we mature as a reflection of what we consume. as the age passes we will grow to experience new, wonderful, heartbreaking and painful things, all in an attempt to evolve as adaptable human beings. we have gone through traumas, and we live through the consequences of pasts unspoken — different lands that we do not recognize, but understand as if it were our home. we are always the present, working off of the past, trying to predict the future. we're foolish and pretentious, and i believe that there is a beauty in that aspect. that we are imperfect and self-indulgent. set yourself on fire is that beauty encapsulated into a game.
the story follows two girls in a quiet and dead town. michelle, our primary protagonist, is a high school student that suffers with depression, loneliness and family problems. her mother passed at a young age and her father was drafted to the war currently taking place in the world. always taught to be fierce, she always stood her ground and made sure to carry the weapon her father gave her. alex, the secondary protagonist, is a reserved girl that lives in a dull and empty world. her mother a monster of inconceivable garbage and her vision is always twisted by illusions she insists in partaking. a curious reader, she is what compels the story to move forward.
the author, withaknife/denhop, takes inspiration from classics of writing history such as kafka, poe and shakespeare and cooks all of them deliciously while utilizing a hint of their own sincerity into the dialogues and narrations of the scenes. since it is a video game, there are scenes masterfully crafted to convey the emotion of the scene at hand. soundtracks and motions accompany each character carefully, like a ballerina walking atop the useless little stars of the sky. it is always a pleasure to experience a new scene, and the chapters are written in such a way that leaves you hooked, yearning for more, the same way the girls do.
i believe that the story is pretentious. in a good way, even. it takes upon itself the toll of a thousand artworks, employing narrative tropes that would scare away the typical reader. during a dream sequence, michelle has a nightmare. intrusive thoughts lead her to slowly kill alex. first by incapacitating her, and then by taking the shovel from her hand and burying it inside of her skull. it is unnerving and you are taken step-by-step through it, as if you were to feel the pain, the desperation and the anguish of michelle through each passing moment. you are always given a feeling of unease, and it is that feeling that makes the moments of warmth in the story ever more rewarding.
there are no words that i could utilize to describe this game. well, you have heard many of them. but there are no words that describe the passion that this game transpires. there is a constant existentialism at play — the meaning of dreams, the dread of daily life, the silence of the night, divinity and love. in a way, this is nothing less than a psychology exercise. a love letter to all that is divine and sacred and that exists within the self. the girls encapsulate different hemispheres of the human brain. together, they make a whole. their own reality requires a mutual existence. they are bound by and to each other in an unhealthy way, bordering psychotic. but it is that inconceivability that makes their love so powerful. the dread they each go through, their discomfort in every little step of the way, the insertion of oneself amidst their ashes. they are incapable of saving each other and yet will cross seas, life and death just to be able to read together, to breathe the same air and feel their forms touching once more. they are love. they are passion. and that is what i can't describe. because there is a billion worlds between what is felt and what is read.
michelle has an interesting character trait: she likes setting things on fire. watching them burn. in a way, they lose their soul. what remained of the object is no longer there. dead. it is nothing. and it is free. over the course of the story, her notion on this persists. persists and persists until it changes. and all of her perceptions on life are in doubt. suddenly, she is not lonely. suddenly, she is no longer not real. she is her. together with alex. and together they will be all. they will remember each other and they will let night fall. and i think this is what the end of the story is about. and what the title refers to. we need to let ourselves exist as we are. set ourselves on fire and let our souls come to rest. it is not death, but a new beginning. in stillness there is a movement of the soul. and it is there that we must seek ourselves to be.
in the end, you're not meant to relate to the characters' unhealthy mannerisms, you're meant to understand what they are together. curious and codependent, they will never leave each other's side. i believe that this is, once again, a love letter to art. art as in the reflection of the artist within a medium. it is precious. and the prententiousness and the realness of this piece will almost certainly bring you something new. i once again lack words as to how to convey what this game was to me. so i encourage you to experience it for yourself. it is not a game for everyone, but it is certainly a game for you. it is a story for you. maybe for all of us. thank you denhop for changing my life. thank you for reading