Dirge

Dirge is a visual novel game based on the oriental aesthetics of 物の哀 (pathos of things) for itch.io. It was developed in one month. The project is inspired by Chinese poet Li Shangyin's poem 'The Sad Zither'. Zither, a traditional Chinese plucked instrument, has a mournful voice. Starting from the strings, the poet recalls his youth and expresses his deep sorrow. In this double-narrative visual novel, I combine the imagery from the poem with my growing up experience to tell the story of an East Asian woman's youth. In the game, players will enter the heroine's memories by plucking Ms Zither's strings and decide whether to assert their own will or East Asian dogmas on women, creating two different narrative lines.