Hello everyone and welcome to the Vault’s first official light novel, written and coded by our own Jesaya Tunggal.

You can find it here at the link below!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lrdhnz7jfdcqkid/AACJF9KWxGdy2K9zNwr0Izgpa?dl=0

Statement from the creator:

“Tired from hunting and eager to quench his thirst, Narcissus lay on his stomach and leaned over the water. But when he looked at the glassy surface, he saw someone staring back at him…

…what love could be more cruel than this?” he cried. “When my lips kiss the beloved, they touch only water! When I reach for my beloved, I hold only water!”

This multimedia project, Narcissus, is a digital interactive fiction, or visual novel. Its structure constitutes three unique endings with varying paths to reach each. The game centres on topics of digital identity and digital storytelling. In the game, an amnesia-stricken player character is greeted by a sentient AI who attempts to gain the trust of the player. Through their interactions, the player must try to rediscover their identity, in the process traversing various ‘paths’, similar to a choose-your-own-adventure novel. Each path conveys an opinion or idea responding to the central themes of the game.

In addition to narrative content, Narcissus’ medium also conveys meaning; the choice to use a videogame to convey these themes was deliberate. By playing the game, the player is necessarily implicated in a sense-making process with his in-game persona. By highlighting the inherent contradictions and similarities between the ‘free’ player and the ‘captive’ game avatar, Narcissus seeks to tease out the complexities of discovering identity in a digital environment. Through these facets, I hope to offer a strong philosophical argument that delivers on course themes while ultimately an enriching gaming experience for the player.