#gamingreview

TRANSCRIPT:

Honestly, Seam was such a jumpscare for me when I first met them. It does follow the mechanic from Undertale where entering a shop leads to this full-scale portrait thing instead of the usual top-down view, but in Undertale the first "Shopkeeper" you meet is a bunny woman with big lips backlit by a lantern, while in Deltarune, your first Shopkeeper is a stitched together cat person with a shadowed eye and an eerie smile. Seam's also more "zoomed-in" to the "camera" compared to the Snowdin shopkeeper, so there's this feeling of "suddenly getting too close" that contributes to the jumpscare energy as well, I think.

In any case, Seam is a broken, nihilistic person, and this reflects in their design—with their injured, stitched together nature, yes, but also the way that their purple fur splays out in different directions like an unkempt beard, and said fur having the same visual texture as their raggedy scarf. It all gives the strong impression of some old wizard or soldier being worn out from whatever dark world they came from.

Another thing I wanna point out is the fact that Seam is a stuffed animal. If you notice, I'd say the majority of monsters across Undertale and Deltarune—especially their main casts—are based off animals. So you could say that Seam's design borrows heavily from monster design philosophy. And yet, they're not a monster. They're a darkner. Close to "real", related to a Light World, but not part of it.

And honestly, don't you think that that characteristic of Seam's foils Ralsei, in a way? Ralsei is also connected to the Light World, in that he looks somewhat like a person from there—despite Kris' enthusiastic denial—but in the end, he's not that person, and Ralsei can't be a part of the Light World in that way anyway.

Another thing that connects these two is Seam's cotton insides and button eye. Cotton heart, and button eye. Y'think Seam thinks themself a Dummy sometimes?

Seam and Ralsei's characterizations branch apart though, in their perspectives on the future, fate, and prophecy. In that, I'd say that Seam is akin to a "bad future" version of Ralsei. While Ralsei held this desperate, almost manic hope that the prophecy would change if he were kind enough, Seam enthusiastically, almost aggressively refuses to give a shit, finding some sick humor in the doom that seemingly awaits.

Being unwilling to find hope doesn't mean that Seam is entirely opposed to it, though. There are examples present in his Shadow Crystal dialogue that prove that.

All in all, Seam, in both their design and their dialogue, add up to being one of the first explicit hints to the metanarrative nature of Deltarune's story.

Roguelite gameplay and difficulty. It’s hard, and RNG is a pain at times but overall it feels fair if you learn the mechanics. It’s also a great game if you don’t have a lot of time, and need something easy to drop and pick up.

The stress mechanic. It emphasizes what usually goes unnoticed in dungeon crawler games, which is the experiences of the characters forced to go through them. They can become afflicted and lash out at others, or rise to the occasion, their virtuous qualities shining through. I mean which is understandable. If I was forced into a dungeon to face monsters every week I’d probably snap at some point as well.

The variety in heroes, with each their own personalities and backstories. They all play differently as well, so it’s pretty fun to combine different groups of heroes and strategies ffor each of the different dungeons.

The art style. It’s got these nice muted colors and thick black lines. It really reminds me of Mike Mignola’s art style in the Hellboy comics. Everyone’s eyes being blacked out gives it that darker vibe that matches the tone of the story.

The threatening music, tense gameplay, and dark environments integrate seamlessly to create a Lovecraftian and daunting atmosphere, unlike any other game I’ve played.

The ancestor’s narration. Even as you achieve victory, he never lets you forget despair is one small step away. As it should be with this game.

MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA – Natalie Dormer as Dr Lexi T’Perro  

TRANSCRIPT:

Rudinn is the first enemy the player meets in the field of Hopes and Dreams, and I think he's a good design, both as a starter enemy, and as a presentation of themes present in Chapter 1.

As a starter enemy though, like, look at him! Right off the bat, green is a friendly color—you could say it calls back to the idea of frogs—but also, combined with the soft, slug-like shape language, amicable smile and comically small sword—oh wait no that's a diamond-shaped dagger, clever~—Rudinn gives off the strong impression of being an easy enemy.

And also, look at those eyes in his battle sprite. The way they oscillate up and down makes it look like he's…under the influence, yes—but also that he's easily influenced. Rudinn is an ambivalent character. In Undertale, you at least had to compliment Froggit to get it to stop attacking you but with Rudinn, "Convince" is literally the first ACT option and "Lecture" is the second. This is wishy-washy-ness to a comedic degree.

So yeah; the diamond serves a dark King, but he will just as quickly abandon him. This characterization pushes the themes of "Mercy" in Chapter 1 by showing just how brittle King's tyrannical leadership is.

Because, fear is a strong motivator. Pretty much everyone in the Card Kingdom fears King, from puzzle people to the King's own son—but this method does not incite long-lasting loyalty. Rudinn fears King, and works for him, but he doesn't care about him—he's more concerned with stuff like jewels, or what to get Clover for her birthday. King is a problem Rudinn has to tolerate, not a person he has a relationship with.

So, honestly? This general attitude results in Rudinn giving off the vibe of a retail worker. There are several moments in game where Rudinn is basically one step away from saying "sigh I just work here man".

It's Rudinn Ranger that at least looks more the part of a soldier. Their dull red coloring is less friendly than Rudinn's green, and with their longer dagger, this is a Rudinn who's "climbed [more of] the corporate ladder" compared to Rudinn's retail worker energy.

Journey was honestly a really good game. The minimalist story and smooth gameplay really work well. It doesn't tell you what to do yet it shows you a consistent goal the whole way and I appreciate that.

I know a lot of people had a very meaningful experience with other players in this game. While I personally have not had that experience, I do think it's amazing that so many people have made these connections.

I also really love the graphics. The lighting in some of the sections is just so gorgeous, and the sand surfing sequence is probably my favorite in the game.

The music is also really nice as well. Austin Wintory as always does a fantastic job. It really evokes a serene desert.

Super Mario Kart - Tadashi Sugiyama Hideki Konno

This is the first instalment of the now household title. 

Some things have remained constant since the beginning, and others have come and gone. My first experience with the Mario Kart series was Mario Kart 64.

That game was much more forgiving and playable than this. Without a joystick, racing games are very difficult.

The thing that was new to me that was not part of Mario Kart 64 was the need to collect coins. You lost coins when you ran into things or were hit by other racers.

The little cloud guys that rescued you when you went off the map or into lava also took coins from you. If you didn't have any coins, any collision, even hitting a wall, would spin you out.

In all the Mario Karts I've played, there is certainly a point where the computer players will start to work together to stop you from winning the grand prix. I've never seen it deployed as viciously as I have seen it used here.

The 50cc cups were all beatable with some practice. It was more down to your skill and knowledge of the tracks. Towards the end of these cups and definitely by the start of the 100cc cups, the computer players are in concert to stop you winning.

It got to the point of ridiculousness where one of them would purposely ram you off the track into lava, going in with you, just to slow you down.

I found the cups towards the end of the 100cc completely unplayable because of how brutal the computer players would be. After race one, they had chosen their winner, and every other racer had one job: take you out.

I think that this would be more fun with other people playing, as this may balance out the computer's rage against the human players. Without this, it was unplayable in the later GPs.