Game Development: Starting by Healing the Players
Chapter 35: River's Illness
The entire game uses a reverse-chronological narrative structure.
Basically, every player understands this.
With countless questions still lingering in his mind, Dong Zhen continued moving backward through time.
It was the night before River and Johnny's wedding.
The two of them, dressed in formal attire, leaned against the lighthouse and chatted while gazing at the moonlit sky.
It was also on this day that the lighthouse was given a name:
Anya.
Bathed in moonlight, River and Johnny climbed to the top of the lighthouse.
As the light reflected around them, their shadows were cast against the walls.
Under the moonlight, Johnny carefully taught River how to dance.
Night gradually turned into day.
A soft, soothing piano melody flowed alongside their dancing like a gentle stream.
The entire game was filled with a romantic atmosphere.
The game's visuals might not have been particularly impressive, but the music and atmosphere made this scene exceptionally romantic and beautiful.
"Good grief, they danced all night!"
Dong Zhen couldn't help but sigh.
To be honest, at least for this moment, he temporarily put all the questions that had been lingering in his mind aside.
Because, at least during this scene, the game had managed to make even a grown man like him feel something called romance.
The next day arrived.
In front of the now-named lighthouse, Anya, River and Johnny officially became husband and wife.
On the way to the wedding ceremony, River spotted a small white rabbit that had been hit and killed.
Her reaction was somewhat sad, but also strangely unusual.
Johnny, however, didn't notice anything.
"So... could this be why River started folding paper rabbits later? But what's the connection?"
Dong Zhen was puzzled.
Unfortunately, he still had no idea.
He continued progressing through the story.
Everyone at the wedding was extremely happy, but Dong Zhen noticed another detail.
At the wedding, Johnny's mother called him by a different name.
Johnny's friend Nicholas was also confused by this.
Johnny, however, reacted naturally. He explained that it was his grandfather's name, and that his mother had given him Joey as a nickname in his grandfather's memory.
"Joey? I bet there's something going on with that name!"
Dong Zhen narrowed his eyes.
Time continued moving backward.
The story reached the period when River and Johnny were dating, before they got married.
At this point, they were spending time together at a horse ranch.
Riding horses around the grounds, River and Johnny enjoyed themselves and laughed together.
This was actually something their doctor had recommended, since horseback riding might help alleviate River's condition.
Like most couples deeply in love, the two of them shared plenty of intimate and affectionate moments.
At this point, players finally learned what illness River actually suffered from, confirming the earlier suspicions.
"Asperger syndrome? That's River's condition?"
By following the clues in his notes, Dong Zhen finally learned the name of River's condition.
However, he had never heard of it before.
He glanced at the livestream comments, and it was obvious that the viewers were equally confused.
"People with this condition can experience difficulties with interpersonal interaction and verbal communication, significantly rigid behavioral patterns, and an inflexible insistence on certain unusual and seemingly meaningless routines and rituals."
"It's exactly the same!"
Dong Zhen finally understood.
If River suffered from this condition, then many of her strange behaviors from earlier in the story could be completely explained.
But while her behavior now had an explanation, the meaning behind those behaviors still hadn't been revealed.
Dong Zhen remained intensely curious.
Curious about River and Johnny.
What did the paper rabbits represent?
What exactly was the story between River and Johnny?
And why did Johnny desperately want to go to the moon?
By this point, he had already been playing for nearly two hours.
Yet why Johnny wanted to go to the moon, why River was willing to give up her life just to have the house overlooking Anya completed, and why she spent her entire married life folding paper rabbits and asking Johnny about them...
None of these questions had been answered yet.
As the story continued, it reached Johnny's teenage years.
This was when he first met River.
And Dong Zhen noticed something else:
The platypus.
During high school, River always carried the platypus plushie with her.
It seemed that this toy held some kind of important significance for her.
It was also the means through which Johnny first approached River.
With the help of his friend Nicholas, Johnny was pushed toward River, who was sitting on the steps reading a book.
"Hello!"
"Uh... hello..."
"Can you hear me?"
Standing in front of River, Johnny looked somewhat awkward.
Finally, River spoke, "Yes."
"Then why don't you... Never mind... Um, that's a pretty cool platypus."
Johnny desperately tried to find something to talk about.
River simply lowered her book, glanced at the platypus beside her, and then turned her attention back to the book.
"Uh... what are you reading?" Johnny continued trying to start a conversation.
"A book... a book."
"About platypuses?"
"No."
"Oh... I, uh, I think that's nice too."
Johnny looked extremely awkward. Clearly, he felt that River was simply too cold and distant.
Judging by her behavior, River at this point really wasn't very easy to like.
She could even come across as somewhat unsociable and indifferent. Even through the screen, you could feel just how awkward Johnny must have been at the time.
And how painfully cold the atmosphere was.
But through the game's reverse-chronological storytelling, everyone already understood that this wasn't the real River.
She was simply behaving this way because she had Asperger syndrome.
"Lighthouse!"
After a moment of silence, River suddenly spoke, interrupting Johnny.
"This country has a total of sixteen second-order Fresnel lens lighthouses. Nine of them are located along the coast, and one of those was converted from an ancient kerosene lighthouse."
"Oh, so that's what you're reading about? Well, actually... I wanted to ask if you'd like to go see a movie with me?"
"I don't know."
"That's okay. I can wait for you to think about it."
"Can't think about it."
"Why?"
"There is no date. No time."
"Hmm... Then how about eight o'clock this Saturday? Is that okay?"
"Okay."
At this point, Dong Zhen actually felt even more uncomfortable.
He couldn't help but feel a little heartbroken.
As an ordinary person, it was impossible to truly understand what River was experiencing.
Honestly, he couldn't fully comprehend just how painful her condition must have been.
Wanting to express what was in her heart, yet being unable to accurately communicate those thoughts through words or behavior...
Just how painful must it have been to live like that?