Recent reviews by Code:Yanchin

Thoughts on Narcissu: Knowing the Ending, Yet Still Drowning in Sorrow

"Knowing the Outcome, Yet Unable to Stop the Tears"
The cruelest—and most beautiful—aspect of Narcissu is how it strips away all illusions of "hope" from the very beginning. Like the protagonists, the player walks soberly toward an inevitable end—no reversals, no miracles, not even a melodramatic redemption. Yet it is this almost brutal honesty that transforms every understated line of dialogue, every quiet moment, into tiny blades, carving a dull, lingering ache into the heart.

"Grief Is Not a Sudden Storm, but a Dampness That Seeps into the Bones"
Through restrained storytelling and minimalist visuals, the game dissects the colossal theme of "death" into fragments of the mundane: a wheelchair in a hospital hallway, a warm drink from a convenience store, a car with its fuel gauge nearing empty... As the protagonists count their numbered days, the player, too, is gradually saturated with a kind of "gentle despair" through seemingly ordinary interactions. This sorrow is not explosive but lingers long after the credits roll, clinging like the scent of narcissus flowers.

"We Weep Not for the Characters’ Fate, but for Our Own Reflection"
Perhaps Narcissu’s magic lies in how, while witnessing another’s end, the player is forced to confront their own fear of life’s finitude. The dialectics of "choosing freedom" versus "accepting reality," the clumsy companionship within limited time—all serve as reminders: what truly breaks us is never the "Bad End," but the courage to keep moving forward despite knowing the outcome.

—And this is likely why I wept for a full ten minutes after the credits. What it taught me was not how to face death, but how to cherish the very warmth of being alive.

高考完的那个暑假，我独自在没人打扰的房间，用着新买的电脑，玩着最新最棒的游戏。一点也不担心时间的流逝，只是沉浸在这个世界中感受着游戏的快乐，这是何等的幸福啊。