The Space in Between

[i]The Space in Between[/i] shares the tale of two individuals coming together and finding love and understanding through their experiences & pain. [h3]The Story[/h3] A visual novel that is powerful, honest, raw and beautiful. A short tale told through both the male & female perspectives on how it feels to struggle with identity and the coming together of both sides in a loving, supportive way. You take on the role of June, a Chinese-American college student who finds herself sharing a class with a thoughtful, quiet man named Miles. The two find themselves sharing a lot of similar interests and eventually start dating. June is more outgoing, free to speak her mind and be openly expressive while Miles is withdrawn, quiet and reserved. June’s story explores her strained relationship with her mother and the lack of communication between them. Also June’s experience with Western culture. The beauty standards, the expectations and the discrimination. Miles loving and patiently listens to her pain and supports her with love and comfort. Miles on the other hand highlights his own struggles with depression and isolation. Wanting to be seen but at the same time turning away from everyone to cope. By sharing their pain with each other it brings them together through love and understanding. [h3]Game-play & Features[/h3] This game is more of a visual novel than a game. You do make some choices but nothing that will impact the overall outcome of the story. Which is just fine, it is about experiencing the story and not so much influencing it. It is suggested to play through twice to experience more of the story by selecting the other dialogue options not chosen in the first play though. As this novel does not have a rewind feature and is meant to be played in a single sit through. At one point you go star-gazing with Miles. He describes in the story how when he was younger he found the usual constellations boring so he’d make up his own. There is a mini game in the story you play while star-gazing where you map out unique constellations and as you uncover them you unlock more. This is where the bulk of the story takes shape, the memories revealed as you complete each constellation. Very well done and a great way to shape the story using a mini-game that the player participates in. [h3]Artwork[/h3] The artwork in this game is gorgeous. I wish there was a gallery or at least a way to turn off the text to take screen captures. I usually do not show screen captures in my reviews that reveal text, as to not spoil anything. But in this case I did include a few I loved and broke my rule. I hope in the future they add a gallery or allow us to turn off the hud. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3233091120 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3233091018 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3233090862 [h3]Overall Experience[/h3] This game or rather story really resonated with me. My best friend growing up was born in Canada but her parents are from China. I saw first hand the struggles she had with discrimination, depression, anxiety and frustrations to try to relate to her mother about the differences in growing up in a Western culture. I can relate to Miles more personally in a very direct way. Feeling depressed, isolated and withdrawn. The struggle of trying to figure out who you are and knowing what you want but not knowing how to get there. You will find themes that are common across all cultures. Fears and feelings we all share, even if it is told mainly through June’s experiences. What I truly loved about this story is the interaction between June and Miles. How much they support each other, respect, and love one another and the freedom to be weak and vulnerable with each other. Just really great writing of the dynamic between the two. A very deep, well written story that is somehow packed into a short visual novel. I hope this team of devs do more in the future. There is a lot of talent displayed here and I would love to see more stories from them down the road. ✨ [quote]Please follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4680120/]Otome Lovers[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one! [/quote]

Почну з простого, опис на сторінці гри дуже сильно перебільшує. Цілком ймовірно, ця гра була терапевтичною для авторів, можливо комусь все ж актуальна, але вся суть тут в "в мене китайське коріння і ще я ненавиджу свою матір, дякую що вислухав", тільки це повторюється і повторюється, і повторюється, бо майже все нагадує героїні або про Китай (і матір), або про матір (і Китай). Тримайте краще пісню, яка про расизм розповідає більше і змістовніше, ніж десять таких ігор. [quote]Princeton: Brian, buddy, where you been? The term is Asian American! Christmas Eve: I know you are no Intending to be But calling me Oriental - Offensive to me! Avenue Q - Everyone's a Little Bit Racist[/quote] Можливо я не в темі, хоча в мене є знайомі американці азійського походження [strike]і я з власного досвіду знаю, як то - давати комусь скуштувати кімчі в 90х[/strike], але вся історія схожа навіть не на сеанс терапії, а просто на розрізнені спогади, де героїня жаліється на своє життя. Коротше можливо ця гра комусь цінна як чужий досвід, але більше там нема за що зачепитися, та й суто технічно дуже сира.

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[quote=][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37575318-%25F0%259D%2592%25B8%25F0%259D%2593%258A%25F0%259D%2593%2589%25F0%259D%2591%2592-%25F0%259D%2592%25B6%25F0%259D%2593%2583%25F0%259D%2592%25B9-%25F0%259D%2592%25B8%25F0%259D%2593%258A%25F0%259D/] ♡ 𝓅𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝒸𝓊𝓉𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝒶𝓉𝑜𝓇 𝓅𝒶𝑔𝑒 ♡ [/url][/quote] [b]This is nothing short of ethereal and utterly beautiful. I could write a novel regarding how I feel but I don't feel that it would be enough. These are the moments among this lovely illustration that made me feel at home. ♡ [/b] "I want to go where no one knows my name, where I don't have to think about the person I'm supposed to be." "Suddenly, you understand why heartbreak and sorrow must happen: to have this joy shine so brightly." "That date changed what I had thought previously about love and relationships. I never thought that I'd find someone who got me instantly. Whenever I was with anyone else, I always felt like I was forcing them to validate me" https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2661271690 -Miles: "I don't think the bear will be easily seduced. -June: "What? You're saying I'm not pretty enough for the bear? You're telling me, your own girlfriend, that she's uglier than a bear?" -Miles: "I tell you you're pretty all the time." -June: "You want to break up with me, but you don't know how to break the news, so you're going to let me die instead." "I'm never going to pretend like I know what you've been through, but you've had a rough couple of years. The fact that you still have the capacity to empathize with people, to give people your all, it's a testament that you're a good person." -Miles: "You have nothing to seriously be disappointed in yourself for." -June: "Oh, trust me. There's some deep-rooted regret withing myself." "The stars hold all of our secrets." -June: "The amount of times I've shared my secrets because it was late at night and I was in my feels is embarrassing. Then, the next morning I'm like, "Ah, mistakes were made." There was this one time I liked this guy, and we were messaging late at night. I just started sharing my entire life story 'cause I was like, "He's going to get all of my life trauma and fall in love with me. But then he ended up ghosting me." -Miles: "You share your life story at all times of the day." -June: "Yeah, but I think because I was exhausted, I convinced myself that we were soulmates, that he was destined to like me." -Miles: "Hey, June?" -Miles: "I really hope you know how amazing, resilient, and special you are. No matter what my current situation is, I hope you know you can always talk to me." -June: "I'll always be there for you." -Miles: "You're my person." -June: "I used to dream about what being in a relationship was like. I had all these fantasies about guys throwing rocks at my window and making me playlists to fall asleep to. But what has happened between us is even greater than anything I could've imagined." -Miles: "No matter what's happened in my life, having you here has made it all worth it. You are the brightest person in any room." https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2661271309 -Miles: " I love you." -Junes: "I love you, too." -Miles: "Not just that, I love how you are unapologetically yourself no matter what. I love how you dance when no music is playing. I love how you get excited over the smallest things like seeing your favorite food at the grocery store. I love that you have the worst luck when it comes to dating but you still took a chance on me. I love the way you say yes to all of my weird ideas. I love that you get more beautiful and determined each day I know you. I love that I get to witness your growth." "I don't think so. That part of you, the one that gets excited over everything, is the reason I wanted you to be my girlfriend. You're the one who constantly tells me to appreciate the beauty of the universe. "You need to stop being so cute or I'm going to start appreciate the beauty of the universe again." "I could be the best version of myself starting from now, and I still don't know if that's enough. For that to happen, I need to advocate for myself the way you do." "If we could put a barrier to be like, "I'm only allowed to be this disappointed in myself," then that would be great." "The fragility of human life is terrifying" https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2661271813 "I didn't want to just see you. I wanted to see you as you are." "I don't know if you remember, but we were taking turns making assumptions about each other, and you were like, "a lot of people may not notice it, but you're actually quite thoughtful." I didn't think that anyone noticed the effort that I put in." "When I met you and you kept talking to me even though I was pretty awkward, I felt like I finally had someone." "I kinda had this thing -- It's called a crush on you." -Miles: "Well, you came into my life right when I needed it the most." -June: "It's funny you say that because I felt like meeting you was the universe's way of being like "Here's something your way for the ♥♥♥♥ we've put you through." June: "I've dated so many guys that I had things in common with, but we never wanted the same things. When you told me you told me you were looking for a committed relationship, that's the first time I felt like I could really be with someone." Miles: "I loved that we could talk about our feelings openly." June: "There's so many rules about dating that says you can't do that. You have to wait this amount of time before you text back, you can't seem like you care more." Miles: "I'm the type of person who needs confirmation that someone likes me or else I think I'm making it up in my head." June: "I've always thought I was doomed, and there was nothing I could do about it. Things like romance, being desired, being listened to, I didn't think those were for me."

the whole premise of this game centers around the struggles of trying to fit into a society from the perspective of June who is an asian american having a rough patch with her mother and finding her identity as a 'black sheep' in the community she lives in while Miles struggles with being an outcast due to depression and accepting himself as he truly is. [list] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953327351 [/list] [list] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953324897 [/list] the constellations is a mini-game which uncovers the backstory of how they're trying to cope and their past memories entangled with sweet moments between the two. you will need at least 2 playthroughs to discover all the constellations since there are some that are choice-driven so you won't see the other unless you start a new game (: [list] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953320121 [/list] [list] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953320362 [/list] • JUNE'S POV FROM MY POV: for context, i'm not an asian american but the way the game developers describe the 'asian' living is very typical as an asian which does bring up a few conflicted moments i've had myself. i empathize with those who had to go through these moments and i am glad that there is a game representation to showcase that asians don't have it easy when it comes to living abroad. being made fun of as 'maths robots' who brings 'stinky food' for lunch; those are not just the hurdles one has to go through... even internally, family relations are such a heartache to either let go or fully accept that you're their source of blowing the steam. [list] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953320962 [/list] [list] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953321501 [/list] • MILES POV FROM MY POV: unfortunately, in my opinion, the game lacks here. i mean i get it, the main premise is focused on June as an asian american so developing her love interest to match her struggles is a bit underwhelming. but the emotions are raw as being someone who was struggling to fit into high school (now i just do whatever i want because YOLO), being outcasted by your peers does make you struggle with your identity. it is sweet that he could finally accept himself as someone worthy when he met June... though isn't this how all lovers feel? [list] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953322667 [/list] [list] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953325859 [/list] to conclude, the title is spot on to describe 'the spaces in between' themselves and how it was closed by finding each other (: [list] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953319357 [/list] [list] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953325131 [/list]

Too relatable, too soon, and too eerily like exact things I have said to someone before. Beautiful, but I wouldn't recommend if you still have heartbreak wounds...really really bad ones.

Peki ya kendi takımyıldızlarınızı yaratabilseydiniz? Asyalı Amerikalı kimliği, akıl sağlığı ve yıldızlara bakış hakkında bir aşk hikayesi. Saçma ama gerçek.

[i]Many stories written in the stars that all come together and find that of a happy love...[/i] Visually speaking, this game's truly a work of art, with the scenes and artwork display being nothing short of spectacular. The story's quite interesting as well, two college students both heavily affected from their own issues; the difficult aftermath of depression and an Asian-American identity crisis with family troubles in tow. Its not hard to see how these two are attracted to one another, not just with their personal troubles, but also with a shared love of memes/obscure video games. Yes, this game's both emotionally touching and adorably charming ^^ The story kicks off right away and the dialogue is actually quite choice-driven! Same goes with some of the constellations you later uncover. While I don't like that you can't save (at least not that I know of, correct me if I'm wrong), the game only requires a few hours to complete at most, and it definitely takes you along for the story-filled ride, with quite a few tales for you to read at that. If you like lovely stories with emotional baggage and starry nights, then definitely give this one a visit!

The Space in Between (I think they meant "inbetween", English is hard I guess) is a badly written e-book/Choose Your Own Adventure with an incredibly dull, lacklustre "I'm an Asian-American and that's difficult" theme. It's about as exciting as watching dry beige paint dry, or watching dead grass grow. The badly written text (if they could write properly, this would be published in bookstores and on bookshelves everywhere, and not self-published on Steam as a "free" "game" that nobody downloaded anyway) is accompanied by kind of okay but not professional, "second year of art school, just got a Wacom tablet" style painted art. Visual novels/e-books are tedious at best... imagine the best novel you ever read, be that Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy or 2001: A Space Odyssey or Twilight (if you have terrible taste in literature), but then translate that to a format where the words dribble out and you have to click your mouse every time you wanted to read the next sentence, instead of just turning the pages. You'd think it was garbage. Now imagine that experience, but with much worse writing, and you have your average Steam e-book. You can get better quality books and comics for free online or from public libraries, or from bookstores for a fraction of the price of this "game". Steam isn't a comic book store, neither is it Netflix, it's for games. Your gaming rig is not a Kindle. It's impossible for me to recommend things to PC gamers that aren't really games.