chiaroscuro

If one has never seen color, would one miss it when it is gone?

In this game, I witnessed a person who "forgot" color remember, then regain their "color". The main character is an artist adrift in Rome, trying to pull herself from the quagmire that is her life. She meets two mysterious creatures--a light owlbeast and a dark owlbeast. Her interactions with them and her surroundings determine the course her life will take. I found the plot to be novel but still familiar, and the writing was a joy to read. I especially loved all the bits of Italian culture, such as the masks and the lovely locations.

==Spoilers==

This game revolves around color. The owls are stark contrasts, and the protagonist can regain her color. I was reminded of how people sometime describe depression as a fog, a dark mire of greyness and dullness. The main character can indeed sink into the abyss of greyness or ascend into the blinding light (none of which are truly good) depending on choices she makes--whether to feed one or the other owl, or both. I interpreted the dark owl as gloom, depression, and cool darkness, and the light owl as dazzle, mania and searing light, and the two endings that one can get by feeding solely one or the other correspond to this.

I was glad, however, that an ending existed where the colors (metaphorically and literally) come back into the character's life. I love it when someone gets knocked down, but finds the strength to come back up, and she deserves it.