NEGATIVE//EDGE

Aouch, really reminded me of core memories here. I played shmups though not fighting games.. Maybe that's worse. I really liked the presentation, the art as small vignettes made me think about how little we see about Saffron and her perspective in the end, how it's like seeing through a small window the life of someone you understand lives like you but at the same time don't. Leaving a few blank spaces for spoiler thoughts about the themes and the ending down below!!

Surely I extrapolate but I thought it was really interesting how in the end, the last vignette is about the .txt, like the only perception post-wipe saff has about herself and her life is through the absence of perception. I'm not sure how the memory wipe works, if she's a totally different person after or not, but it made me think about what memories mean to our sense of self and how we view ourselves.

Thank you for this! 

Wow. I was initially drawn to this because of the name, wondering how overt the fighting game references would be, but was blown away by the actual story here. It really reminds me of those types of sci-fi short stories you read as a kid/teen that just stay with you, in the back of your head, for the rest of your life.

I'm going to be turning it over in my head in a similar way as I regularly think back to The Veldt or The Jaunt.

Thinking about the name and meaning. How once you hold down the buttons for a negative edge move, you're *committed* to doing something, and that something is probably going to hurt you or your opponent. But the pressing of the button isn't what actually unleashes the attack. It's when you release the button that the attack finally goes off.

And tying that to the story and themes here is really chef's kiss. I wondered if you'd explicitly explain negative edge mechanics in the work, but I selfishly like the decision not to. The story mentions that Saffron uses fighting games for escapist purposes, which I think is enough to indicate "the name is intentional", even before we see the specific words that get colored differently. The lack of hand holding makes me feel like I'm doing A Literary Analysis, which is why I selfishly am glad you made that call.

Very eye-catching visuals! The piano throughout was nice as well. 

The sprites spinning onto the screen was cute, but felt a bit distracting and out of place from the tone of the story.

I really liked the scenario! I think it's an interesting take on the concept of non-con! 

Spoilers ahead:

I'm interpreting Saffron before and after the memory wipe as two different people for this take;

Sage being made to do all that was not exactly consensal, and having the twist at the end made it downright terrifying to imagine the fallout she would go through.

Saffron post-wipe feels like an omelas child for pre-wipe Saffron. And she /is/ pre-wipe saffron. and she isn't. Very fun to dwell on.

You posed some interesting questions about what one's "self" really is.

I loved the lines about convoluted half-truths.

the ending hit me like a truck holy shit dude, this vn is amazing