These stories were quite interesting to read, all of them. I almost didn’t read the entirety of the first link, Keeping Up Appearances , for I hadn’t scrolled my mouse over the page. I had thought it was just a short poem… I was wrong. Scrolling over the page with your mouse reveals pink text revealing an expansion of the text. Having more context to the poem/story really kept my interest, for the story reveals the naive nature of young women against older men. The second link, My Body , was also a great read. I always find it interesting to see other peoples views of growing up, especially body wise. How all these questions of ourselves are ones that other people have, and how we are not often alone in our thoughts. The way these stories were portrayed by a diagram of a female body was a nice touch as well. I’m not sure if I read all the stories in this one, but ones I did read were great, excellent writing! The third link, Paths of Memory Painting , was quite confusing for me. When I first opened it, I thought they were static poems, but they changed to another part of the story/poem either by clicking on the words yourself or automatically. I’m not sure I grasped entirely what was going on in the story/poem. But the one I did understand partly, was that her husband had passed in battle. To me, this was my least favorite of the three hypertext narratives, but I might just have to revisit it.
Depression Quest gave quite an interesting insight into depression. I found the story to be compelling and well written, so much so that I played it without stopping. I spent about an hour and a half playing through it. I’m more drawn to story games like these, so I found it enjoyable to complete. My first thought playing this was that it was going to be boring and long, but as I read through it, I cared more about my actions and choices throughout the game play. I have never been truly depressed, but there are times where I’ve felt low. I could understand a bit of the feelings the main character was feeling, and how they thought that people wouldn’t quite understand how they’re feeling. The display of the game was simplistic, but I felt as though it fit the game’s theme. The polaroid at the top of the text brought the vibe of the scenario allowing the reader to assume what they’re about to read. The choices in the game were interesting as well, for you got to see the options that no longer existed for you. Whether they were influenced by your previous choices or not, seeing what you couldn’t choose anymore brought through the experience of depression. At the bottom of the text, and sometimes choices, there were three gray boxes which contained moving noise(texture). These boxes showed your progress throughout the story and whether or not things were going well. Ultimately for me, I completed the game with the “good ending.” Although depression may stick around, it’s important to keep moving and use the techniques you’ve learned.
