[PATV] Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - Extra Credits Season 7, Ep. 8: Games You REALLY Might Not Have

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  • Zilla360Zilla360 21st Century. |She/Her| Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered User regular
    Memories of a Broken Dimension is super awesome, and everyone should at least try it.
    When Oculus support gets added I can imagine a ton of people barfing though.

  • FulchrumFulchrum Registered User regular
    ...did you really just try to recommend that game where you fuck Cthulhu?

  • likalarukulikalaruku Registered User regular
    Honorable mention: LSD Dream Emulator.

  • TheGreatCthulhuTheGreatCthulhu Registered User new member
    Outlast? But, that game is not obscure at all - as far as I'm aware, it is pretty well known; everyone's comparing it with Amnesia (because it is, rather obviously, based on / inspired by, Amnesia, although it adds its own flavor to the formula - the key component being the camera of course). But IMO, although it's more polished, has higher production value, and introduces some new and interesting things (gameplay-wise and technically), it's overall execution is not that good. (And the story is... underwhelming, feels more like an afterthought.)

  • AlcasteAlcaste Registered User regular
    Interesting that The Void wasn't mentioned. I should dive into some of these sometime, it's been a long while since I've allowed myself to get disturbed

  • SpeculaSpecula Registered User regular
    Watch out, if you keep letting James run lose you might give off the impression he's edgy.

  • thr33thanthr33than Registered User new member
    monster girl quest anybody?

  • themocawthemocaw Registered User regular
    The really twisted thing about Saya no Uta (Song of Saya) isn't the sex or the grotesqueries or the gore or the violence. . .

    It's how, as you play the game. . . by the end of the story, you're never sure which of the three endings can be considered the "good one." I was genuinely unnerved by the fact that the most horrifying ending with the most terrifying implications for all of humanity was the one that I felt was the most fulfilling. . .

  • PlanckEpochPlanckEpoch Registered User new member
    I knew about Castle Doctrine! Thanks for reminding me of a game I need to play.

  • VenicVenic Registered User new member
    edited November 2013
    Another fun fact: Saya no Uta's author, Gen Urobuchi, also wrote "Fate/Zero", the spinoff novel for "Fate/Stay Night" that had a recent anime adaptation some of you may have seen. That guy sure loves his dark, messed up tragedies, and I adore him for it.
    I have to roundly second the recommendation of this VN (though I hesitate to call most items of that medium "games"), though with the caveat that if all the gore doesn't get under your skin, the sexual content very well may. But it's solidly my favorite visual novel ever, and even serves as a great example of a story with "Lovecraftian" elements aptly applied. If you've ever played a game of Call of Cthulhu before, there is a certain character whose overall modus operandi you may find very, very resonantly familiar. More than that, and more than all the shock and gore, though, it's the element of grim, psychological transformation that's resonant through the whole thing. There's a very gradual slip of perspective as the story continues that's kind of fascinating to see play out. You sometimes see "character arc" harped on a lot as though stories were nothing more than an excuse to make the protagonist go from condition A at the start to condition B at the end. Here it's executed as such a slow, insidious aspect of the plot that it really feels like an essential part of the story. I don't want to give away too many details, but how much tragedy and horror is brought about by even deeply positive, natural, human emotions and instincts in the story is also something darkly exquisite.

    On a totally separate note, the creator of The Castle Doctrine wrote some clarifications to what he felt were some misinterpretations of his interview and statements: http://thecastledoctrine.net/seedBlogs.php?action=display_post&post_id=jasonrohrer_1374686914_0&show_author=1&show_date=1

    Venic on
  • LinktmLinktm Registered User regular
    I checked out Saya no Uta, and even though it has violence and gore, which you kept mentioning, I don't recall you ever mentioning that it also has graphic depictions of underage sex. You'd think that would be like the #1 warning you might mention?

  • OnychophoranOnychophoran Registered User new member
    I felt like this video didn't give OFF as much credit as it should (through no fault of the writers, I'm sure). It might just be because I'm not very familiar with games or movies, but I have no idea what David Lynch, soulcoughing, or Earthbound (okay, I've heard of that last one, but never played it) are, and I would _very_ much recommend OFF. It has a bit of a cult following on Tumblr, along with other such bizarrities as Homestuck and Night Vale, and it's those two works which I would most compare it to. It has that same mix of bright colors, comedy, and horror.

  • NoptasisNoptasis Registered User regular
    Man, horror episode about obscure horror games and no Yume Nikki? Granted, it's not THAT unheard of, but it's certainly unique and if IHNMAIMS can be considered obscure then YN can too.

    @Linktm

    Please. She's a little older than you think.

    The whole point of SnU is to get you to sympathize with the MC. The whole game is built around it, the disturbing imagery, the sounds, etc. all serve to put you in the protagonist's shoes, and make what he's doing seem a little more reasonable and justified. It's designed to stress the player, drive them a little bit insane, so that they can relate to the crazy guy better. Then all of a sudden you shift perspectives and you get to see from the outside in how horrible it is. It's really clever and well-designed in that sense, and certainly better than anything Butch has put out since then. If Madoka was good it's no credit to him.

  • PerkulatorBennyPerkulatorBenny Registered User regular
    @themowcaw
    The ending you're referring to is (I have been told) the actual canonical ending to Saya no Uta. That's probably why it felt the most fulfilling, which I totally agree about.
    Personally I love the bits you find out about Saya in that ending, when you realize just how sad her existence was until she met Fuminori.
    (Though I also love the bittersweet tone of the "White End", and the very Lovecraftian fate of the characters in the "Mad End".)

    @Linktm
    Yes, there are some rather explicit sex scenes and Saya LOOKS very young (serious spoilers, but it's safe to say that there's more to her than you might think) but unlike as in almost all other visual novels, they're done with some taste, and the sex is actually relevant to the plot, instead of just "lol porn".



    Either way, as the others have said. The real reason to play the game is the psychological aspect of the game. Following Fuminori as he slips deeper into his own tortured psyche to escape from a world that he can no longer handle.
    As long as you can stand to fast forward through the sex scenes (and don't rip off your ears from the atrocious noise when you hear things from Fuminori's perspective) you will find that the game is incredibly well crafted and sets up a mood so perfectly that you can't help but feel with the characters once you reach the end(s).

  • kardoniuskardonius Registered User new member
    Glad to see a visual novel mentioned, especially since Saya no Uta is such a good one.
    While one can argue about whether they're games or not, whenever I read or hear about game commentators bemoaning the lack of truly mature games, games that actually address adult topics in a mature fashion, I always think about the many great VNs that do just that.

    Unfortunately, most of those commentators almost never have played or even heard of any of them, both because of how relatively few are translated and their adult nature restricting their mainstream distribution, but also because so many disregard all VNs as nothing but pornography or some such.

    It's actually kind of ironic since at times they attack VNs in that sense in an attempt to appear more mature when the game they attack is actually far more mature in the depth of emotion and characters are so much greater than the games they proudly trumpet.

  • discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited November 2013
    Starseed Pilgrim seems good enough, once you figure out what the objective is.
    Finding that out is not intuitive.

    discrider on
  • masongilbert74masongilbert74 Registered User new member
    edited November 2013
    This may sound strange and even a little weird cause it will spoiler the whole game and may make it somewhat pornographic.... but song of saya deserves an in-depth analysis. That game/novel hurt me in ways I did not realize was possible that a game/novel could.

    James.... I mean this, thank you for showing me this game. It was beautiful and I can say without shame that the ending made me cry.... even through getting through til the end hurt the very soul.

    masongilbert74 on
  • zingledotzingledot Registered User regular
    Played Song of Saya after seeing this, wanting to see something different from the norm. These kinds of subjects don't get to me, what gets to me is the tension-building "he's right behind you!" moments, which thankfully this is light on.

    Song of Saya could be significant in as many ways as you want. For me it was how the writer plays with the instinctual reactions to attraction or revulsion, how subjective attraction is, and how we handle it and how it shapes our actions and opinions.

  • LaserwulfLaserwulf Registered User new member
    Thank you so much for spreading the word on IHNMaIMS! I read the original short story in an ebook compilation of Ellison's work (still hunting for a physical copy), and learned how to use DOSBox -just- for that game. The game was written on a typewriter by Ellison himself, who also did the voice of AM.

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