I tried submitting a review, but got no reply nor does it appear visible, so I'll be posting it here, don't know if there's an issue with the system right now:
An Archetypal Adventure
Zydin
03/05/2016 10:52 AM
3 views
Wonderful experience! How well thought out! It really captures the player's imagination.
It's not really a game but more an experience to enjoy.
It is so rich in unconscious motifs and symbolism that I would dare call it an
archetypal adventure - did the author choose the symbolism consciously or was it the unconscious that brought it to the fore while producing it?
A summary of my impressions about the symbolism would be:
- The house is the "temple", that is, the symbol for the whole structure that supports the psyche. Not exactly the brain, but the software interconnections that serve as an "Operating System". The house is old, large and is filled with artificiality. It is also fragile to the decomposing fire of the actual soul, being only a fantasy construction and not the actual natural "temple". It is ruled by the falsehood the abandoned ego was forced to build around in order to make sense of life, given the absence of the self, cut off somewhere beyond the prison walls.
- The child is not only the archetype of the same name itself, but also the embodiment of the current state of the ego function: abandoned, confused and always searching for what was lost (even if unaware of what exactly it is looking for).
- There is only one natural plant in the whole house, all the others are described as decorative foliages, indicating that they are probably not real but plastic plants or mere un-living decorations. The act of watering it, is the equivalent to feeding that spark of hope for a return to the natural living temple. As the plant grows with the water, it eventually punctures through the house, through the falsehood prison that is, and finds an escape.
- The white bird (birdie) is the pure messenger of the self, who tries to reach the child and convince her of the path to freedom. From the computer, the messenger of the "false" tries to convince her to kill off her sole chance of escaping, her only way out, which would lead her to remain forever within the boundaries of the strange false predicament in the house.
- In the end, the child, instead of killing the bird, kills herself, therefore becoming the bird, which was her true nature after all: as the death of the centre of falsehood brought about the reunification between ego and self, or, as Jung would put it, individuation. Death, as an unconscious symbol, means dissolution of the smaller into the larger. In this case of that particular small false character into the larger true one.
This is of course, my own personal interpretation and experience, but I think it sprouts from a conscious or unconscious intent of the creator of The Mirror Lied, I dare say.
Actually, that is what true
ART is, the one that "forces" the audience to look at themselves in the mirror, by reflecting on ambiguity.
It is a pity that modern art deviated so much from this principle, there should be more art like this piece here.
It may not be EXACTLY a game, but it certainly is a
work of art.
Excellent work!
4.5 stars out 5