We have known about the devastating harm to the body and psyche of alcohol since childhood from parents, teachers, the media and social advertising. We are well aware of how strong drinks can change one’s state and even perception. People experience different sides of alcoholic bliss. For some, this is salvation on lonely evenings, liberation and relaxation in noisy companies. Someone cannot cope with the amount of adrenaline and suddenly pours it into rash actions and even aggression, creating situations that are dangerous for themselves and others.
And someone drowns their problems and failures in this every day, falling into the captivity of terrible alcoholism and their own internal demons that it gives birth to.
We know and often encounter that it can be difficult, and sometimes even impossible, to help such captives – they firmly believe that without a bottle, their already flimsy protective world will collapse and they will have nothing left. When, like them, they deprive themselves of happiness and loved ones, choking in self-flagellation and fear of fighting with themselves.
This short indie horror has a painfully simple, but still relevant and positive message, thanks to the ending. It positions itself more as a psychological story in hopes of encouraging all people in a similar situation. Show that it’s never too late to fix everything and become better.
It is not perceived as a social advertisement against alcohol. It does not encourage one to stay away from alcohol by all means, because an outsider will never know what pushed a person into alcoholism. This disease rarely comes from a good life. Perhaps for some the game will serve as a good pain reliever. But even without suffering from this problem, you can speculate on the future of the main character in this little journey into the deep dark corners of yourself.
"Keep in Mind: Remastered" – pixel indie horror released March 8, 2018 from an American studio Little Moth Games under the leadership Akupara Games. From the name it is clear that this is an improved version, which added a new graphics processor, a good annoying soundtrack, and bugs were fixed.
Don’t be confused by the simplified graphics and crooked lines, because with the help of escalating narration and music pressing on your head, the atmosphere of psychological horror is recreated with a feeling similar to Neverending Nightmares.
A simple plot begins with a night https://mrvegascasino.co.uk/withdrawal/ monologue by the protagonist’s wife. The nameless woman lies with her back to her sleeping husband and sends into the darkness words of disappointment and grief that befell their small family due to addiction Jonas to the bottle. There is a passing report about some tragedy that supposedly pushed a man into a destructive addiction that he cannot get rid of, falling asleep every night in a state of intoxication.
My wife just wants this to finally end. It is obvious that her husband’s deplorable condition weighs heavily on her, although we do not know the specific relationship between them. Is she afraid of her chosen one, blaming her for their deteriorating relationship?? Or maybe Jonas actually beats up his missus when he gets drunk again?? This all remains behind the scenes; we are only shown from the very beginning the problems of the main character – severe alcoholism, followed by depression and complete isolation from the outside world.
On one of these nights, Jonas wakes up in a world different from his home – a copy of reality, only much darker. Eternal darkness, starless sky and heavy silence reign here. A man wanders through deserted, uncomfortable streets, bumping into only strange, disfigured inhabitants, each of whom has a message for him.
If Jonas wants to return home, he will have to explore the inhospitable place far and wide in search of a way out of his addiction.
Game structure
The task for the player is simple and clear – wander around a small location and look into every corner in order to meet a variety of monsters that visualize 16 vices Jonas. He has to understand and overcome them: from self-hatred, panic and neurosis to moral decline, reclusiveness and self-pity. The game will be completed only after the man finds and listens to all his demons and finally stops blaming only circumstances for his own fall.
Gameplay
Gameplay is kept to a minimum, the player is only required to move around the map and interact with the protagonist’s nightmares. You already have everything you need – a mouse and keyboard, although the game even supports a gamepad, even if this does not add variety to the controls at all.
Graphics
A simple pixel graphic with environment lines that can be drawn in paint. There is nothing surprising here, there are a lot of examples of more colorful pixel games, but the simplicity here gives rise to the darkness and tension from the dark world of Jonas’ nightmares. Walking around this flat, crooked, empty world next to monsters is clearly not good for mental health.
Musical accompaniment
On the same level as graphonium, but suits the tone of the game well, creating an appropriately tense atmosphere. The loopy, not at all varied sound weighs on your head, very reminiscent of the sensations from the lingering music in Neverending Nightmares. But there is a difference: the calm sound marks the end of Jonas’ suffering.
These two simplified things – graphics and soundtrack – in the right combination create that same sticky feeling in the chest when at the same time you want to quickly leave an unfavorable place and wander around some more, satisfying your original curiosity by searching for dark secrets.
"I tormented And twisted their entrails for All those things, which never Not said. All What I feel – This taste blood. Nothing, except taste blood.. And This Not So really And tasteless.»
And now we can summarize:
1) the simplified short plot feels deep and vivid mainly due to the interestingly conveyed images of the symptoms of alcohol addiction;
2) morality on the surface, but still relevant, shows the problem of modern society and the suffering that many people go through to this day;
3) the intense, oppressive soundtrack allows you to better feel the atmosphere of imbalance and emotional tossing of the main character.
The game is good despite the paucity of the plot. Although we cannot deeply feel Jonas as a person and fully sympathize with him due to the short narrative and general understatement, we can clearly understand and feel the main idea: self-hatred and flagellation only lead to greater decline and fall into darkness. In a prolonged stressful situation, thoughts and feelings about oneself change. Thinking that hatred helps us isolate ourselves from the irritating factors of life, we only dig ourselves deeper in, not seeing a way out of the situation.
Forgiveness is the path to salvation. You can’t change for the better without first going through all your mistakes, without facing your fears and darkest thoughts. And without forgiving myself.