Mug of Notes | The Ocipidic Blog

Preface: This was originally an English assignment about literary criticism of media. Also, spoilers! Also, this was originally written in May 2021 and I have not changed any of the source material sans formatting.

Summary:

While the games are best experienced first-hand, it does take around 5 hours to complete both in their entirety. So, it is best that I quickly summarize here. However, if you wish to read the story without the gameplay, they are linked: A Light in the Shadows, Companion, A Better Place

A) A Light in the Shadows

Lumi is a cat, trapped in a looping world with little to no memory of what happened outside. As she traverses through various levels, the environment changes around her, giving her abilities and letting her ask questions of why this is all happening. In the fourth world, she finds a grey square, much akin to the ‘companion cube’ from Portal. However, unlike the ‘companion cube’, the grey square is confirmed to be sentient, helping Lumi along her way. By the sixth world, she feels her best with her newfound ability to blow up walls. This happiness does not last particularly long, because as soon as she reaches world seven, her abilities are gradually taken away. Nearing the end of world nine, she feels worthless, questioning why she subjects herself to all this trouble. That is, until an epiphany strikes. In this place, death has no meaning. She can retry as much as she would like, she would never be bored, and thus, never has to leave. With a beam of light, a ceiling of spikes comes crashing down…

B) Neon Levels

These levels are the tenth in every world, with a distinct colour palette switch to a more neon-sign-esque design. The levels themselves play out like the rest of the game, with one notable exception; another presence is seen in text form. This presence, as confirmed by the developer, is Lumi’s friends, trying to reach out to her about the death of a loved one.

C) The Reset

This may or may not be canon, depending on who you ask. For the sake of this project, I will presume that it is canon. It takes place right after the main story of A Light in the Shadows. Lumi goes backwards through approximations of the previous worlds, starting from nine, going down to one. The entire sequence is punctuated by a dialogue between Lumi and a dead friend. Lumi has nothing left, and blames her dead friend for all the misfortune that befell upon her. No one else is there with her, except a mysterious ‘purple one’. Nothing much is said, other than that the purple one created the grey square, and that it is too late to stop the reset.

D) Companion

This part is a quasi-prequel to the main story of A Light in the Shadows, focusing on the perspective of the grey square. The ‘purple one’ created the grey square with the intention of helping Lumi by making her feel something. Several tests are performed on the square with different abilities, none of which are used in its primary objective.

E) A Better Place

This part is strongly implied to be an indirect prequel to A Light in the Shadows, being right before the first loop. Lumi and her friends [green, red, and blue] used to explore and create new worlds together. She thought everything would be okay as long as her friends were by her side, but in typical subversive fashion, this dynamic falls apart pretty quickly. Lumi becomes separated from her friends, only to be reunited with them, with them being confused about if anything happened. Upon realizing something is wrong, Lumi decides some alone time would be nice. She eventually becomes exhausted, so after some deliberation, her friends decide to come up with a distraction for her. Unsurprisingly, the distraction did not work, so she then moved far away from her friends for a while. When they regrouped [again], they exchanged apologies. Finally, they could all travel again, for as long as Lumi wanted… almost. The green cat admitted they were ‘fixed’, that they did not need this experience anymore. The red and blue cats soon followed suit. Lumi is convinced she needs to save her friends, that they were in danger, but quickly loses the motivation to do so. She is now alone, with no one to share experiences, nothing to keep her motivated. As she talks herself through this dilemma, she comes up with the ideas of just smiling through everything, creating her own world, and locking herself in. Making a better place, if you will.

Literary Criticism #1: Archetypes

1. What character archetypes are prevalent in the story and how do they affect the story/characters?

Lumi exhibits the ‘Innocent’ archetype for the majority of A Better Place [and, by extension, A Light in the Shadows], wanting things to stay the same, having all of her friends by her side essentially forever, or until she learns to let go. However, her inability to let go is the central focus of both games, giving rise to the main conflict; that being confronting herself on how she truly feels. She also exhibits the ‘Explorer’ archetype at times. For example, in A Better Place, when she actively decides to be alone, the narration was given that, “She was completely on her own now. It felt liberating” (world 5, room 2). At this moment, she wants to be free to explore on her own, without having to deal with the uncomfortable situations that were indirectly derived from her being with her friends. Through this little adventure, she learns more about herself, and gets a chance to reflect on the character she has been up until this point. It allowed her to realize, “Her friends were just trying to look after her” (world 5, room 8), which triggered the event of her going back to her friends once more.

Another important character is the ‘purple one’. While they do not have any speaking lines, and only appear as a minor role in A Light in the Shadows, their character can be pieced together from how other characters speak about them. First of all, it is said in the ‘Reset’ section of A Light in the Shadows that, “the purple one is the one who created the square” (room 2). Their intentions for creating the grey square are most clearly stated in the ‘Companion’ section of A Light in the Shadows, being, “Making the cat feel would help her… Right?” (phase 3, room 10) In this sense, the ‘purple one’ is somewhat of a ‘shadow-caregiver’ archetype, specifically in relation to Lumi. In other words, the ‘purple one’ makes an effort to be the ‘caretaker’, to take care of Lumi, while exhibiting the traits Lumi chooses not to explicitly show; her subconscious mind. Lumi must know, to some extent, that shying away from real-world issues will not fix anything. The issue is that she chooses to block that thought out, favouring escapism over true confrontation. It is possible for well-intentioned people [or cats] to be misguided. An example that applies to the ‘purple one’ is, “[acting] like it’s good to give people a very hard time” (Keuler). Presumably, the ‘purple one’ did not realize it at the time, but the creation and subsequent removal of the grey square from Lumi’s life only added to her sense of hopelessness, rather than wanting to break the cycle, inadvertently causing the ‘Reset’. To be clear, the ‘purple one’ does not show signs of malintent, but simply goes about attempting to care for Lumi in the wrong way.

2. What is the quest / task in the story?

Well, Lumi has the age-old quest, the pursuit of happiness, albeit in the three different stages; happiness with others, happiness alone, and happiness with freedom. The first stage occurs in A Better Place, when it becomes clear that Lumi just wants to be with her friends. However, when that seems impossible by world 12, she decides to pursue happiness alone. Essentially, the second stage occurs sometime between A Better Place and A Light in the Shadows, as it is heavily implied that when you start playing A Light in the Shadows, there have already been several loops. Taken directly from the narration, “The cat had been going through these maze like [sic] rooms for what felt like forever” (world 1, room 1). Given this appears in the first room of the game, and the same line appears at the end of the ‘Reset’ section, it can be assumed that Lumi had been looping a few times prior to the game starting. Thus, the third stage occurs sometime prior to or during A Light in the Shadows. This is indicated in the game with Lumi’s constant asking if the exit was close (world 2, room 4; world 4, room 1; world 6, room 4; world 7, room 1; et alia) or if there even is an exit (world 4, room 2; world 9, room 3; world 9, room 10; et alia). Lumi herself causes the conflict, but has to be the one to fix it as well. She was “the only one who stayed” (world 5, room 10), meaning she made an active decision to remain in that environment, and that if she wanted to leave, that would be her responsibility. This internal conflict is the main determining factor in the story, making Lumi a situational archetype in her story.

3. How does the story fit the hero’s journey?

Well, here is the entire outline of the story:

Ordinary World: At the start of A Better Place, Lumi meets up with her friends for adventuring.

Call to Adventure: Something is immediately wrong, however, and Lumi needs to figure out what exactly.

Refusal of the Call: Slight hesitation, “They couldn’t have left. It wasn’t time for that yet” (world 1, room 10)

Crossing the Threshold: First really occurs here: “She had gotten used to the emptiness, and being alone” (world 2, room 8)

Tests / Enemies: “The rooms felt hostile” (world 3, room 3); “It was hard for the cat to keep up. But she did” (world 3, room 9)

Re-establish the Status Quo: “The cat told them how she felt… The other cats didn’t understand… She needed a distraction” (world 4, room 1)

Refusal of the Call Mk. 2: “She wasn’t sure about this. But… maybe this would help her” (ibidem)

Refusal to Cross the Threshold: “She knew she didn’t need something like this. She decided to go somewhere… else” (world 4, room 10)

Re-establish the Status Quo Mk. 2: “The cat was now far, far away from everyone else” (world 5, room 1)

Crossing the Threshold Mk. 2: “It felt liberating” (world 5, room 2)

Tests Mk. 2 / Approach the Innermost Cave: Throughout rooms 4 to 9 of world 5 [as well as the entirety of world 6], she reflects on if she had been a good friend, if she should apologize.

The Ordeal: At the start of world 7, Lumi and the green cat exchange apologies, while the blue and red cats are implied to have forgiven Lumi already.

The Reward: For most of world 7, Lumi and her friends travel together.

Loss of the Reward: However, starting from the end of world 7 to the beginning of world 12, she loses each of her friends.

The Road Back: Starts at the beginning of world 12, but is essentially halted mid-way.

Re-establish the Status Quo Mk. 3: Instead of actually learning to face her problems, Lumi decides to create a new world herself to escape to, subsequently overriding her current world as the new ‘ordinary world’ in A Light in the Shadows.

Call to Adventure Mk. 2: It is assumed that this happens off-screen, with Lumi’s primary motivation being to find an exit. To preserve continuity, it is also assumed that she retains little to no knowledge of any previous resets and the events of the previously mentioned game. Thus, it can reasonably be assumed that the entire departure stage occurred off-screen.

Tests / Enemies Mk. 3: In the second room of world 1, it is introduced to the audience [but not to Lumi, as she is already familiar] that anything orange is harmful.

Allies: She is seen using various abilities and a sentient grey square since the second room of world 2.

Approach the Innermost Cave Mk. 2: She begins to lose her abilities at the start of world 7, not unlike how she lost her friends.

The Ordeal Mk. 2: Lumi nearly confronts her reality. Almost. She feels hopeless and alone, but instead of finally getting the reward of freedom when the final exit appears, she pushes it away. She ultimately opts to stay in Plato’s allegorical cave. There is no return stage, as she really does not fundamentally change as a character. Despite the issue of letting go being brought up in the neon levels, she never truly confronts the issue herself, and thus is unable to return as a changed personality. The loop continues without ever properly being resolved.

In short, no. No, it does not completely follow the hero’s journey.

4. If the antagonist changes, will that result in a happy ending?

Careful here! The antagonist is Lumi’s own conflicting emotions. That is, the conflict between wanting to avoid the tragedy of death and letting go. If at any point [or if ‘Reset’ is canon, any earlier point] she decided she needed to let go of loss, she would be admitting that the place she built for herself is a mere distraction, meant to only temporarily alleviate her mind from her stresses, and that she needs to come to terms with reality. This would then be ‘fixing’ her and allowing her to leave, breaking the cycle once and for all.

5. What are the literal and interpreted meanings of the symbols used?

Symbol	Literal	Interpreted
Light / Dark [absence of light]	Lighting in a video game allows players to see what events are currently occurring, but can also be used to establish atmosphere.	This is practically a cliché by this point, but in many sources of media, it holds true that light represents hope and optimism, while darkness represents the opposite; despair and sorrow. It should go without saying that Lumi is the light in the shadows, the sole protagonist and source of optimism in a tragic situation. It is heavily suggested that the reason why she locked herself in a world is that she is trying to avoid loss. Whether it be the loss of her three coloured cat friends or the death of an unnamed character, Lumi has been shown to be extremely uncomfortable in these moments of extreme change. She does not want things to change, so she leaves herself happy and isolated, in a world of grief.
Colour	Colour palette switches between sections keeps the game from becoming too repetitive.	The color palette of the environment around Lumi is strategically used to represent her current mental state. Take the beginning of world 5* in A Better Place, for instance, which portrays the world as a very vivid green. The colour being more bright and saturated here represents a sense of being content, as it is in this world where she felt free, being far away from her friends. Compare this to world 9** in A Light in the Shadows, wherein the narration acknowledges the colour change: “Everything was gray… Where did all the color go..?” (world 9, room 4). The colour palette being more saturated here represents the lack of contentment. Not necessarily being sad, but simply having no happy feelings.
Faces	Faces can be used to non-verbally express emotion, especially when the subject is incapable or unable to speak.	At certain points during A Better Place, characters are shown to have blurred faces, or in the case of Lumi, sometimes no face at all. The blurriness of faces represents the openness of their respective minds. For example, when Lumi found the blue cat, “she was too late. She couldn’t reach out to them” (world 10, room 10). By this point, all of Lumi’s friends had made up their minds, and there was no changing that; they were leaving her. The blurriness of the blue cat’s face serves to enhance the sense that their mind is no longer open to change.
Smiling	A smile is a gesture of happiness which is shown to express positive emotions, such as gratitude and joy.	While a smile is typically used to represent happiness, it is also commonly faked. Particularly astute players may notice a sprite discrepancy between the two games; in A Light in the Shadows, Lumi is constantly smiling, even with only one life left, while in A Better Place, Lumi’s expression changes to worry when reduced to one life. In addition, a line from her final monologue in A Better Place states, “I just need to smile” (world 12, room 10). Putting these two pieces of information together, it becomes quite clear that Lumi is faking her happiness in A Light in the Shadows. However, according to the University of South Australia, “When your muscles say you’re happy, you’re more likely to see the world around you in a positive way” (Mansfield). This means that when you are smiling, even if it is a fake smile, you could trick your brain into thinking you are actually happy. Subsequently, this gives insight into Lumi’s character, that being if she has been smiling for this long, does she even value the exit anymore?

6. Why have these symbols been introduced and repeated?

Many forms of media, video games included, rely on dialogue to convey emotion. However, when it may not make sense to include dialogue in a story, symbols and imagery become very important to tell the same emotional beats. Whether it be because the character[s] stopping to talk constantly would detract from the experience, wanting to maintain a minimalist style, dialogue is time-consuming, or anything in between, repeated motifs in any literary medium serve to tell the emotions of a scene, when words would not quite do it.

Literary Criticism #2: Existentialism

1. Is there an existential crisis present?

Yes, there is. As previously mentioned in the archetypes portion of this document, Lumi feels hopeless at the end of world 9 of A Light in the Shadows, and essentially has an existential crisis, asking herself if it is worth continuing, if her world is real, why anyone would create something like this, and if there even is an exit. She, of course, already knew the answers to these questions, but simply refused to confront them, at least at first.

2. Are there any existential questions present?

Yes. In chronological order, they are:

“Why am I still here?” (A Better Place world 12, room 10)

“Why was it being tested like this..?” (‘Companion’ phase 3, room 6)

“What was the point in continuing?” (A Light in the Shadows world 9, room 2)

“Was this place even real..?” (world 9, room 3)

“Why was all of this happening..?

Why did any of this exist?

Who would create something like this?” (world 9, room 8)

“There was no exit, was there?” (world 9, room 9)

“Do I want to stay in here?” (ibidem)

3. What does the main character need most?

The single most important thing that Lumi needs is not a materialistic good, not money, not even companionship; she needs to learn to let go. Sure, it is a life skill, and sure it is hard to learn. Take it from someone who is currently getting counselling for not being able to let go, among other things. Of course, as mentioned before, this is just the stepping stone for her to achieve her goal; happiness.

4. Is life or death explored?

The concept of death is explored most prominently in A Light in the Shadows, given the circumstance that someone close to Lumi had died. The other important detail to note about death is that it has no meaning in her world; she would just respawn and try again. Yes, the game mechanic of respawning is an important plot point.

5. What impact does this have?

The act of being able to respawn lessens the importance of death, which creates a disconnect between the reality Lumi created for herself, and the real world. In her own words from A Light in the Shadows, “Nobody will really die. All that happens is that the room will be reset. Everything can always be fixed” (world 9, room 10). To further avoid the pain of loss, she created a world where everything can be reset, so that nothing and no one is ever truly lost.

6. Does the main character have free will?

Maybe? See, being that it is a video game with a linear storyline, specific events have to happen, otherwise no progression is made. However, there are minor things that Lumi can experience depending on the choices of the player, most notably, if and when Lumi sees the ‘purple one’. Some may think that since Lumi always ends up resetting, she is doomed to forever reset, never breaking the cycle. But this interpretation assumes that only the events seen on-screen are canon. Perhaps there is an unseen ending where Lumi escapes and learns from her mistakes. Or perhaps not. Additionally, the debate can get muddled with the idea of if Lumi is actually controlling her actions, given the player controls her. Some games [such as Undertale or Doki Doki Literature Club!] make a distinction between the protagonist and the player, however it is left ambiguous as to whether or not Last Quarter Studios intended for this to be the case.

Literary Criticism #3: Psychoanalytic

1. Was there any recent trauma?

Taking A Light in the Shadows as the most recent in the established timeline, Lumi does have trauma, albeit not childhood trauma; one of her friends died in an accident. This event either caused her to lock herself in, or gave her more reason to stay inside her world. No matter the exact reason, she is trying to avoid the emotional repercussions of her friend’s death.

2. What is the main character’s goal throughout the story?

Ultimately it is the tale as old as time; the pursuit of happiness. But to get there, Lumi tries [and on every occasion, fails] to let go of her losses, to not think about them. Suppressing emotions, hiding behind an empty smile, or escaping into a fantasy world can appear to help in small bursts, but they should not be relied upon to get a concrete [or liquid] solution.

3. Does the character have a strong moral compass?

Presumably, yes. While she may not be completely understanding of every situation she comes across, it can be said that she always has good intentions. In A Better Place, when she perceived that the blue and red cats were in danger, she decided “she was going to save them” (world 10, room 2; world 11, room 1). In this situation, she cannot bear the weight of, in her eyes, losing another friend and wants to hold on to that bond for as long as possible. When her friends were set to leave the perceived safety of the worlds they created, she simply did not want them to be hurt. She, like the ‘purple one’ mentioned above, has good intentions, but is a little misguided.

4. Is the character facing any prominent mental health issues?

It seems as if Lumi is experiencing a form of generalized anxiety disorder. While not explicitly mentioned in the story itself, she does show indications of anxiety, according to the GAD-7 scale developed by Robert L. Spitzer. She is shown to have a worrying problem, as her move in world 5 of A Better Place is motivated by going to “A faraway place where wouldn’t have to worry about what her friends thought was best for her” (world 4, room 10). Also, when she lost all of her friends, “She was anxious and worried” (world 12, room 3). She has trouble trying to relax and controlling her worrying, as later, “She tried to ignore those thoughts. But they didn’t go away” (world 5, room 6). Even her perceived danger of her friends mentioned previously falls into the problem of “Feeling afraid, as if something awful might happen” (Spitzer).

5. Does the character develop any complexes?

Yes, more specifically, the inferiority complex; the feeling of inadequacy, being lower than others. By world 12 of A Better Place, “She lacked motivation” (world 12, room 8). She also acknowledges that she has no one to work towards (world 12, room 7). Getting to the end of A Light in the Shadows, this feeling only increases, with her feeling worthless, meaning nothing to anyone, including herself.

6. Does the character display a strong sense of guilt?

In A Better Place, yes. She realizes after running away that, “Her friends were just trying to look after her” (world 5, room 8). Running away was irrational, and she recognizes that she should not have done that in the first place. If she had talked to her friends, they could help her. But in A Light in the Shadows, after experiencing loss, not particularly. Instead, she opts to place blame on other people. The game [speaking from the focus of Lumi] uses diction such as “You left me all alone” (‘Reset’ room 7), “Her owner started acting weirdly, and locked her in here” (world 1, room 1), and “You could’ve chosen to stay at home.” (‘Reset’ room 5). She refuses to admit that she put herself into this situation, and instead finds a scapegoat; her dead friend. In her mind, it probably makes the most sense, as her friend is already dead, so she could not retaliate even if she wanted to. What Lumi did not anticipate, however, is the lingering presence of her friend following her into her escape. This forces her to sit with the thoughts of it all being her fault, even if only for a little bit, before the reset occurs and she forgets it all.

Works Cited:

Cats Are Liquid - A Better Place. Last Quarter Studios, 2019.

Cats Are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows. Last Quarter Studios, 2015.

Keuler, Peter. “Testing to See If Someone Is a Misguided Person.” Caretaker Defiance Guide, 2019, www.caretakerdefiance.com/testing_people/misguided_person.html

Mansfield, Annabel. “When You're Smiling, the Whole World Really Does Smile with You.” UNISA, University of South Australia, 12 Aug. 2020,

www.unisa.edu.au/Media-Centre/Releases/2020/when-youre-smiling-the-whole-world-really-does-smile-with-you/

Spitzer, Robert L. “GAD-7 Anxiety.” 1999. PDF File.

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