The Totally Weeping Theorist @totallyweepingtheorist - Tumblr Blog

The First Tree - One Man’s Creation That Made Me Cry Many Times

Hey all,

I won’t be posting next week as I am on holiday, actually I am travelling so much this month that I am home only maybe 4 days. AS a result games and blog posts are not easily done. I might make some progress in my phone games I have in the wings ready to go but otherwise it will slow for a month. In the meantime I will write some blog posts about other topics while I have time. But for this one I am talking about the indie game The first tree.

I sit here having just finished The First Tree by David Wehle and I am trying to type through floods of tears. This game is beyond words and if you can play it please do because I will be spoiling some parts of the story to tell you about my experience you have been warned.

This game is incredible that’s all the context you need. Well there isn’t a lot more anyway, the game was produced by a single person David Wehle and is voiced by him and his wife. The game while it has some technical issues, it doesn’t change the experience of playing it and with a single developer it is still hugely impressive. Without further a due lets get to story because oh god do I have something to say.

The First Tree revolves around a dual story, that of the fox and that of the humans. Joseph starts the story by telling his wife that he had a dream, which his wife asks him to tell her about. You then continue to play the dream out, of a fox looking for her cubs who have gone missing. Along the way you are able to dig up a series of items related to Josephs life which he talks about in the conversation. The journey takes you through many landscapes, each filled with items Joseph describes in his story. The main brunt of the story is about josephs relationship with his dad and how it went bad just before his father’s death. The game continues with beautifully written dialogue that is so touching, until eventually he reveals it is his dads funeral tomorrow and he is to travel out there. There are other treads but to keep spoilers to a minimum I will move over them here. As you reach the climax joseph talks about the pointlessness of his journey, traveling for miles to not even see his dad, even if it is his funeral. This is followed in the game as the fox finds her cubs dead one by one, resigning to have journeyed for no reason. She continues to the First tree known as the well of all life and dies herself. This is thematically perfect as during the stories Joseph talks about his dad carving messages in trees to get him to talk and that the first time they carved his name in a tree as a child he conciders this his first tree.

Right with all of that said here comes the main spoiler and also what reduced me to a blubbering mess. As you approach the first tree the game asks if you would like to say something to your cubs one last time. You can type any message you wish into this section before the fox dies. Afterwards you wake up in your bed, walking around you can identify items from the story and know that you are now Joseph. You walk out of your house and find a tent that Josheph and his dad spent so much time in as a child. You sit down in the tent before you see the spectre of a fox appear outside the tent. Following this fox through the landscape for a few minutes you eventually find yourself at a tree, Josephs first tree, with a message, the last message from Josephs dad to him. Mine said “Stay Strong…” and from that moment I was in tears, but it got even better. I had a suspicion and I was correct, the message on the tree is a random choice from the things submitted by players when asked about the fox to her cubs. My message could now be shown to people finishing the game, I am giving them their final message as someone else did for me. The beauty, simplicity and heart in that moment just made me cry for a while. This game is perfect and I loved every second of the experience.

While the controls are not a lot to talk about, the other factors are fantastic also. The art style is shaded and interesting. Beautiful landscapes are constructed without needing a lot of power from your PC. The soundtrack is one of a kind with beautiful music to lul you through the game, ending in the only lyrics as you approach the end of the game. This tight, and beautiful 3 hour adventure is a must play for anyone even those not interested in games. This is an easy 5/5, I loved it and I think you will too.

Cheers see you next time.

Oxenfree - Realistic Conversation Modelling

Hey all,

So this week we are going for a different console, in fact it isn’t a console at all. Phone games have a bad rap due to them being terrible in the majority of cases. However there are some shining lights out there and this weeks post is about one of those I finished playing yesterday. Oxenfree is the first game from the Night School Studio, and came out of nowhere for me. I had not heard of it before last week so I got it and oh god I am so glad I did. Anyway without much context to give for this game we will move to the story.

This game is incredible on so many aspects that it’s so hard to pin down which to talk about. The first thing to say actually is that this is a must play so I wont be spoiling the story just setting it up. The story revolves around a group of teenagers going to an island, a usual teen drama with full on characters. Soon though other more supernatural aspects come in and the story goes in directions I didn’t expect. A good thing to prime for this game is that a large theme is that of reincarnation. Infinite time and finite matter leads to the same thing repeating out of coincidence because of time being forever. This is carried in the game play and I would say please come at this game expecting to play it few times, I won’t say why but it is good to go in with this mindset.

The game controls are simple you move around a world and interact with it, talking to your friend along the way. I said the above sentiment because the first time through it is good to just speak naturally and make Alex (the protagonist) the person you want her to be. The gameplay in this game is simple but effective and really is just an excuse to give you story. There are really only two mechanics but both are perfect, The first is that you have a radio, with the islands various machines and other things (redacted for spoilers) controlled by different frequencies. One such thing is a service that acts as a tour guide over the island at 102.6 which you can access to hear lore about the things your walking past. The radio also allows for the collectables and some secrets though less said about them the better.

By far the most interesting aspect is the dialogue system and it also makes this game unique. In effect the system is giving you three options and a fourth of saying nothing, just like most games. Also as with several games in the past the options are only allowed for a set time making the conversation flow. However where this game differs is in the very short time you have to look at them and the way they place these time limits in amongst the conversation. If you wait for the person to finish speaking before making your choice you will find them too faded to see and end up saying nothing as another person speaks instead of you. This system not only causes the conversation to flow naturally but also introduces another aspect. You are able to interrupt your friends speaking by butting in with a comment, this adds a layer to the conversation making it feel real.

On top of that we have the voice acting which is perfect, the main cast is so well acted it makes them feel real. You add this to a unique and perfect art style and you have a beautiful looking and playing game. In addition he sound track is not only interesting but also adds so much to the experience it is very important to have headphones to play this game. I was scared on multiple occasions nearly to throwing my drink in the air. It uses what it has to such a perfect degree that it is astounding. Finally there is a good old ARG involved with this (augmented reality game), for those who care have a google and a read its an insane trip to read the lengths some people went to to solve it.

Anyways, I would say this game is a must play regardless of your preferences for genre or video games in general. A short and enjoyable masterpiece and as such I give it a 5/5.

Cheers see you all next time

DnD Worldbuilding - Beginners Tips

Hey all,

I do currently have several games nearly completed but to avoid rushing any of them I thought I would write about something else this week. When I thought about it the only thing that is in my head having played last night is Dnd, so round two of posts here we go. I thought about what I would like to say when it comes to DnD and I think it’s got to be tips for world building. There are great resources out there but it can still be intimidating and having built two campaigns now I think there is some things I can supply people. The first thing to say is that, well Matt Colville said it best, to paraphrase “If there is nothing about the world you want to change there are plenty of prebuilt settings for you to use”. This is not a dismissal, you could use a preset adventure or just a preset world to build your own story in. For the majority of people homebrewing a campaign is enough without making an entirely made up setting with its own gods and customs. However if you have something about DnD you fundamentally disagree with you know you’re the sort of person that needs a crack at making your own world so here are my pointers for that process.

1/ Don’t get bogged down in the details!

The first step to making a world is wanting to in the first place. Before you get worried about town names and NPC’s you need a concept. This concept can be anything, I have heard so many over the years and they are all fantastic. For example the first 1-20 campaign I ran was based around a cult trying to release Tiamat from hell, the cult had 5 warlocks called the dragons phalanx. These release her and form most of the villians for the campaign. The last section of the campaign being killing each in turn before taking on Tiamat. I like senti shows like power rangers and a set of villians and a team of heros appealed to me so my concept was that Tiamat had her warlocks so bahamut must have his and that was the party. The concept informs everything else you make and is the first step to the world.

2/ Start from the top!

This one may be obvious to some but the easiest way to start is to be vague to begin with. What are the gods of your world? Do they differ to standard DnD? Do the races function in the same way as they do in the main game. These are the questions to ask yourself first. To use my campaign as an example, I wanted there to be very few gods so I made my own pantheon of 11 gods that covered the different races, in that way it was a low magic but high religion setting. The gods were ever present.

3/ Make several NPC’s and be flexible!

This one is from personal experience that if you make a god NPC, the one you love and you want the party to love them, they will immediately call them a silly name and forget about them. This happened to me almost immediately, a wizard I made to be their guide was mistrusted and became almost an enemy. I could have dug my heels in and tried to convince them otherwise but that would have bought the players out of the game, instead I started to act more weaselly and made him a bit of a coward. They then liked him for his shitness, as a antagonist in a way. Likewise I made a villain to fight them who they instantly loved and started talking to a lot, I could have followed through on that but instead I changed on the fly for them to be good so that they could stay with the party to draw more roleplay out of them.

4/ Don’t worry about making everything before the session starts!

This is by far the most important lesson I could give to someone starting this. You will not make every building, NPC and town before you start playing, the players will ask for something you didn’t make. The important thing is keeping them in the game so when they ask “I want to find a commoner at the bar and talk to them about X”, even if you saw this place as more exclusive, don’t say no, say yes! There is one commoner and he looks uncomfortable at the bar, no one is talking to him, it seems they are actively trying to avoid him. Keep the game moving and in the players mind, that’s the most important. If they ask for something and you don’t have it prepped tell them it’s a long walk or there is an obstacle you need them to overcome. There are orcs on the road, roll initiative. The fight will drag out the session, roleplay with them after, then call the session. Before the next meeting prep what they wanted to see. The world will develop as you play and if you try to make every detail before hand you will end up changing things anyway to please the players. Or you will If you’re a good DM because nothing pisses off players more than being told the thing they want to do doesn’t happen because you don’t see it that way. If they say something stupid (I talk to a god or something), tell them that but don’t deny them the ability to do things that would be fun and create roleplay opportunities.

Anyway I have talked for long enough, Cheers See you next time.

Bonus round - Celeste Part 2 – Man this game, god damn

Hey all,

This week is another off topic one as I return to Celeste for the second time. When I finished celeste I was happy and never intended to complete the game. I took the message about strawberries being unimportant to heart and loved what I played at 8 hours of enjoyment. But then a week went past and I started to feel that itch, so I ended up going back into the game for a second go. This time I took a lot longer getting all of the strawberries and collectables which I have to say was way more fun than I thought it would be.

Most of the strawberries are relatively obvious just hard to collect and going through the levels with a fine tooth comb was a joy to play. The crystal hearts were a little harder but still not impossible, though the chapter 2 heart took a tip from a friend, what a cool mechanic! Then came the B sides which were also not so hard to find but there was a few that were legitimately challenging to collect but with them under my belt the real game began. To start the b sides are just a little harder than the main levels but as they progress they reveal that not only are they no joke but that they are a new game entirely. There are mechanics that are only introduced in these levels, skill jumps and abilities that extend from the ones you already have. These levels were so fun I can’t even express it and at 25 hours played and all levels complete I was so happy I decided to move forward with the playthrough. But as I thought I was done the C side levels and golden strawberries requiring a perfect run of the original levels where unlocked and that is me out!

There is no way I am good enough to complete these so its where I will be leaving the game, I love it even more now but C side is too far for me. However do not be surprised if there is yet another post in a month or so. These levels are crazy hard but they are addictive, will have to see…

Cheers, see you next time

Spiderman (PS4) – Okay fine, let’s talk about the DLC

Hey all,

So we are on week two of Spiderman this time talking about the DLC that was recently released for it, this time we need no context please read the last post. Moving instead onto the story of the DLC which gets us off to a terrible start. The main word to use here is TONE and the lack of consistency of it. Starting with the final DLC which feels like a tacked on mess of an ending to the story, the centre chapter that is tonally darker than the rest in a way that makes it stick out, or the first which in my opinion has a good feel to it but is not tonally consistent with the later episodes. The jist is Hammerhead and the gangs are being gangs and Spiderman must stop them with a collection of female characters, sable, the police and black cat. In general the story is boring, predictable and just generally sad to watch. The shinning light in all of this is by far BlackCat and the Heist DLC story line. I won’t spoil it as the only thing worth bothering with in the DLC but the voice actor who plays BC is great, the story is relatively engaging and its quite fun. However this time the whole DLC even the good bits are let down by the mechanics. But before I move to those we must talk about the elephant in the reddit chats, screwball. The Instagram, twitch influencer analogue who sends you on missions. People do not like her, and I can see why and I completely agree she is the worst character in the game and in any game in recent memory. What possessed the writers to make a character that directly takes the piss out of the sort of people who play your game is beyond me and she is a bigger part of the DLC than the main game. I won’t say anymore but if you want to see the vitriol then google screwball sucks.

The mechanics for the DLC are not a lot better than the story and it is bizarre that they could have screwed them up from the main game. The physical mechanics themselves haven’t changed however the balancing is completely off and that is the issue here. The DLC adds two major changes in enemy types those being heavies with chain guns and jetpack enemies. Both of these are terrible additions, the heavies are hard enough but add a chain gun that even if you dodge can still hit you as it sweeps across the room. The jet pack enemies dive at you without an indicator to let you know it’s happening and these attacks do upwards of 80% health at level 50+. Couple that to increased enemy numbers and it makes a difficulty jump that is not only noticeable but almost enough to make me stop playing the game, I found myself dying all of the time and needing my partner to point out jet pack enemies to me when they appear to keep me alive. Perfect play and eyes in the back of your head are required, a terrible design choice.

The other factors are also the same as the main game so that leaves us with a verdict of well, it’s shit. I hate the DLC, it is not worth the money and actively ruins the thoughts about the main game. Play the main game again instead of buying this DLC, if you have to then just buy the first chapter which I would give a 3/5. The others are a direct 1/5.

Cheers

See you next time

Spiderman (PS4) - The less said about the DLC the better

Hey all,

This week I managed to finish the DLC for Spiderman on the PS4 the city never sleeps. This one is going to be massive so I will be splitting it into two parts. The first I want to talk about the main game, and the second I will talk about the DLC specifically. The reason for this will become clear but without further a due the context. I love comics, Spiderman I have a reasonable amount of experience with but very little larger universe knowledge. The same goes for the previous games, which while not directly related are worth mentioning. Spiderman games of old come down to two categories to me, either good (Spiderman 2) or bad (everything else). The games in general live or die on their mechanics but first the story.

For this Spiderman game mercifully they have decided to skip the origin story, and go straight into the story with years under peter parkers belt. The characters that show up throughout the story for the most part have been at it for some time and this gives us a story unlike any we have gotten before. The companionship of Octavious, the story of reconciling with MJ, mentoring Miles and of course Aunt May, throughout the characters are great and make the game a joy to experience. Each mission feels important and like something you want to do, however the same cannot be said for the side missions. These missions are pointless, repetitive and boring for the most part. However I don’t care at all, because the most boring mission is still fun If the mechanics are fun to just move and fight in the game and that they nailed.

The mechanics of this game are perfect as far as movement is concerned. Between the different web swings, movement options and jumps moving around the city is a joy. At the beginning you smack into buildings for a while but by hour 4/5 you get to a point where swinging through the city is easy and looks impressive. On top of that we have an arkham fighting system that actually works, flying from enemy to enemy makes much more sense for Spiderman who can use webs. Throughout the game the difficulty curve, the fighting, the swinging just everything is made so well that the game is practically perfect. That is if there wasn’t a multitude of bugs that make the game funny and frustrating at times. This game isn’t unplayable but you really should be ready for some strange occurrences while you play.

Finally on to other factors and you know what, this might be the coolest map of any game I have ever played. The music and graphics are top notch as you might expect but the design is the best. The map is New York, Shrunk to be a manageable size but still absolutely massive and accurate to. I recently visited New York for the first time to see family and we met outside a café at stairs to the high rise a long garden through the financial district. Within 10 minutes of looking I was stood on that street corner and I was at the foot of the stairs to the high rise. It looked perfectly like it did in real life and as I walked down the high rise as Spiderman reliving it, I started to realise the true potential of technology like this, absolutely breath taking. With that the rating should be no surprise of 5/5, no matter your preferences you will love this game, it is a shining example of a single player Triple A experience that is actually good.

Cheers

See you next time

Plants vs Zombies – This game is still good in 2019

Hey all,

This week I’m talking about another game I managed to finish, Plants Versus Zombies. This game is interesting, it was originally released many many years ago and has been rereleased since on nearly every platform. The sequels since have been cash grabs and in general not very good so this game is a stand alone from an era past when tower defence was hot shit. I have had this game for nearly 9 years on my steam but finally I decided to stick to it and actually finish the game. The issue with Plants Versus Zombies though is that it has very little to talk about. The story is that zombies are attacking, and that a man named Crazy Dave sells you things to help protect yourself, these things are plants. The plants attack zombies as they walk down isles and you must collect sunlight to plant more plants. There are a large variety of plants and zombies that keep the game interesting through the whole storyline. The sound design is fine in general but quite good for the standard of tower defence and the art style is quite nice but nothing special. All in all it is a simple game that everyone will enjoy but it isn’t something that should really be ran too. I enjoyed it but not enough to really recommend it to anyone who in 2019 hasn’t yet heard of or played it. All in all I give it a 3/5, its alright and if you like tower defence it’s a must play but you will already have more than likely.

Cheers

See you next time

Dark Souls Remastered – Prepare to Die, Obviously (Read Scott Pilgrim Please)

Hey all,

This week I am writing about Dark souls having just finished my 15th playthrough, this time on the remastered edition for Ps4. I have been playing this game from when it first came out, I have played all the souls/borne games and love the series. As such once again take this into account when I am writing about the games, these are not for everyone and I mean that. However this review will be somewhat different as its coming from a meta point of view having played in almost all styles at one point or another, so stick with me, that’s the context!

Dark souls lore is an unyielding mass of information which people have dedicated their lives to understanding. This should give you an idea of the level of lore in this game, however that is how the story is delivered. It does not give you a story, it gives you a jigsaw which becomes a story with a lot of work. As such I won’t try and regurgitate a huge amount of information here, please go research these videos yourself. I will however mention my favourite selection of creatures, these are the family of witches from Izalith. The family are the originators of demons and make up the chaos fire magic of the world, between the pyromancy teacher, the bed of chaos, the spider sisters and ceaseless discharge they make up a story that I love, please give them a look.

Moving to mechanics, dark souls has a surprisingly complex system. The main premise of the game is that you have two hands which can hold, weapons, magic items or shields. You control each arm with a button and you can also do alternates like heavy attacks or parry. The game also has a separate roll system which allows those without a shield to avoid damage. Finally you may use items including a limited number of healing items. These healing items replenish when you sit at a bonfire which are your safe havens. The twist being that sitting at a bonfire also resets the enemies in the world, so traveling between bonfires becomes a cost benefit of which enemies you must avoid to make it there with the healing you have. However if you are good and you play perfectly you can never heal in the game and this is the appeal of dark souls games. The game is fair, meaning if you play perfectly you never get hurt but you wont play perfectly at first and that learning curve is where the fun lies. For this playthrough I have taken another tack given my experience with the series.

To make my playthrough new I decided to do two things using the worst and best build in the game, well almost. I started a sorcerer build which is broken to no end and please do not play this your first time. I didn’t know what I was doing and I still one shot nearly all of the bosses in the game, it ruins the progression. The second campaign was much better and involved an old grudge. When I first played the game I did not finish the final boss because it was said a rolling only build (without a shield), is almost completely unable to win. So I stopped and replayed with a shield, however for years I have wanted to manage this, so I tried. I min maxed my abilities, took a particular shield and armour to raise my stamina and lower damage from this boss. I took a weapon able to attack quickly and stagger. Overall I used all my knowledge and faced him and after an hour of trying to win I finally did and It felt amazing. This is where dark souls lives and breaths, in the success you work hard for, in that realm it is amazing.

Onto the other factors section, which in this game requires a minor spoiler so please skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want to risk it, though I will be vague as possible. So the game is interested in making an experience and as such it has very little to no music in most of the game. You are left with your own footsteps and those of your enemies. This creates an atmosphere that is almost claustrophobic and scary, and really adds to the experience. The visuals are beautiful for the time it came out, at least for the most part, ignoring the Ps2 trees. Where the game really shines however is in the final fight of the game with the boss Gwyn. Upon entering the boss fight, you are in an arena, he is ablaze shining a light on him only, the music swells with a beautiful piano piece an he walks towards you to sort this once and for all. A beautiful moment, and with that we have finished other factors.

For this game there is no other way of putting it, it is a masterpiece. However it is only for one type of player and others will find this infuriating. In addition there are a few aspects that could be improved so on all levels it is a 4/5.

Cheers, See you next time.

Even Walking is a game now - Pokemon Go

Hey all,

I have yet to complete another game, though I do have like 6 on the go. However this week I thought I would talk about a game I play an insane number of hours of, pokemon go! Not in the conventional sense as a review so much as a commentary on it but we will stick to the formula to get me used to it and I will start with context. I love pokemon. Shock horror, I know, but I grew up around that time and while I have separated somewhat from the series I still get involved. I have played nearly every pokemon game though usually a few years after their release these days. I also have watched a few episodes of each anime mainly to laugh at it with friends over whiskey but still I enjoy the experience. So it was somewhat odd that a few years ago when they announced pokemon go my response was, well fuck that.

I am not into supporting broken, featureless and exploitative games and as such kept a clear space between me and it. However around 5 months ago, my partner wanted to go on a pokewalk and I thought why the hell not, let’s just give it a go. The game that I downloaded is a world from the game I saw when it was first released. It is still the buggy mess it was but given that it is an intensive phone game, that hundreds play in any one location it is holding up well these days. They have added a multitude of features which now make it an actual game. The features added are quests, gyms and raids, along with events based on different themes. All of these make playing with friends a riot and I have gone on plenty of pokewalks with friends since I got it. An interesting twist is that I walk 30 minutes to and from work through a city centre every day meaning I have 1 hour of play time with highly populated areas, every day. This has resulted in me reaching lvl 30 (40 is max) in just 5 months and I have caught up with most of the people I know who has played it for 2 years.

The game is fun but not engrossing so you can play it to give your walks more interest and it even encourages you to walk more. I now regularly take the longer route home just to play it a little more or go to a raid I want to do. As a result I walk upwards of 40km a week now. I have always been a keen walker but the game is fun while not detracting from the joy of walking on your own or with friends in the first place. I have gone on for some time now about what the game is like and not moved to the next section but this is the interesting part of this game. There is no story, the characters are your friends and the mechanics are so thin and there just to make you click that it isn’t worth talking about. The game is what you make of it and if you invest your effort to walk places with friends it is a lot of fun.

Other factors now and while the game looks reasonable there isn’t much to talk about here, the only thing is the elephant in my work office in which I’m writing this instead of doing work (woops). The elephant in the room is the monetisation (said in a jim sterling voice). Micro transactions are rife in this game and that was what stopped me from trying it in the first place, so my analysis of this? Micro transactions are predatory by their very nature and they will always cause issues for me with a game, however if they have to be there (which is an argument for a separate day) they are actually done well here. The game is free and can remain free if you wish it too. I never run out of items and it is as easy as walking somewhere to get some more. The things you can’t find by walking are purchased with coins which you can pay for or win at gyms. There is a daily limit however in a week it is possible to build up enough coins to buy almost anything in the shop. I have spent nothing on this game but I have purchased so much from the shop. As a result the system is fair and very fun to play, which only leaves the lingering memory that some people out there will be bankrupting themselves on this game none the less. All in all if you like pokemon its worth a 5 minute look, its free but I would say if you are a whale as the industry calls it, do not go near this, and look after yourself.

Cheers, See you next time.

The Witness And The Bridge, The Pitfalls Of Puzzle Game Design

Hey all,

So before long the expected happened and we come to a game I did not finish. I was determined to finish, but I shouldn’t force it, some games are bad. However in an attempt to keep these posts positive I want to compare the game I didn’t like to one I did but played last year. So without further a due here is my comparison of puzzle games done right and wrong with The Witness and The Bridge. To start, context is important as always, I love puzzle games but I am by far not the best at them. I struggle and get frustrated a lot and as such tend to only play them casually on my phone and don’t buy into the large scale ones. Additionally I may have some bias though I doubt it will be affecting these opinions, I love braid and the indie scene which Johnathon Blow has done a lot for. Whereas I don’t know who made the bridge and it was random chance I ended up playing it. With that in mind take some of my opinions as you feel are needed with this information. As these are puzzle games and not large scale narratives the first section is a bit more nebulous than usual.

In the bridge you play as a man that did some things, not really sure where to go from there. I got to chapter 5 and played for 4ish hour and through this I know he likes maths and has a friend that something happened to. Other than that I know very little and that’s not always a bad thing, the game is delivering a mystery narrative, however it feels frustrating to not be given much. Compare this to The Witness which has basically no character at all, but instead concentrates on the game as an experience rather than a narrative. Now I know some may find meaning in what you do find in the witness and if you do I think that’s fantastic but in the traditional sense (*which I am talking about) it doesn’t have a narrative. However I want to speak on something else here to do with character that both games actually do in spectacular fashion. Both games have a character associated with the game itself which cannot be denied and this is delivered in its presentation which would come under other factors and as such we will leave this for now and return after discussing the game mechanics. Strap in, this will take some time, it’s a complicated business these puzzle games.

The mechanics of these games could not be further from each other and this is the core of why one works and the other in my opinion doesn’t. To start with, the bridge, the central concept of the game is you are a dude, and you can rotate the world. As such you must rotate the world in a way to get him to the goal without killing him with magic death touch rocks. However as the game progresses more systems are added with no time to become accustomed to them before moving on. I am not talking about a tutorial as such but in the language of puzzle games you must be shown what the powers are, what they do and what they are used for. As a result you build into a complex system with clearly defined edges the player can move within. However the bridge does a terrible job of communicating this to the player, for several of the powers I just couldn’t grasp how best to use it as a tool in puzzle solving. To puzzle game players this might seem strange but honestly it is not easy to follow and leaves you feeling frustrated. I looked up solutions just to get by some levels and that is undermining the point of these games in the first place. The game feels rushed and with double maybe quadruple the number of levels it might have been saved. The proper time needs to be given to build the skills to then allow really difficult puzzles using those skills, and The Bridge does neither well. Overall the game did nothing to endear itself to me and tell me its systems and it left me struggling without all the information I needed.

We now compare this to The Witness and it couldn’t be more different, from the start to the finish the game is simple. Start at the circle, end at the circle, get the line from a to b. Every single puzzle is this simple concept but with modifiers. Get a to b while not crossing some areas, a to b while touching some areas, a to b while making shapes etc. I won’t say anymore as the game is about finding and learning these rules. This is the clincher, you are not told anything about the rules of the game, not a single one but in game design you are taught them. The puzzles are designed to build over time and allow you to piece together your own tutorial. If you find a puzzle you have no idea what to do with you can accidentally learn a new system before you were supposed to. The puzzles never feel too hard because they are only hard due to your lack of experience. If you find other puzzles of the same type eventually you will work out the rules and that feeling is great. It’s a game in the vein of a character action game. Your characters progression is dwarfed by the effect your own skill level has on your success. The same is true here, as you progress you get better and as a result the game gets better and easier. It’s a masterpiece of game design, I adore it and to give just one example so not to ruin too much, I turn to the castle and its mazes.

There are four mazes which have puzzles attached to let you out of them, but there is no obvious way to work out the correct puzzle answer. There are many routes the line could take from a to b and no clues attached or even shapes to tell you which rules are in play. That is until you move through the maze itself, the first is a simple find your way to the end but they expand quickly and one is my favourite example of game design. For a long time I could not work out what the hell I was supposed to do until I heard it. I walked on grass, it crunching as you expect and then nothing. Dead air. I reversed and followed the sounds and sure enough the path leads me to the correct answer. Nothing to do with existing rules, it relied on my attention to the whole experience. A one off puzzle based on sound in a game primary based on zooming into puzzle panels. This design in anyone else’s hands would lead to confusion but in The Witness the design leads you by the hand invisibly so you always feel good for working it out for yourself.

Moving to other factors this is a difficult one and in this section it is going to be praise for both games actually. Starting with The Witness, the game is a living dream. The art is stylised and does it so well, from the expanse of the dessert and forest areas to the oppressive underground sections. I legitimately felt scared in the underground sections in most part due to audio. The world around you is pastel coloured and has the minimum sound design possible. That lack of sound in the underground sections is terrifying akin to anti-chamber for puzzle fans that have played that game, where the game scares you with bird song ambient noise. The character of the game (see told you I wouldn’t forget), is in itself exploration. The game is a testament to the fun of wondering through a beautiful and challenging world, and this is the take away message and character of the game. You are free to do whatever you wish and you pass or fail on the effort you put in, but it never feels like effort because akin to Proteus just wondering in the world is a dream. Side note please go out and find Proteus if you have any issue with anxiety, it is a blocky pixelated land full of small animals and musical notes to interact with. It’s amazing and relaxing, and helped me through some parts of my life.

Moving to the bridge I think this is the aspect the game nails. Unlike the witness which feels expansive and colourful the bridge is constraining and dark. The art style is pencil drawn in style and is all in black and white. The sound design concentrates on huge musical flourishes and really loud sound effects. The game on the whole is puts you on edge and makes you feel out of place and uncomfortable which I believe is there intention. I wish the mechanics lived up to this because I am sure the game is going somewhere with this design. The game is very well styled but is let down by it’s mechanics. Overall the two games here could not be more different. I would give the bridge a 2/5 meaning only bother with it if you are a die-hard puzzle game player, there are redeeming features but the game play isn’t there. While the witness I would give a 5/5 anyone should have a go at this game. In fact I am sure those who have never played a puzzle game before would find it easier than those who have. The game expects no prior experience, is fun and meaningful in the time it makes you spend and overall is a joy for anyone.

Cheers, See you all next time

Celeste – The Story Of Anxiety, Accepting Yourself And Heart Warming Selfies

Hey all, I am writing once again within 24 hours of my first post! With Christmas just gone I have a backlog of games and tackled an indie darling to clear the palette after the insanity of God of war. The game I ended up with was Celeste a game I had been recommended quite some time ago, and I can see why, so without further ado, here we go.

For context, this is not a franchise game and comes somewhat out of the blue so no need for that this time, however game wise here is my history. I am a avid indie game fan and I love platformers. My favourites where the 3D platformers of old however I have plenty of play time in 2D platformers as well. Having finished Super meat boy (after my third attempt at playing it, man that game was tough!) I think I have reasonable skills in these kinds of games. The game is loosely about interpersonal relationships and mental health, which interest me as well so overall this game is made for me so I will be biased. Thankfully I am not trying not to be so with that said on to character and story.

This game revolves around only 5 characters and 2 are the same person! In these games I always leave the name as default, not wanting to insert myself and instead wanting the authors experience, as such the main character is Madeline. We join Madeline on a journey to climb a mountain (weird the theme that’s developing here with the games, im going to have to play SS tricky next). She has decided to travel to the mountain to attempt to climb it, and from the very beginning the theme of this game is clear. I do not want to spoil anything about this game but I will just mention the first 5 minutes to give you an idea. The game keeps track of collectables and deaths for each level, which it tells you not to worry about. Each death is just another step to learning and succeeding a loading screen tells you before you are dropped into the game. The first jump you attempt, you die, and it seems impossible. Afterwards, you respawn and once again try this impossible jump, this time the game stops and tells you about your dash ability allowing you to land the jump and proceed, after this experience the game leaves you with a simple message “You can do this”. The game from here unravels telling the story of a depressed and anxious person overcoming her inner demons and the story is both heart warming and gripping. The strange noises presented instead of voices become comforting and though the game I honestly became connected and attached to these goofy characters. This game is a must play for anyone interested in mental health and character study like experiences. With that said to the game play!

Celeste is a platformer in the purest sense of the word. You have a jump, an air dash and you can hold onto surfaces. These are your tools and they need to get you from the start of the level to the end without dieing which the level is determined to change. These levels start difficult and become insane by the end of the game. My deathcount for my play through was 1066 and given my experience with these games I would guess that’s on the lower side. Celeste asks you to keep calm and keep trying in order to get that sense of achievement when you finally manage to do it. Now that I have finished this game I can say that it is well worth sticking with, unlike most games I never had even the slightest impulse to stop playing, I never said just one more and then I will stop. I continued with the intention of doing so until I finally succeeded and I always did in the end. This game is a joy to play for those who like platformers it’s a challenge and for your average player it will be very difficult and could lead to resentment when failing to complete a level.

When we look to the other factors of this game there is so much to it. The music is sublime and calming with real character to each level provided by the varied soundtrack. The voice acting is absent but it helps in this case with the dialogue being perfect and the cute noises the characters make giving them a distinguishing feature. I love the art style though it isn’t the prettiest game by far, the art style is stylised but It could be improved. The small amount of splash screen art however has a fantastic art style reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim and is a joy to see. This game is a good example of a indie game with heart, and time put into it. I would say 5/5 intended for everyone to experience however the difficult game play makes it a challenge for those not interested in plaformers and as a result I will say 4/5, but 5/5 if you can watch someone else play it!

Cheers, see you next time

Dad of War - The Difference Between Toxic and Non-Toxic Masculinity

Hey all, so the first review is up as I spend my week off work completing my first game of the year God of war. In a hope of establishing a format I am going to address 5 areas in turn, Context, Story and Character, Gameplay, Other factors and Verdict.

Starting with context, I have basic knowledge of the series with zero play time of the previous games. I love both last of us style action games and character action/high intensity systems (Fighting game player/highest difficulty of revengence player). As a result my view point on the combat while informative, needs to be taken knowing I am relatively skilled at these things, as the combat in God of War is quite challenging. I would recommend those new to games or just not interested in dieing a lot to overcome the challenge choose the lowest difficulty for this game, there is no shame in it.

The setup for this game is minimal, the game revolves around a farther’s journey to carry his wifes ashes to a mountain to be spread at her request, travelling with his child (boy!). This is complicated somewhat by our protagonist Kratos being a god from the Greek pantheon now in the lands of the Norse gods having killed the shit out of his own. I wont spoil anything about the story and instead want to talk about something I find interesting and that’s the presentation of Kratos as a man and a farther. In previous games, Kratos was the meaning of toxically macho with degrading of women, crazy violence and no emotions within a mile of him. I love crazy anime fights as much as the next person, I love every single platinum game but I had no interest in the previous games. Impact is lost when the character is as 2D as is possible. This representation is not something I like and overall drove me away from the franchise, and here that has all changed. Kratos is unbelievably manly and macho in this game, that has not changed, he is huge, speaks in the deepest of voices and says very little. However something has fundamentally changed, in this game he is a farther, and while he speaks very little he shows compassion and care for his child. There are points where the child reacts to the strength he shows which like birds for scale adds to the impact. There is even a scene which I won’t spoil where Kratos admits to feeling something other than anger. He apologizes to his child for not showing it enough but says he will not change it is simply how he shows these emotions. Kratos while being macho to a crazy degree, also shows emotions, and an understanding that others exist and while he will hurt them he acknowledges it is a hard thing to do. This is fundamentally the difference between toxic and non-toxic behaviour. He has gone from a toxic figure to an embodiment of the perfect personification of macho intent, but without being unbelievable as a real person. And of course because it’s the internet I have to state this. It is not bad that he is this, but his old representation was toxic and so inherently problematic. However this version is simply one type of male, and lets be honest for Kratos nothing else would make sense. The way they explore the relationship between Kratos, his son and his sons developing attitudes is fantastic and a joy to watch. The story is gripping, the characters loveable if a little 2 dimensional in places and overall it’s a success. I will not be mentioning the end but needless to say it is spectacular, heart-warming and sad.

When we move to the game play things only get better from here, the game play is stellar. The controls are tight, the systems well implemented and the combat is a joy to play. The only issue I have with this is the large swoths of other stuff. The collectables are plentiful and exploration feels quite dull and I found myself stopping looking for them after a while. It feels like something added to extend the game play time, where it would be a tighter experience if the story was more in line with last of us, where exploration was for supplies you deathly need. At one point Atreus literally says we could do that or we could explore! To which my response is, gods are trying to fucking kill us, we are trying to put your mother to rest and you want to dick about punching chests?! What’s wrong with you child! However despite this the game is a joy to play with sections between combat filled with dialogue that you actually do want to listen to. The combat itself has depth and some difficult manoeuvres however it does suffer from encounter design. These fights can feel unfair in some cases, but as a god being hunted it probably shouldn’t be in your favour at all times and might be intentional. In each case when I died to these unfair fights I hit retry so fast because I was determined to kick the shit out of the challenge, it was never a rage quit situation.

This covers most of what makes this game great, the sound track while not bad is not all that distinctive. The voice acting is solid throughout though mirmir is by far the stand out, and a joy to have along for the ride. The graphics are spectacular as you would expect for a current gen game, however as will become clear in these reviews I appreciate an art style much more than realism in games. I do not believe realism is better than a solid interesting art style that makes a game distinctive ala Limbo. My verdict is that this game is a joy to play, with a solid story and great mechanics but please do not try and complete 100%, you will be burnt out well before you finish. This game is a must play for those interested in farther son dynamics, mythology and engaging combat systems. I don’t like number scored but I am going to try and institute one here, I give this game a 4/5, not a perfect game but it is a worth checking out for anyone interested in the genre.

Cheers, See you all next time

Album’s of 2018 That Kept My Faith In Music Alive

Hey all.

So the first thing to say is that this is MY top albums of the year, anyone who disagrees is fine to do so, you will see a leaning to midwestern emo and pop punk because its my list. With that said onto the first album – The Wonder Years, Sister cities. I have said many things about the wonder years and I should, given they are my favourite band, but this album was strange for me. The music overall I am told by friends was a disappointment to them, this surprised me though. The drums here have improved insanely from the last album, and Soupys lyrics are solid as ever. Personally Raining in Kyoto was the song on this album that made me cry, but there are so many with that power. However despite my love of the band I have to be critical and a lot of the songs sound very similar leading to the 5th position for the album.

The next is Skinny Dipping by Stand Atlantic, I have already gone through this album recently on here so I won’t say much. It’s a solid album, from a new up and coming band with a female lead singer with a distinctive voice, a drummer with style and a guitarist with personality. Please if you haven’t listened yet do now.

At 3 in the list we have Swell from Tiny moving parts. This album is not for everyone though it is the easiest to listen to of this bands catalogue, as a mix of midwestern emo and mathcore. However the album is worth sticking with, it has so much to offer. The music is intense, complicated but also groovy and fun to listen to. The lyrics are poetic as always and really make you feel for the lead singer. Tiny moving parts are one of my favourite bands not just from music style and quality but just pure heart, seeing these guys live lets you know how much they love what they do.

In second place it’s an album and a band I have spoken about once again with Trash boat and crown shyness, for an in depth look at the album i direct people to that post but in short. The album is a masterpiece with every song having a clear message spoken beautifully in the lyrics. The music is solid, fun and has so much impact throughout and there is a mix of styles. This album would be number one on my list if it wasn’t for external factors such as not getting to see these on their album tour while the number one spot goes to a band I saw 4 times in 3 days and loved seeing every single time. Trash boat are one of my favourite bands and their follow up album is a fantastic success.

Before I talk about number 1 some honorable mentions, actually just two. Puppy love from mom jeans, which as with the first album from these guys is spectacular. Also Mccaffertys new album Yarn, the band have unfortunately split since but this album is stellar in every shape and form and I adore it. So with that said in the number one spot we have Nervus with Everything dies. As with all of these albums the music in these songs are incredible, though here the complexity is deceiving and on your seventh listen you will still find nuance that you missed before. The lyrics go from clever to heartbreaking to hilarious throughout. Em the lead singer is a Transwomen and much of this album is about her experiences from trying to convince people to give her the treatments she needs, the respect she deserves and sometimes telling the world to sod off in catharsis. Even further seeing them live is joyous beyond belief, the keyboard player is the best dancer I have ever seen and Em has a personality and attitude which makes it impossible not to love her. I saw them play at 2000 trees festival four times and every time i loved it. Also treat yourself and follow em on twitter its fantastic

Cheers, See you all in the new year for game reviews!

State Of The Blog That No One Will Ever Read

Hey all!

So this blog ended up being a spotty venture in 2018 and as a result I have decided to attempt something different and more likely to succeed. Last year there was a concentration on music reviews with other content sometimes, as a result for the last post I would like to give my 5 favourite albums released in 2018. However moving into the new year I have started a new Dm campaign, Im in the dieing days of my PhD writing up my thesis and a lot is bound to change. So in the mindset I thought of a challenge to set for 2019, and a lot of my friends have started a book reading challenge. Now I love books but I am a very slow reader and my partner recently pointed out I instead have traded reading speed for gaming speed. So that is my choice for 2019, I am tracking how many games I complete this year, heading for at least 12 but maybe more depends on my money situation. However I thought as well as random crap I post sometimes this blog would primarily become a game review blog, where I talk about each game as I complete them. So watch out for a discussion of masculinity and toxic tendencies in my God of war review incoming soon given my week off till the 7th, but in the meantime my top albums of 2018.

Cheers, See you next time

I Need an Outlet for My Teaching Side - DnD tips for new DM’s

Hey all,

I felt like taking 30 minutes to post once before Christmas and I need to distract myself from failing to get this job (Postdoc job hunts yay) so I want to talk about DnD. Yes I have jumped on the band wagon and despite being a huge nerd I didn’t play it when I was younger due to my lack of friends. But a few years ago while drunk we started playing and cut to two years later when I suggest I DM a new campaign for friends in the city we live (The first game was a distance game with old friends). That was a year ago and we are now barrelling towards the final fight with Tiamat and the end of a 1-20 lvl year long campaign. I am now writing the setting for the second campaign which will start soon after the first ends and I feel I now have some knowledge to pass on to DM’s. First though I should say, Watch the DM series from Matt Colville which at this point is quite a lot longer than when I watched it. As a basis there is no better resource (Sorry webDM) and I wholly recommend it. Obviously form there check out season 2 of critical role for an idea of the perfect DnD setup both DM and players. Now forget critical role because it will not be like that, at least at first, and if any player suggests its your fault it isn’t like that tell them to shut it. No group is that well suited or that talented (they are all voice actors at the end of the day) from the start. After a year my group (who are in the top 1% of groups for compatibility, trust me I’m lucky) are only just getting to be 10% of critical role. That’s not to say it isn’t fun, we laugh so much every week and look forward to it, but it will be different because you are not and your players are not professional voice actors.

Anyway, once you are introduced and you know what you know from Colville you are left with guidance and a hastily constructed world with holes in it everywhere. I am presuming you got this far and I have some tips for the next stage, the intermediate lessons you learn DMing your first full campaign. So here are the 5 most important things you need to know, and yes its 5 because the internet comes in 5’s for some reason.

1/ Have a session 0! If you don’t lay out what to expect the group is going to struggle. You may want to do an open world game, a railroad game, half way between. There may be suicide and other themes of the sort, or there may be no mention of real life difficulties. Ensuring the players know what to expect is so important to them not being disappointed and you not being caught off guard.

2/ Do not sweat the details! You cannot prep everything and if you try you will destroy your love of your own world and find out you missed something anyway. The players will never guess when you make up details as they go but they will notice you improvising a quest or a bad name. Prep names to use for random people they interact with and prep quests and locations. Do not try and prep everything, improv is a necessary part of DnD so let it happen and see how it goes.

3/ Do not fret being wrong! In the last part you might be panicking but it really doesn’t matter if you mess up. Your players want to play and you are the only way to do it. Trust me DM’s do not come around very often especially not DM’s that care. So if you are nice to them, care for their enjoyment and then fuck something up. They will let it go and help you continue the story, do not be scared to make a mistake.

4/ Admit your wrong! You are not a god and there will be times you mess up a detail of the rules or the world itself. Somewhat tied into the above point but if you do make a mistake your players will not rip you to shreds. They might If you bullshit and say you are right and they are remembering it wrong when they pull up their note books. Admit your wrong, move on and keep going, don’t let it bog you down.

5/ Have fun and the players will! Do not think your enjoyment is not an integral part of the experience. If you are bored, your players will be bored because the portal through which they are viewing the world is bored. You cannot write a huge story and lecture them, but you also need to be involved and engaged to have excitement. If you find yourself bored or sad about the session talk to your players because they will not enjoy it till you do.

6/ Caught you off guard! The players as I just did will play with expectations and so when writing a story NEVER write presuming a specific thing will happen. You can write quests and presume they will complete them, but you don’t know how they will do it and what the ramifications will be. Plan the quest and the people and decide how they react to the situation once you know what the situation actually is.

Anyway that’s not extensive and its not meant to be a guide but there some lessons I learnt during play to supplement the info for new DM’s out there. Thanks guys, see you next time.

Cheers

Crown Shyness and the Catharsis of shared experience or why Trash Boat are the best

Hey all!

I know I’m starting to seem like a broken record at this point but as well as thinking of putting something up about Stand Atlantics amazing new album I also want to return to another band I have spoken about. That’s Trash boat with their second album Crown Shyness that came out and graced us with its presence this year. It is, to put it lightly, a Fucking masterpiece. Seriously I was so scared I wouldn’t like it considering the amount of bad follow ups lately but somehow they made me love it more than their debut. I want to talk about the album and my reading of it, but first I want to address the structure of the album and its themes. Crown Shyness is the name of the album and it’s also the theme, as described by the writer and lead singer Toby.

He describes how on learning of Crown Shyness, he was astounded by its beauty. Honest you can’t blame him, google it and tell me it’s not an amazing sight. Crown Shyness is the phenomenon of trees growing next to each other leaving a small space between the leaves. Though they grow big they never touch making these long intricate patterns of light when looking up at them. The allegory here is pretty clear, so many people reaching out but never really touching or feeling. It’s an album about emotional awareness of others and the lack of it. It’s about a world where we are together but never manage to get over the barriers to interact. From the heart felt anger of inside out to the resignation of Crown Shyness, the title track, we see this play out with the perfect lyrics “Lately I’m feeling like the only tree breaking through the canopy” and “Autumn comes to cut me down to size, it becomes beautiful to die”. These illustrate the complexity in Toby’s lyrics which have come a long way since their debut.

But in addition to this the album takes on a whole new message for me, whether this was intended or not I’m unsure but either way its why I love it so much. The album as a whole can seem like it revolves around emotional awareness and empathy but it has an undercurrent of in my opinion an abusive relationship. Now you can read it as literal or metaphorical but either way there is a lot of pain being caused throughout the album. The songs that illustrate this best are the two part narrative (in my reading) of Shades and Silence. While most of the album is about himself or his attempts to connect with others and the failure or success of that, these two songs feel different. Both provide a look into an aspect of abuse or mistreatment that struck a chord (ha) with me.

The first song Shade starts with the narrator speaking on their situation describing it as being greeted with sharpened teeth and chastising themselves for being so easily overwhelmed. I personally connected on this as I am currently struggling through the last year of my PhD and can feel this way some times. The bridge then goes to talk of the effects of this feeling with the perfect line “Now your bright and blinding light begins to fade, lose your colour, become shade”. The narrator is drained from the experience and has lost that something that made them interesting and loveable, or able to love themselves. Sometime later the story is picked up in verse two were the narrator reconciles with the person/thing that is so destructive saying. “I can’t excuse you but now I understand you are sick you are proud and you are never backing down”. The narrator moves to telling themselves to stop the situation with “I’m sick of thinking about this, it’s no longer constructive”. The song ends with a declaration screamed by Toby just a simple “This is the end”, which I believe is him deciding to stop the abuse and release himself. Ending the situation and removing themselves from it, this is picked up with the aftereffects of the abuse in the second song silence,

Personally I have been through some situations which are hard to talk about and hearing this song was difficult at first. As a warning if it will hurt to hear it please don’t read on.

Silence is altogether a different song, not melancholy at all but angry and resentful. I can’t type out all the words here but please read them they are fantastic and gave me a catharsis you wouldn’t believe. In this song the narrator in the first verse speaks to his personal reaction to remembering being in an abusive situation. Speaks of panic attacks and how it felt to be hopeless, not knowing what is happening to his body experiencing aftershocks to the abuse. The verse bursts from this telling the person to come at him with their worst because nothing can help or hurt him now.

The second verse moves to the next phase of remembering abuse, that’s blaming yourself. The verse starts with “Quiet violence, suffer in silence” and a vow that they can take it. This is the narrator rationalising why they started in the abusive relationship for so long. This morphs into anger at themselves with “Cause I’m addicted, I consent, a masochistic time well spent” until they gain the resolve to leave and to stop blaming themselves for what happened in the last lines. “Feeling struggle breeding strength and I can beat this I can see this end”. The song continues with the chorus only adding the bridge which I love so much. It involves a quiet and sad repeating of the line “Quiet violence, suffer in silence”, followed by someone Shh’ing. The shh is followed by Toby screaming the first line of the chorus “Make your Move cause I’m sick of waiting”. This obviously is the victim lashing out and saying enough to the abuser but also serves as an outlet for those listening and singing along.

The album as a whole is perfect but these songs hit me hard and in my opinion are a masterpiece. The album is fucking amazing and I wholly recommend it.

Cheers, see you next time

Del Toro and the Spanish Civil War

Hey again, I finally got a chance between thesis writing and DMing to write a post and this one was inspired by a showing of the Guillermo Del Toro film, Pans labyrinth on Halloween. I have seen this movie countless times and this one on the big screen made me think. I attend a film studies group after work and through all the interpretations I found I thought something different. Probably out there in some respects but I want to write it out because its rare I have these kinds of thoughts so when I have my own reading its something worth writing about. So I am going to talk through the movie from my point of view, know that these are opinions on the interpretation of the events. The movie as a whole is a dark fairytale about a girl dealing with a horrific time during the Spanish civil war in 1944. I recommend watching the movie it is one of the greats and Del Toro is a legend in my opinion. But without further adue I will start (presuming you have already seen the movie and I don’t need to do a summary).

From the beginning of the movie the fairy tale elements of Ofelia’s journey are apparent from the fairy to the faun and throughout. However beneath these fairytale elements lives a much more cynical take. In an interview with Del Toro he is quoted as saying Ofelia and the much older character of Mercedes are the same character, one is innocent while the other is violent but at their core they are the same. I believe or more importantly I read from the movie that this is Del Toro voicing his opinion on the rebellion. That being that we must have the truth and deal with it by the means necessary and not hide from problems. The way the movie portrays the war is indicative of this with a much more candid lens than many others who shy away from the atrocities. This is were my reading lies in the juxtaposition between Ofelia and Mercedes, who both throughout the movie go on the hero’s journey.

During the movie Ofelia is given tasks by the faun, the first to fetch a golden key from the greedy frog rotting the tree it lives in. For this she is gifted with a magical means of keeping her mother and the baby alive. The second to use the key to get the knife without eating any of the paleman’s food. This tasks she succeeds at but does eat leading to the death of her fairy helpers and the faun to leave including the magical cure for her mother. The faun then returns in her time of need and tells her to spill the blood of the innocent which she does with her own blood and in doing so is left to live in her fantasy or die depending on your interpretation. However it can be read as Mercede’s who actually succeeds in these tasks but in the real world leading to an actual happy ending.

Mercedes has already collected the golden key from general Vidal before the beginning of the movie as she works for him. She is in league with the resistance and gives them food. In this way she is taking the key from the greedy facist’s that are keeping the food from the public and so killing spain from the inside. After some time in the movie Vidal discovers this and removes the key from her possession warning her that food going missing would lead to her. This in a way can be read as a parallel with the paleman, who many have pointed out are framed similarly in the banquet and paleman’s room scenes. The paleman attacks after Ofelia breaks the rules and steals food, once she has collected the knife. Mercede’s keeps a knife in her dress at all times and when she steals food despite the warning Vidal (the paleman) attacks. The resistance is forced to run to avoid being caught and in fact some die in the process. This can be seen as her faun (the resistance) leaving due to her breaking of the rules and taking food from Vidal (the paleman).

After this occurs the mandrake given to heal Ofelia’s mother stops functioning and is thrown into the fire by Vidal. At the same time the doctor who was healing her mother is found to be part of the resistance and killed by Vidal. In this Vidal crosses the boundaries of fairytale and reality removing both as a result of their actions. After some time Mercede’s is found to be apart of the resistance and as such is caught, at a similar time Ofelia is locked in her room and trapped also. Mercede’s fights and frees herself injuring Vidal in the process, running into the forest. At the last moment when she thinks all is lost the resistance save her through violence removing her from her confines. At the same time the faun returns to Ofelia providing a magical means to escape her room. Finally in the end Ofelia sacrifices herself, an innocent instead of her brother. In this reading Ofelia is the innocent that Mercede’s has to sacrifice in order to catch and kill Vidal.

Through all of these parallels it is clear to see the two part story. In one Mercede’s faces the truth, solving it with violence and resistance and finding her happy ending of freedom from the facist’s. Whereas Ofelia a child is only able to go into her fantasy world, ignoring the truth of the matter. Her non-violent protests show the world her strength and power but overall are still only shown to be important in the sacrifice she has to make at the end. Even in her dieing moments she runs to her fairytale fantasy now at home after she was sacrificed for the cause.

Overall the movie becomes a tale of either hiding from or addressing the evil in the world. That protest can be non violent but that those who choose that path tend to give the ultimate sacrifice to do it. While those who fight, addressing the evil put themselves on the line but to succeed they must watch those they care about die to reach it.

So that’s my interpretation I hope you enjoyed it, it’s a bleak but overall fantastic movie.

Cheers, see you next time

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