Dear Sister by Robinerd

[raw]
made by Robinerd for LD30 (COMPO)
The last I remember is my sister's lifeless eyes.
It is extremely rare, but sometimes when people die,
they decide not to cross over.

She is calling for you, with beautiful melodies.
Guided by the heavenly harmonies,
you have to find her spirit and help her to find rest.

- Based on a real story -

CONTROLS:
Move with WASD, look around with mouse.
Follow the music!

Q/A:
And how about the theme?
- This game illustrates the connection between our world and the world of death.

Is this from something that happened to you?
- Not to me, luckily, but it is indeed based on a real accident which happened earlier this year in Essex, M11.
My sister is happily alive and I'm thankful to have her

Ratings

Coolness 73% 3
Overall 3.47 297
Audio 3.93 32
Fun 2.81 765
Graphics 3.11 552
Humor 2.50 436
Innovation 2.83 801
Mood 4.27 11
Theme 3.35 485

Feedback

Makio
25. Aug 2014 · 02:47 UTC
Very nice idea, atmosphere & realisation, well done !
mcapraro
25. Aug 2014 · 02:59 UTC
I live the concept and the mood of this game, well done!
DavidErosa
25. Aug 2014 · 11:30 UTC
A little long but I like the mood.
JosephLittle
25. Aug 2014 · 11:35 UTC
Lovely.

Although, I did get stuck and had to restart at once point
Hamsternator
25. Aug 2014 · 11:36 UTC
This is beautiful. A short story told through the best means possible. I definitely felt something =)
Slooowpoke
25. Aug 2014 · 11:38 UTC
Great mood and atmosphere! Reminded me of Dear Esther in a way. Very different take on the theme to all the other games (mine included). Overall pretty sweet! Is it related to something that happened to you?
Norfinel
25. Aug 2014 · 11:38 UTC
So sad ...
Nuclear Napalm
25. Aug 2014 · 11:49 UTC
Beautiful!
McFood
25. Aug 2014 · 12:20 UTC
That was beautiful. Thanks for the different take on the theme.
Techblogogy
25. Aug 2014 · 12:27 UTC
This is the most emotional game I've seen.
Ofursnati
25. Aug 2014 · 13:14 UTC
Beautiful.
🎤 Robinerd
25. Aug 2014 · 13:20 UTC
Thanks all for such nice comments, I'm really happy to bring up your emotions. We're in the 2k century and games are not only "fun". Let's move the game industry to a wider perspective!

Some replies:

@JosephLittle: Thanks for telling me, I would be very interested to hear where you got stuck. Sorry that you had to start over!

@SlooowPoke Yeah I haven't played dear esther, but what I heard about it, it sounds like it's also more like an interactive emotional story.
This is not based on anything I've gone through, fortunately, but I think it is a story many people can relate to in different ways. My little sister is happily alive and I'm thankful for having her! But the "news" you get to see at the end is from a real accident. You can probably read more about it if you pick some keywords from the text, but I won't spoil it in the comments.
CRAZEERUSKEE
25. Aug 2014 · 17:17 UTC
Wow, this is a beautiful game! And that twist at the end was brilliant!
hate-marina
25. Aug 2014 · 17:21 UTC
Feels
IamAcoconut
25. Aug 2014 · 17:28 UTC
This game is an amazing game. It's probably one of the most emotional games I've ever played!
🎤 Robinerd
25. Aug 2014 · 17:40 UTC
@CRAZEERUSKEE thanks for sharing your experience of the ending! When I designed the story it was really hard to know whether people would experience it in the same way as I intended. It seems you did!

@IamAcoconut Thank you for these kind words. I never experimented with emotions in games before, and your feedback really makes me happy :)
🎤 Robinerd
25. Aug 2014 · 17:42 UTC
If anyone wants to share, I'd love to know how long time you spent on the game. Did you explore the side areas too or heading the right way to hear the story?
Capitals
25. Aug 2014 · 17:58 UTC
The best game for atmosphere and music so far!
PixelMind
25. Aug 2014 · 18:46 UTC
Great mood and story.
John Drury
25. Aug 2014 · 23:43 UTC
Great mood, very sad. Felt very lost and confused! Played through all of it. Beautiful with lovely narrative.
Tanner
26. Aug 2014 · 12:30 UTC
Great entry!
Appocket
26. Aug 2014 · 13:14 UTC
Nice atmosphere, the controls are a bit to sensitive but still ok. PS: May a [ESC] trigger or so to loose focus would be nice, had to reload page to get out of the unity frame :D
Lokarunith
26. Aug 2014 · 14:14 UTC
that's a sad story... We live everyday thinking that tragadies only happen to other people and when we less expect it, life slaps us in the face and turns our world upside down. A lesson niceley told
lkr
26. Aug 2014 · 20:03 UTC
Loved the atmosphere and writing, and how the music changed along the way. It made me want to explore the whole area for "secret" story text :)
🎤 Robinerd
26. Aug 2014 · 21:33 UTC
@Lokarunith Great to hear that you appreciated the message I wanted to spread! We should always find the good sides of life and enjoy them :)

@lkr Thank you! Glad to hear that someone took the time to also read the "secret" texts. I intentionally put the story-telling in the main path and then giving small advice and sayings in the side areas to make them worthwhile in case you go there. Thanks!
MintArcade
27. Aug 2014 · 13:18 UTC
Nice ambience and sound. I like the mood. Very subtle edge between two worlds.
Diamonde
28. Aug 2014 · 16:54 UTC
The mood is great and I love the music you make, especially when it interacts with the game! It is quite touching to walk up the labyrinth and I had an overall very nice experience. There is one thing I could complain about, and it is the sound that activates when one move too far from the planned path. It had me sit with one hand on the volume control during the game.
I also like the theme interpretation which I think is quite unique.
chadiik
28. Aug 2014 · 22:21 UTC
It's one of those few games where I'm not annoyed when I take a wrong turn!
Good game :)
bytegrove
31. Aug 2014 · 22:37 UTC
Phew, it left me with that heavy feeling in my gut.
Nice work on the mood and the music mechanic. The only thing that irked me was the colour of the text, it felt out of place(imo). Everything else is spot on and I think you handled a sensitive theme very well.
Raphy
02. Sep 2014 · 22:25 UTC
Nice mood and feels. I got stuck though, feels kindda labyrinthic at some point (maybe I suck :D)

I wonder if this is based on an autobiographical story, it felt somewhat personal!
Snoother
03. Sep 2014 · 15:07 UTC
God, I remember hearing about this in the news a few ago, if it's the same incident. Very good use of music, the way instruments gradually fade in, buttressing the poignant majesty.

I find it hard to attach myself to these kind of metaphysical premises, being that I'm not in any spiritual or religious. So the notion of people 'crossing over' or having any sort of post-human existence doesn't affect me at all. But despite this, I felt sad after playing this, and taken metaphorically it certainly has an impact.
Sandcrawler
03. Sep 2014 · 21:05 UTC
Had a lot of mood/emotion to it. The game took you through the emotions that would have been felt by the brother.

I just have to admit that I had no idea what a lorry was, and admitted it on video. I now thanks to the power of Google know what a lorry is.

I recorded my playthrough of it and it will go up on Monday September 8th. http://www.youtube.com/user/Ythmevge
AnimeGeek32
07. Sep 2014 · 15:42 UTC
Very simple and emotional!
AlexDJones
08. Sep 2014 · 19:05 UTC
An interesting take on the theme. The implementation of the music was especially great. I'm really glad to see more LD games take this sort of unusual direction, breaking away from the traditional model of what counts as a "game". Kudos!