Arches

read this in like. a day while bored recovering from top surgery- i feel all the emeowtions and the story just felt so raw and relatable annd i see a lot of myself in cameron (even tho i dont deal with psychosis or hallucinations i do dissociate and struggle with my perception of reality)

i want him and devon to be happy together forever- same with artie and maria

A master piece, i just finished it and I'm actually in awe 

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Brian, as much as i hate him, is a masterly crafted character and is the only character to ever make me feel pure hatred, fear, and sadness on a level i didn't think possible for a fictional character. That fake/alternate moment where Cameron's head was shot point blank by the shotgun and gruesomely described pulled me out of the world i was living in for a moment and i actually felt shocked like I watched a real person die in that traumatic way. Even when i reminded myself that it isn't real, the pure terror i felt is like nothing any other game has ever given me. I could talk for hours about this but ill just say: I don't think any piece of media can top the immersion and horror that i felt in that scene, and quite frankly, the novel as a whole.

is there a thumbnail for the game? every time i put it on my desktop its an anime character with a snake lol

! Spoilers ! ! Spoilers !

Just finished it, and man. Not even sure what to say. The fear and horror in this VN was really cranked up to eleven with this one. Echo made me a little disturbed, but Arches had me full on scared for Cam and Dev, Brian is such a good antagonistic force. Not to mention the high quality SFX of every punch, kick, slam, spurt of blood and breaking of bone only added to the fear and despair with an added squeamish factor. Speaking of despair, despite the fact that everyone makes it out alive, they're certainly not okay. Cam still sees and hears things, sometimes with the voice of the man who caused him so much pain both physically and mentally, the drugs given to him to help alleviate this issue barely work and sometimes cause him even more pain and has guilt over what happened to Artie. Devon is going to copious amounts of stress with trying to keep Cam together, and can't even take out the anger of the monster responsible for it, and Artie now suffers from a stutter and the fact the right side of his body is compromised. Regardless, Cam and Dev do adjust to a new normal despite their trauma together, and Artie has Maria. Despite all the awful things Cam and Dev went through their honestly the healthiest relationship to ever to touch Echo, and watching them reassure each other in dark moments is always so heartwarming to see. They might be both fucked up, maybe for life, but at least they'll be fucked up together. 110/10.

ALSO BRIAN IS DEAD #RIPBOZO YOU WILL NOT BE MISSED #PACKWATCH

So is this VN complete? 

A bit confused due to one of the dev logs mentioning a 1.0 version (or did that mean the 0.8.1?)

Il y a pas de version française ?

((SPOILER)) ((also need help answering a question))

this Vn is AMAZING!!! I love it and how it made me care about the characters, it made me SUFFOCATE ON HOW SCARY THEY WERE FACING!!! I haven't read echo the vn but if this is like this but 10x more soul crushing, oh nah that will leave me more of a sobbing mess but I'm happy for the ending they achieve even tho it's a little bittersweet.

Although I do have some questions like I'm genuinely confused.

I don't understand the part where Devon is wearing a white hoodie imagining Cameron?? Like is he dead? I don't understand that part of the story so if someone has an answer for it, please tell me.

Overall I love the story, 10/10 almost cried!!

This made me shiver in fear, and cry with emotion. I am not your average Goodreads keysmasher; I do not cry for nothing. No, it takes beautiful writing, and wonderful music, and gorgeous art, and this VN had all of that in spades. You can clearly see the effort that went into it, and more importantly, the love.

wow... that was something. Usually i like to think about vns as some sort of escapism but this time things got really personal. I relate to cameron on a deep level, it's actually funny how we have so much in common, from his experiences to his feelings but things got real at the end.

 I was expecting this to be just like echo with the horror setting and mystery, that cameron would realize how "special" he was and with the help of his new found powers and his awesome boyfriend would uncover the secrets of echo and "free" the town for good, but real life doesn't work like that right? 

It was a punch in the gut, a wake up call that i needed but didn't want. I don't mean to be a killjoy or anything but this time it feels right to share what i feel. For most part of my life i've struggled with major depression and lack of sense of self as a result of trauma and reasons i preffer to keep undisclosed, the way cameron described how he felt was just like seeing a recount of myself, it felt human and that goes to show how much tought was put to write this vn, how the soul of the creators can be felt and that's what hurts the most. Something else that i found interesting is how cam takes some of the same pills as me so they made their investigation about the medication, in fact it reminded me in my stupor that i had to take my pills, i was so shaken that i dropped my mothers favorite glass to which she just said "don't worry about it, what's broken is broken but what matters to me it's that you're fine" and i swear to god i was about to cry.

What i'm trying to say with the mess of this comment is that i'm grateful for this vn, it didn't "save" me, it didn't solve my problems, it didn't "fix" me but it gave me hope, a bittersweet hope and that's enough for me to feel grateful, i wish to see what's next for the future, for my future and the continued future of Echoproject, it was a pleasure reading. 

btw, sorry if there's gramatical errors, english is not my first language 

for me i absolutely love this game just like Echo and Smoke room the games that come from this project like Adastra as an example are amazing it shows me things i didn't know about myself or other things like that but the way its written shows just how amazing it is thank you 

also i am missing three things from the gallery in the beginning if anyone knows why or where i can find them i would greatly appreciate it

Does this game takes place after the event of echo or in the middle of it? overall the game is so good that It kept me all night just to finish it 🥹 can't wait for the next game you guys would release about the echo

Honestly it's p probably cus of me not finishings the other endings on echo, but of what I remember didn't the bear and the weasel die?, I thought it was and an alternate universe, but then again the otter drown thing still happened that mean the previous cast on echo could still be alive

Okay... I don't know what to say. I beat the game... I experienced the game practically a few hours after the update. And I wanted to write my opinion, thoughts on what I played right after I finished the game. But all this time I was unable to express my thoughts in words. What I'm going to write now will be long and I'm sure most people won't read it. But I feel I have to say something, and I'm grateful to anyone who reads this. There will be spoilers here, so if you haven't played this game, do so first.

Incredible. This word best describes what I experienced playing Arches. I am usually a critical person when I evaluate various creations of popular culture. I've seen a lot of visual novels and other creations in this fandom, but also in other fandoms. Many of these creations were of very poor quality. I am often disappointed when modern culture tries to show very schematic plots in a very unoriginal way. It's obvious that many plots will be schematic because there are many works around the world, but even a schematic thing can be shown well. And I like many traditional forms, like the fight between good and evil, etc. but any traditional form can be retold in a new way. Also, many modern works of culture try to move people's emotions by causing shock through drasticness, jumpscares and through sweetly sad plots. These works, instead of causing a stir of emotions in me, often cause laughter or embarrassment. In many works, the characters appear artificial and devoid of depth. Many works understand in a very simple and distorted way the problems of the modern world and people. Often looking from a very flawed perspective. Some works try to be artificially moralizing. And I am somewhat of a moralist, but I believe that the moral in history must be shown well. It can't be shown right in the viewer's face screaming: THIS IS GOOD, THIS IS BAD, YOU MUST BELIEVE IT OR YOU ARE BAD. A good work must present its moral and thought in a subtle way to make the viewer think.

Arches does not make a single mistake of modern works of culture. I really haven't experienced something as good as this game in a long time. In a way, I regained hope in modern works of culture. But now to the point.

Arches shows a very genuine and very realistic love relationship between two people. This is not a relationship based on sex. This is also not a relationship based on childish emotional ecstasy. It's not a perfect relationship either. This is a truly living relationship transferred from real life. Not everything goes well in this relationship. Not everything goes perfectly. There are many things that go against being perfect. And paradoxically, thanks to the fact that this relationship is not perfect, it makes this relationship perfect. Problems often arise in relationships with other people. Cameron's trauma and mental issues are a challenge in this relationship here. It is a challenge for him and for Devon, who does everything to support his partner. In life, we often struggle with our own problems, but in a real and honest relationship, we struggle with problems together with someone we love. The purpose of a relationship is not always to be fulfilled for yourself. The purpose of a relationship is to help each other to make each other better and to try to become better ourselves. Devon and Cameron share a strong love for each other and we can feel it. We can cheer them on to solve their problems and to survive in a difficult situation. We can be happy when they are finally together and overcome the problems in their relationship. We can be sad when they argue, but feel relieved when despite the arguments, their love turns out to be stronger. I personally observe many gay couples in real life who don't do well in relationships and quickly break up. I personally experienced such situations. Every couple, straight and gay, should see this game. Especially a couple who have some problems.

The game very realistically shows what trauma is. The end of the game shows it best. We can look into the minds of the characters very thoroughly, even though the narrator is in the third person. For me, it's easier to identify with a character when the narrative is in the first person. That was something I really liked about Echo. It's easier to show the character's thoughts in this way and it's easier to identify with him. The narrative here is third person. However, this is very good, because we have not one but two main characters here. This helps us see what's going on in the bigger picture. It's also done in such a way that we can empathize with each character very well. We can really feel the perspective of Cameron, Devon and even Arturo. Each of them experiences the events of the echo differently. Of course, Cameron's perspective seems to be the clearest here, but others have not been left out.

In the face of the modern wave of mental problems in the world, this game corresponds well with our times. Showing love in the context of the fight for the mental health of your partner (and the fight for your health), which is so strong that it can even endure sacrifices such as the lack of fulfillment of sexual needs. But back to the issue of trauma and struggling with trauma, this game shows hope. There is always hope, even when you feel like there is none. You have to fight for your health. Sometimes you can be too weak. Then a close person and trust in them can be helpful. It's good to have someone like that.

The game also touches on philosophical struggles. At first, the main character seems to be an atheist and a bit of a nihilist as well. At the end, however, there is hope for life after death. We don't know what awaits us when we die and whether the reality after death is good or not. But we can still hope, and I think hope is important here. Hope can break nihilism and give our lives meaning. I myself hope that there is a heaven and I will be happy there. And that everything will be better there than it is in this world. Hopes for heaven and something after death is also a reflection of our hope each day for a better tomorrow. I like that the game doesn't romanticize suffering, but shows suffering as it really is. From the side of thought, from the side of psychology and also philosophy. In suffering, the most important thing is hope, and hope can really save us. However, the game does not impose philosophical views on whether or not to believe in life after death. The question remains open. It's a good decision in my opinion. This does not impose views on anyone what other works of culture are trying to do. At the same time, this does not make the message subjective. This makes the message objective and adequate to everyone.

The game shows well some people's problems with their own identity. When a lot of terrible things are going on in your head, sometimes you lose yourself. You lose a piece of who you used to be. You often behave differently than you want. You often do things you regret. You ask yourself who you really are in the face of doing things that contradict yourself. It is necessary to always remember that if a part of you is broken and you have trouble putting yourself back together, it is always possible to fix it with help.

The last thing is the brilliant psychological horror. This game rarely scares you with monsters outside of you, but attacks you with monsters inside your mind. The atmosphere and tension are very well built. The action starts slowly at first. Then faster and faster. At one point, the action keeps a fast pace and keeps you in suspense, they release that tension from time to time. It's a good thing the game isn't too long, because that could spoil the tension. This can be done by other people and what can happen in the head of a person after difficult experiences is a greater horror than a monster walking in the forest. I think Echo combined these two aspects in a good way. Here the monsters have definitely gone aside. This is completely opposite to the smoke room where monsters are the main bogey in the smoke room. I feel like there are also some direct references to us, the players. One of the monsters looking at the scene where brian strangles cameron seems to me to be us gamers watching the tragedy happen like a spectacle. I will never forget the moment when cameron is staring at us centrally. Such moments additionally involve the players in the events that are happening. It's not a direct fourth wall break, but it's done in a very subliminal and clever way.

To sum up, it's been a long time since there was such a work that would engage me so completely. It involved my feeling, emotions, thinking and everything else. It's a really good visual novel that we can learn a lot from. I also hope that such works of some people raise their spirits and help or raise awareness about really important problems. Thank you very much for this game. It was worth waiting for.

I'm not ready I am really not-