I thought I was superduper clever with the symbolism when I drew this 10+ years ago 🧓 Who knows, maybe it's still superduper clever.

I bought the game on Steam recently to replay it, and I totally forgot how simple the gameplay really was. My experience with games now is so different, having played many games with mechanics woven in with story...

I hate Garry's "death counter". I didn't stop him enacting violence on dolls and mannequins that were trying to harm him because it's fair for him to defend himself (and Ib) against a force they don't understand. The way that you can unknowingly move him toward his death by actions taken defensively doesn't sit right with me. The idea of a "perfect victim" who gets to escape harm blamelessly because they never enacted violence or were sympathetic toward their attacker is too simple and unfair.

I don't see Mary as being remotely sympathetic, but she's fine as simplistic villain. There's not enough in a simple little game to give her nuance. (I think about E33, which has a surprising amount of similarities with Ib, and how difficult the final choice was.) Mary only really serves as an obstacle between Ib and Garry and the real world (and each other). If the painted world was more compelling, I'd've at least thought about staying behind. I don't know how loneliness would ever translate to forcing people to share your company against their will though, I'm just not that kind of person.

I'm still a sucker for trauma-bonded characters, and I think Ib played a big part in my tastes turning out that way. And you really had to make them forget about each other after they escape??? That's too much man 😭