Actual Sunlight is a short interactive story about love, depression and the corporation. The game puts you in the role of Evan Winter, a young professional in Toronto, as he moves through three distinct periods of his life. The story is linear, unavoidable and (hopefully) thought-provoking. You experience his perceptions, fall under the consequences of his decisions, and meet everyone who didn't change him. Gameplay is minimal, and serves only to move from one part of the (admittedly) text-heavy story to the next. The game fiercely attempts to be worth it.
When most people play a game, they get a few hours of entertainment out of it. They save the princess, or shoot the bad guys, or level up their warrior. What I got out of Actual Sunlight wasn't entertainment, or a thrill ride. Instead, I found a reason to live.
This game is about the thoughts of a depressed and suicidal man. I've struggled with depression for years, and I've thought about taking my own life countless times. When I played this game, I saw a reflection of myself in the main character. In this game, I heard the main character say the same words I'd always said to myself - "There's no hope," "I'm worthless," "There's no reason to live."
As I played this game, I looked at the parallels between myself and the main character, and I also looked at the differences between us. I agreed with the main character - that he was a pathetic man who had no reason to live - and as I continued to examine him, I acknowledged that I am much better off than he is. There's more hope for me than there is for him. I'm not as worthless as he is. There's more of a reason for me to live than him.
By playing a game about someone who is much worse off in life than I am, I realized that I have no right to feel like taking my own life. I can't kill myself, not as long as I'm better off than the protagonist of this game. Playing this game made me stop considering suicide. Think about the gravity of that statement for a moment.
For most people, a video game offers them a few hours of entertainment. However, This video game didn't simply provide me with amusement. Instead, it saved my life. For that, I'll always be grateful towards this game, and it's creator.
Not very thought provoking. Is too short, and takes itself too seriously. The art is nice, though. And by that I mean the art that isn't just default (or legally borrowed) RPG Maker art.
It's alright, but it seems the developer didn't really know how to use the engine well, as there are a lot of mapping and eventing issues.
This is short, but intense and important. It really got me down, but I don't regret feeling sad because this is how some people are and all that they have to deal with, it would have been worse to play it and not feel nothing at all, or to know that it might make me feel bad and so instead bury my head in the sand and not play it all to try and hide from it
The description says that this game tries hard to be worth it.
Well, it's worth it!
A few notes: If you come into this expecting puzzles, action, or other basic game mechanics, you'll be disappointed. If you don't like reading long blocks of text, this game isn't for you. If, however, you're someone who enjoys a compelling, profound and well-written short story, then you should really experience what Actual Sunlight has to offer.
Minor gripes: Would appreciate a quick "Skip text" button, for those times when I accidentally clicked on the same thing twice.
Good luck to the developer, and thank you for this work!
Much love for Will, can't wait to play this game :D