The Lies We Tell Ourselves - Demo
A downloadable game for Windows
Step into the shoes of Vincent Arno, a young man who has consciously embraced a life of comfort and convenience. Shielded by the sanctuary of his parents' home, Vincent drifts through each day, unburdened by responsibilities or aspirations.
Yet, beneath a surface of self-proclaimed goodness, Vincent's indifference to his own stagnant existence begins to crumble when a mysterious presence starts questioning his true nature.
Embark on a thought-provoking adventure as you discover the intricate layers of Vincent's adult personality, as the result of choices he, or someone for him, made in the past.
Guide him through a web of false beliefs and hidden truths, on a introspective odyssey where perception of self, reality and morality dance on a castle of lies.
KEY FEATURES:
- A carefully crafted blend of storytelling, puzzle solving, action sequences, stealth sections and even boss fights.
- A weird, rich story arc, with enough subtlety to let players build their own interpretation and meaning: everything is there for a reason, although the reason might not be immediately clear.
- Gameplay serving the story, not the other way around.
- Mature and disturbing themes, but handled with respect and taste, rather than just for shock value.
- No random cheap jumpscares, no puzzles for the sake of puzzles, no broken generators in the basement needing a fuse ;)
KNOWN BUGS
- On some configurations, the game might end up prioritizing gamepad even when 'mouse and keyboard' is selected in the options screen. If you don't plan on playing with a controller, please make sure to disconnect it before starting the game.
DEVELOPER NOTES
Some gameplay elements are inspired by '90s point and click adventures and rely heavily on puzzle-solving. Although there will always be subtle visual/textual/auditive clues to provide a general direction, they will still require a bit of abstraction and interpretation from the player.
I understand this might not be everybody's cup of tea, as some might prefer a more hand-holded experience, but I genuinely hope you will give it a shot anyway.
Please make sure to rate the demo, provide some feedback in the comments and -if you really want to help me out- wishlist the game on Steam! <3
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- A Heartwarming Experience!Oct 09, 2023
Comments
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Thank you! <3
Thank you for playing! I'm glad the demo worked well with a gamepad, I will have to change the tutorial prompts to account for it at some point.
Great game still, I can't wait until the release! Any plans on the when the release is??
Unfortunately I don't have a specific date, but it's sometime next year.
The last 6 months have been pretty difficult due to unexpected family loss and other personal issues and -as a result- the development of the game heavily suffered from it.
I'm slowly getting back on track, but it's gonna take some time...
Sounds great! Sorry about all the problems just know u got 1 supporter here!
<3
I streamed this game. The overall story line, graphics, and voice acting are magnificent. I mean honestly props to the devs for the work they put in and the foundation for a fantastic game is there. However, I found the puzzles a bit tedious and a little difficult to figure out.
*spoilers* For instance, the mirror where you look in to see the next step in your path (the painting) isn't obvious and I spent quite a bit of time wandering the room checking interact able objectsto see what I was missing.You can touch some things that don't push the story along, like the wine bottle and the photos on the wall, which was also rather confusing and I kept coming back to these things thinking I missed some piece of the puzzle. There was also the bedroom bit which also wasn't entirely graspable at first. Then tying all these things together as a whole was... confusing. Like I had thought we were facing possible aliens but then it seems maybe it's more in line with inner demons? I dunno! Maybe that's just the demo leaving some curiosity to intrigue the players and have us come back for the full release.Admittedly these things could just be me and my lack of experience in puzzle games in general. But I have still wishlisted the game and I do want to see it come together in the end because, as mentioned, it is very beautifully done and the foundation for a good game is strong here. Thank you for the experience!
Hi and thank you for the kind words!
I'm sorry you found puzzles to be tedious and too difficult... I did my best to make them reasonably interesting and provide subtle but meaningful clues to always make them solvable, but I suppose it wasn't enough.
If you have a VOD of your playthrough, please make sure to post it here: it's the best way for me to understand how people experience the game.
Also, there's no devs, it's just me and two extremely judgemental cats.
Lost for words - but loving the game and the art work well done to the dev's i have added this to my wish-list on steam cant wait for the full game, keep up the fantastic work.
Thank you!
A wonderful game with beautiful graphics, puzzles, and a great voice acting! Simply amazing, not to mention that I really love games with stories! Nice work!!
Thank you, you're very kind! The actor playing Vincent is the super talented and overall really nice guy Jacob Eccles.
I loved the game, I liked the puzzles, I liked the setting and the atmosphere of the environment. Waiting for the full game. I am from Brazil
Thank You! I hope the translation was accurate enough!
Look HONESTLY I really loved this demo and I want the full game asap!!! it was amazing
Thank you! Please don't forget to rate it, it really helps!
This was REALLY interesting!, I sadly was not able to combine 2 things at the end, but op until that point it was awesome!
Thank you! I think you missed finding a third object to bind the two you had together. Shame though, you were very close to the end!
I don't know if its a problem with my computer but when i attempt to play this demo i get into the house and it bugs out so bad i have to restart my computer. I wanted to let you know just incase it was more than an issue with my computer.
Hi, could you be a little more specific please? What happens exactly? When/Where? What are you PC specs? ...The more you can tell me, the more it helps me figure out where the problem is.
The Toy Room Gave me a good laugh with how everything was named, I'll be posting this vod later on in the afternoon , keep up the good work, cant wait to see the full release.
Thank you! We'll see if that's enough to avoid getting sued to the ground, but hopefully I'll be able to complete the game from jail.
Absolutely Amazing Game! I had a few problems with it, but I gave as much feedback as I could throughout. But I never had this much fun with an Indie Game for a very long time!
http://surl.li/lsxtv
Thank you for the kind words, unfortunately the video seems to be set to 'private'. You might wanna fix that!
Sorry about that! Haha had it set for the wrong day, should be watchable now
This game needs all the attention it can get! Wishisted on Steam and need it to come out tomorrow... (Although take all the time you need to make it everything you want it to be!) Also let me formally apologize for not including "Ourselves" in my first episode's title. Blame it on the bronchitis for not double checking my words! ( Although there is no one to blame but myself!)
Thanks again for supporting the game! Regarding the Itch.io presence, I think it has to do with the number of ratings... although the demo has been downloaded hundreds of times, only two people took care of rating it and I'm fairly sure Itch.io algorithm accounts for that.
... I've been using itch.io for two years and have never thought to look up in the right hand corner at the ability to rate games... I feel ridiculous and VERY unobservant!
Well, this is my very first rated game!! Great one to start with!
l loved every minute of it, immediately wish listed it on steam.
Thank you, that really helps! <3
...and yes, i'm gonna cuck you like that! ;P
I have a question for you: at what resolution were you playing the game? I see the video has a weird aspect ratio and that's not really supposed to happen.
Hmm, I'm not sure. I played on an ultrawide?
I see... do you by any chance have scaling mode in the nvidia control panel (or the AMD equivalent) set to something different than default?
(I'm just trying to understand if the issue is on your end or mine)
Mhm it might be on my end then, I'll add it on my to do list.
This game needs way more attention! It is leaps and bounds better than most of the other games on itch.io!
<3
When are you expecting to fully release?! This game is what the horror genre is lacking: A truly horror game without dumb jumpscares and not being a walking simulator. I loved the whole concept. They way the puzzles are layed out makes them feel actually real.
I see myself buying that magnetic security key.Congrats on this game. The only thing that bothered me is how slow the character can be when crouched. Maybe adding a small sprinting boost when crouched might help(?)Hi, thank you for the kind words and feedback! The game was supposed to be released by the end of the year, unfortunately I'm not there both in terms of completion and wishlists. I only get to release once and -as a solo dev- I don't really have access to a strong marketing machine to promote it... It doesn't help that this year has been ridiculous in terms of really interesting games being released and my game is simply too small and invisible to even attempt to compete against any of them.
Anyway, I'll look into tweaking crouch speed, it is indeed a little too slow.
I missed the part where you are a solo dev while playing the demo. This is a very well crafted game. I made my own video which I'm editing, and honestly, I commented about how your game remembered me Silent Hill, and could be the next Amnesia in terms of genre revolution. I hope your game reaches a big gaming youtuber so more people are aware of it.
You're very kind, but I don't think my game is revolutionary in any way nor will ever reach mainstream success. I'm well aware I'm making a niche game for an even nicher audience and I'm at peace with that. I only hope that anybody who plays it will enjoy it for what it is, rather than bashing it for what it's not.
WOW... This demo is very impressive! I'm blown away by the visuals and design! And the fact that you made the puzzles actually make sense instead of just throwing them in there with no reason as to why they are there at all... brilliant stuff! Will be posting a video of part one of my playthrough when done editing... I just felt strongly enough about this game to give you some early words of positivity and amazement to stand alone from a comment shamelessly written with a link in order to promote my channel.
...not trying to degrade anyone else's comments... like I said I do the same exact thing!
Thank you for the kind words and for noticing a very specific design choice. Looking forward to your gameplay video!
Quite enjoyed this demo. I do hope the story leans more towards the direction of getting help for mental illnesses that are shared between generations rather than demonizing it. I think that's my only real worry. The lighting and puzzles are good!
Thank you! I really appreciated how you took care of analyzing lore and events in the demo: the story is meant to be the biggest puzzle in the game and solving it fully will definitely require interpretation and reading between the lines.
Having said that, for obvious reasons I cant't spoil how the story will unfold, but I assure you it won't be about demonizing (or glorifying for that matter) mental illnesses.
Infact, mental illness is not even the main theme of the story.
(two additional notes: the portrait is not AI generated and Vincent gets indeed hooked on the pipe)
w game took me a long time to do the childhood room because i forgot simple math
The important part is that you solved it!
Was the feeling a bit rewarding at least?
This is a really good game and I was really drawn into it. If you haven't release this demo on steam, I would really suggest doing so.
Here's my channel for other games I have played. https://www.youtube.com/@Levont
Thank you! The game will be indeed released on Steam, assuming I don't go completely insane by then...
I love the new demo
Yay!
Thank you moooon! <3
Good Job
Thank you, however this video is of a really old build from i think last year...
Commentaires Souvent recherchés ensemble
<3
Hi Yacchu, thank you for the kind words! Did you try playing the demo in Japanese? I'm very curious to know how accurate the translation is from a native speaker. On a side note, I see the brightness towards the end of the demo got super weird, what happened there? Did you crank it up somehow manually or using the option screen slider?
Thank you for your reply! Yeah, of course originally I enjoyed it in English and speaking Japanese while translating and adding subtitles later! I was originally a translator, so I think they are almost correct except for 19:38-48, after "I am starting to remember". Haha!
Of course, the perfect translation will be done after we know the truthXD
Regarding the brightness, I used the auto brightness correction because it is soo terrifying and I love that scene but it was too dark and we don't know what happened when we watched on the phone. Sorry if it made you confused, but maybe we need a little bit more brightness there?
Anyway it was a nice, great game! Thank you so muchXD
That's a relief, I thought the game bugged out :(
Hopefully the final game translation will be on par with the english text :D
Hello! The game actually features audio captions for your language, just enable them in the option screen! (they're disabled by default)
Thank you, I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know how the translation was!
This is actually the first time someone reported issues with the brightness setting, I will need a little more info to understand what could be the problem, for example: what gfx card are you using? Do you have HDR enabled? (either real HDR or the fake windows 11 one) Do you use any external software that modify the screen? (eg: f.lux or similar)
The more you can tell me, the more it will help me.