Bump n Level Grind

"Human beings, in point of fact, are lonely by nature, and one should feel sorry for them and love them and mourn with them. It is certain that people would understand one another better and love one another more if they would admit to one another how lonely they were, how sad they were in their tormented, anxious longings and feeble hopes." —Halldór Laxness, Heimsljós BUMPNLEVELGRIND.BLOGSPOT.COM

[foxmomnia]

Hey everyone!

I’ve been doing stuff away from Tumblr for a while. Working on games and talking about games and shit. Here are two of my most recent things you can check out!

Curries, Part I: Dal

I made a game about making curry! It’s the first part in what could potentially be an ongoing series of curry games. This one is about a dal recipe I frequently prepare. You could maybe call it a curry cooking simulator, but it’s only a simulator if you choose not to actually cook along while you play the game. I recommend you actually cook while you play. But you don’t have to, if you don’t want to. It’ll just be a very different experience. But that doesn’t mean that experience isn’t still valid. Anyway, you can play the game here. I hope you enjoy it, and if you do cook along with the game, please feel free to share a photo of your finished dal with me! P.S. One additional bit of advice I discovered after I had officially released this game: If you can’t find the yellow moong dal, you can substitute split yellow peas instead. You’ll definitely need to simmer a bit longer than the 30 minutes, though.

One More Turn Podcast

I was also a guest on One More Turn Podcast, a classic video game podcast by Kevin King and Jim Stoholski that shines a critical light on games of old, while still goofing around a little in the process. I joined them to discuss my favorite video game, Chrono Cross. Check it out here!

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I made it out to Bit Bash last Saturday, a bit on a whim because I saw Patrick Klepek mention it and it was free to attend and easy to get to and a bit out of genuine curiosity. I wasn't really sure what to expect, since it was the event's first year and the website was initially pretty sparing with regards to information. Standing in line outside Threadless HQ, where the event was held, my mind was still a little too addled by the events of Gamer Gate to really get excited for what awaited me. So as I watched a building being demolished across the street, I idly wondered if that wrecking crew said more about the state of video games today than anything the Indie City Collective would be able to muster. Inside, I couldn't escape that pervasive "hip young start-up" feeling as I marveled at the army of printed tshirts that crowded the unfinished warehouse ceiling. I spotted a ratty old flannel jacket amidst the shirts, perhaps some plea to the do-it-yourself aesthetics of grunge and punk fashion, an attempt to grasp at some sense of real  authenticity. I was bitter, I guess, which is probably why I put on my Gaming's Feminist Illuminati shirt that morning. My friends and I made the rounds, looking at what was on offer. There was a DJ booth pumping music and a selection of art prints scattered around, but the main attraction was clearly the games. People gathered around screens, some small, others in homemade cabinets, and still others projected as a huge splash across the wall...

Read the full article at Bump n Level Grind.

[foxmomnia]

Hey! So I’m on the latest episode of the Super Marcato Bros. Video Game Music Podcast talking about Yasunori Mitsuda’s beautiful soundtracks for Chrono Cross and Xenogears.

The Marcato Bros. podcast is probably my favorite vgm podcast, because they’re both trained in music theory and have a lot of knowledge about the technical limitations of various chipsets and hardware, so compared to a lot of other vgm podcasts out there, they dwell less on the nostalgic ideas and focus more on talking about the theories and techniques behind the music itself.

They’ve started doing some episodes where they bring a guest on who has more knowledge about the game itself. Having a guest who can cover all the nostalgic factors of the music seems to actually free them even more to zero in on the music itself, letting the guest provide additional context from the game as needed. I was honored to be one of their guests, and of course, it was a tribute to my favorite composer, Yasunori Mitsuda, and especially focusing in on Chrono Cross, which has long stood as my favorite game for reasons I have discussed elsewhere.

So go check out the episode! You can listen to it for free either directly on their website or through iTunes.

[bumpnlevelgrind]

Tomb Raider: A Letter Series with ellieellieoxenfree

Hey kiddo, So I'm sending you an email to start off the first letter series for my blog. The whole point is basically to bring in people and talk about games in more of a conversational, casual way, and you get to be the guinea pig for it. So there's that. Anyway, I figured I'd talk with you about the Tomb Raider reboot. I know you haven't played it, but I think you've still got plenty to say about it. And since I'm sure I'm going to bring up The Last of Us plenty, and you always wanted to do a blog series about that game with me, it seems fair to get you in on the action. So here's the thing with Tomb Raider: It's one of those games that I basically played just because I saw a lot of people talking about it. And also it was free on PS+. So full disclaimer: I went into it knowing there was controversy over how it handled female pain and abuse, and basically I was just trying to suss out for myself how I think it handled things. And the conclusion? Not the best.

Read the full blog post at Bump n Level Grind.

[bumpnlevelgrind]

Pavor Nocturnus (Working Title, Early Demo)

I'm currently in the process of moving to a new apartment. The big day is August 9th, but it's taking up what free time I usually have. The writing that I have done lately has also largely been for longer projects. One of these projects is the first letter series for this blog, which I'm aiming to finish and have ready to go up next week. The other three projects are all Twine games, so I figured I would share the beginning of one of them with you today. The working title is Pavor Nocturnus, but I'm sure I will change it as it goes along and I come up with something far better. It's a story I've wanted to tell for a while now, which I originally conceived as a JRPG years ago. I have always had the main idea of the beginning and the end more or less planned, but the middle has taken much longer to develop, and has changed considerably over the years. The resulting story I have planned is far more indebted to Icelandic folklore and literature. It's particularly influenced by the novels of Halldór Laxness and Sjón, as well as Icelandic folk beliefs about dreams and death. The setting, once more ambiguously Northern European in flavor, has now become much more distinctly Icelandic to match. At the very least, I've given up any pretense of hiding the fact that Iceland is the chief source of inspiration for this world. What I'm presenting today is the beginning of the beginning. Characters are still being introduced and the impetus for the majority of the plot still hasn't occurred. What I have for you today is mostly just setting up a mood and developing the general style, as well as an introduction to the simplest mechanics in the game (text progression and making choices). More options and other means of interaction will develop as the story progresses, including a rudimentary combat system. But for now, just enjoy this small taste, and please let me know your reactions so far (you can include them in a reblog, send me an ask, or comment on my official blog, Bump n Level Grind).

Play the early demo of Pavor Nacturnus (Working Title).

Note: Top image is Sjøtrollet (1887) by Theodor Kittelsen

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Bump n Level Grind: True Ending by seanschoenherr.

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Bump n Level Grind: New Game+ by seanschoenherr.

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Bump n Level Grind by seanschoenherr.

[bumpnlevelgrind]

God is a JRPG Boss: Why I left organized religion

God, for me and I think many of my generation, has become something inhuman and distant. This is the God I have killed countless times at the end of JRPGs. It is some all-powerful and all-knowing being who does not understand mortal life and who, because of its own folly at underestimating mankind, is defeated by mere mortals. I cannot relate to this God because he has nothing for me except, at best, a climactic antagonizing role in a video game.

So the only Jesus who has anything worthwhile for me is the Jesus who is human. The Jesus who died out of love for all humanity. The Jesus who hung around with lepers and prostitutes and the downtrodden with the simple message, "These people are human too. They deserve love. They deserve compassion. They deserve a better life." I want a community that sees us—all of us—as human beings deserving of love, respect, and compassion. I think that's what we all really want.

Read the full post at Bump n Level Grind.

[bumpnlevelgrind]

If you want to understand me better as a person, play Chrono Cross

This is an essay and not a review, and as such, may contain spoilers. "If you want to understand me better as a person, play Chrono Cross." I've said it a lot, especially to gamer friends of mine. I even said it in the very first post on this blog. It's something I've believed for a long, long time. I've believed it since the day I first beat the game way back when I was just 12 years old. By why this one game? Why is this the game I always point to? Why do I believe it somehow captures me as a person? To be honest, I haven't actually had an answer to that question. I just somehow felt that I was in there, somewhere.

Read the full post at Bump n Level Grind.

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Survival: Identifying with emotional distress in The Last of Us and Catherine

This is an essay and not a review, and as such, may contain spoilers. The Last of Us and Catherine. These two games have become paired in my mind. It's an unusual pairing. I've not seen anyone else make it, and I'm not particularly surprised by that either. For one, they seem to exist in different realms. There's no link between their developers, even to the degree of any suggestions that they were influenced by each other. The one potential link most people might hit upon is that both games draw in some way off the survival horror genre, though they do so in radically different ways. Why would someone look at a realistic third person shooter about zombies and an anime puzzle game about adult relationships and think, "These two games are a lot alike"? I certainly wouldn't have until I played them both.

Read the full post at Bump n Level Grind.

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Game of the Year 2013, Part 6

#1: Depression Quest

Depression Quest was the hardest game I have ever played, though certainly not hard in the conventional sense. This wasn’t the frustrating try-and-try-again kind of difficulty you might get from something like Super Meatboy or Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. From a strictly gameplay perspective, just looking at the very simple systems at work, Depression Quest is actually incredibly easy to play and to beat. It’s essentially a text adventure, and a pretty straightforward one at that. There are no bizarre puzzles with their own internal sense of logic or anything. You just read the various scenarios the game provides you with, and then make a choice about what to do. But that’s where the real difficulty lies. The scenarios in Depression Quest are, unsurprisingly given the title, about living with depression. The game is a life sim of sorts, but the life you’re given is a life no one really wants to live.

Read the full post at Bump n Level Grind.

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Game of the Year 2013, Part 5

#2: Gone Home

I have tried to avoid spoilers throughout this series of posts, but the very nature of Gone Home makes it difficult to really talk about without spoiling it. The act of discovery is so central to the gameplay that saying anything beyond the initial setup is nearly impossible without spoiling major elements of the plot. So please, if you can about spoilers for this game, do not read this post.

Otherwise, head over to Bump n Level Grind to read the full post.

[bumpnlevelgrind]

Game of the Year 2013, Part 4

#3: Etrian Odyssey IV

My first encounter with Etrian Odyssey was actually the second game. I wasn't sure what I thought of it, so I actually downloaded a ROM to try it out a little and see if I actually wanted to buy it. And although I found some of the dungeon crawling aspects interesting, I just couldn't really get into it. It felt needlessly archaic at times. And I don't mean drawing the map out on the lower screen. That actually felt pretty good, and was the main reason I persisted for a little while, but the combat system felt stiff and clunky and the difficulty level felt like it spiked way too much as you moved up the floors. I think my biggest problem is that it just felt so obtuse. I mean, I don't need to be handheld the entire way, but it really did feel like it sort of threw me out there and said, "I dunno, you figure out how it works." That's okay with some games, but the gameplay systems in Etrian Odyssey are incredibly nuanced and complex. I figured my self-made demo was over. It wasn't worth investing my money into, and I deleted the ROM. However, I did begin to follow the soundtracks as they were released, because Yūzō Koshiro really knocks it out of the park with this series, and so when Etrian Odyssey IV released in Japan, I got the soundtrack and just really, really fell in love with it. By then, I had also had enough time away from my first experience with the series that I was feeling like I might be ready to give it another shot. When it came out, I still didn't have a 3DS, but I played the demo on a friend's system for a few hours and enjoyed it. But was still a little unsure. I soon got my own 3DS around the time Soul Hackers came out, and downloaded the demo to Etrian Odyssey IV myself. I started to really get into it, and ended up buying the game soon after. Now, it's my favorite game on the system. But what changed? Why did I end up loving it in the end when my first experiences weren't particularly positive?

Read the full post at Bump n Level Grind.

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GAMES OF THE YEAR 2013, PART 3

#4: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

Before I get into Soul Hackers itself, I think it’s pertinent that I step back a little and talk about why I picked this game over other games in the first place. Of course, at first glance, it makes sense. I’m a big fan of Atlus and in particular their Shin Megami Tensei series (Megaten for short). So why one of those games made it onto this list isn’t what may surprise people. The surprising part is that this will be the only Megaten game on this list. Yes, that means that I picked Soul Hackers over the far more talked about Shin Megami Tensei IV. SMTIV has been a huge entry for the series, and its improvements to the battle and fusion systems have gone over exceedingly well, but it just didn't win my heart like Soul Hackers did.

Read the full post at Bump n Level Grind.

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GAMES OF THE YEAR 2013, PART 2

#5: Tearaway

I have, jokingly, referred to Tearaway as “The Best Silent Hill Game of 2013.” It’s a tongue-in-cheek claim, to be sure. There’s nothing really inherently horrifying about Tearaway, although its cutesy paper world does feel a bit Halloweeny in its late autumn/early winter malaise. But the reason I felt compelled to compare it with Silent Hill is actually how it fuses visual aesthetics with the player’s own mental space. Silent Hill is well known for its combination of atmospheric and psychological horror, at times even asking its player to take personality tests so that it can better shape its world to the player’s own potential dysfunctions. And although Tearaway is less explicitly and consciously interested in analyzing its player, its incessant desire to reflect your image back at you (or You, as the game capitalizes it, implying a kind of deification) can become quietly unsettling.

Read the full post at Bump n Level Grind.

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Games of the Year 2013, Part 1

Usually around this time of year, I make a Game of the Year list on Giant Bomb, but I figured this time, I’d put it on this brand new blog. But before I get to the actual list, a brief explanation of my approach. Last year, I had just finished my studies at the University of Chicago, which consumed my life for nine months straight, and so I was struggling to find 10 games from 2012 that I had actually played, let alone enjoyed. My solution was to pick 5 games from 2012, 5 old games I had finally gotten around to, and then highlight a few games from 2012 I was looking forward to playing as well as crowning a “Shittiest Game of 2012.” It was a little unusual for a game of the year list, and was born largely out of the fact that I just didn’t play a lot of games that year. But looking back on it, I really enjoyed that approach. There’s something about acknowledging the discovery of older gems that inherently appeals to me, so even though I’ve played plenty of brand new games this year, I still want to take that same approach. Also, picking just 5 games to highlight from 2013 will be a lot more challenging to me, and I think that challenge might be more fruitful for me in identifying what from 2013 will really stick with me. I think I’ll leave the Shittiest Game title behind, though.

Read the full post at Bump n Level Grind.