The Letter - I really love this game!
So, I just finished playing The Letter for the first time and I have to say I really loved it. I think it might be becoming my new hyperfixation because I can't stop thinking about it.
I'm a huge fan of the horror genre and the supernatural aspects of the game alone made it me like it, it's a well put together horror story, not the most scariest I've read if I'm being honest, but it does keep you on edge. It makes you want to keep reading nonstop because you need to know what happens next. At least that was my case, I just couldn't put my phone down.
The story keeps you on edge because it makes you care about the characters. Even if you don't particularly like this or that one, you still care about their destiny (either because you like them and want to see them getting a happy ending or because you dislike them and want to see them suffer), you still want to know how their journey ends. You care, for good or bad.
I love that your decisions as a player actually hold weight and affect the story. How many visual novels have I played where my choices don't actually change anything? Well, in The Letter every little choice you make counts. It'll affect the story, the relationship between characters, the ending, everything. I usually play visual novels only once, even the ones with multiple endings, because most of them don't change much at the end. It's just the same ending with minor changes. The idea of playing it again just to get one different word in the epilogue it's not attractive, but with The Letter the suspense you felt the first time you played it remains for the second, third and all the times you play it.
I love that is a multi-POV story because I think that adds a different perspective not only to the story itself, but to the characters as well. A character that from one POV is perceived as frivolous and cold, in other is seen as kind and warm, for example. It adds depth.
Now I'll talk about my personal opinion on the characters and ships (because yes, it has romance too, despite being a horror game).
My least favorite is probably Rebecca, and not because she's bad written, quite the opposite actually. All the characters have flaws, some even bigger than Rebecca's, the difference is that she lacks self-awareness. Her little obsession with Ash and the jealousy she felt every time he interacted with Isabella was a big indicator of her lack of self-awareness. She doesn't own up to her shitty behavior (I mean, she does, but it takes for her friends to die or for her to be in the brink of death to realize she wasn't precisely in the right) and I'm not really into characters with this type of characterization. It doesn't mean she isn't well written, because she is, it just means she, as a character, isn't my cup of tea.
Luke, for example, is the most flawed character, yet I still like him better than Rebecca because he's self-aware (and because I love villainous characters). He knows he's a shitty person and doesn't lie to himself about it. He accepts it. He embraces it, even. I like that in character. So, my problem with Rebecca is not that she's an obsessive creepy girl that wants to monopolize Ash because she firmly believes she's entitled to his attention and romantic love just because they've known each other since kids. I actually love the yandere archetype, I love obsessive creepy characters. My problem with her is that she doesn't realize she's that obsessive creepy girl. She doesn't realize she's toxic and a shitty friend to both Ash and Isabella in more than one occasion.
And this too is the reason why I don't like the Ash x Rebecca pairing. Not because I find it problematic (I actually love problematic ships, I mean, c'mon, I love yanderes) but because the ship it's not my kind of problematic. Just a matter of personal taste. So if any shipper sees this please don't get your panties in a twist, thank you.
My favorite character is probably Ashton. I have seen people say that he's the least interesting of them all and that he doesn't have a backstory tragic enough to be the way he is. I literally saw someone ask "what even is his pain?" But I don't believe Ash is supposed to be some Greek tragic character? It's not the way I interpreted it, at leat (yeah, in the true ending he, well, ends tragically, but I still don't think he's supposed to be a tragic character). All the characters are well written and their personalities make sense with their upbringing. His parents divorced when he was very young, way before he was old enough to understand that it wasn't his fault. And after the divorce each parent went to live on their own leaving him alone. He was a child and he was alone. Abandoned, at least that's how his kid's mind perceived it, by his own parents. So, to me, it makes sense for him to build up walls between him and his friends. It makes sense that he doesn't completely trust them. It makes sense that he believes that he knows better. He felt betrayed and abandoned by his own parents, and if his own parents abandoned him then why would people that aren't even related to him by blood not abandon him? He protects himself from that rejection, from that future abandonment, by building up walls. It'll hurt less to be left behind if he doesn't allow himself to get too close to anyone in the first place. I've seen some people say that Ash tries too hard to be a hero, but I don't believe he's trying to be a hero, I believe he's trying to feel worthy. Worthy of friendship, worthy of love, worthy of the people around him, damn, even worthy of being alive. Imagine the blow on a kid's self-esteem after they get "abandoned" by their own parents? If your own parents can't love you enough to stay with you, then who can? Probably no one, right? So he overcompensates. Because yes, he's afraid of abandonment but he also yearns for true long-lasting bonds. So he tries to solve everything by himself not because he believes he's some hero, but because he's trying to show to the people he cares about that he can be reliable, that they can depend on him, so maybe, maybe, they'll want to stay by his side. So maybe they won't abandon him. And each time he fails to prove that he can be reliable, that he can solve things on his own, it's to him a confirmation of his lack of worth. "He thinks he knows everything", yeah, because knowing everything is one of the few ways he knows to prove to himself and to others that he's useful, that he's worthy. I'm not saying you can't find those character traits annoying, that you can't dislike him, I'm just saying that you can't pretend that his characterization doesn't make sense. And when did this post become a dissertation on Ash's characterization? Lol.
The rest of the characters I love too. I just wanted to give my insight in my least and most favorite ones, because if I write something for the seven of them this post would be too long since I have a lot to say about them, in a good way of course.
TL;DR The Letter is an amazing game and if you haven't already played it yet then you have to play it right now, I promise you won't regret it!
