The Blind House

Our protagonist is a woman named Helena, who is living temporarily in the home of an old acqaintance from school, Marissa. The game quickly establishes that something is Not Right, and that Helena has recently had a horribly traumatic experience that colours her view of everything....

The subject matter is a little disturbing, and the overall tone was, for me, oppressive and over-wrought. I don't particularly like inhabiting the headspace of someone who might be described as "emo" if she weren't so clearly crazy. Of course, later you discover Marissa's diary and it turns out she's even more of an emotional wreck than Helena is.

Speaking of which, I must say that I had trouble justifying to myself the actions that form the bulk of the story. Most of it appears to be a gross invasion of Marissa's privacy. There really did not seem to be any reason to do any of this, other than to advance the story. Of course, there's the theory that they might be the same person, but I'm more of the opinion that Helena is a scary stalker who needs to be slapped with a restraining order.

Still, the game itself was very pretty, very slick, and beautifully presented. Oppressiveness aside, the story seems quite deep: I think there are aspects which I have yet to discover.

Japanese steamed rice, green tea, and a grilled fish with the head still on, its unblinking eye staring. Right. At. You. What a lovely china plate.