Introduction “Signed Mary” is the first visual novel I have fully completed. It is a narrative experience that delves into the psyche of the main character, a 25-year-old woman troubled by her past. The story features elements specific to the 'psychological horror' genre, with a narrative thread designed to be dissected. Symbolism and storytelling methods are used to match the layered and ambiguous nature of the story, allowing for multiple playthroughs, as there are three endings based on the choices the player makes throughout the game. It contains a multitude of carefully chosen details, encouraging thorough analysis, as nothing was selected and included without a specific purpose, all facilitating the presentation of a complex character study. The development process for this project took approximately five months, including concept creation, script writing, and the production of graphical, musical, aesthetic, and interface materials, followed by coding. Premise: Loraine is a 25-year-old young woman pursuing an unpredictable modeling career. She struggles with her adult life and the loss of her parents from seven years ago, an event that drastically steers the life she wishes to live. Loraine has chosen to completely forget her past to cope with the present, but she is forced to remember it when she receives a phone call from her deceased parents and finds a letter signed with a familiar name, 'Mary,' calling her back to her hometown. This journey becomes a pretext to visit her parents after seven years from their death, but her plans are disrupted by a car accident. Now, Loraine roams the deserted streets of her hometown seeking help, and the only person left who can assist her is the enigmatic Mary. However, both are threatened by a morbid presence. To save herself and Mary, Loraine must remember and accept her past before it is too late. This visual novel is a personal project, crafted with love and dedication, in which I’ve handled the character art, story, script, coding, and music composition by myself. Step into Nostalgia Experience a visual novel that feels like a lost game from the past. With its unique 900x900 resolution, this game brings back the charm of retro visual novels from the early 2000s, reminiscent of the stories you’d find on beloved consoles like the PS2. It’s as if you’ve uncovered a forgotten classic and are playing it on an emulator, giving it that authentic, old-school feel. Designed specifically to evoke the nostalgia of classic visual novels, every aspect of the game—from the art style to the user interface—captures the simplicity and atmosphere of those timeless experiences. This game is crafted as a love letter for the early 2000s horror games, and as such, references to this era of games are to be found for lovers of this genre. Rediscover the magic of playing a forgotten visual novel from a different era, now on your PC, as if you’ve found an old favorite you never knew you missed. Themes: Taking inspiration from famous titles such as “Silent Hill 2”, “The Babadook”, “Black Swan”, “P.T.”, the psychological horror experience, entitled “Signed Mary”, uses its dark vague narrative to explore the desire for maturity and independence but, at the same time, the fear of change that comes along with such desire. It explores the fear of uncertainty, addressing the question of whether or not we can live up to the expectations of our future, making us question if we can really predict it. How would we react if our future self would be the complete opposite of what we thought it would be? What if we ended up disappointing our past self? It challenges our ability of foreseeing the future, and marks the question if it’s worth trying. Such themes are explored in a setting which allows the past and the future to be conjoined, their barrier of time becoming thinner as night falls, symbolizing the inevitable arrival of change in our lives. Other themes addressed are the effects of trauma and how they can manifest in a lonely environment, specifically losing the ones close to you. It toggles different forms of unhealthy coping mechanisms with the goal of making us acknowledge them. It’s a lesson of how to live with ourselves at peace and cultivate self love in a healthy way. It’s about self acceptance and forgiveness, all under the mark of horror coming from our concerning unhealed subconsciousness. Trigger Warning: This game contains content that may be disturbing to some players, including: • Themes of Death and Suicide • Deep Psychological Themes • Flashing Lights • Loud Noises Player discretion is advised. If you are sensitive to any of these topics, please proceed with caution or consider not playing this game. This visual novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real-world brands, including Vivienne Westwood, are purely for narrative purposes and are not intended to imply any official endorsement, affiliation, or sponsorship. The inclusion of these references is solely for character development and setting the scene, and does not indicate any connection between the creator of this visual novel and the mentioned brands. All trademarks, logos, and brand names are the property of their respective owners.
