPG Maker format, it's something I will never get tired of. An immense amount of content, including the collectible pumpkin charms, optional wax records and various endings, and of course a very large story that certainly is one of my favorite parts of this game.
Gameplay and pacing-wise is where I see people having some problems with this game. Of course some puzzles aren't perfect...the sound puzzle was updated to include visual cues to make it much easier but it's still not very great. Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure the mirror maze was made easier but I've forgotten how exactly it worked in the original so it may just be my memory playing tricks on me.
The pacing is a little all over the place. with some chapters being full of puzzles and slow development (Fleta and Harpae's, then the later ones like Lisette's and Enjels are mostly just walking through linear corridors while being given their exposition. It's unfortunate that there was nothing added to fluff these portions up a bit more.
Even those sections are great though. Lisette's atmosphere comes together very well, with the heavy use of symbolism within the area. The circus portion is one of my favorites, even if it is pretty short. Just being able to explore heavily themed areas in this RPG Maker format, it's something I will never get tired of. An immense amount of content, including the collectible pumpkin charms, optional wax records and various endings, and of course a very large story that certainly is one of my favorite parts of this game.
foda porem entendi caralhas nenhuma
still playing but i love this game.. so silly, the music, visuals are just as great as pocket mirror :3 only issue is some of the text glitches which i dont think has been fixed (unless im wrong) but regardless is a lovely game i love.
Most present feeling I have is that this sure was the game made before Little Goody Two Shoes. Which isn't bad per say, but the accomplishments of LGTS shine brighter while the rigidity of this games ends up peaking through.
Pocket Mirror is at it's core an RPG Maker game but with a ton of great presentation and not a lot of aggravating puzzles and death states. The thing is though, that that's about all I can say about it specifically. With it being the predecessor to LGTS, you can easily see how this games direction would go up in scale and and expanding on.
Along with that, since I played these games chronologically, most of the value in the story was seeing how everything had turned out from this game's prequel. It's neat to see which ending was "canon" and how little details lead into this game.
"Neat" is the word I would have to say though overall. It's neat to go back and see the previous works that originated from something you like. Not groundbreaking exactly, but you get to see the DNA of another thing and trace how it developed.
Pocket Mirror is at it's core an RPG Maker game but with a ton of great presentation and not a lot of aggravating puzzles and death states. The thing is though, that that's about all I can say about it specifically. With it being the predecessor to LGTS, you can easily see how this games direction would go up in scale and and expanding on.
Along with that, since I played these games chronologically, most of the value in the story was seeing how everything had turned out from this game's prequel. It's neat to see which ending was "canon" and how little details lead into this game.
"Neat" is the word I would have to say though overall. It's neat to go back and see the previous works that originated from something you like. Not groundbreaking exactly, but you get to see the DNA of another thing and trace how it developed.
Simply WOW <3 Stunning atmosphere & characters. This is a SLEEPER hit that I can see one day becoming more "mainstream" especially if it gets a Switch release too. I think it's worth noting the story can be hard to follow - there's no way you get the gist of what's going on if you only get one ending PLUS a lot is implied & revealed too covertly IMO. HOWEVER, curiosity carries you throughout so it's still so CLOSE to a 5-star game in my eyes ...now on to play Little Goody Two Shoes!
Wenn ihr "Ib" oder "Mad Father" mögt: Dieses Spiel ist wahrhaftig ein goldener Traum. Es macht unglaublich viel Spaß, ist auf seine Art und Weise creepy und hat seine Story. Spielt es! Ihr werdet es nicht bereuen!
knowing nothing about pocket mirror going in, what drew me in most about it was its structure; your only sort of objective to begin with is to remember who you are, and with no idea how to go about that other than just pressing on through its dreamscapes, this allows the game to seemingly do whatever it wants, whenever it wants, varying wildly in tones and aesthetics and objectives, you'll start out in some sort of dungeon then emerge upstairs to a spooky hallway that ends in a tea party, with a ballroom right next door. You'll spend one minute in a gingerbread dollhouse and the next in an old creaky manor. The tone can change wildly between individual rooms, effortlessly ping-ponging between silly and whimsical, to dark and foreboding, to quiet and calm, to occasionally horrifying, without ever feeling inconsistent, the juxtaposition is always effective given the context of the game; who can you trust? what's going on? what will happen next?
this isn't to say pocket mirror is just a load of nonsense, it's all very deliberate, but the game keeps you at arms length as to what's really happening and leaves you to interpret all sorts of notes and riddles and pictures and poetry to understand it. a first playthrough will likely be very confusing, as it was for me, and this lent the game this absolutely engrossing atmosphere that felt akin to a very long nightmare, the game does have a structure to it but that only really becomes clear in hindsight, there's not really like a sort of hub area that you return to nor do you really revisit places you've already been, and as i said before only really the vague goal of rediscovering your identity, so the whole game just has this feel of venturing deeper and deeper and not looking back, no idea what will what happen next, and whether what happens next will be pleasant or not, i was on the edge of my seat despite not really understanding what was happening, and my first playthrough felt unlike anything i've really experienced before
that's not to say it was perfect, pocket mirror's gameplay consists entirely of exploration and puzzle solving, there's no combat or anything of the sort, so the only way the game is really able to raise the stakes and kill you is with death traps, such as getting a puzzle wrong, picking the wrong dialogue option, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What trivialises this whole system is the bountiful save points around every corner. if you die, unless you forgot to save, you will usually be seconds away from the spot you died once you reload.
now this does have an upside of encouraging curious players such as myself who want to see what happens in every alternate scenario, there are even multiple achievements for getting a game over in various ways, there are also some situations where an outcome is just completely unpredictable and having to be sent back a long way because of something like that could be quite frustrating. However, the downside of this approach is that it does distance you a little from the character you're playing as, you won't value your life in the same way she does and really think situations through in the way you would if you were really in the character's shoes because there's never really anything to lose is there? this system also encourages trial and error with the puzzles, i really like some of them and enjoyed figuring them out but some are just absolutely baffling and have very strange logic, at least to me, and the worst part is that i still don't understand some of them even now i know the answer, i don't have to because i could very easily go through all the options one by one until i got it right if i got stuck
i was also very let down by the ending, it felt super rushed and didn't feel like much of a culmination of anything really, nor did come with a sort of 'aha!' moment i was expecting where the story finally made sense and everything clicked into place, instead it just kinda ended and then it kicked me into a new game plus
i was bewildered and a little miffed, but after looking it up it turns out i'd gotten the bad ending, and there were four others i could get, i also read into what the game was really about and, i don't want to spoil it (as i want this review to also be a recommendation of the game) the game does elude to it very well and i probably would've figured it out eventually had i just thought about it long enough
over the last week i've now played pocket mirror five times, and done pretty much everything there is to do in it, and god did i love every second of it, this has become such a comfort game for me
going back in and experiencing everything with the knowledge i had made me appreciate the game more and more the more i played it, the pixel art is absolutely gorgeous and every little room feels bespoke and dense with detail, the music is genuinely some of the best i've ever heard, it is consistently pitch perfect of matching the tone of every beat of the journey, and as i said before there are a lot of tones, it is so absolutely crucial to the game's atmosphere and even listening to soundtrack outside of the game i choke up at some of the pieces just because they're so striking
i won't delve too deep into the story, but just something about the way it's told and paced is absolutely captivating to me, and actively trying to interpret all sorts of meanings in the game's dialogue and everything is very fun, you don't spend that much time with any of the characters as it's quite a short game, and i think their dialogue can be quite repetitive, but i ended up really caring about all of them anyway. the way your character ends up relating to them and what happens as a result is really beautiful, and covers topics seen very rarely in media, or at least discussed in such a respectful and sympathetic manner.
that being said though it's important to note that while i did do a little research into the topic the game is mainly about, i'm certainly not an expert, i would love to hear from people more qualified than i am what they think of the game's portrayal of it, especially if they feel it's being misrepresented, but from what i gather on my own the game's intentions are good and it's very tasteful
pocket mirror is one of those games where you just feel the love and passion the people behind it had while they were making it, and it's infectious. as i said it's become a huge comfort for me and any game where i can play it five times in a row is probably doing something right. i was overall mixed on the game's other endings, i definitely liked some more than others, but they all felt a little abrupt to me, but luckily i'm a completionist, meaning i unlocked everything in the extras menu, and i will say the stuff in there could not be more perfect to me and gave me a warm, fuzzy sense of closure, a perfect reminder of the love i have for this game overpowering all of its issues. fuck you it's game of the year
this isn't to say pocket mirror is just a load of nonsense, it's all very deliberate, but the game keeps you at arms length as to what's really happening and leaves you to interpret all sorts of notes and riddles and pictures and poetry to understand it. a first playthrough will likely be very confusing, as it was for me, and this lent the game this absolutely engrossing atmosphere that felt akin to a very long nightmare, the game does have a structure to it but that only really becomes clear in hindsight, there's not really like a sort of hub area that you return to nor do you really revisit places you've already been, and as i said before only really the vague goal of rediscovering your identity, so the whole game just has this feel of venturing deeper and deeper and not looking back, no idea what will what happen next, and whether what happens next will be pleasant or not, i was on the edge of my seat despite not really understanding what was happening, and my first playthrough felt unlike anything i've really experienced before
that's not to say it was perfect, pocket mirror's gameplay consists entirely of exploration and puzzle solving, there's no combat or anything of the sort, so the only way the game is really able to raise the stakes and kill you is with death traps, such as getting a puzzle wrong, picking the wrong dialogue option, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What trivialises this whole system is the bountiful save points around every corner. if you die, unless you forgot to save, you will usually be seconds away from the spot you died once you reload.
now this does have an upside of encouraging curious players such as myself who want to see what happens in every alternate scenario, there are even multiple achievements for getting a game over in various ways, there are also some situations where an outcome is just completely unpredictable and having to be sent back a long way because of something like that could be quite frustrating. However, the downside of this approach is that it does distance you a little from the character you're playing as, you won't value your life in the same way she does and really think situations through in the way you would if you were really in the character's shoes because there's never really anything to lose is there? this system also encourages trial and error with the puzzles, i really like some of them and enjoyed figuring them out but some are just absolutely baffling and have very strange logic, at least to me, and the worst part is that i still don't understand some of them even now i know the answer, i don't have to because i could very easily go through all the options one by one until i got it right if i got stuck
i was also very let down by the ending, it felt super rushed and didn't feel like much of a culmination of anything really, nor did come with a sort of 'aha!' moment i was expecting where the story finally made sense and everything clicked into place, instead it just kinda ended and then it kicked me into a new game plus
i was bewildered and a little miffed, but after looking it up it turns out i'd gotten the bad ending, and there were four others i could get, i also read into what the game was really about and, i don't want to spoil it (as i want this review to also be a recommendation of the game) the game does elude to it very well and i probably would've figured it out eventually had i just thought about it long enough
over the last week i've now played pocket mirror five times, and done pretty much everything there is to do in it, and god did i love every second of it, this has become such a comfort game for me
going back in and experiencing everything with the knowledge i had made me appreciate the game more and more the more i played it, the pixel art is absolutely gorgeous and every little room feels bespoke and dense with detail, the music is genuinely some of the best i've ever heard, it is consistently pitch perfect of matching the tone of every beat of the journey, and as i said before there are a lot of tones, it is so absolutely crucial to the game's atmosphere and even listening to soundtrack outside of the game i choke up at some of the pieces just because they're so striking
i won't delve too deep into the story, but just something about the way it's told and paced is absolutely captivating to me, and actively trying to interpret all sorts of meanings in the game's dialogue and everything is very fun, you don't spend that much time with any of the characters as it's quite a short game, and i think their dialogue can be quite repetitive, but i ended up really caring about all of them anyway. the way your character ends up relating to them and what happens as a result is really beautiful, and covers topics seen very rarely in media, or at least discussed in such a respectful and sympathetic manner.
that being said though it's important to note that while i did do a little research into the topic the game is mainly about, i'm certainly not an expert, i would love to hear from people more qualified than i am what they think of the game's portrayal of it, especially if they feel it's being misrepresented, but from what i gather on my own the game's intentions are good and it's very tasteful
pocket mirror is one of those games where you just feel the love and passion the people behind it had while they were making it, and it's infectious. as i said it's become a huge comfort for me and any game where i can play it five times in a row is probably doing something right. i was overall mixed on the game's other endings, i definitely liked some more than others, but they all felt a little abrupt to me, but luckily i'm a completionist, meaning i unlocked everything in the extras menu, and i will say the stuff in there could not be more perfect to me and gave me a warm, fuzzy sense of closure, a perfect reminder of the love i have for this game overpowering all of its issues. fuck you it's game of the year
Feeling the wrath of wasting precious time in drastic measure-ups, despite cute dripping deliciousness.
Beautiful visuals, music, and aesthetic attention to detail, even some wonderfully unforgettable snark dispensers (i love those goober pumpkins so much.) Yet, if you hope to get anything out of this 10 hour stroll, you have to cope with symbolic density that struggles to keep up with stories made for children, and despite an engine upgrade, the game has a design devotion to RPGmaker, an engine that fumbles at carrying games half of this one's length. I give up on the prospect of replaying for more secrets and goodies when it could barely carry me through a single playthrough. The occasionally cool set-pieces don't really make up for how vapid the narrative design is. Little Goody Two Shoes really is a blessing in comparison, the "mysterious" imitation of the work of Lewis Carol is almost nowhere to be seen, and the changes in writing are characteristic of immense artistic growth. Also, it has video game design, and a less agonizing skip function. lol.
This isn't really much related to assessing my thoughts on the game, but I think the moment that struck me most that I wasn't enjoying my time was when you reach a library. Many of the bookcases you can inspect contain real life novels, poems and medical writings. This included works of Immanuel Kant and Philippe Pinel respectively. Not to imply anybody has to live up to writings of dead philosophers and physicians, but that this diverts my interest in two ways. First, the contents of and writers of the books are very tenuously reflective on the writing of this chapter, a very surface level inclusion. It would be inappropriate to assume, so I won't, I will only say that it wouldn't surprise me if most novels in this library were acquired through cultural osmosis, or at worst, a Google search. Second, is that it exposes the game's bad habit of showing it's hand too early in a way that inspires no interest from me. Game's being blunt about foreshadowing is perfectly fine or even entertaining, usually other elements make this interesting, but just from the titles of books and a little bit of Google translate kung-fu for the German ones, you can intuit the purpose, meaning and outcome of the chapter with minimal effort. This kind of thing is spread throughout the entire story. So, I drag myself through a series of obnoxious puzzles accompanied with poorly telegraphed deaths that set me back to before completing the puzzles, and a game that doesn't inspire feelings in me of which I already know the outcome basically just by paying attention at all.
All that said though, perhaps the excellent artwork is enough to carry you through the game. If I weren't me I'd never take my word for it. Or my not me's word for it. (this is a preview of the narrative)
Beautiful visuals, music, and aesthetic attention to detail, even some wonderfully unforgettable snark dispensers (i love those goober pumpkins so much.) Yet, if you hope to get anything out of this 10 hour stroll, you have to cope with symbolic density that struggles to keep up with stories made for children, and despite an engine upgrade, the game has a design devotion to RPGmaker, an engine that fumbles at carrying games half of this one's length. I give up on the prospect of replaying for more secrets and goodies when it could barely carry me through a single playthrough. The occasionally cool set-pieces don't really make up for how vapid the narrative design is. Little Goody Two Shoes really is a blessing in comparison, the "mysterious" imitation of the work of Lewis Carol is almost nowhere to be seen, and the changes in writing are characteristic of immense artistic growth. Also, it has video game design, and a less agonizing skip function. lol.
This isn't really much related to assessing my thoughts on the game, but I think the moment that struck me most that I wasn't enjoying my time was when you reach a library. Many of the bookcases you can inspect contain real life novels, poems and medical writings. This included works of Immanuel Kant and Philippe Pinel respectively. Not to imply anybody has to live up to writings of dead philosophers and physicians, but that this diverts my interest in two ways. First, the contents of and writers of the books are very tenuously reflective on the writing of this chapter, a very surface level inclusion. It would be inappropriate to assume, so I won't, I will only say that it wouldn't surprise me if most novels in this library were acquired through cultural osmosis, or at worst, a Google search. Second, is that it exposes the game's bad habit of showing it's hand too early in a way that inspires no interest from me. Game's being blunt about foreshadowing is perfectly fine or even entertaining, usually other elements make this interesting, but just from the titles of books and a little bit of Google translate kung-fu for the German ones, you can intuit the purpose, meaning and outcome of the chapter with minimal effort. This kind of thing is spread throughout the entire story. So, I drag myself through a series of obnoxious puzzles accompanied with poorly telegraphed deaths that set me back to before completing the puzzles, and a game that doesn't inspire feelings in me of which I already know the outcome basically just by paying attention at all.
All that said though, perhaps the excellent artwork is enough to carry you through the game. If I weren't me I'd never take my word for it. Or my not me's word for it. (this is a preview of the narrative)
Memories are gifts to be held dearly, as they are the remains of what once was the subject of our love.
When I'm playing a story heavy game, and according to HLTB it has a nine hour average run time and I'm two hours in and have no idea what's actually happening, the game has probably failed.
Pocket Mirror is a bonkers gothic fever dream that isn’t well written and doesn’t make sense, but somehow that almost works in its favor? Let me be clear—the story is truly not good, and in a story-based game, that is usually a deal-breaker. But Pocket Mirror is not so much a story as a surrealist collage of tropes and aesthetics, and on this level, the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach pays off. You like jack-o-lanterns? Pocket Mirror’s got ’em. You like doppelgangers, creepy dolls, stuffed animals, eyes, roses, blood, blood on roses, blood on eyes, eyes on eyes, candles, tea parties, stained glass windows, crucifixion, churches, manors, theaters, circuses, unspeakable family secrets, and evil laughter? (Lots of evil laughter?)
Yep. Pocket Mirror’s got all that too. If this kind of stuff speaks to your subconscious, you will probably vibe with this game on some level, since it is mainly an excuse to serve up increasingly gorgeous set-pieces on increasingly lavish platters. And while the service may be amateurish, even hilariously bumbling at times, you can’t deny that the dishes were made with love. And jesus christ do they look good.
Yep. Pocket Mirror’s got all that too. If this kind of stuff speaks to your subconscious, you will probably vibe with this game on some level, since it is mainly an excuse to serve up increasingly gorgeous set-pieces on increasingly lavish platters. And while the service may be amateurish, even hilariously bumbling at times, you can’t deny that the dishes were made with love. And jesus christ do they look good.
This review contains spoilers
I'm not exactly sure what to make of this game since I have mixed feelings about it, so this is going to be quite long.
First I'll explain the downsides that kept me from fully liking the game, then moving onto its more positive aspects.
I feel my experience was greatly undermined by the fact that it actually ran quite poorly? Even though in theory I have way better memory, space, processors etc. than the minimum requirements specify, I still persistently got major audio and graphical delays, specially with scripted events. Several times did something happen and it didn't graphically load until several seconds later, in which whatever asset was to appear was placeholded by an eye-jarring box with [EVENT] written on it, highly taking away the experience, and moreso, the intended effect and scare.
Beyond that, I feel the game overall was pretty....slow. Not only were the menus, scenes and loading times slow for a relatively simple RPGMaker game, but I missed some way of skipping though scripted scenes/events and dialogue, which I wasn't getting anything out of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time over.
It took me about 20 hours to get all the endings, just from having to start the game all over from having missed one regalia at the very start. Which is fine, since you need to be on NG+ to unlock the new one anyways, but with the game playing so slow I wasn't particularly happy about it.
The story is kind of the middle ground for me. It didn't pique my interest as much as I'd wanted because I felt there wasn't enough for me to hook on. It's not horrible nor badly told at all, but feels kinda underexplained. Not just directly, but also with how little clues I consider there are up to you to read into. Even having read and mulled over every bit of dialogue, letters, text and rest of bits of the story and exposition, I still couldn't pierce the story together beyond the family falling apart because "wow! DID!--i mean... insanity and dementia!" (which is what the protag is actually diagnosed with) and that somehow probably the pact the mother did with the demon caused it?? But nothing is ever explained further than that, and there's not much more to go on for much longer on your own, either. We get close to no answers beyond that. What exactly was that pact? How come we know nothing of it if it's so vital, triggering everything in the story? The way I see it, maybe the price for the pact was either the protag splintering/losing her identity or for the demon to "own" the protag -something he repeats a few times- and upon learning that her family had basically sold her to him she developed DID? even though it doesn't work like that at all? And how are the brother and the strange boy/demon related exactly? Are they supposed to be the same person since their design is obviously similar? But why and how would they be? The entity the pact was made with was implied to be an outsider from the family, encountered in the woods, and the brother was only known to be able to see demons and the like, not be one. But maybe it's just me not getting it from being exhausted having to replay the game so many times over to get all the endings in hope of some final exposition (which doesn't happen).
I'm not saying a game has to completely spoon-feed you its story for it to be any good, but I'm not a fan of having to look up "X story explained" after scrutinizing the whole game, trying hard to pierce it for myself and not getting anywhere.
Besides that, and moving onto its more positive aspects, I felt each character's roles as alters was pretty realistic, which was the reason I first figured out that was what was going on. I actually really like all of them except for maybe Fleta. The symbolism for each of them was also good and fitting, which is why I don't have many complaints in that regard.
Going though each character's parts was greatly enjoyable, as they all had very distinct and strong personalities and the way it was reflected in their sections made for great ambiental storytelling. The diferent areas are really stellar, not only in setting and ambience, but also in the graphical and audio departments. The art and its direction is absolutely gorgeous, and the music is incredibly good as well. It really helps cement the whole "mysterious wonderland of whimsical dream spaces" setting and feel, and each area had its own particular charm and executed well its role, be it cutesy fancy parties and gardens, run-down yet romantic old mansions, creepy and abandoned underwater circuses, mystical rose-filled churches, or floating dreamy theatre corridors. God, I absolutely loved them all, but my absolute favorite was Enjel's, I legit spent at least a couple hours just wandering around basking in the ambience of the place.
Aesthetically and ambientally this game is a solid 10, and I feel it's worth playing just to experience going through these spaces, so beautifully crafted and put together. It's noticeable the huge amount of love and thought that went into them.
As a sidenote, I also quite enjoyed the occasional inspiration from and references to Madoka Magica, as a fan it really won me over.
First I'll explain the downsides that kept me from fully liking the game, then moving onto its more positive aspects.
I feel my experience was greatly undermined by the fact that it actually ran quite poorly? Even though in theory I have way better memory, space, processors etc. than the minimum requirements specify, I still persistently got major audio and graphical delays, specially with scripted events. Several times did something happen and it didn't graphically load until several seconds later, in which whatever asset was to appear was placeholded by an eye-jarring box with [EVENT] written on it, highly taking away the experience, and moreso, the intended effect and scare.
Beyond that, I feel the game overall was pretty....slow. Not only were the menus, scenes and loading times slow for a relatively simple RPGMaker game, but I missed some way of skipping though scripted scenes/events and dialogue, which I wasn't getting anything out of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time over.
It took me about 20 hours to get all the endings, just from having to start the game all over from having missed one regalia at the very start. Which is fine, since you need to be on NG+ to unlock the new one anyways, but with the game playing so slow I wasn't particularly happy about it.
The story is kind of the middle ground for me. It didn't pique my interest as much as I'd wanted because I felt there wasn't enough for me to hook on. It's not horrible nor badly told at all, but feels kinda underexplained. Not just directly, but also with how little clues I consider there are up to you to read into. Even having read and mulled over every bit of dialogue, letters, text and rest of bits of the story and exposition, I still couldn't pierce the story together beyond the family falling apart because "wow! DID!--i mean... insanity and dementia!" (which is what the protag is actually diagnosed with) and that somehow probably the pact the mother did with the demon caused it?? But nothing is ever explained further than that, and there's not much more to go on for much longer on your own, either. We get close to no answers beyond that. What exactly was that pact? How come we know nothing of it if it's so vital, triggering everything in the story? The way I see it, maybe the price for the pact was either the protag splintering/losing her identity or for the demon to "own" the protag -something he repeats a few times- and upon learning that her family had basically sold her to him she developed DID? even though it doesn't work like that at all? And how are the brother and the strange boy/demon related exactly? Are they supposed to be the same person since their design is obviously similar? But why and how would they be? The entity the pact was made with was implied to be an outsider from the family, encountered in the woods, and the brother was only known to be able to see demons and the like, not be one. But maybe it's just me not getting it from being exhausted having to replay the game so many times over to get all the endings in hope of some final exposition (which doesn't happen).
I'm not saying a game has to completely spoon-feed you its story for it to be any good, but I'm not a fan of having to look up "X story explained" after scrutinizing the whole game, trying hard to pierce it for myself and not getting anywhere.
Besides that, and moving onto its more positive aspects, I felt each character's roles as alters was pretty realistic, which was the reason I first figured out that was what was going on. I actually really like all of them except for maybe Fleta. The symbolism for each of them was also good and fitting, which is why I don't have many complaints in that regard.
Going though each character's parts was greatly enjoyable, as they all had very distinct and strong personalities and the way it was reflected in their sections made for great ambiental storytelling. The diferent areas are really stellar, not only in setting and ambience, but also in the graphical and audio departments. The art and its direction is absolutely gorgeous, and the music is incredibly good as well. It really helps cement the whole "mysterious wonderland of whimsical dream spaces" setting and feel, and each area had its own particular charm and executed well its role, be it cutesy fancy parties and gardens, run-down yet romantic old mansions, creepy and abandoned underwater circuses, mystical rose-filled churches, or floating dreamy theatre corridors. God, I absolutely loved them all, but my absolute favorite was Enjel's, I legit spent at least a couple hours just wandering around basking in the ambience of the place.
Aesthetically and ambientally this game is a solid 10, and I feel it's worth playing just to experience going through these spaces, so beautifully crafted and put together. It's noticeable the huge amount of love and thought that went into them.
As a sidenote, I also quite enjoyed the occasional inspiration from and references to Madoka Magica, as a fan it really won me over.
Pocket Mirror is a game I have been following since its release in 2016. My first exposure to it was watching a walk-through online, so when this remake was announced i was very excited to experience such a beautiful rpg maker game for myself, with a new shiny coat of paint on it to boot. So that is why, despite my desperate attempts to like this game, i am very sad to announce that Pocket Mirror was so painful to go through that i walked away from it with a tension headache and leg tremors.
My compliments first: the visual art of this game and its environments are for sure some of the best out of its genre. The pixel art is gorgeous, the portrait work is very beautiful, detailed, and distinct. The way they tell their story through the world around it, and the many set pieces used in this game are very, very impressive and striking to witness. The atmosphere is also really heavy and i found myself a bit frightened at times. Ive been into rpgmaker games since i was in the 6th grade or so, and i recognized a few artists who have been making art for the genre for a while, like the one who does drawings for the play cutscenes. You can tell this game was made with a lot of love and detail, and i would like to consider it a celebration of rpgmaker games as a whole, but i just cant.
I dont even know where to start.... ok, mechanically, this game feels awful. Menus are so, so slow, running and walking feel delayed and weird, worse of all though is that there are no autosaves and you must watch a 7-10? second long cutscene every time you die. The creators were really inspired by The Witch's House so they felt like the player should die a lot, more on that later. But the difference between PM and Witch's House is that one of them is 5-7 hours long and the other one can be beaten in 40 minutes. It is so deeply frustrating.
In terms of gameplay this game also does poorly. Im hyperventilating thinking of all the scenarios i can describe here. I dont know how to explain... ive never ever played an rpgmaker with such batshit, baffling solutions to their puzzles, especially a professional remake of one like this. Like most games from its genre, Pocket Mirror relies a lot on puzzles to get from one area to the next, and to tell a story. Thankfully its not as boring as just finding keys to doors, but i would honestly prefer that over what this game does. This game has an awfully hard time communicating what it wants, there are many puzzle solutions that lie within really confusingly written poems or riddles, that go on for what feels like 12 stanzas. I have fantastic reading comprehension but even i couldnt even fathom what the game was asking me there, in all situations. Here is one example where a pumpkin wanted me to solve a riddle or else he'd kill me, not word for word but close enough:
"A woman baked 5 pies and left them on the windowsill to cool. She then left to get packaging for the pies. While she was gone, a robber came and stole 2 of the pies, and then a dog came and ate 1. When the woman came home, she was gutted to see what had happened. How many pies were saved on that day?"
The answer.... should be 2. It should be. I cant comprehend how it wasnt 2 and why it wasnt 2. The actual answer was 5, i dont know why. And as i said, every time you die you have to navigate through a very slow menu and that death animation and theres no autosaves. So it gets really old really fast. I never knew what to do in this game.
Another example of something that happened: there was a chase scene in the game (great for when your main character controls like a tank) that i just could not figure out. You go down running from the threat and enter a long corridor, to the left are enemies, you run to the right and theres more enemies. Theres open cages but your main character cant go in them, even though it really looks like you can. You die because they sandwich you on both sides. Theres also a room you can go down into with more enemies, you can then go back up to the corridor and duke the original foes in there. But it doesnt matter because they spawn more enemies in the corridor and you die. No matter what i did i died. I couldnt understand what the hell i was supposed to do, and i was very very upset. The answer for some unknown reason, you have to go left, stop. Then run right. Then go left. Sometimes this does not trigger the event, because i did that the first time and if you hesitate i suppose you just lose. Im not sure how the player was supposed to know that and i genuinely am baffled at most of these decisions. Dying in this game is absolutely nothing, has nothing to do with skill or reflexes. Its just a waste of time and very frustrating.
The story is a big part of this game, and while the premise interested me a lot, the writing is incredibly repetitive and poor. Nothing anyone ever says means anything. When you think a character should stop talking, they go on for 3 more boxes. Like i said, it gets very old very fast. Before discussing the general story i would like to make a note that our protagonist here is the most insufferable piece of shit little girl ive ever seen, i can not STAND her. She only gets a hint of a personality towards the very end of the game where she finally manages to stand up for herself in any way. I would rather play as any other character than her, and i dont like the ideals the game shows coming from her. She barely says a single sentence that isnt "im sorry" or "thank you" or "no!!!i just-" specifically, shes always saying that. She never means anything and shes ALWAYS sorry. Shes always suppressing her feelings and putting others ahead of her even though shes in a crazy fucking wonderland with no memories. She apologizes when people are mean to her. She wants to help everyone and is always fine and is so polite and self sacrificing to an absolutely unhealthy measure. She has no spine, shes constantly cut off and never gets to finish her sentences or explain herself. She doesnt think for herself and has no real commentary on her thoughts past that shes confused. She has absolutely no autonomy in her situation and never seems to develop in any way. Conversations with her go like this:
Harpae: ohh my girl why did you run off
???: im sorry harpae
Harpae: i dont want to hear any excuses!
???: im sorry, i just-
Harpae: no, i understand.
???: i didnt mean to say it like that! I just-
Harpae: enough !!!!
???: ......
Harpae: .....
Harpae: oh... im sorry.....
???: no im sorry.... thank you harpae... im sorry
Word for word that conversation happens at least 16 times when youre in the Harpae chapter.
That was a bit longer than a note on the protag, but its fine. Like i said the story has a good premise, feels very mysterious and makes you want to understand. I like the way everything isnt directly shown but for christs sake, they never tell you anything. The characters almost never have any meaningful conversation. And those endings are an absolute disgrace, if you go out of your way to get the best ending it literally doesnt tell you jack shit or give you any closure at all. If you miss one regalia fuck you, play the whole game over.
Spoiler alert! The main character has multiple personality disorder, which according to the fandom page for this game actually doesnt exist anymore and its now dissociative identity disorder which i think is actually a separate thing from mpd but im not going to trust knowledge from the Pocket Mirror wiki page anyways. She has multiple personalities but.... this is also separate from another plot point, which is that her mom sold her to a demon. I have no idea how these two plots are supposed to come together and they never really do, just that the protag should make peace with herself and that there's also a weird boy devil who made a fake version of the protag for... some reason and shes also the final act of the game for.... another reason. Enjel (mirrored protag) is far more interesting than our mc in every way, so i would gladly replace her any day. Apparently the protag is actually 20 and is also in an insane asylum in the real world. I do not enjoy the way they depicted mental illness in this game, despite the compelling mystery. Theres a lot to say about it but i dont really like the concept that she has 3 distinct personalities that are easily separable from her as a person, and obviously how none of it ties into anything really at the end because the protag never gains any development from meeting them. She also did NOT seem abused enough to develop 3 whole entire personalities, thats just an insane thing to happen to someone who's dad yells and throws things sometimes. She also has a brother that looks like the demon from the game but thats just... not elaborated on.
Final notes: this game has offputting and vaugely offensive jokes in it that arent enough for me to scorn it openly but are still very weird. One line from an adult man to the child protag went something like "do i know you?"
???: "no. I dont think so...."
"Awh thats a shame, because i would totally carve your pumpkin"
Dont know what thats supposed to mean. Another conversation from a character named Fleta to a pumpkin went like this:
Pumpkin: im so sick of everyone confusing me for a pumpkin all the time!
Fleta: but you are a pumpkin...
Pumpkin: no im not! I actually identify as a member of the royal blue(?) community!
I forget the word he said exactly but the joke doesnt even make sense because royal blue(?) Is a species of squash anyways, and therefore a pumpkin. Things like these made me feel immensely uncomfortable.
I dont know how to close this out as i am a bit exhausted from the experience. If you read all of this, then thank you. If you didnt then its okay. I really wish i liked this game more as it was a gift but the amount of aggressions against the player was just so devastating. I need to take ibuprofen now, bye bye
My compliments first: the visual art of this game and its environments are for sure some of the best out of its genre. The pixel art is gorgeous, the portrait work is very beautiful, detailed, and distinct. The way they tell their story through the world around it, and the many set pieces used in this game are very, very impressive and striking to witness. The atmosphere is also really heavy and i found myself a bit frightened at times. Ive been into rpgmaker games since i was in the 6th grade or so, and i recognized a few artists who have been making art for the genre for a while, like the one who does drawings for the play cutscenes. You can tell this game was made with a lot of love and detail, and i would like to consider it a celebration of rpgmaker games as a whole, but i just cant.
I dont even know where to start.... ok, mechanically, this game feels awful. Menus are so, so slow, running and walking feel delayed and weird, worse of all though is that there are no autosaves and you must watch a 7-10? second long cutscene every time you die. The creators were really inspired by The Witch's House so they felt like the player should die a lot, more on that later. But the difference between PM and Witch's House is that one of them is 5-7 hours long and the other one can be beaten in 40 minutes. It is so deeply frustrating.
In terms of gameplay this game also does poorly. Im hyperventilating thinking of all the scenarios i can describe here. I dont know how to explain... ive never ever played an rpgmaker with such batshit, baffling solutions to their puzzles, especially a professional remake of one like this. Like most games from its genre, Pocket Mirror relies a lot on puzzles to get from one area to the next, and to tell a story. Thankfully its not as boring as just finding keys to doors, but i would honestly prefer that over what this game does. This game has an awfully hard time communicating what it wants, there are many puzzle solutions that lie within really confusingly written poems or riddles, that go on for what feels like 12 stanzas. I have fantastic reading comprehension but even i couldnt even fathom what the game was asking me there, in all situations. Here is one example where a pumpkin wanted me to solve a riddle or else he'd kill me, not word for word but close enough:
"A woman baked 5 pies and left them on the windowsill to cool. She then left to get packaging for the pies. While she was gone, a robber came and stole 2 of the pies, and then a dog came and ate 1. When the woman came home, she was gutted to see what had happened. How many pies were saved on that day?"
The answer.... should be 2. It should be. I cant comprehend how it wasnt 2 and why it wasnt 2. The actual answer was 5, i dont know why. And as i said, every time you die you have to navigate through a very slow menu and that death animation and theres no autosaves. So it gets really old really fast. I never knew what to do in this game.
Another example of something that happened: there was a chase scene in the game (great for when your main character controls like a tank) that i just could not figure out. You go down running from the threat and enter a long corridor, to the left are enemies, you run to the right and theres more enemies. Theres open cages but your main character cant go in them, even though it really looks like you can. You die because they sandwich you on both sides. Theres also a room you can go down into with more enemies, you can then go back up to the corridor and duke the original foes in there. But it doesnt matter because they spawn more enemies in the corridor and you die. No matter what i did i died. I couldnt understand what the hell i was supposed to do, and i was very very upset. The answer for some unknown reason, you have to go left, stop. Then run right. Then go left. Sometimes this does not trigger the event, because i did that the first time and if you hesitate i suppose you just lose. Im not sure how the player was supposed to know that and i genuinely am baffled at most of these decisions. Dying in this game is absolutely nothing, has nothing to do with skill or reflexes. Its just a waste of time and very frustrating.
The story is a big part of this game, and while the premise interested me a lot, the writing is incredibly repetitive and poor. Nothing anyone ever says means anything. When you think a character should stop talking, they go on for 3 more boxes. Like i said, it gets very old very fast. Before discussing the general story i would like to make a note that our protagonist here is the most insufferable piece of shit little girl ive ever seen, i can not STAND her. She only gets a hint of a personality towards the very end of the game where she finally manages to stand up for herself in any way. I would rather play as any other character than her, and i dont like the ideals the game shows coming from her. She barely says a single sentence that isnt "im sorry" or "thank you" or "no!!!i just-" specifically, shes always saying that. She never means anything and shes ALWAYS sorry. Shes always suppressing her feelings and putting others ahead of her even though shes in a crazy fucking wonderland with no memories. She apologizes when people are mean to her. She wants to help everyone and is always fine and is so polite and self sacrificing to an absolutely unhealthy measure. She has no spine, shes constantly cut off and never gets to finish her sentences or explain herself. She doesnt think for herself and has no real commentary on her thoughts past that shes confused. She has absolutely no autonomy in her situation and never seems to develop in any way. Conversations with her go like this:
Harpae: ohh my girl why did you run off
???: im sorry harpae
Harpae: i dont want to hear any excuses!
???: im sorry, i just-
Harpae: no, i understand.
???: i didnt mean to say it like that! I just-
Harpae: enough !!!!
???: ......
Harpae: .....
Harpae: oh... im sorry.....
???: no im sorry.... thank you harpae... im sorry
Word for word that conversation happens at least 16 times when youre in the Harpae chapter.
That was a bit longer than a note on the protag, but its fine. Like i said the story has a good premise, feels very mysterious and makes you want to understand. I like the way everything isnt directly shown but for christs sake, they never tell you anything. The characters almost never have any meaningful conversation. And those endings are an absolute disgrace, if you go out of your way to get the best ending it literally doesnt tell you jack shit or give you any closure at all. If you miss one regalia fuck you, play the whole game over.
Spoiler alert! The main character has multiple personality disorder, which according to the fandom page for this game actually doesnt exist anymore and its now dissociative identity disorder which i think is actually a separate thing from mpd but im not going to trust knowledge from the Pocket Mirror wiki page anyways. She has multiple personalities but.... this is also separate from another plot point, which is that her mom sold her to a demon. I have no idea how these two plots are supposed to come together and they never really do, just that the protag should make peace with herself and that there's also a weird boy devil who made a fake version of the protag for... some reason and shes also the final act of the game for.... another reason. Enjel (mirrored protag) is far more interesting than our mc in every way, so i would gladly replace her any day. Apparently the protag is actually 20 and is also in an insane asylum in the real world. I do not enjoy the way they depicted mental illness in this game, despite the compelling mystery. Theres a lot to say about it but i dont really like the concept that she has 3 distinct personalities that are easily separable from her as a person, and obviously how none of it ties into anything really at the end because the protag never gains any development from meeting them. She also did NOT seem abused enough to develop 3 whole entire personalities, thats just an insane thing to happen to someone who's dad yells and throws things sometimes. She also has a brother that looks like the demon from the game but thats just... not elaborated on.
Final notes: this game has offputting and vaugely offensive jokes in it that arent enough for me to scorn it openly but are still very weird. One line from an adult man to the child protag went something like "do i know you?"
???: "no. I dont think so...."
"Awh thats a shame, because i would totally carve your pumpkin"
Dont know what thats supposed to mean. Another conversation from a character named Fleta to a pumpkin went like this:
Pumpkin: im so sick of everyone confusing me for a pumpkin all the time!
Fleta: but you are a pumpkin...
Pumpkin: no im not! I actually identify as a member of the royal blue(?) community!
I forget the word he said exactly but the joke doesnt even make sense because royal blue(?) Is a species of squash anyways, and therefore a pumpkin. Things like these made me feel immensely uncomfortable.
I dont know how to close this out as i am a bit exhausted from the experience. If you read all of this, then thank you. If you didnt then its okay. I really wish i liked this game more as it was a gift but the amount of aggressions against the player was just so devastating. I need to take ibuprofen now, bye bye
Life is about the small moments, like answering deranged questions from a talking Pumpkin.