Actual Sunlight (2013)

I quit this one. I'm sure there are many who loved it, though for me it was 'The Clinical Depression Simulator'. I'd hesitate to really call this a game in the traditional sense, I felt it was more of interactive novel. By interactive, I mean move, then press X. Read. Repeat. I hope it was cathartic for the developer, I just wasn't in to it.

Pros:
+ Thought-provoking short story
+ Ridiculously easy trophies
+ Didn't have to pay for it

Cons:
- Takes roughly an hour to finish
- The entire story is only a single path; choices are forced
- Awful sound effect used for text as it's scrolling
- It was October 2016's free PS+ Vita game
- Couldn't make the fat fucker jump off the roof from the start

Final Thoughts:
I thought the story was interesting but was disappointed in the complete lack of narrative choices. I know that it's not TRYING to be a game/visual novel and instead present itself as "art" or whatever but I would've regret the purchase, had I actually bought it. I would've enjoyed if it had it had multiple endings or consequences to choices you make. Also, I thought the somewhat childish use of profanity (which I'm normally all about) felt out of place. Actual Sunlight isn't for everybody but I can see how someone would or could relate to its lesson in self-loathing and the message it's trying to convey. Personally, I just thought the asshole was way too whiny.

You are paying for a pretty depressing look into what it's like to be depressed. I would only wish for more alternate endings... although the spiralling out of control thing is evident and wholly possible, would probably be more interactive to make available more viable and positive actions & reactions. From a "been there, done that" perspective... this game made me want to go out and do stuff (yes, encountering doors you have already nailed shut does that to you). Yet different people will have different coping mechanisms.

In comparison with the "Depression Game" - I think I found the latter more engaging. But only probably because the inner voice was less caustic.

Recommend? I am prettty much on the fence. But will put it as a tentative yes... but only if the subject matter interested you in a wholly objective way... I was just interested to see how this game would fare against The Depression Game.

Less a game than a short story told through the medium of JRPG tropes, Actual Sunlight is what would happen if Chuck Palahniuk were tasked with writing Dilbert, an inner-monologue-laden march through the day-to-day existence of an obese corporate cog struggling to validate a life with rapidly depleting potential for change or improvement. Although there's plenty of bitter, self-deprecatory humor throughout it, the rich vein of sincerity running beneath it all is definitely its defining trait.

In the end this is a story about the traps we lay for ourselves throughout our life, written to make people recognize what they're doing before it's too late. It's just the right length, and makes very good use of the limited medium to manage the bitter, flabby mood. Definitely not a game for everyone, but a solid project that I'd like to see reach a final release.