It boggles my mind thinking about what went into programming Superliminal. This is a game where you can pick up a dollhouse, hold it in the air and let it fall to the floor at ten times its previous size, then walk inside it and find a whole new part of the level to explore. The game centres around the idea of playing with perspective, where objects that appear small at a distance suddenly are small when you pick them up. Objects phase into existence by lining up abstract pieces at the correct angle, or turn into streaks of paint on the wall when looked at the wrong way. It can be a bit of a head trip, with the game using its setting of dreams within dreams as a means of excusing these impossible occurrences. However, what surprised me most about Superliminal wasn’t the strange perspective shifts or occasionally trippy visuals, but how I ultimately found the whole experience to be … boring.
Tag: Short
Katana ZERO Review
“This is just sidescrolling Hotline Miami,” was one of my first thoughts upon starting Katana ZERO, and I have to say that I wasn’t immediately sold on the concept. Sure, it had the same fun brand of gory, balls-to-the-wall action, but it didn’t feel as visceral and animalistic as its top-down cousin; it felt, dare I say, sanitized. Fast forward a few hours, and I found myself spiraling deeper into a gradually unfolding non-linear narrative, punctuated by bursts of hectic gameplay that had me simultaneously holding my controller in a death grip and wanting to hurl it across the room. Katana ZERO is a harsh game, both to the player and its characters, but it managed to draw me in like few games in recent memory have and transcend its inspirations to become a real hack n’ slash gem.
Firewatch Review
Playing Firewatch was a rollercoaster of emotions. For starters, immediately after finishing the introduction, I had to quit out and go lay down. The game’s store page says that the protagonist, Henry, “has retreated from his messy life”, but I wasn’t prepared to learn just how messy that life was. It hit like a tonne of bricks, leaving my head spinning thinking of all the personal pain it brought to the surface. When I finally managed to sit back down with Firewatch, all of that raw emotion from the intro rapidly evaporated, to be replaced with a strange mystery and a gradually ratcheting tension that made me all but forget about the difficult opening. It felt like two separate stories had been smashed together into a strange homunculus of a narrative, and I couldn’t decide which one I hoped would win out to become the focal point. Eventually, though, questions were answered, the mystery was solved, and all the tension disappeared like a plume of smoke in the wind. All I was left with was a sort of hollowness, and the sense that, while captivating, Firewatch missed the mark to becoming truly special.
The Language of Food
I don’t like to cook. It’s not that I’m unable to do it; my parents getting me to make weekly meals in high school made sure of that. I just don’t get the same level of fulfillment from it that others seem to. I understand the joy of creating something to be enjoyed by yourself and others, and cooking allows for so much experimentation and variation that the possibilities are seemingly limitless. However, it hasn’t held any appeal for me. I appreciate the time and effort that goes into creating delectable dishes, but I struggle to find the energy to do it myself, often preferring instead to use meal delivery services. I think it’s kind of sad, though, because such services remove a lot of the personality of the food from the equation; I don’t know who made it, how they did it, or even whether or not they think it’s worth eating. Food can be a language all on its own, and yet my brain constantly fights against my attempts to speak it. I think that’s what made Venba so striking to me: it showed the range of possibilities when one engages with food. Note: Full spoilers for Venba to follow.
Frogsong Review
“What makes a game wholesome?” is a thought that frequently crossed my mind while playing Frogsong. Marketed by Wholesome Games (and featured in their Wholesome Direct) in the lead-up to its release, I assumed going in that I’d be getting a cozy, low-stakes action RPG with a whole lot of cute frogs and toads. While Frogsong does fulfill that, it also has a story that gets surprisingly dark given the setting, challenging gameplay (if you want it that way), and a creepy final boss. All this combined into an experience that kept me more on my toes than the marketing prepared me for, with Frogsong using its wholesome facade as a Trojan horse to tell a heartfelt, emotional story of a land being thrown into (and rescued from) chaos.
INSIDE Review
Following up on the success of their game LIMBO, developer Playdead released INSIDE, another game in the surprisingly extensive genre of, “small child tries to make their way through a big, scary world”. A relatively straightforward puzzle platformer at its core, what makes INSIDE stand out is its gradual descent into horror. As Jacob Geller points out in his excellent video essay “Fear of Depths”, this descent is not just metaphorical, but literal; geographically impossible as it may be, the game constantly sees you travelling down, deeper and deeper, with things getting more twisted as you proceed.
Solid Aether Review
Bullet-hells. Shmups. Bloody impossible. Whatever you want to call them, there’s no doubt that the genre formed around throwing buckets of bullets at people like some overzealous member of the NRA has garnered quite the cult following. And while it’s not a genre that I frequently dive into, it has nonetheless provided me with some fantastically intense experiences. Sine Mora EX is an utterly exquisite story-driven shmup, while Astebreed (a title I played years ago but never reviewed) dives down the anime mech rabbit hole in fine laser-slinging form. So, when I found a copy of Solid Aether sitting in my inbox, looking like the much-beloved (by me at least) OVIVO had a baby soaked in shmup hormones…aaand this analogy is getting out of control. THE GAME LOOKED COOL, OKAY?!?
The Mooseman Review
“Edutainment” is a term that’s gotten a bad rap over time, conjuring up memories of Mario Teaches Typing, Carmen Sandiego, and even the dreaded Mavis Beacon titles. However, the genre has evolved recently, to the point where the gameplay component is frequently fleshed out and enjoyable, rather than being a mere afterthought. Take a title like Mulaka, which exists as both an educational piece and a highly entertaining video game. Developers are realizing that – to keep people engaged with the game’s subject matter – they have to keep them interested in the game. Plus, even if the inclusion of so much gameplay (the horror!) results in some topics being omitted, getting a taste of a new subject in an exciting atmosphere can whet one’s appetite for knowledge, leading to further research and learning being done outside of the context of the game.
Replaying Journey
The first time I played through Journey, I cried. It was – without a doubt – one of the most emotionally moving gaming experiences I had had up to that point, and it’s held a special place in my heart ever since. However, when I mentioned to my friend Matt that it might find its way onto my “favourite games of all time” list, he made an interesting remark: “Have you replayed it?”
Assault Gunners: HD Edition Review
On paper, Assault Gunners HD seems like the perfect game for me. Featuring a deep customisation system, fast-paced mech combat, and the Dynasty Warriors-esque satisfaction of mowing through hordes of opponents at the drop of a hat, it’s pretty much my personal power fantasy come to life.
Here comes the “but”.
Olive's Game Garden 