madhogthymaster

[madhogthymaster]

Be Confidently Wrong! | Twinsanity Two: The 2nd One

The Twins have once again usurped the throne.

[madhogthymaster]

Brok the InvestiGator - Embracing the Flaws of Unrestrained Artistic Expression

I wish to express my ponderance over Brok the InvestiGator, a truly wondrous videoludic experience. A many-faced entity upon which I cannot stop gawking in bewilderment.

This reptilian bonanza is the second game developed by French Auteur Fabrice 'COWCAT' Breton after Demetrios: The Big Cynical Adventure. On paper, it's about a croco-gator (actual species unknown) who's an investigator, as the title suggests. He solves mysteries, beats up the bad guys, makes a few wisecracks and all that jazz. He's got a nerdy sidekick, a teenage son and a dark past. You would be forgiven to marinate in the false belief that anything about such a vague premise would imply any level of conventionality... but do not be fooled! Beyond its approachable yet unassuming Disney Afternoon aesthetics lies a much deeper truth.

This work is unlike anything you have ever seen and, at the same time, it is exactly like every other game you might have played before. As in, it's all of the games, all at once! It's a Point & Click Adventure, a classic Arcade Beat 'Em Up, a Action RPG with a multiple choice system and relationship mechanics, and an Ace Attorney style VN collectively rolled into one particularly twisted pretzel! There is also an Escape Room smack-dabbed in the middle of it, because why not? Streets of Rage meets Deus Ex meets Disco Elysium meets Professor Layton meets Chrono Trigger (inexplicably) and they all get drunk together in a world that looks like an episode of TaleSpin after The Bombs from Fallout dropped. Yes, you should be confused. Yes, you should also be afraid.

It's a funny, furry animal comedy but also a raw family drama. It's a Neo-Noir mystery but also Post-Apocalyptic and Post-Humanity. It's a colourful cartoon but also a dire Cyberpunk setting. It's Saturday morning's Sonic the Hedgehog but also Redwall - and that includes some of the more problematic aspects.

This is the sort of fiction that will have its main character, who looks like a buff Wally Gator, go through episodes of depression and trauma. It's also the kind of interactive diegesis that lets you jump on a corpse, repeatedly, while sleuthing a murder case. You do get an achievement for it.

You might have noticed how I failed to provide any manner of basic plot synopsis, choosing instead to wildly gyrate around the topic like a crashing helicopter, and that's exactly because The Ideal Brok Journey should not be tainted by the burden of foreknowledge. I daresay, by typing all of this I might have accidentally created expectations that were not there before. On the other hand, I am too fascinated by it and I wish to further expand my thoughts on the matter. Moving forward, there will be mild gameplay spoilers.

When you vivisect the body, pick it apart piece by piece, you might come to appreciate the work that went into its many moving parts. The sections classified as 'Point & Click' present well-designed puzzles with different solutions to keep them fresh whilst the brawling parts work as a smooth alternative to the puzzling that are fun and accessible. The real problem arises when everything else comes up to clog up its digestive tract. For example: the aforementioned Escape Room portion is fine on its own right but antithetic to the rest of the game's ethos because it can only be solved in a specific way (or, alternatively, skipped) whereas most of the other scenarios present multiple solutions to the same riddle. Bizarrely, there is only one murder investigation in this supposed title about a detective, and it's actually quite good. So much so that I would have wished it was a central feature rather than a gimmicky deviation from the confused plotline(s).

It's made worse by the notion that you can actually point to the wrong culprit and continue the game normally, only to have the solution spoilt afterwards. Again, that happens because Brok has a multiple choices system, which is good for replay value but bad for storytelling.

The scrambled nature of its mechanical inner workings is reflected in the erratic composition of its narrative. On that note, to say that there is too much meat on the grill would be embarrassingly euphemistic: it's wild that this game exists as it is, as the unfiltered, unrestrained, overly ambitious "first draft" of a genre-bending Epic that's ultimately too big for its own britches. A story that, within its limited means, attempts to comment on Social Inequality, Pollution, Eugenics, Capitalism, Racial Profiling, the Surveillance State, Technological Intrusion, the Human Condition, even Gender Politics, and comically fumbles all over these subjects with the grace of an inebriated hippopotamus.

It shoots for the Moon and hits the Sun with a rocket fueled by convoluted writing, a dissonant tone, an uneven structure and bizarre pacing. Furthermore, the brightly coloured aesthetics and child-friendly, rounded character designs don't complement the tone and ambition for which Brok is aiming. In order for any of this to work, some major cuts and rewrites would have been necessary. Yet, at the same time, I don't think I would want this game to be any different than the baffling creature that it is, charming in its many shortcomings. I simply respect it too much for that.

Brok the Investigator is a labour of love, well and truly. A Magnum Opus birthed upon this world through the sheer persistence and uncompromising will of its author, who categorically refused to cut corners or change anything to make it more "digestible." It might be flawed in its execution (severely flawed, in fact) and the way certain characters from a perceived, in-universe minority are portrayed should definitely be put under scrutiny, but I still admire the effort on display.

'Tis a beast of true innovation that comes together in a weirdly malformed way. You could theoretically slash it into several different genre pieces and they would be decent yet forgettable on their own, but it's by containing all of them at once that this game achieves Artistic Immortality! In essence, this game feels like a Life's Work that was released in such a weirdly condensed state specifically because it would have been financially unrealistic to publish it as a long-term franchise.

As previously mentioned, Brok the Investigator is simply too much of everything for its own good - did I mention it has 11 endings? It will never be heralded as a masterpiece akin to a Disco Elysium but, at the same time, I cannot recommend it enough for the unbelievable experience.

I guarantee you that if you try Brok the InvestiGator, you will never forget about it. It shall stay with you and occupy a room in the backside of your brain in a manner far more meaningful than your average, competently made Point & Click or Beat 'Em Up or Undertale knock-off ever could. It is, without a hint of exaggeration, a game that needs to be played to be believed. I loved it, not so much in spite of its flaws but because of them, and I wish I could engage with it forever, uncovering its many secrets, bask in its maddening glow and so on. In conclusion, give this French guy your money so he can make more weird furry art.

--- Follow Madhog on:

YouTube

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Also, here’s a helpful website: https://arab.org/

[madhogthymaster]

Is it Pizza Time Yet? - Surviving Digimon, feat. Melody Dickens and Sushi_Witch [Ep. 4]

Madhog celebrates his Italian culture by being unnecessarily pedantic about pizza, Melody bemoans the concept of regional dialects, Jessica reveals her "Digimon" watch history. Meanwhile, a granpa becomes the floor.

[madhogthymaster]

Madhog's "Ethically Sourced" Top 10 Videogames of 2024

"I shall be offering you a rather unorthodox Top 10 videosgame list, in the sense that I will be including a few titles who are yet to be properly finished merely because I enjoyed them too much to pretend they shouldn't count."

Read the full list here.

[madhogthymaster]

Slap That Atlyss!

"It was some time ago, during 2023, that I first came across this small ongoing project, this brain child of a solo developer who was, for all intents and purposes, very much placing their special interest at the forefront of it all, thoroughly baked into the aesthetic. I witnessed Atlyss."

Read the full thread here.

[madhogthymaster]

SPORTS!!! You'll Be Good at Those!

"I cannot overstate how much this game has been blowing expectations out of the water and how much fun it is to engage with all its features and mechanics."

Read the full thread here.

[madhogthymaster]

Slay the Capital

"Potionomics is what happens when Recettear and Slay the Spire have a baby together, and that baby grows up to become a Tumblr Sexyman..."

Read the full thread here.

[madhogthymaster]

Here There Be Spidermon - Surviving Digimon, feat. Melody Dickens and Sushi_Witch [Ep. 3]

It's the first boss of the game and, naturally, it a big arachnid. Luckily, Agumon can now digi-volve into his Champion form... which is not the one Melly expected or wanted. --- Catch the the streams at: twitch.tv/melodydickens

[madhogthymaster]

Slug Man and The Girls - Surviving Digimon, Feat. Melody Dickens and Sushi_Witch [Ep. 1.5]

Episode 2 is coming soon.

Catch all streams live at: twitch.tv/melodydickens

[madhogthymaster]

What if ATLYSS was a Popular Game on YouTube circa 2006?

ATLYSS is a great game, for your information.

[madhogthymaster]

That reminds me, I should probably re-install this game.

The Future of Western Civilization (tm)

[madhogthymaster]

...And Justice for All - We Literally Live in a Society

CW: Transphobia, Death

...And Justice for All (1979) begins with a black, trans-coded character, named Ralph Agee, being escorted into a holding cell block at the local police station wherein she is subjected to all manners of humiliating and degrading practices. The cops force Ralph to strip naked right in front of a cheering crowd of inmates, who stand a few centimetres away from where she is, the jail bars being the only thing keeping them at bay. The entire scene is deliberately framed as horribly dehumanizing.

There might have been an intentional parallel between this character and Marsha P. Johnson of Stonewall Riots' fame but that is mere speculation. What matters here is that Ralph's basic human rights are being trampled for the evident amusement of her law-enforcing captors. The scene sets the tone for the rest of the film, which is about the American judicial institution and who truly benefits from it. Agee's story is one of the many narrative threads weaving this tapestry.

Another such story is that of a lower-class, young white man named Jeff McCullaugh who gets mistaken for a wanted criminal and rushed through a cruel system eager to condemn him, all at the hands of an uncaring judge - played by John Forsythe. Said judge happens to be charged with sexual assault.

There is a lawyer (played by Jeffery Tambor) who experiences a nervous breakdown for simply doing his job. In this instance, his job was to acquit a man accused of murder only for said murderer to go out and kill children.

All of these stories are tied together by Al Pacino's character, the protagonist, a defense attorney juggling all these cases and personal crises at the same time: Ralph and Jeff, the rapist judge (who blackmails him into court representation, by the way), and every other aspect of his life.

...And Justice for All paints an unflattering, unflappably verosimile picture of American "Justice" from the perspective of someone who tries (emphasis on "tries") to help those who cannot help themselves. Fighting the good fight but crashing on the wall of societal biases. People like Ralph and Jeff are left to rot, cast down into the hell of the prison system by the hands of bigoted, classist, racist judges upholding the sanctity of the law. Only for the very same system of laws to bend over backwards in order to shield them from accountability when they are the ones who commit the crime. It's an all too familiar hypocrisy of which this film is merely scratching the surface... but the blood is still dripping out of it.

The direction is solid and the acting is superb - unsurprisingly, given the cast. Al Pacino was knocking it out of the park in the 1970's with Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather films, Sidney Lumet's Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon. The latter, in particular, is relevant. If I had a nickel for every time Pacino played a trans ally in the 1970's...

Let's go back to the opening scene from ...And Justice for All. Whilst Ralph was being degraded in front of an eager audience. Pacino's character was lying on the floor inside one of the cells. He observed the scene in stunned silence as a homeless man was peeing himself beside him. This is how the protagonist is introduced, by witnessing a gross violation of human rights and getting urinated on for the trouble. In an instant, you may understand his character, his motivations and his entire journey throughout the diegesis. The journey of a man trying to do good in a world that will quite literally piss on everything for which he stands, while he fails to help others. Pacino has a penchant for playing the down-on-his-luck, well-meaning everyman constantly on the edge of spiraling and this role is no exception. Truthfully, everyone in the cast brings their A-game regardless of how much screen time they may have been given.

Robert Christian, in particular, brings forth a dimension of genuine frailty and humanity to Ralph Agee, a character that, in a lesser script, would have been reduced to a one-note joke. Her collective scenes are less the 20 minutes in total but she leaves a damn strong impression! The many times someone in a position of power makes her remove her wig are some of the most understatedly potent scenes in the entire picture. The casual cruelty on display is heartbreaking to watch. Christian's performance is what saves this role from being mere thematic fodder.

At the end of the day, this is what ...And Justice for All is actually about: humanity. Pontificating over the inherent unfairness of American institutions would have rung utterly hollow had the film forgotten to actually focus on the humans who are affected by all this, in depth. Without showcasing the horrid treatment reserved to the likes of Ralph and Jeff as well as who they were as people, their wants and needs, ...And Justice for All would have failed both its statement thesis and at forming a connection with the audience, because there would be no reason to care.

It sounds so painfully obvious when I type it all out like this but the sentiment speaks to the urgency by which I utter these words: there is no Art without Humanity, and there is no Art that can confront social issues without understanding people. Everything is interconnected, our experiences and the representation of said experiences as we exist under any form of governing bodies. We literally live in a society. And it's a society, the one we live in, that has been divided in castes and classes, by race, religion, sexuality and how much money one has in their bank accounts. It's a society that cares not for the fate of those who have been forced to reside at the very bottom...

I have more to say about Ralph's actor.

Robert Christian was an award-winning theatre thespian from New York. He's had several roles both in films and TV, one such role was that of Bob Morgan in the soap opera, Another World. That would end up being his final role.

Christian died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1983. He was one of the earliest victims of the disease. He was 43. Robert Christian was a queer, black man who died of AIDS in the 1980's.

There are many thoughts, feelings floating in my head as I write this: anger, sadness, frustration, powerlessness. There are many, many things I could be adding right now to bring this entire essay to a full circle but, realistically, what is even left for me to say?! What I will tell you, instead, is to go watch ...And Justice for All. It's not perfect and some aspects of it may have inevitably aged poorly, but it's real! It's a "prestige" Hollywood outing from 45 years ago with real queer representation and a real queer actor. It's not made up like freaking Goncharov! Do not let the memories of Robert Christian and Ralph Agee fade into obscurity like so many before and after it. That's it. That's all I have to say.

---

Sources: elisaroll.com/queerspaces and IMDB.

Follow Madhog on:

YouTube

Twitter

Bluesky

Blogger

Also, here’s a helpful website: https://arab.org/

[madhogthymaster]

Making a "Beastieball" Tier List While I'm Sick

A random video about a new obsession.

Learn more about Beastieball here.

[madhogthymaster]

Nostalgia Numemon Has a Meltdown Live on Stream

Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOT1YhSj0fY

Watch Melody’s streams here: twitch.tv/melodydickens

[madhogthymaster]

Devil May Rage Against The Machine

"DmC, the spectacularly failed reboot attempt of Devil May Cry, the gloriously try-hard Edgelord disasterpiece that was universally panned upon release for the crime of tainting the "sanctity" of the original... I believe it's time for a long overdue reevaluation."

Read the entire thread here.

[madhogthymaster]

We Can (Not) Survive This - Surviving Digimon, Feat. Melody Dickens and Sushi_Witch [Ep. 1]

Buy eSims for Gaza: https://gazaesims.com/ Find out how you can help Palestine: https://arab.org/ --- Madhog joined his friend Melody and her girlfriend Jessica (aka Sushi_Witch) in the adventure of a life time where nothing bad ever happens to anyone! Hurray! --- Watch Melody's streams live: https://www.twitch.tv/melodydickens

[madhogthymaster]

Monster Hunter: I Can't Remember The Story

"I would describe it as thus: what if you played Pokémon but most of the monsters were dragons and dinosaurs? And you fought alongside them? And you could ride them? And why aren't there more games like these?"

This will be the last thread from Twitter I post here for a while.