soundofseclusion

[soundofseclusion]

nosferatu? no. tuferatu. no es mi problema.

[soundofseclusion]

54. Brotato: Abyssal Terrors

Release: 2024, PC/Xbox One/Xbox Series S|X Beaten: December 27th, Xbox Series S Playtime: ~16h

I've been unable to focus on games recently, but I have been periodically coming back to Brotato's new DLC to get an achievement or so a day. I think the DLC is pretty good. Curse is a really interesting mechanic; it makes enemies sometimes harder, but with the upside of them dropping more materials, and buffed items sometimes appearing for sale. I tried playing on the new map, but it was too hard for me and I didn't enjoy it, so I just played through every new character on the old map. Maybe that is me not interacting fully with the DLC, but I couldn't be bothered. Anyway, I had fun with what I played.

[soundofseclusion]

The Jolly Jester

[soundofseclusion]

[soundofseclusion]

she's teaching him how to glare

[soundofseclusion]

[soundofseclusion]

Misdreavus

[soundofseclusion]

fanart i made of the scrapped pokemon “komari”

[soundofseclusion]

i wannd to join the trend. *joke redacted from everyone taking it too seriously*

this is westcoast Norwegian Miku. Behold

[soundofseclusion]

53. Somerville

Release: 2021, PC/Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S Beaten: November 12th, Xbox Series S (Game Pass) Playtime: 3h 45m

Did not care for this one. It was produced in part by someone who I greatly respect for his involvement with Limbo, one of my favorite games, but Somerville is just... not very good. It's not horrible, but it's far from great. It's confusing, obtuse, and--dare I say--feels somewhat pretentious. But it is a very pretty game. Visually, it is composed really well. It feels very interesting and cinematic when it's not terribly boring.

[soundofseclusion]

oh..... I interrupted.

[soundofseclusion]

52. Webfishing

Release: 2024, PC Beaten: November 19th, PC (Steam) Playtime: 37h 6m

I put more hours into this 5 dollar game than I do into most 60 dollar games. I don't tend to judge games by the metric of the time they demand, and Webfishing isn't really a game that asks to be "beaten," but I did sink time and "beat" the game (disclaimer: I'm not done with it), so I'm just looking at that amount of time and realizing how much value I got out of such a simple concept.

For the uninitiated, Webfishing is a game where you go fishing and interact with players on the web. It's more of a chatroom than it is a game, but it is still a game, and features game-y elements which can either be embraced or mostly ignored. And there's not much else to it. You fish, sell fish, upgrade your fishing capabilities, and sell more fish. You buy role-play items like cosmetics and toys. And you press G to meow (very important).

A lot of people are hyped for the potential of large content updates, but I think the game doesn't really need major additions to continue being enjoyable. I mean, I would love those things, but the heart of the game is already here, and it's already very solid. And wanting for more kind of detracts from that fact. It's worth the five bucks.

[soundofseclusion]

how the genie looks at my when my third wish is a third global castration event

[soundofseclusion]

52 days ‘til Pickles

[soundofseclusion]

the sappholopods

[soundofseclusion]

51. Clickolding

Release: 2024, PC Beaten: October 31st, PC (Steam) Playtime: 58m

I think it would be really easy to consider this game an extended, interactive joke. It's a cuck joke. The premise is absurd and it is not difficult to engage with that premise as something you're supposed to laugh at. Comedy-horror, maybe.

But I feel like you would be doing a disservice to yourself if you engaged with the game as exclusively a 58-minute bit. I'm not attempting to claim that the game is high art, nor that it isn't, at least partially, a "joke game." I'm just saying that the game is doing something unique, and I think it has things to say, or at least has questions to pose which have different answers depending on the player.

When you're presented with a simple premise and are forced to engage with it for an hour--in this case, the fact that you are clicking--you are also forced to address what it means. You address all the aspects of your situation, everything that changes, and the things that remain the same. The comments being made and the symbolism that could be inferred. How "deep" is the cuckold analogy? Is it a crass joke, or is it a commentary on being perceived, on power dynamics? For me, I'd sort of consider the position of a cuckold as one who is denied power, but this game flips that perception. Now, the one being watched is the helpless one. But is that really true? At the end of the game, how much control were you ever genuinely denied? Even with tension and fear, you were still the one clicking.

I feel like, in an irony-poisoned world, it's hard to engage with weird art genuinely. It's so much easier to laugh at absurdity rather than to confront what it's saying. "Cuckolding" is a concept that has been reduced to a meme, or nothing more than a derogatory way of viewing a person. But there's something interesting to it, I think. I'm not going to explore kink and what it means, nor do I think this game particularly demands or suggests an exploration of that concept, but the game is a lesson to me in how we can have a completely different experience with a piece of media if we abandon our biases, our inhibitions, our insecurities and immaturity, and instead just let the experience play out on its own terms and put an honest effort into exploring the themes it presents.

[soundofseclusion]

happy halloween and happy birthday to the best jerma video