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deemoyzaIn the past few weeks, I've snagged a few short games for my Switch on sale. It seems I can really only focus on something short at the moment, or on the slow pace of Animal Crossing. While I certainly don't regret any of these purchases, I definitely enjoyed some games more than others.
Also, what was up with the tea-leaf-collecting puzzle? I still don't understand how we were supposed to know exactly which leaves to pick.
But perhaps the worst part of the game is the cultural tone-deafness that pops up at times. The generic Meso-/South American imagery isn't terrible, especially because outside of the indication that Grandma spent time in the Amazon, the game doesn't give you a specific locale to compare the imagery to. But the appearance of onigiri in a section that was explicitly stated to be Grandma's memories of her time in the Yunnan province of China really made me cringe. As the title of this post says, I don't know enough about various rice balls/cakes to know for certain if this was a mistake, but the shape and style of onigiri is pretty distinctive, and a quick search didn't turn up anything resembling it in traditional Chinese cuisine (though, if I'm wrong, please let me know!). It just smacked of the "all Asian cultures are interchangeable" mindset and was an unfortunate misstep in an otherwise sweet and inoffensive game.
The ending was lovely, and I absolutely fell in love with the pudgy little dog, but the game's overly vague hints and moments of cultural tone-deafness make this a single playthrough game for me.
The game is pretty straight-forward, and the only choices that matter come at the very end, but it's a very visually appealing, generally fun ride. The mechanic for allowing Holly to read others' thoughts is simple but sometimes tricky to accomplish for someone as uncoordinated as myself, but there is no time limit, nor opportunities to fail the mental connection.
There are a few grammatical errors here and there, but the intended meaning is easily understood (though referring to the Mafia as the "Italian cartel" sure was a choice) and while I feel the ending is rushed and pretty anticlimactic for a possible murder mystery, I still enjoyed the game overall. Moreover, though, I enjoyed everything that wasn't explicitly stated. What exactly is HSPD? The news and the pastor/priest's railing against it make it sound like it's a fairly recent development. Who is susceptible to it, and how do they get it? Is it innate, or contracted? What about Holly's past? What made her leave home? How does she reconcile being a pastor's daughter herself with being a burlesque performer? Does she reconcile it? And how does she deal with the fact that [SPOILER]she actually caused the (attempted) murder by setting everything into motion? And then there are the other characters and their own issues. This game is basically fanfic fodder!
It's nothing groundbreaking, but I enjoyed my time with One Night: Burlesque. (And no, I have no idea what the differences are between the editions. It looks like it's just RedDeer being RedDeer and grabbing at cash wherever they can. Unfortunate, that.)
And saving the best for last:
I took my time with the climb and poked about in every nook and cranny I encountered, and still didn't find everything on my first go-through. Even once you complete the climb, though, the game lets you continue playing, so there's also no rush to find everything in one go.
But I think I was most impressed by the story, the little of it that there is. Claire is a teenager, and when she complains of not having cell phone reception, I figured she was missing out on texts and calls from her friends. But when she finally gets a call on the mountaintop, we find out that it is a very different situation, and the conversation she has there made me tear up.
It also made gliding in the updraft there, among the auroras, so much more satisfying. It felt peaceful, yes, but also triumphant; at once awe-inspiring and humbling; a step forward for Claire in her own personal journey, but also a step into her own past and her family tradition. It elevated what was already a delightful game into something more: a tale of connection, with community and family and nature, and finding a part of oneself in all of those places.
After hearing so much praise for this game, I'm glad I played it for myself. It was a lovely way to pass an evening, and a game I'll be returning to when I need a peaceful escape.
Tell Me Your Story - A sweet little game about helping Grandma move into a new house and discovering her globetrotting past along the way.
The art is adorable, and the concept is heartwarming, but the execution really left something to be desired. The game is entirely textless, preferring to tell its (Grandma's) story through illustrations and puzzles, and while that generally isn't a problem, some of the puzzles are so obtuse that textual hints or instructions would have been incredibly helpful, especially when puzzles of similar design operate with wildly different goals. For example, the first puzzle in which you can scroll the background asks you to match the pattern in the foreground to a section of the background; the next time you encounter such a puzzle, it asks you to find the complementing pattern, instead. The illustration-based hint was not entirely clear about this, and I spent far too long trying to force the second puzzle to work like the first.Also, what was up with the tea-leaf-collecting puzzle? I still don't understand how we were supposed to know exactly which leaves to pick.
But perhaps the worst part of the game is the cultural tone-deafness that pops up at times. The generic Meso-/South American imagery isn't terrible, especially because outside of the indication that Grandma spent time in the Amazon, the game doesn't give you a specific locale to compare the imagery to. But the appearance of onigiri in a section that was explicitly stated to be Grandma's memories of her time in the Yunnan province of China really made me cringe. As the title of this post says, I don't know enough about various rice balls/cakes to know for certain if this was a mistake, but the shape and style of onigiri is pretty distinctive, and a quick search didn't turn up anything resembling it in traditional Chinese cuisine (though, if I'm wrong, please let me know!). It just smacked of the "all Asian cultures are interchangeable" mindset and was an unfortunate misstep in an otherwise sweet and inoffensive game.
The ending was lovely, and I absolutely fell in love with the pudgy little dog, but the game's overly vague hints and moments of cultural tone-deafness make this a single playthrough game for me.
One Night: Burlesque - A noir-ish mystery game that unfolds over a single night at a burlesque club.
Holly Whispers is a burlesque performer who suffers from an illness known as HPSD (Hyperactive Psycho Sensitivity Disorder), with which she can hear/see the thoughts of others. During a performance, she receives a vision of her friend and fellow performer being killed, and sets out to find and stop the killer before that happens. In her investigation, she crosses paths with a not-so-righteous pastor (priest?), her friend's ex-boyfriend, a disgraced psychiatrist, and a detective suffering from the same disorder she has.The game is pretty straight-forward, and the only choices that matter come at the very end, but it's a very visually appealing, generally fun ride. The mechanic for allowing Holly to read others' thoughts is simple but sometimes tricky to accomplish for someone as uncoordinated as myself, but there is no time limit, nor opportunities to fail the mental connection.
There are a few grammatical errors here and there, but the intended meaning is easily understood (though referring to the Mafia as the "Italian cartel" sure was a choice) and while I feel the ending is rushed and pretty anticlimactic for a possible murder mystery, I still enjoyed the game overall. Moreover, though, I enjoyed everything that wasn't explicitly stated. What exactly is HSPD? The news and the pastor/priest's railing against it make it sound like it's a fairly recent development. Who is susceptible to it, and how do they get it? Is it innate, or contracted? What about Holly's past? What made her leave home? How does she reconcile being a pastor's daughter herself with being a burlesque performer? Does she reconcile it? And how does she deal with the fact that [SPOILER]she actually caused the (attempted) murder by setting everything into motion? And then there are the other characters and their own issues. This game is basically fanfic fodder!
It's nothing groundbreaking, but I enjoyed my time with One Night: Burlesque. (And no, I have no idea what the differences are between the editions. It looks like it's just RedDeer being RedDeer and grabbing at cash wherever they can. Unfortunate, that.)
And saving the best for last:
A Short Hike - An absolutely charming, peaceful exploration game.
Claire travels with her aunt, a park ranger, to Hawk Peak Provincial Park, and is informed early on that the only place to get cell phone reception is at the very top of the mountain. What Claire's aunt describes as a short hike turns out to be quite a trek, and the park features a network of trails on which to make the journey. Along the way, Claire encounters others on the trails or just relaxing at various spots, which make the mountain feel far less isolated and forboding than it otherwise would. There is no danger here, just people making small talk and small connections, lovely landscapes and waterscapes, and a sense of peace when gliding along through the air.I took my time with the climb and poked about in every nook and cranny I encountered, and still didn't find everything on my first go-through. Even once you complete the climb, though, the game lets you continue playing, so there's also no rush to find everything in one go.
But I think I was most impressed by the story, the little of it that there is. Claire is a teenager, and when she complains of not having cell phone reception, I figured she was missing out on texts and calls from her friends. But when she finally gets a call on the mountaintop, we find out that it is a very different situation, and the conversation she has there made me tear up.
It also made gliding in the updraft there, among the auroras, so much more satisfying. It felt peaceful, yes, but also triumphant; at once awe-inspiring and humbling; a step forward for Claire in her own personal journey, but also a step into her own past and her family tradition. It elevated what was already a delightful game into something more: a tale of connection, with community and family and nature, and finding a part of oneself in all of those places.
After hearing so much praise for this game, I'm glad I played it for myself. It was a lovely way to pass an evening, and a game I'll be returning to when I need a peaceful escape.
