#I HAVE TO STAGE 4 MINUTES OF DIALOGUE. AND KEEP IT FROM GETTING VISUALLY REPETITIVE

[mars-ipan]

my notes for this animatic r gonna be insane

[captainfawful]

It’s the end of the year, know what that means? It’s time for my second annual “Nobody Cares” Awards! Click the post if you’re super bored and have nothing better to do!

So.... 2017′s been a year, huh? Personally, it hasn’t been as bad as 2016 for me, but it was definitely.... A different kind of shitty, I guess. But hey! There were a lot of games that came out this year; many of which were really damn good. I’ve sorta been enjoying the whole mass writing thing, so I plan on this being more writing than last time. Get ready for my 9 paragraph essay on why I think Nier: Automata was the most overrated game of the year! (Just kidding, I would never make you suffer through that. God forbid I anger that fanbase.) I also tried coming up with different categories, so I don’t end up completely ripping off Giant Bomb (at least at the time of writing I haven’t, for all I know they could have the same categories as me and I’ll eat my words). That said, Best Music will always stay, without question. Now let’s start the show!

Best Title Screen

Persona 5

Atlus are geniuses. They kept churning out Persona 4 remakes, adaptions, and spinoffs like there was no tomorrow. It went so far that many people, including myself, were convinced Atlus was focused entirely on milking this cow. A few teasers came and went, and my thoughts of 5 just being “Persona 4: 2″ had not waned one bit. Then they showed the first real trailer. The trailer that would end up being the games opening music video. It was at that point that I realized “Oh wait, I actually had no reason to doubt them at all.” Everything about that trailer showed me the error of my ways, and convinced me that Persona had not lost its’ edge one bit. The game simply oozes style and creativity, and I believe the title screen to Persona 5 is a perfect representation of that style. I have more to say about this game later on in the Top 10, but I’ll say for now that the opening movie and the title screen give off an amazing first impression.

Runners Up:

Nidhogg 2

Sonic Mania

Best Game To Watch

Yakuza 0

I’m not a big fan of Beat-Em-Ups, Brawlers, Hack-N-Slash, Character Action Games, whatever you want to call them. I often find them repetitive and kinda boring. I’m not saying they’re bad or anything, I can totally see why people enjoy them. They’re just not for me. That’s one of the lesser reasons I believe Nier: Automata was one of the most overrated games of this year. My point is, I never got into the Yakuza series for that reason. A couple of my friends would tell me the ridiculous or silly things that happened in the games, and I was interested, but never enough to actually give one enough of a shot. When Yakuza 0 came out, I remember seeing it on a Giant Bomb Unprofessional Fridays, where Mary Kish played the first 45 minutes or so, including a karaoke song. That’s when I got hooked. I knew that Yakuza had a ton of weird sidequests, and over the top action, but I never knew that it also had legitimately good drama. I was fascinated by how good the cutscenes were. A little while later, Giant Bomb East did a playthrough of the whole game, and I watched every second. The quirkyness of the series is obviously a big selling point, but the amazingly well done cutscenes were what tipped me over into becoming a Yakuza fan. That being said, if I had to play the entire game on my own, I don’t think I would have finished it.

Runners Up:

Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds

My Summer Car

Best Music

Pyre

This one’s a surprise. I went into 2017, and got a lot of the way through 2017, thinking there would be no way Persona 5 wouldn’t have the best soundtrack of the year. Pyre’s soundtrack is really great. Darren Korb has a knack for making fantastic music, but the real reason I ended up liking Pyre’s OST more isn’t just because the songs are good, but also because of how they’re implemented. The game is structured mostly like a visual novel, with character portraits standing over their dialogue box when they talk. Depending on the character currently speaking, the instrumentation goes through very slight changes. If a larger character starts talking, the drums and/or bass become more prominent. If a more calm or quiet character starts talking, the song goes into a more acoustic arrangement, so on and so forth. Also, there’s a thrash metal song that is hype as fuck. That being said, while it’s not in the runners up, SteamWorld Dig 2 has the best music track of the year.

Runners Up:

Persona 5

Sonic Mania

Best Hand Drawn Animation

Cuphead

Here’s a trend I hope keeps up. It seems like this year brought more hand drawn games than years past, many of which look spectacular. Cuphead was first shown in.... 2014 I believe? It was just a random clip in an Xbox One Indie games compilation shown off at Gamescom, and it made a huge impression from just a couple seconds. The animation quality is flawless, and the attention to detail is extremely deep. They replicate that 1930′s cartoon style perfectly, on their very first shot.

Runners Up:

Sundered

Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap

Best Bat-Wielding Motherfucker

Goro Majima (Yakuza 0)

What else needs to be said? There’s almost nothing more fun than smashing the shit out of things with a baseball bat. Granted, Majima doesn’t smash a lot of things, but more often people; luckily, I never was one for semantics!

Runner’s Up:

Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods)

Chloe Price (Life is Strange: Before the Storm)

Coming Soon

Listen, Iconoclasts is coming out in less than a month. That’s reason enough to be excited for 2018. On top of that, we have Dragon Ball FighterZ, Griftlands, Ni No Kuni II, Full Metal Furies, Wonder Wickets, and maybe Crackdown 3 also coming in the first quarter. However, there’s not a ton of 100% confirmed 2018 releases. Games like Valkyria Chronicles 4, Wargroove, Megaman 11, Indivisible, UFO 50, and mother fucking Spelunky 2 are all games that are allegedly coming out next year, but I have a feeling most of those will end up pushed back. Also, I can’t wait to see the glorious train wreck that will inevitably be Detroit: Become Human.

And maybe Mother 4 (name pending) will come out this year? Probably not. But here’s hoping!

And now.... The Top 10!

#10: What Remains of Edith Finch

I’ll cut straight to the point: Edith Finch is my favorite walking simulator (or as some might call it, stroll-playing game) I’ve ever played. Perhaps I’m a bit biased, as my personal favorite movie is Big Fish, which was definitely a source of inspiration for this game. I will say, however. that Edith Finch’s ending is nowhere near as good as Big Fish’s.

#9: Pyre

#8: Gorogoa

#7: Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

You know what I love? The combat in XCOM. You know what I hate? All of the base building garbage in XCOM. Mario + Rabbids puts a few interesting spins on XCOM’s combat, while also removing all of the boring bullshit in between. While there are several issues I have with the game, like not being able to take Mario out of the party, overall Ubisoft did a very good job creating this very... bizarre crossover. Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever had a hatred for Rabbids. I think they’re fine. In fact, if I had a source of income when I was 16 and Rayman Raving Rabbids came out, I would probably own a piece of Rabbid merchandise right now.

#6: Sonic Mania

Sonic Mania is pure fan-service, and I am a fan. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot when Mania was originally announced. As you know, Sonic hasn’t had the... Best reputation. Especially when they say they’re going back to his roots, Sega always manages to screw up one way or another. I’m not even that big a fan of Sonic Colors! So while I was into the way the game looked, I was still very skeptical. The more I learned about the game, however, the more interested I became. Finding out Christian Whitehead was front running the development, Tee Lopes providing the music, and seeing posts from people pointing out little in-jokes and references from the original trailer, all of this made me more and more excited. I figured even if the game wasn’t that fun, it would still be worth it to see all the little details they added to it. I got the game, loaded it up, and the intro began playing. I got shivers all over from the pure joy of that opening cutscene. Maybe this will actually be good? Shortly after, I got to the first Special Stage, where everything went all 3d. Okay, this game is kinda good. I played it a little more, and found myself in a boss fight where I had to play a round of Puyo Puyo against Dr. Robotnik. This game is amazing. While the Puyo fight was definitely the highlight of my excitement, but the rest of it didn’t fall off too far. Sonic Mania is an experience that I don’t think can be recaptured; a sequel would be fun, but I really doubt it could affect me the same way this game did.

#5: Horizon Zero Dawn

#4:  Persona 5

Persona 5 had the potential to be my game of the year. The aesthetics, style, music, color schemes, story revolving around punks and rebellion, creating a group of master thieves, and potentially off heists are all things that very much resonate with me. So what happened? What caused this game that should have turned into an all time favorite end up being a “I guess 4 is a good enough spot”? First of all, too many of the game’s segments go on for way too long. The dungeon designs are poor, with uninteresting puzzles that get extremely repetitive. Unlike Persona 3 and 4, however, this game does not get the excuse of randomly generated rooms as an excuse (despite how bad an excuse that may be.) Most of the later dungeons just straight up drag near the end, with a couple of them not having save areas for oddly long stretches of time. It felt like they just needlessly extended the dungeons to double the length of what should have been a 30-40 hour JRPG. I thought the characters overall were interesting enough, but their confidant links felt kind of same-y. The story didn’t feel nearly as important as in the previous games, and the big twists were either confusing, full of plot holes, or needed a half hour for the game to explain itself to you. But, at the end of the day, it’s still a Persona game. It may not be the best Persona game, in fact I would probably say it’s the fourth best (behind 3, 2, and of course 4) but overall Persona 5 managed to deliver an enjoyable experience. 

#3: SteamWorld Dig 2

#2: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

#1: Super Mario Odyssey

I’ve been trying for weeks to write up a big thing about why I love Super Mario Odyssey so much. And really, there’s not a whole lot to it. It is a joyous game. My entire time spent with it was fun, and I constantly had a smile on my face. Much like the intro to Sonic Mania, the Festival segment of Odyssey also gave me shivers from how happy it made me feel. And really, isn’t that what we need most in 2017? The biggest gripe I have about this game is that there isn’t enough of it. I would have liked to see a few more worlds, or have a bit more variety so there’s not, say, two water levels or two jungle levels. Which is a much better problem to have than with Persona 5, where I thought there was too much of that game. Hell, I played a lot more of it after the end credits, which is something I very rarely ever do. Overall, Odyssey is a splendid game that excels in almost everything it does, and makes the exploration of each world something I actively want to do. Odyssey, ya see?

Hey, hi! You made it to the bottom! If you read all that, or even a little of it, then you have my appreciation! Hell, even managing to scroll past all that to get down here deserves a pat on the back in and of itself. Well, that just about wraps up my pointless little awards ceremony. Due to the influx of big important games to play, plus some personal issues that ate up too much of my time, I didn’t make much progress in beating Kingdom Hearts II.8, or the Zelda games I missed out on. Oh well, there’s always next year? There’s always a next year. Even after humanity collapses in on itself (soon-ish?), there will always be a next year.Hope you all had a good holiday, and have a better 2018! Toodles!

[limejuicer1862]

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Lydia Unsworth

is the author of two collections of poetry: Certain Manoeuvres (Knives Forks & Spoons, 2018) and Nostalgia for Bodies (Winner, 2018 Erbacce Poetry Prize). She has two pamphlets forthcoming in 2019 from above / ground press and Ghost City Press. Recent work can be found in Ambit, Litro, Tears in the Fence, Banshee, Ink Sweat and Tears, and others. Manchester / Amsterdam. Twitter@lydiowanie

The Interview

1. When and why did you start writing poetry?

I think I was always trying to. I would spend time anagramming, writing ‘lyrics’ to songs, reading, copying down sentences I liked, playing any kind of board game with words in it, watching improv comedy. Since I was a young adult, I was always more interested in the book at sentence level than the narrative as a whole. I liked novels full of tangents, and I was (still am) a big fan of underlining parts. I suppose I just didn’t know what poetry was properly, beyond the very traditional, or what it could be until much later. I think I was writing poetry on my art degree, although even at such a late stage, I still didn’t really know it was poetry. I knew I liked poetic language, poetic prose, form as concept, but actual Poetry, I think I still thought of that as quite an old, dead thing. I wasn’t around other writers in my real life, and the writers I was reading (prose writers or visual artists), when they did reference poetry, likely only confirmed that ‘old, dead’ belief. When I was 14 or so I found The Desiderata as the epigram in a series of Dean Koontz novels: I liked that. I printed it out and put it on my wall. Learnt the word ‘perennial’ from that piece.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I drifted towards it via visual art. Though I was writing throughout my art degree in sorts, but it was probably another ten years before I realised that the writing was the crux of the matter and before I found a path in to actually reading poetry proper. My prose reading habits were getting poemier and poemier. Years passed. Then I moved to Poland and wrote to someone whose blog I found funny (Socrates Adams) and he sent me his novel-in-progress in increments. It was the first time I’d had dialogue with another writer and I started writing again there, in my chilly attic bedroom, properly, long after the visual distractions had fallen away. I was writing poetic-prose or experimental prose or something: I had a few pieces published and a novel shortlisted, then it fell away again, and again. It was always there, but I was always waiting until later, trying to accumulate knowledge (not realising how much of that knowledge was ephemeral and slips away completely unless you do something with it in the moment – which is one thing I love about writing poetry now, just slapping the fleeting, contorted-to-fit, down on a page). Anyway, after some more years passed, and I was writing on and off (by now some actual poems, although I still wasn’t reading any), I was given a sum of money that allowed me to do a Masters degree in Creative Writing, and I knew I was at risk of losing much more time unless someone ‘in the know’ actually verified me, so I did it, and they (Scott Thurston) did, and what I wrote at the end of that year became my first published collection of prose poetry. It was a ten-year voyage from the land of art to poetry on a small lump of driftwood with an intermittent internet connection and a changeable breeze.

2.1. What do you mean by “My prose reading habits were getting poemier and poemier”?

I was reading for the language, not the plot.

2.2. Why did the language become more important?

I think it always was, it just takes a while for a chain of reading to lead you to certain places. I was always looking for sentences I liked. And I guess the more I read, the more I grew tired of some of the rest: the same shapes of novels, certain cliches, techniques, wrapping-up of narratives, representations of women, predictable metaphors. It takes more to be surprised, I suppose. Or a different way of viewing something to find what is, or can be, surprising about it.

3. How aware are and were you of the dominating presence of older writers traditional and contemporary?

I think I’m more aware of the what-seems-like-class of a lot of writers than the age. I don’t mind people being older per se, they might have worked for it.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

As much as possible in any possible sliver of a gap! I often pinch lines overheard from my environment as a starting clay, or some image from something I’m reading, whether that be a book or simply a strangely worded sign, so I try and store all these fragments until I have a fifteen-minute or more gap, and then I write. I do my longer bouts of refining and building and editing in the evenings at least a few times a week, preferably when everyone else is asleep.

5. What motivates you to write?

A desire to communicate everything that is interior and, by the very nature of its interiority, alone. It’s a reaching toward. And it’s the same thing that motivates my reading: knowing the strangenesses and possibilities of ‘the other’. That, and the ability to sculpt a piece of language-music from the environment you find yourself in, whether that be internally /externally /in real time /via memory.

6. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

They altered my outlook on life and have given me the foundations for my ongoing philosophy. It’s unshakable really. I think of Kafka and Beckett in particular, and I do still look for that melodrama and highfalutin despair everywhere in art, and when I find it, that very specific kind of comedy, then I do feel so terribly comforted. I’m reading The Milkman by Anna Burns in between questions here, and she’s also doing it in a way – it’s very funny, but serious-funny, bleak-funny. Like Catch 22 or Stewart Lee, just make the joke (or, following the same rule, take the emotion) and keep making it. I like that. The joy of repetition.

And I guess the writers you read at a certain age sort of raise you. So it’s good to stay fond of them. Helps you understand yourself.

7. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

Anyone writing in a void, without a support system, or in scraps of stolen time, who manages to tread water long enough to burst through the surface. Anyone who doesn’t give up.

8. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Write. Write without thinking. Write until your body hurts. Change position. Do it again. Keep writing until you end up some place that surprises you. Edit.

9. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I’m working on a full collection, which seems to be spilling over into two collections. I have a pamphlet I’m trying to make ready, based on a bunch of poems I wrote as part of the Tupelo Press 30/30 project back in June. And I am nearly finished preparing another pamphlet (‘I Have Not Led a Serious Life’) that will be coming out with above / ground press later in the year. I’m mainly trying to keep momentum up around work and child-raising and physical exercise; it’s easy enough to write a poem, but harder to see which ones belong where without spreading out a hundred pieces of paper on the floor of a large empty room. I am grateful for my writing friends and our ad-hoc collaborative editing relays.

Thank you for these questions, Paul. It’s been a pleasure!

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Lydia Unsworth Wombwell Rainbow Interviews I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me.

[virtualhavenmag-blog]

Extinction Review - A Colossal Disappointment

Battling gigantic ogres is a lot of fun, but Extinction is plagued by poor design, unbalanced combat mechanics, and obnoxious bugs that make it frustrating to play.

Extinction has the player take control of Avil, the last person who can deal with the infestation of enormous ogres known as the Ravenii. His good friend, Xandra, is an incredibly talented engineer and inventor. She is the smith of Avil’s weaponry and builds portals for civilians to escape through. These portals are constantly under attack by demonic creatures known as Jackals. The player’s objective is to protect the civilians and end the war against the Ravenii.

Story

Extinction poorly fleshes out the plot points and characters of its campaign. At the beginning and end of each mission, the player gets a minute of dialogue between characters. However, there are no in-game cutscenes, and almost all story bits are shown through walls of text during the game. This is common in lesser known indie titles, but rarely is such negligent exposition seen in something as expensive as Extinction.

The player will occasionally witness an animated cutscene; however, these are not only rare, but they look significantly worse than the average anime or cartoon. Some games have animated cutscenes that don’t look good, but this is because they show up very often in place of in-game ones.

There’s no excuse for Extinction’s animation to look so poor, as the cutscenes are incredibly rare. What’s even more unfortunate is that the cinematic trailer that premiered at E3 2017 is misleading. It showed gorgeous graphics through an epic cutscene, unlike anything displayed in-game.

The text-walls delve a lot into the relationship between Xandra and Avil, or the war against the Ravenii. With Xandra and Avil, it’s written in a way that implies we already know a lot about the characters. It’s as if they’re in the last stages of a television series, showing us the final moments of the two characters. However, because the player doesn’t know much about either of them, all of their dialogue feels detached.

With the war against the Ravenii, every bit of dialogue between Avil and Yarrow—the king of the city under attack—is an alternative of “we’re losing this war to the Ravenii” or “Avil! You need to win this war.” It’s unoriginal, bland, and the player just wants to get into the game. Thankfully, there is the option to skip dialogue.

Boring and Repetitive Combat

When it comes to combo-heavy games, there’s typically some variety to keep the player engaged. Whether it be light, medium, and heavy attacks or a number of different abilities to make the game more flashy, there should be a plethora of different things to do.

When it comes to Extinction, there’s only one normal attack. The player can press the attack button at different times to make Avil do different things, but there are only a few combo varieties, leading to repetitive gameplay.

It’s difficult to stay engaged when there are so few combat mechanics. To make matters worse, once the player learns how well the Rune Strike works against Jackals, it’s hard to stop using the ability. The Rune Strike is meant to be a weapon the player uses against Ravenii whenever they invade and it’s the only way to cut off their gigantic heads.

This may be what the Rune Strike is meant for, but using it on ordinary Jackals is incredibly effective. The lowest form of Jackal might take 10 normal hits to defeat, but one rune strike will kill it instantly. It got to the point where I hadn’t used the normal attack button for a number of missions, rendering it useless.

Unfortunately, the Rune Strike still isn’t fun to use. It’s as repetitive as attacking normally, but it gets the job done quicker. Extinction is heavily reliant on finishing objectives as fast as possible. When it comes to Ravenii invasions, Avil needs to be in many places at once, so killing smaller enemies as fast as possible is a necessity. Even if I wanted to lay back and pull the same combo on Jackals over and over again, it would probably end in a failed mission.

Battling Ravenii

In Extinction, Ravenii are genuinely threatening. Perhaps not at first, but once the player gets to a certain point, taking one down requires a lot of strategy.

Ravenii have four limbs that Avil can remove. However, they’re usually protected by different types of armor. Some require a single hit to break while others are heavily padded with two or four locks. When the player has to defend the city, there’s nothing more threatening than a Ravenii with heavy armor. This creates an exciting dynamic, seemingly providing a threat to the city around you, but this excitement is merely an illusion.

Death in Extinction’s campaign means nothing, as Avil respawns almost instantly. The point being that the condition of the city is the health bar, but it’s way too easy to defend. After a while, the player will realize that even though the Ravenii are tough to fight, they’re difficult to lose against. Thankfully, the Extinction gamemode fixes this, giving Avil only one life.

There is only one type of mission that’s genuinely difficult, and that’s when Avil has to defend watchtowers. This mission is tough because the Ravenii have very few targets, making it easy to fail the mission. Even then, the game can be slightly unfair at times, like when it spawns a Ravenii right next to the final watchtower.

Even when the player starts to have fun with Extinction, awful bugs suddenly appear. Climbing up a Ravenii is terribly designed, as they’re constantly moving around, making it easy to get stuck between their body parts.

When this happens, the player’s camera will clip through the Ravenii’s body, making it impossible to see. Not only that, but Avil has a tendency to get killed by nothing. After dodging a Ravenii’s attack, the player will take incredible damage or flat out die from a lack of vision. This is especially annoying because there’s no proper ragdoll for the character, so there's no way to visually gauge what’s happening.

Additional Notes

When I first launched the game, there was an awful color bug which made the screen flash green rapidly. There should be an in-game seizure warning, as this could be dangerous. Here’s what Iron Galaxy told the media to do in order to fix this problem:

“Right click on your desktop, click NVIDIA CONTROL PANEL, Change resolution, Scroll down and check the last box ‘NVIDIA COLOR SETTINGS’ and make sure the color is set to 32-bit. Click on apply and check if it works.”

Running around, climbing, and dashing is quite satisfying. It doesn’t feel sluggish and Avil can jump quite high, making it easy to get through the levels. You can also grapple onto branches and certain objects to make Avil fly into the air.

Additionally, the player can jump on trees to get launched a bit. However, there are way too many trees located in the game. When you’re trying to fight off Jackals, Rune Strikes will thrust you into the air accidentally if you even come close to a tree. These tree jumps combo into more tree jumps, so Avil can get a bit stuck sometimes.

There is a skill tree in Extinction, but it’s uninspired. Half of the tree is taken up by skills Avil starts with, and the other half is mostly pointless additions. The only two useful things in this tree are Meditation, which makes killing the Ravenii much quicker, and Hasty Portals, which makes rescuing civilians easier.

Things like Lightfoot, which allows you to bounce 10% higher off trees, and Rune Energy Overflow, which increases how much damage you do when Rune Energy is full, are incredibly useless. Bouncing off trees a little higher isn’t worth purchasing, and increasing how much damage the player does in the context of a broken battle system doesn’t help.

When the player fully upgrades Hasty Portals, the game becomes even easier. This creates the opportunity to completely bypass enemies and rescue civilians so quickly that it’s not even necessary to fight Jackals.

There are a few gamemodes outside of the campaign. The Extinction game mode has the player go up against an endless wave of enemies, and if Avil dies, he won’t respawn. Additionally, there’s Skirmish, which puts players in a randomly generated battleground. Finally, there’s the Daily Challenge, which wasn't updated, as the game wasn't out yet.

These game modes are more fun than the campaign, but a player who hasn’t completed the story will not understand what’s going on. There are certain enemies that can only be defeated in specific ways, and without knowing how, the player will be stuck.

For example, there’s a Ravenii that has skulls attached to his armor. The only way to defeat this Ravenii is to have him attack with the limb the player intends to destroy. If Avil wants to access his neck, the Ravenii has to attack his own neck first. This can be incredibly confusing without a proper tutorial, and there’s nothing of the sort in the main menu. It’s probably best if players complete the campaign before doing any of the extra game modes or else it could be confusing.

Verdict

Extinction is a poorly constructed game that occasionally shines with its threatening Ravenii. If it were evenly balanced, less buggy, and more compelling in its writing, it definitely could’ve been something special. For a game that only takes five hours to beat, it’s overpriced and underwhelming.

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Score

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Good Bad Satisfying Movement Abilities Boring and Repetitive Combat Threatening Ravenii Dull Campaign Fun Gamemodes Many Bugs Unbalanced Skills Overpriced

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- 4/10 -

[jakob2hakim-blog]

“Wouldn’t even hurt a fly”: Questioning Programing and Manufactured Reality in Westworld

“Have you ever questioned your reality?” That is the question the sci-fi show Westworld wants to pose onto it’s audience. Through the search and discovery of authenticity within the artificial, Westworld asks the question which weaves it’s complex post-modern narrative.

The show’s opening credits begins with what appears to be a desert emerging from the darkness with a sunrise. Although, it is revealed to be a artificial light source. Immediately, the concept of reality v. artificial is introduced, asking the audience to pay close attention to what is on the surface, but know that there is more underneath it. Afterwords, a machine is pulling strands of some type of material, eventually revealed to be an artificial tendon for a horse. This introduces the advanced 3-D painteresque technology present within the world of the narrative. As the construction continues, the camera pans out to display the creation an artificial horse presented in it’s musculature anatomy. Subsequently, we are shown an eyeball with the iris is being manufactured. This can be interpreted as a literal reference to observing “through the looking glass”. Furthermore, a desert is shown in the eye’s reflection, foreshadowing the world Westworld takes place in, as well as signifying that was they see is "a reflection" of the past. Shortly after, the audience is visually introduced to the concept that things aren’t what they seem, as it is revealed that the person playing the piano was actually an artificial skeleton the entire time. Thus it blurs the line between reality and augmented reality.

Notably, even the audio playing throughout the opening credits is played artificially. First depicted as a Skeleton playing the piano. Additionally, the movements are increasingly mechanical, further implying the fabrication of authenticity. In addition, we watch as the machines further construct a couple having sex, and then separately, a revolver.  Afterwards, we see a damaged or incomplete face of an artificial woman showing literal layers to her creation. Ultimately, the culmination of all those pieces is shown as there is a woman riding a horse with a revolver in hand.

Suddenly the truth of the piano playing skeleton is revealed as it takes its hands off the keyboard for us to discover that even the act of playing was manufactured. This subtlety expands upon the notion that, what is visually present in the world is not all there is to it. How can the audience trust, what their eyes see if they are so easily deceived? We see a skeleton submerged in some sort of coating liquid before the shows title is revealed. The title’s logo is very industrial in appearance, showing the audience the show’s branding before we as well get ‘submerged’ and take part in it’s world. As the last few names are displayed, an iris can be seen viewed in the darkness, possibly alluding to a greater power within the series 

EPISODE 1: The Original 

Without delay we are introduced to Dolores through a short encounter inside of a scientific facility. "Bring her back online" are the first words we hear in the show. The audience sees a naked female robot sitting in a chair within a dark room. “Can you hear me?" a male voice reaches out. She responds with "Yes. I’m sorry I’m not feeling quite myself". "You can lose the accent" she then follows suit, losing the accent. It is further revealed that the conversations is not taking place with mouths but seemingly through thought. The rest of the dialogue goes as such:

“Do you know where you are?” 

“I’m in a dream” states Dolores.

"That’s right Dolores you’re in a dream". "Would you like to wake up from this dream?" We see a fly land on her face. 

"Yes. I’m terrified" she remarks.

“There is nothing to be afraid of Dolores, as long as you answer my questions correctly".

"Good. Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?"

"No." 

Through the interaction between the two, the show sets the stage for what the rest of the episode has in store for the audience. Moreover, the questions are further broadened by one of the character’s within the narrative (*see investigative question 8). He seems to want to make sure that she is functioning properly. Amid their conversation, a fly crawls onto her eye ball, passing through her tear duct, yet she does not respond. Evidently, this depiction exemplifies the difference in nature/programing between the Hosts and humans, and further postulates whether can she experience genuine emotions and reactions.

Notably, the comment about waking up from the dream could have a double meaning, alluding to the world she lives in as well, since the hyper reality world could be attributed to dreamlike aspects. Thus it is inferencing that she will break free from the simulative mold. 

Their dialogue continues as she “wakes up” in her bedroom. She walks down the stairs in her home, newly clothed,and talks to her father, although their dialogue continues off-screen:

"Tell us what you think of your world" he says to her.

“Some people choose to see the ugliness of this world, the disarray. I choose to see the beauty. To believe there is an order to our days. A purpose”

"What do you think of the guests?" remarks the male voice.

“You mean the newcomers?”

“I like to remember what my father taught me. That at one point or another, we were all new to this world.”

Dolores continues, “The newcomers are working for the same thing we are. A place to be free. A place with unlimited possibilities”.

For the Hosts, their world it is real. Even if in truth it is a simulation to humans, the Host’s world they live in is very much authentic. It can be perceived that knowledge is the deciding fact that dictates whether something is genuine or if it is a manufactured distorted copy. Increasingly, the lines are blurred as a result of the influence of simulations and simulacra. Dolores knows not what the interviewer understands as their world is augmented. Overall, the concede is that reality is different from a point of knowledge, which in her case she appears to lack (see Investigative question 6). 

Westworld that has been created as playground that lets morality be unpunished. Similarly to video games, the experience plays into fantasy, and the ability to be unharmed through simulation. Westworld grants “Newcomers” the choice to choose a storyline and get the experience without breaking any of the rules (for a price).  

Ultimately, the depiction of simulacra and simulations are a vital and present concept throughout the first episode of Westworld. The purpose of the simulation is to utilize an era of the past, the wild west, and capitalize on the multitude of broad narratives that took place during the era. From the visuals of the saloon to the storylines of the individual Hosts, the mass production of content masks the reality the Newcomers live in, and invites them to accept the simulation as original. Within the first 10 minutes, we are introduced to guests who keep returning to the world, as it’s fantasy is more acceptable then the reality they come from, and their actions are unpunishable by the Hosts. The Park acts as a window, to remnants of a previous form of the world thats been distorted for personal gains. The sensation thus presents a necessity for repetition for the guests, leading both parties to continuously take part in the hyper reality present. As a result, both the Hosts and the Newcomers accept that the world they live in is authentic, but while one has the conscious decision to accept it, the other lacks the ability to make that judgement. In the end, the Hosts are the significant as they represent a conscious attempt at find authenticity within the manufactured Westworld.

In short, Dolores kills a fly, and that matters.

INVESTIGATIVE QUESTIONS:

1. Where and when is Westworld located, exactly?

The world is viewed from a 3d modeled game-board from inside a lab/conference room. The scientific corporation's intentions are to immerse guests in a world involving 100 interconnected narratives, thus implying they need a lot of realty. The location is referred to as ‘The Park’.

The location might be a closed off island or state. Possibly Utah judging by the geography.

2. What was the malfunction 30 years ago? 

It is never completely elaborated on within the first episode. But Presumably, judging from the creators importance that the “Newcomers can’t be hurt/killed”, one of the Hosts must have killed a person within the park. 

3. Who is Arnold?

Is one of the co-creator of Westworld. He and Ford wanted to advance the robots to the point where they could create a faux consciousness.

 4. What exactly is causing, the “glitches”? 

The recent update Ford programed into the Hosts has led them to improvise too much, and in some cases, completely glitching out. Specifically the inclusion of the Reveries which are Movements dictated by recessed memories.

When Dolores’s father is taken for evaluation. He regresses back to previous build of his personality. This is a direct result of the inclusion of Reveries. It is manipulating the past experiences which thus create a form of subconscious for the hosts.

With that in mind they are effectively transgressing their programming and establishing a faux form of humanity.

Ford states that it is, “no cause for alarm, simply our old work coming back to haunt us”.

5. Is the glitch accidental? Or is Ford advancing the hosts’ consciousness on purpose? If so, why? 

Ford wants to develop a subconsciousness within the robots, which was his and his initial co-creator, Arnold Weber’s, goal for the Hosts. He appears to be doing that on purpose, as that in part was the reasoning for the Reveries.

After Bernard confronts Ford about the malfunctions, he begins to tell him that he believes that with society's evolution in scientific practices and medicine that, “we’re done. This is as a good as we are gonna get”. In response he asks of Bernard to “indulge him the occasional mistake”.

6. How much does Dolores know at this point? 

When the passersby encountered her while painting near the stream, the child asked her “you’re one of them aren’t you? You aren’t real?” She wasn’t phased by the comment, telling the family that their are bandits in the hills. Then once her father uncovers a picture of a woman standing in New York City, he asks her “where is this?” She responds by saying “doesn’t look like anything to me”. Additionally, this leads her to believe that her father is not well, and that he needs help.

Notably it is mentioned that “she has been repaired so many times that she’s practically brand new. She’s the oldest in the park”. However, Dolores’s age foreshadows that she has the biggest wealth of knowledge among the Hosts, although it is unaccessible.

7. What did Bernard whisper to Dolores? And what did he whisper to her father before putting him into storage?

N/A. I never saw him whisper to Dolores within the episode. 

When Bernard whispered to the father it wasn’t audible, but the father’s response seemed to be that of sorrow. More then likely he told him the shut down phrase: “Soon this will feel like a distant dream. Until then, may you rest in a deep and dreamless slumber”

8. What is the meaning behind the “violent delights (have violent ends)” phrase? 

It is the phrase Dolores’s father whispered to her sometime after he found the girl in times square photo, and before he glitches out.

Dolores’s father had a question that “you're not supposed to ask”, thus amid his internal existential crisis, he snapped as a result of his programing and whispered the phrase in her ear.

When being interview by Bernard, Ford and Theresa, It is discovered that he used to be programed as part of a Horror story about a cult who became carnivorous. He played the role of the Professor, which can be taken in a few different ways in regards to the Westworld narrative (the role in which it was intended, someone who “professes” knowledge, or in a sense a prophet of sorts).

9. What’s the corporation’s secret plan for Westworld?

It appears to be that different levels of the corporation want different things: the market, the shareholders, etc. However Theresa’s goal seems to be to rid Ford of his position, and take control of the corporation. 

10. What is the Man in Black’s actual mission here, where is he going? 

The Man in Black appears to be searching for something within Westworld. He has disdain for the guests and their acceptance of the simplicities of the park. Upon his first appearance, his motives appear to be selfish, he shows aggravation towards Dolores not remembering who he was after 30 years of coming to Westworld. Since Dolores is the oldest Host in the park, he too has been going to the park since it began. Overall, he states that he wants to play a “deeper level” of the game within Westworld.

11. Is anybody else that we assume is a human actually a robot? Or vice versa?

Initially, Teddy was believed to be a human because of his situational introduction to the narrative, but upon the end of the first night the audience witness him gunned down by the Man in Black. Subsequently he is revived the following day.