#theprotogenagian

[erratic-meowmeow]

do you know anything about why crows disappeared or when/if she might be back?

she went to the oil rig </3

running up on week 2 soon, she said she'd be back "in a few". Other than that, i know nothing. i was asleep at the time

[erratic-meowmeow]

what do you like about in stara and time?

what a question. what do i like about in stars and time... where do i start? (vague spoilers)

one, the artstyle got me attached right away, its just fantastic. the lineart is really charming, and the black and white style is done so well even i enjoy it. I hate black and white usually! they fit so much personality into the posing and facial expressions you can instantly tell exactly what every single person's deal is.

two, speaking of personality, the characters are just utterly fantastic. some of the most compelling characters ive seen in a game since toby fox. Its covered head to toe in diversity, each character has a different style and motivation, making it perfectly understandable how and why they ended up where they are.

three, Siffrin. Siffrin isnt the hero of this story- in fact, it can be argued that theyre simutaneously the protagonist AND the antagonist. hes a character so wonderfully charming you cant help but love him, and then the game punishes you for that love DELIGHTFULLY. Hes flawed in an extremely believable way- they just want to stay with their friends. is that so wrong?

four, the time loop. This is one of the best games at displaying the mental deterioration present within time loops ive ever seen, and it does it in under a hundred loops! It starts out like a puzzle game, but then the situation gets worse and worse, you get frustrated with enemies and dialogue alike, until finally Siffrin themself cracks and you cant do anything but watch. It puts you in their shoes so well that when it goes wrong you feel it.

idk. im tired. youre asking me to explain what i like about one of the best games of the decade in a tumblr post here HSNHDSNHFJZHFJS

[erratic-meowmeow]

trick or treat!

Have this scrapped frame from a little thing ive been working on :)

[chromonym]

trick or treat!

you get: big eevee plush But Awake This Time!

[chromonym]

hi

wanna write for a while about something you love? or just find interesting? it'd be fun to read

genuinely difficult to decide what to talk about bc i have so many things uhhhhhhhh let’s do OneShot. i’ll try to avoid spoilers for this first bit.

OneShot is one of, if not my absolute, favourite games of all time. the story can and will absolutely break you, and even though it’s been years since i’ve played it i still miss Niko (the main character).

the gameplay itself is… eh, let’s be real, it’s an rpgmaker game with no combat. at the very least there are some quite interesting puzzles - nothing overly difficult, but their main purpose isn’t that. they serve to immerse you (for want of a better word) in the game.

the immersion and the story are the absolute highlights, although again ‘immersion’ might be the wrong word to use. i’m trying to word this without spoilers in case you or anyone else reading this hasn’t played the game, but you’ll be able to tell within the first few minutes of gameplay what i’m talking about. for similar reasons, i’d recommend the steam version over the console version (‘world machine edition’) despite the latter having quite a few quality of life improvements.

the story, aided by the ‘immersion’, can and will make you cry. i played the game after watching a playthrough (something that i would strongly recommend against!), and i still cried over it. it’s pretty simple, your job is to guide Niko to the centre of the world of OneShot to replace its “sun”, a giant lightbulb. well, okay it’s not really that simple there’s some other things that become apparent right near the end. :)

also, the Solstice route (think of it as a new game plus) will ruin you emotionally in a completely different way! if you haven’t played it yet, say hi to Rue and TWM for me.

oh also the music is great and certain tracks (pretty, i’m here, thanks for everything, etc) still make me emotional

but i’m not done. only look under the cut if you’ve played the game, and if you haven’t, go play it!!!

so: SPOILERS FOR ONESHOT (not including Solstice).

the funniest thing about OneShot is that it’s just a glorified trolley problem. with the main difference, of course, being that the entire game has been setting you up to have Genuine Emotional Investment in it, and it. fucking. works.

i absolutely love the way that it does this, too. throughout the tutorial area, you kind of expect to be playing as Niko - that’s how it is in almost every other rpg, after all. but immediately after you’ve made this assumption, the game refers to you and Niko separately - and it says your name before you’ve even had a chance to input it. (this is also part of why i recommend steam over console, because this is a lot more unexpected there)

this is then expanded upon when you meet prophetbot, who gets Niko to talk to you directly! you then kind of get to know Niko through these chats (as well as Niko talking to other characters in the game), which makes the final decision so much worse. they’re just a kid.

the meta puzzles are quite fun (and again another reason that i recommend computer over console), but saying they immerse you in the game world isn’t exactly right - they immerse the game world in reality. they, along with things like Niko talking directly to you, utterly demolish the fourth wall while simultaneously bringing direct attention to it. obviously there’s still a necessary amount of suspension of disbelief, but you can almost imagine that the program OneShot is an actual simulation of a digital world undergoing corruption.

i also love the tower sequence, because of what you can’t do in it. you can’t talk to Niko. it’s a very simple limitation, but it’s absolutely fucking destroying given that you’ve been able to for the entire rest of the game. and even though you’re still in full control, it feels like you’re not.

and then! once you are finally able to speak to Niko again! you need to tell them that the entire journey has been for naught and you can’t save both them and the world at the same time! look, there’s a reason that the song Pretty (the one that plays in the final elevator ride) is in a playlist of songs that make me emotional.

god i fucking love this game so much

(i’ve decided that i’m not going to write anything about Solstice because. i don’t think i can do it justice. just play it. you’ll know.)

[chromonym]

i love you btw (platonicaly in the tumblr mutual way)

<3

<3

[chromonym]

Berry for you :)

WHY COULD I NOT SEE ANY OF YOUR ASKS UNTIL NOW WTF TUMBLR