My project plays with the ideas of memory and loss through a simple 2D side scroller. The player progresses through various stages of memories, each which comes equipped with deadly obstacles that must be navigated past representing each memory. For instance in one memory of love the obstacles are hearts, whereas another memory of music has musical notes that must be snuck past.
As each level is passed the protagonist is taken to a portal that teleports him into another memory, all together totaling five and telling a complete story. The story is ultimately about a young man, falling in love with a young woman, her death, and his attempt to overcome the grief. The player has the option to attempt to use flowers that grow up over the landscape to eliminate the memories and the obstacles along with them as a way of easing past each level. However, this ultimately triggers the “bad” ending. Only by working past each memory, rather than hiding from them or trying to destroy them can the player find the good ending.
The art style is a simple pixel style, meant to be light and simple. The colors start off dreary in the “real” world, then transition to vibrant and happy in the initial happy memories, before getting darker and darker as the memories reach nearer to the tragedy. Ultimately if the happy ending is achieved the colors and tone return to happiness and light, whereas if the bad ending is reached, the darkness overtakes the player. This art style is supposed to tie together the childlike nature of the game and the player with the darker themes and hard challenges present within.
