Secrets In Green

Very inspiring, or very realistic, depending on the ending you get. Recommended to visual novel fans, just keep in mind that the game is very, very short and can be completed in an hour or so.

[i]Secrets In Green[/i] is a very short but equally engaging visual novel about a Victorian-era young lady, Alma, with a perceived history of mental problems, as seen from the highly patriarchal society of the time. Whether she [i]actually[/i] has a mental imbalance, or is merely a misunderstood, independent woman who does not willingly meekly submit to the whims of those who expect nothing more than a passive, subservient girl to be ordered around is one for your own conscience to conclude. Despite the brevity of the story (I finished in 80 minutes, with a little of that time idling), or perhaps due to it, the writing is sharp and succinct, ensuring that the reader is fully immersed from the opening caption right through to the end. Alma is sent to her uncle's cottage in the countryside to convalesce in a peaceful environment as a last-ditch attempt by her father to “cure” her of her “wild episodes.” With a love of nature and the cottage having a large garden, she slips easily into tending that and appears to be making progress, until she finds an attractively leaved plant at the rear border fence. Upon inspecting this, she finds a word written upon one of the leaves – a word…

Disclaimer: This review contains heavy spoilers for the game. Do not read if you want to keep the plot a surprise. Intro: I first played this short, yet spellbinding visual novel in its first Game Jam version back in October. This version is mostly the same, aside from occasional cosmetic changes. I wanted to wait until I finished this recent version to review it, so here I am! I think this gripping feminist thriller needs more love, and I’m going to write about why I loved it so much! So, now let’s get into my overall thoughts and conclude after that. Overall Thoughts: The setting of 1900s England is very convincing, with great attention given to the look, feel, and manner of speaking the characters express themselves in. And sadly, the way Alma is treated by everyone feels very realistic and shows how much misogyny existed in that time period, and still does now… The setup with her being sent to a cottage for “hysteria” feels historically accurate and exactly how others would use that against her. And her futile attempts to get others to believe the strange messages she sees on the leaves is sad and shows just how hard it is for women to be believed by men. The eventual revea…

the voice acting was incredible it added a lot of life into the characters which i think added to the suspense. I really enjoyed the aspect of me (the player) being able to make decisions that would determine how the game played out, it gave you the sense of you are in control of Alma and what you did had consequences. as i was playing i noticed the tension was built really well with the use of different sounds and the music fitting with what was happening. the game built suspense very well and made you really consider what choices you decide to make as you knew what was at stake. i really enjoyed playing this game and was hooked from beginning to end as i was invested into seeing how Alma's story played out, would highly recommend!