#Video Game Esoterica

[posthumanwanderings]

“It’s a cover-based shooter for people who hate cover-based shooters. It’s a fighting game, except players use guns. It’s a shooter, except you only fight one other person at a time. It’s incredibly fast-paced, but also unusually strategic for a stand-up arcade game. It’s 2 Spicy“ [read more]

[spatulahat]

Going through my Cyberpunk 2077 Screenshots Folder Part 30 (Seeing red)

[penwrythe]

Thinking about the Demiurge phone man...

[marcusbrutus]

2025 Resolutions (in no particular order)

DRAW MORE. I want to up my art production, despite having severe art block. It is a never-ending cycle. I want to at least sketch once a day, ideally more but I won't force myself. I don't wanna get burnt out.

MAINTAIN DUOLINGO STREAK. Currently I have a streak in Japanese at 391. I want to maintain that streak all through the year. I also want to practice Japanese more and at least get to where I can read basic text. Ideally, I will also commit more to immersion.

WATCH NEW SHOWS. I have a bad habit of not watching anything new. I like watching youtube slop, and I like rewatching shows I've already seen. New shows are scary. I want to watch more. SPECIFICALLY: I want to finish Attack on Titan, start (and ideally finish) One Piece, and watch Transformers Prime. I don't know why it's so hard to start new shows for me, but it can be physically painful to force myself to do something I'm not sure I want to do. Honestly, it's a miracle I even watched BCS in the first place, let alone finished it. You think Corvo just *happens* to watch and finish a show like that? It was HIM. JIMMY.

REDUCE SCREENTIME BY 2 HOURS. I mean this specifically on my phone. Screentime for video games doesn't count because I consider it a hobby, and obviously it won't count for digital art. When I'm on my phone, I find myself mindlessly scrolling. I've been considering getting a flip phone, but there is just so much on my phone that I need to function (maps, google, etc - can't even think of them all) that I don't know if it's possible.

PRACTICE MEDITATION / INTUITION / SPIRITUALITY. This is difficult because it requires time, patience, and discipline. Ideally, I want to meditate at least 20 minutes a day. I want to work on my intuition, and I want to get more into esoterica/spirituality. I would like to get more into spirit/deity work, which is also difficult because it requires time, patience, discipline, AND belief, which as a major skeptic I struggle with LOL.

[falciesystemessays]

it's kinda fascinating, when fire emblem echoes was in its hype phases and even upon release i remember feeling like it was this return to the Old Days. it's a remake of the second ever fire emblem game from the famicom days, and its advertisement explicitly distanced itself from the then recent fe fates. but when i think about what fe echoes was actually doing, it's not really nostalgic for any one period of fire emblem so much as just enamored with the vague concept of "classic fire emblem."

there's a lot of specific design decisions in echoes that are incomprehensible if the goal is to be faithful to fire emblem gaiden. the support conversation system is implemented specifically like the gba era, despite supports not being a thing at all in the famicom originals. i'm not saying having supports in a gaiden remake is bad, it's a great idea actually! but doing it gba-style where you start the conversations on the battlefield rather than between battles is completely anachronistic. the only reason you would do it like that is to feel more like "the good old days."

it's same thing with the ui. fire emblem these days tends to have combat forecasts that show the damage, accuracy, and crit rate of the move you're about to make. the stuff you actually need. echoes has this ui too, but for some reason defaults to the more "advanced" ui that shows the user's attack and the target's defense as separate stats. why? what does it add, making me subtract the defense from the attack? this is a purely semiotic gambit, meant to harken back to the super famicom era when that's how they did it. but fire emblem gaiden didn't have combat forecasts to begin with, at least not until after the combat started!

there's plenty more examples of anachronisms i could give, but they all amount to the same thing: nostalgia baiting for a past that is idealized but non-specific. an amalgam of symbols meant to convey "we hear you, fates was a mistake, and we're bringing fe back to what it should be." and the thing is, it worked! it worked on me when it came out, and it worked on my friends who at the time hated fates as much as i did! the game took on meaning not just as a game that was good, but as a representation of a narrative.

and that narrative ended up clouding our judgements. to prove that, i want to talk about a friend of mine, discussing echoes' randomness.

now, for context, fire emblem is one of many turn-based games that secretly massage their probabilities under the hood. this makes 90% feel more like 90% to people who don't know better, because in general people are just really fucking bad at understanding randomness. i will come to defense of this system for many reasons, but the one big weakness is that dedicated players eventually find out and lose their trust in the system forever. game designer (and known workplace abuser) jennifer scheurle has compared game design to a magic trick in this respect, and the biggest hitch to that is that very few people actually want to know how the trick is pulled off.

here's the thing, though. when echoes came out, this true-blue fire emblem oldhead told me "it's so relieving how this game doesn't lie to you like fates does." now this is very funny in that kind of bitter way, because fates and echoes use the exact same rng system, that uses the true value below 50% and uses a weaker weighting above it. this friend accidentally fabricated a mechanic, because they were treating the game as an embodiment of everything in the series they thought they loved.

now this is, honestly, a pretty lightweight example. the values being expressed here are about a sense of mechanical purism more than anything else, and every fire emblem fan i've met has some bullshit take on mechanical esoterica, including me. where this gets dangerous is when a game's symbolic meaning goes further than mild fandom squabbles.

i started thinking about this topic while watching youtuber shaun's video "Stellar Blade: The Fake Outrage". this video talks about how a korean nier automata clone became a symbol in the culture war. these losers had already constructed narratives around how this game was a stalwart defender in the war against woke, simply for having a scantily clad woman and never bothering to appeal to anyone but straight men. they didn't give a shit about the game as a game, just as a symbol for a concept. and i think it's worth looking out for that in ourselves, when we're looking at games not as works of art, but as sets of signifiers. these games deserve better than to be subsumed into the narratives we make for ourselves.

[aizengomenvt]

Meet Aizen Gomen, The demon possessed Fallen Savior of humanity in the land of Esoterica.

Follow Aizen's journey through this dark fantasy visual novel game, where the audience helps him to navigates the blessed rewards, treacherous punishments and uncovers arcane secrets to gather the resources necessary for a dire resurrection. Each video peels back layers of Aizen's torment, revealing a protagonist torn between his quest for redemption and the sinister forces compelling him deeper into darkness.

Discover a game where every step forward challenges Aizen's resolve and morality, blurring the lines between hero and reluctant villain. As Aizen confronts his inner demons and external foes, the game immerses players in a gripping tale of sacrifice, betrayal, and the quest for salvation.

Will Aizen succumb to the darkness that beckons, or will he defy fate and find a path to redemption amidst the shadows? Embark on a journey where the boundaries between heroism and villainy blur in the quest for a lost friend and shattered sanity.

*The first of 3 playable stories with 48 different paths in the game "Tales of Esoterica" still in development.

Art by doublecudw on Vgen

[multi-muse-transect]

V in Mortal Kombat interactions.

@aggravateddurian

Duplicate

V: If you’re me from the future, please tell me I get Johnny out of my head.

V: It’s gonna come at a price.

V: So is Jackie alive in your universe?

V: Who's Jackie?

V: So where are you from? Haywood, Badlands or Charter Hill?

V: Haywood.

Raiden

V: It’s gonna take more than just fancy fighting moves to survive NC.

Raiden: Don't judge a book by its cover V.

V: Fuck, it’s so hard to fight without combat implants!

Raiden: You must get used to a life without crutches, only then can you overcome the city itself.

V: You don’t happen to know who’s the Zen Master now do you?

Raiden: Why he’s a teacher in the Wushi Academy!

V: You’re gonna love the esoterica.

Raiden: You should show me sometime.

Raiden: Such a bleak future you live in…

V: It has its perks.

Raiden: It’s horrible that people would do things to themselves to survive such an insane city.

V: The city ends up getting them regardless.

Johnny Cage

V: Told you Alex was the best.

Johnny: The best? She is leading woman material!

V: Johnny and Solomon are actors in this universe?

Johnny: You’re talking about Keanu and Idris right?

V: No, you’re not making my life into a movie.

Johnny: Maybe a video game can work?

Johnny: So you mind telling me how brain dances work?

V: You need to chrome the fuck up first.

Johnny: Adam Smasher sounds like a lame ass name.

V: Why don't you say that to his face when you see him?

Scorpion

V: You remind me of this one guy-he was a bodyguard.

Scorpion: I wish to meet him one day then.

V: Fuck me, what kind of implants cause those?

Scorpion: Technology isn't required to learn magic.

Scorpion: You're getting more and more skilled without your combat implants.

V: It took sometime but I'm getting there.

Scorpion: Arasaka's evil must be stopped!

V: They'll learn to fear the reaper when we raid it.

Sub Zero

V: I've met plenty of gonks like you in NC. All dead in a ditch

Sub Zero: Then I will be the first to survive.

V: You just sold out your clan by working for Arasaka!

Sub Zero: A small price to pay for salvation.

Sub Zero: Adam Smasher has proven himself to be a valuable ally!

V: Don't come crying to me when he bites you in the ass!

Sub Zero: With Arasaka's tech, I will create an unstoppable army of cyber-Lin Kuei!

V: Not on my watch!

Kung Lao

V: Careful, that attitude won't get anywhere in NC.

Kung: Cybernetic thugs don't scare me.

V: A hat? Seriously!?

Kung: Don't underestimate it V.

Kung: Is Panam available for today?

V: As if she'd go out with you.

Kung: I heard about the story of David Martinez. I've had the same experience like that...

V: You should take it to heart.

Sindel

V: This isn't my first time meeting a ruler.

Sindel: Oh? Do tell...

V: Jesus Christ, what kind of chrome makes you do THAT?

Sindel: Please, I don't need machines in my body.

Sindel: Do you do this often? Asking rulers out for dinner?

V: I learned it from a gig in Dogtown.

Sindel: Our magic will help cure your condition.

V: Let's hope it doesn't turn the other guy into pixie dust first.

Shang Tsung

V: Tell me where So Mi is or you end up eating lead.

Shang: You still care about her despite everything?

V: I've known many backstabbing assholes in NC. You're not special.

Shang: But I am built different compared to them.

Shang: I assure you, my magic will make sure that Silverhand will be gone.

V: I'm not selling my principals out to a wizard!

Shang: I wonder if I will have Silverhand's soul when I take it from your body.

V: One-try it asshole and two-I don't think that's how it works.

Shao Kahn

V: I almost mistook you for an Animals member.

Shao: Do you mock me mercenary!?

V: Not my first I've fight someone big with a hammer.

Shao: Then they must've died in the most humiliating way possible!

Shao: I am not afraid of a dying mercenary!

V: You will be.

Shao: All legends fade.

V: Not mine, it will never fade away!

Reiko

V: You're seriously coming at me with a spear and shurikens?

Reiko: Unlike you-I don't need machines under my skin.

V: Many gonks like you die because of loyalty.

Reiko: Then they have died honorably!

Reiko: You aren't afraid of death. Good!

V: I pass by it all the time.

Reiko: You spared Khameleon. So weak and disgusting! Mercy is disgusting!

V: Your devotion to the roided maniac is way more disgusting.

Tanya

V (if female V): You know anything I can get for Judy?

Tanya: I recommend the flowers of the royal garden.

V: My world can use more people like you.

Tanya: Maybe there is. Perhaps you weren't looking enough.

Tanya: I don't trust Reed.

V: Good, don't!

Tanya: Takemura is so blinded by loyalty.

V: That's Goro for you.

Kitana

V: You sound...familiar.

Kitana: I don't even know who you are.

V: Fuck me, I need one of those!

Kitana: First you must learn to train with them.

Kitana: I can't believe the Mox's care about money instead of caring for others.

V: Tell me about it.

Kitana: Thank you for telling me about Hansen.

V: You're welcome princess.

Li Mei

V: I think I know a detective who would love to have you as a partner.

Li Mei: Do tell Earthrealmer...

V: If the cops acted like you then NC would have zero crime.

Li Mei: Perhaps I should teach them.

Li Mei: So much corruption in your city, I'm surprise it's still standing.

V: You can thank the mega-corps that semi-run it.

Li Mei: 6th Street are nothing but barbarians parading as protectors.

V: Lofty patriotic bullshit is all they spew out of their mouths.

Kenshi

V: Fought a guy just like you. Hunted Tigers.

Kenshi: Was he just as skilled as me?

V: You're gonna love Jotaro Shobo since you kill yakuza a lot.

Kenshi: Really? Tell me where he is...

Kenshi: Your blades are advanced but not advanced as sento.

V: No shit. None of them can summon a ghost!

Kenshi: I would love to duel Oda one day.

V: I don't think that's a smart idea...

Ashrah

V: No one is good or bad where I come from...except for Maelstrom.

Ashrah: They are beyond redemption.

V: I know a guy who needs someone like you, he's FIA.

Ashrah: I know he has a good heart but is clouded by devotion.

Ashrah: So Mi is safe with me.

V: Tell her I said hi.

Ashrah: Regina Jones heart is so pure yet full of darkness.

V: Really? She doesn't seem to have a bad bone in her.

Smoke

V: What the hell kinda name is Smoke?

Smoke: One that you will respect.

V: Thanks for taking care of 6th Street for me.

Smoke: They're nothing but savages.

Smoke: The Aldecaldos have such a beautiful culture.

V: Wanna join them one day?

Smoke: Wakako looks like she's taken a liking to me.

V: Odd, she doesn't like anyone.

Geras

V: So..how does my story end?

Geras: Your future is very...hard to tell.

V: You're a Samurai fan?

Geras: I was watching their concerts very recently.

Geras: I suggest you should side with So Mi.

V: Why is that?

Geras: I have met another who travels to other timelines.

V: Ciri? Yeah, she does that.

Liu Kang

V: I can tell you didn't create my timeline.

Liu Kang: I would never create such depravity.

V: Shit, I'm sure Viktor would love you on the boxing club.

Liu Kang: I’ll visit one day.

Liu Kang: In one timeline, you and So Mi are together.

V: That...that's kinda beautiful.

Liu Kang: I have something that will help your ailment.

V: Really? It won't fry my nerves right?

[hellhoundmaggie]

Tag ask game!

I got tagged by: @georgiedoesntfloat Thank you!

Last song you listened to: Intentionally? "The Mothman Song (Believe in the Power of the Mothman!)" by The Paranormal Song Warrior. It's just so silly and delightful!

Unintentionally? The classical piece from this Simpsons meme video. Shazam tells me it's the overture from La gazza ladra.

Last movie you watched: Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It's a comfort movie for me!

Currently watching: Legend of Korra, ESOTERICA, Atun-Shei Films, Law & Order: SVU and Organized Crime

Other things I've watched this year: Netflix's John Wayne Gacy Tapes, a little bit of Friday the 13th Part VII (the first one with Kane Hodder), a bunch of YouTube video essays, whatever my spouse feels like watching

Currently reading: My friend's unpublished manuscript!

Currently listening to: The trans antifascist superheroine you've never heard of . by Thought Slime

Currently working on: Knitting a hat, shopping for Christmas presents, planning an Avatar Legends TTRPG campaign, learning about demonology, procrastinating on writing

Current obsession: My Scarlet Hollow fandom has led me to dabble in Western esotericism. I just ordered a fancy copy of Johann Wier's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, a 16th-century text that was meant to parody demonological books but ended up being a big influence on sincere demonology and magical practice down to this very day. It's going to teach me about 69 (nice) demons and how to summon them!

Tagging if you'd like to! : @crestoflames , @shanklinthestabpossum, @marshvlovestv, @maytheratseatureyes, @thedeafprophet, @the-defiant-heiress, @nimbexy, @tangled-wires-and-a-dead-heart

[basementstalker]

Once a day is really impressive haha! Ngl I'm kind of an addict to just scrolling mindlessly at times, kinds like scrolling on pinterest. What are some of your favorite topics? (Like yandere or darling qualities?)

Well, I suppose it's more that I do my best to only come on here once a day. I have another account that I scroll more on, but the content I follow there is completely different. I tend to feel useless if I'm online too much- have to always be "productive" you know? Whatever that means.

Topics I enjoy? Stories of any format (unfiction, songs, books, video games, etc) with the genre tending towards horror. I enjoy discussing character motivation. Plants, nature, architecture, art, philosophy, and esoterica are all fun to talk about. Although I only really discuss things with my sibling- I don't trust others enough to share my thoughts on most things. I suppose the Internet is another place I feel slightly more comfortable sharing things, giving the anonymity of it all.

Yandere and darling qualities are fun to discuss as well, though a little arbitrary in the end since people are so varied. I don't entirely understand the darling label (other than it means you're interested in a yandere partner- which could be for so many reasons, not to mention the kind of yandere you're interested in). I'm glad it's given people the chance to form a sort of community though.

[posthumanwanderings]

Sega's Masterpiece! Scud Race! SEGA's Model 3 Arcade Racing Game and the Alpha Dreamcast Version

[theflowergardensys]

Introduction

We are the Flower Garden system, named after our love of gardening and our many color/plant-related identities. Collective name: Fleur Pronouns: She/her by default, but we might ask you to use different ones depending on who is fronting. No masc terms please, even bro/dude. Boundaries: No DNI, but we block freely. NSFW accounts are free to interact, but we probably won't reblog anything from you onto this account. DM for our NSFW account but don't expect us to trust you enough immediately to share it.

Interests: Digital art and animation, music production, game development, esoterica, gardening, being the best person i can be, forming a network of supportive relationships, providing a kind and nonjudgmental space, mental illness and neurodivergency, space and astrophysics, computers and programming, playing creative video games, fighting for a world worth living in for ourselves and others, queer expression of identity.

We are extremely determined and resilient. We hope to meet those who are mutual in many of these things. We may play games, chat and support eachother, and share various activities with eachother. The way we type can be quite robotic, but if you get to know us we are very expressive. Disabled, neurodivergent, and very queer. We treat everyone with kindness, but will not put up with harassment. "Do no harm but take no crap."

if you partake in callout culture, or tell people to kill themselves, we probably won't like you.

[gravemushrooms]

Tag ppl you wanna know betteeer

Tagged by: @missmassacre

Last song: not songs per se but: Ryuji Takeuchi / Essential Memories EP Part III / Sonoran District; Orbital / In Sides / Dŵr Budr (this has some singing but it's nonsense backwards words); Polygon Window / Surfing on Sine Waves / Polygon Window (it's Aphex Twin, also featured on Warp Records Artificial Intelligence)

Favorite color: i end up back at pink-purple but you'd never know from looking at me

Currently watching:

antiquities/religion MythVision Podcast (mostly critical studies of ancient christianity or related topics) Crecganford (a lot of proto-indo-european th.) Religion for Breakfast Gnostic Informant ESOTERICA (Dr. Justin Sledge) James Tabor Ancient Architects History for GRANITE World of Antiquity Archaeology Now Antiquity for All Crowhag Ancient Americas Jackson Crawford (Old Norse) Lady of the Library Let's Talk Religion toldinstone Simon Roper (English language over time + other topics) Sally Pointer (neolithic fibers + textiles)

experimental archaeology Primitive Technology (with subtitles) Roland Warzecha scholagladiatoria (Matt Easton) Tod's Workshop Malcolm P.L.

urbanism Not Just Bikes Stewart Hicks CityNerd Kirsten Dirksen (not really urbanism but houses, permaculture, DIY)

technology Asianometry

skepticism potholer54 (climate) Mick West AronRa (anti-creationism)

crank bigfoot Bob Gymlan i like to watch a lot of weird crank stuff but this is maybe the only one i think other people could find entertaining

self-actualization (?) Bitsii in Inaka

video game industry Timothy Cain

half a-press memes pannenkoek2012

Last movie: director's cut of The Little Shop of Horrors that has the apocalyptic ending. apparently i haven't really watched a movie since 2019

Currently reading: @eyeofpsyche recommended some books about Jung (Jung - The Key Ideas by Ruth Snowden and The Essential Jung by John Beebe but lately i've been swamped with work + school. earlier this year i was reading Big Dead Place because Antarctica is strange and miserable and Malleus Maleficarum to better understand a Euro-medieval/early modern notion of the supernatural. i skimmed through a bunch of Ekirch's At Day's Close - Night in Times Past for a course over the summer

Sweet/spicy/savory: food isn't really a thing for me. ask me when i have more money

Relationship status: the person i talk to the most online is someone that i don't even use words with

Current obsessions: i had a week where i was looking at weird things to do with Windows 3 and trying out linux distros in a virtual machine

Last googled: i was trying to find a magazine cover from the early/mid 90s that depicted a man wearing unusual shoes in a photo-realistic style and it was intended to illustrate how developments in digital image manipulation had made the notion of "the camera never lies" obsolete

Currently working on: lab report busywork for a microbio course, or i spent nearly all day setting up a biochemistry lab which involved making a lot of 1% solutions of a variety of amino acids

anyone that follows me that wants to do this feel free to have a go at it

[unwantedmagazine]

A Celebration of Interactive Experience, with yeucc

By Staff Editor flyday (D3tectiveBailey)

This article is part of the “Cut the Cameras” review series where newsroom staff critique interactive experiences and creative esoterica. CtC reviews are handled with care, seriousness, and consideration.

(Caption: A thumbnail video for “NOKORi 残り” one of the yeuc_c’s main games.)

ROBLOX—As far as exciting and engaging Roblox experiences go, yeucc’s (yeuc_c) games astounded me in ways I never thought possible. With a sci-fi angle, unique storytelling devices and a distinct aesthetic, the sheer joy of creative expression bleeds through in every project. There’s a distinct narrative being told through yeucc’s games, which I am predisposed to enjoying even before beginning to revisit the mysterious laboratories and bunkers that litter yeucc’s narrative universe. A surface skim of the type of content yeucc had to showcase may evoke general expectations, but when you engage with yeucc’s experiences, you get something better than you could ever imagine.

From the beginning stages of waking up in mysterious, foreign, subterranean laboratories and hidden bunkers away from the mistakes of humanity to the very ends of each experience, yeucc’s games stand strong. An exploration game can be better planned than executed. At NOKORi, exploration and interactivity are the focus—and these focuses are executed well. The goal is to navigate—and eventually escape from—a mysterious, foreign, subterranean laboratory filled with various dangers, a plethora of mysteries, and an exciting array of puzzles. At its core, each of the yeucc games—while incorporating engaging puzzles and investigative design—are surreal, unforgettable, and novel exploration experiences. A tone of dread, mystery, and an ominous foreboding feeling that something is truly wrong permeates deep into the player experience. The lighting design (and lack of lighting in dark corridors) in the NOKORi and Bunker games speak to this intent.

You are a player, and the task at hand? Survive. Other priorities vary between NOKORi and Bunker.

The attention to detail, the focus on interactivity, and the visual environments created are nothing short of stunning. The diversity in architecture, interior design, and visual layout in each game speaks to the dedication to design that the developer and his team had towards creating a truly immersive experience. The games ease players into various mechanics and introduce them to a diverse array of spatial reasoning puzzles that exercise the players’ problem-solving mind. Finding solutions to progress through these games require an explorative mind and an analytical attitude. From cramped office spaces to expansive testing chambers, the diversity and effectiveness of the yeucc design style is distinct and inspiring. 

I was particularly astounded by the engaging and interactive experience of playing yeucc’s newest game. Bunker is a masterclass in building an exploration game. Where I wanted to see hints at storytelling, Bunker pulled through. Where I wanted to see interactivity, puzzles, and problem-solving, Bunker showed up. I was continually amazed at how expansive the map of Bunker is—and I await in anticipation for what yeucc and co. have next for us players.

(Caption: A screencap for the MMIS recording of the joint investigation into Happy Country.)

I remember being new to the Myth Community and becoming an Inspector through the MMIS Inspectors & Analysts program for Advanced Investigators back in March, 2020. After being assigned my role, I was put on the yeucc beat. It’s without question that yeucc’s games are incredibly sentimental to me—having investigated and analyzed these games nearly three years ago—back when they were part of the “Happy Country” storyline. 

The experience of investigating Happy Country was incredibly exciting—one of the best entrances into the investigative community. In his former capacity as a myth, yeucc was incredibly welcoming and kind to the investigators assigned to his games. Happy Country was rich with storytelling—I remember back when our most pertinent concerns were regarding the NOKORi facility’s “Eccles Syndrome” bug and uncovering the conspiracies that make up the governance of yeuccsylvania.

Most of the yeucc games originated as myth games. Though the developer no longer identifies as a myth, the strong storytelling talent shines through the reimagined and remastered versions of his games.

The only place where some of the yeucc games falter is generally with fine-tuning errors like the occasional soft-locks, inconsistent textures or tangents, z-clipping, or other quality-control related aberrations. Despite all of this—and in comparison to other games of his style—yeucc’s games are confidently creative, powerfully maximalist, and detail oriented in a way that exceeds all expectations. The improvements that yeucc and the development team have made are no clearer than the spectacular transitions between NOKORi and Bunker—the latter of which is still in development. We would love to see more of the storytelling and lore bleed from the original storyline through yeucc’s newer games, and we believe the continued development of Bunker will showcase this to us. From bunker explorations to laboratory escapes, playing yeucc’s games is an engaging, exciting, and visually stunning experience and I can’t wait for what’s next.

Verdict

yeucc’s original games and storyline benefited from the quirkiness, mystique, and abstract narrative aided by mysterious games and horror elements. The new generation of yeucc games show up stronger, turning a quirky and mysterious storyline and its horror-filled games into a powerful and engaging experience of exploration, discovery, and problem-solving. Brought to life by vivid, maximalist visual design and brilliant scripting, the yeucc games of today leave you feeling intrigued, fulfilled, and fully hooked. The puzzles in the new games bring challenge without frustration, tied in with a healthy balance of expansiveness that never leaves a player feeling trapped or impeded. yeucc and his development team pull out all the stops to deliver an awe-inspiring experience. NOKORi put in place the mystery, mechanics, and style needed to launch a player into the Bunker experience. From underground laboratories to expansive subterranean bunkers to avoid the fate of humanity, yeucc’s games are an unforgettable marvel of creative expression.

—

Flyday (D3tectiveBailey) is a staff editor and game developer with the Unwanted Magazine. Flyday runs point on the magazine’s “Cut the Cameras” review project.

[torley]

Blog of independent video game developer and digital media artist Matt Sephton. Featuring vintage Macintosh, game development, digital artwork, Japanese esoterica, video game reviews, hacks and tips, and much more.

[dzpenumbra]

1/24/23

I was playing Noita, trying a pacifist run... and the game crashed for the first time. Guess it's time to do this!

Today was fairly uneventful. Cat woke me up early. Yoga. Got some stuff from the package room - some new incense and essential oil for my diffuser. It may not be the most orderly home, but it smells nice.

I came pretty close to finishing what used to be the necklace and is now the bracelet. I just need to... reassess the closure on it. I don't like a clasp for a bracelet, it just doesn't really work great. I need to make something that easily latches one-handed. But the weaving is done, so that's nice. Took way longer than I expected, but it was my first time and I don't really have a process down so... cutting myself some slack.

Oh yeah, so it was time to transition to the final polishing phase of the rock tumbles. Time flies, huh. If I didn't have that week missing where I wasn't running it because I was waiting for ceramic media to be delivered, they'd be done by now. But it should only be about 5 or so more days. There are some really cool pieces in there. I'm really excited to see how they come out. And I've been taking progress pictures from raw stone to finished product, so I'm excited to look back and see how far they came. Cleaning those and swapping the water/slurry took a few hours. It's a bit... laborious... and tedious when you live in an area where you can't just... dump the slurry. But, I'm getting a system down.

I was listening to this guy ESOTERICA on YouTube, the topic du jour was Exorcism in Judaism. Pretty interesting shit.

I also listened to a LiquidPixul art talk on... AI art... and his journey from 2D animation to 3D animation... to digital painting. His description of riding the waves of changing technologies was really interesting, a very unique perspective. I don't really know how to feel, because no one has really ever wanted my art. I know, womp womp, depression time. But like... legit. I have seen more of my artwork sitting on peoples' floors, being trampled by animals, draped over furniture, torn, broken, stowed away in storage... than actually appreciated. I have only sold a handful of prints. I have never sold an original piece that wasn't a commission for a specific individual. And I've been doing this since... 2008? If you count college, and I do. So, like... I know others may feel threatened that what they have built may come crumbling down because tech companies developed a new toy. I get that. No one wants to feel replaced; trust me, I've been replaced in much worse ways than that, the feeling is awful. But first off... I struggle to relate to it, because... I really don't have anything to lose. I never really gained. So, I think that kinda gives me a unique perspective to be able to look at this situation without being too fearful.

What I got out of Adam's talk was this idea of like... as a trained artist, someone who has dedicated themselves to a craft... but also to a completely different way of looking at life... you don't just lose that when a new medium comes along. Even if you switch mediums. Holy shit, okay, you know what, I am qualified to speak on this. I have swapped mediums more fucking times than I can count. I started with poetry, of all things. Then music. Then video, which was my first major. Then doodling, because I couldn't focus in classes unless I was doodling on something, margins of my notes, my pants, in college I'd regularly cover my entire left arm in a sleeve of Sharpie tattoos. Swapped majors from video to undecided after flunking out. Considered music. Then I said "fuck it, music isn't going to pay the bills, let's add art to the mix" and went all-in to become an art major. I went to a college with the intentions of gigging with my band and being a Drawing major. They didn't offer drawing as a focus, so I had to learn how to paint in acrylic. Closest I could get. Then I started to go multimedia again - sculpture, video, graffiti, set design. After graduation I got into tattooing, learned graphic design, dabbled in architecture design in SketchUp. I'd make replicas of ancient world wonders in Minecraft. I disconnected from art for like... 4-5 years and a part of me just... died. I lost my identity. I would rediscover it in Minecraft occasionally, but... it would fade quick. Toxic environment. And the past 5 years since I liberated myself from that toxicity, I started going nuts with shit. Trance work, meditative practices, automatic writing, wood/stone/bone sculpture, jewelry making, nature illustration, mandalas, a mini episodic stream-of-consciousness vlog, a full-length YouTube Rimworld series, livestreams, earthworks. So... you could say I'm not really tethered to a medium. At all. In fact, I get so intrigued and enticed by new media and new experiences that I have trouble sticking to a "thing". And instead of fighting that like I think most people do, and say "just focus on what you do", I said "fuck it, let's go!" I learned anatomy for realism portraiture. I learned geometry for abstract and architecture. I learned geology and chemistry for stone work. I learned ecology and microbiology for earthworks. I learned spirituality, mythology, evolutionary biology and primitive art history in my explorations in handmade carving. I even learned how to do some functional coding for video games and stuff, in an attempt to create my own simulated ecosystem with artificial lifeforms living in it.

None of those mediums are going anywhere, as far as their role in my life is concerned. Because they never went anywhere to begin with! They have always stayed constant. Me, by myself, learning, exploring, growing and finding new ways to express what fascinates me, and what my passions are. What catches my eye and makes me go "oh holy shit, I never thought of that, that changes everything!" Or just pulls me in completely and takes me to another world. And I see it as my job, my place in this world, to share that passion and that transformative imaginative immersion with others. The best I can. Like... a music reaction video. Why do we watch those? We like to see how others hear the same songs we listen to, especially for the first time. And we can take from that and add it to our language of like... active listening. So when I hear Charismatic Voice nerding out about diphthongs, I go... "oh shit, what about Coheed, you gotta listen to them, they are like... the epitome of diphthongs... now that I know what that word means... XD" It adds to my language of... experiencing life.

So... what I'm kinda saying is... when you train to be an artist - just like the example above with Elizabeth, trained to be a musician - you are training much more than your ability to draw on a piece of paper. Or a tablet. Or paint a canvas. Or sculpt. Whatever. It's much more. It may not feel like much more to you, if you are an artist yourself, but I challenge you to sit down at an intro-to-art class sometime. Those brave, brave souls, I have so much admiration for them! Go audit one of those classes at a local college or something and just... watch how they approach their artwork not from a technical standpoint (because obviously they're going to be inexperienced), but like... from a cognitive standpoint. How they look at their subject, and how they choose to portray it. Their understanding of space. Their understanding of anatomy. Of physics, and proportions, and movement. Color, light, depth. I would bet you a surgeon with zero art experience could draw a pretty good... whatever they usually do surgery on... because they know their way around, they have the mind of an anatomist. So they probably know what goes where and what it looks like roughly, but they might struggle to get those ideas accurately onto paper.

We, as artists... we have been training much more than just our medium. We have been studying many disciplines of science, math, history, biology, you name it. Whatever we have decided to put our effort and research into learning, we have that. And we will always have that. And we can bring that knowledge to other media as well.

So... if people really want to try to replace the artists, let them go ahead. A machine is doing my stone sanding for me right now, and that thing was invented like 70 years ago. Saves me having to wear down my arm muscles, creates a different effect, and comes with its own pros and cons.

But if you're worried about someone going to google and just typing in their idea for art and then going "I'm an artist, I don't need art anymore!"... You didn't have the same experience with graphic design as I did. In my experience, the layman has no fucking clue what they want. They think they do! They all think they do. Then they see what you can do with it... and they all change their tune. That's why they went to you in the first place. And that's why you charge for revisions, folks. I was taught that in college like right off the bat, both for graphic design work and really any design commission. Always charge for revisions, add one or two into the base charge for your work. So we'll do what they want first... then when they inevitably don't like it, we revise, add some of the artist's input... and then keep going until it gets there. So like... I guess what I'm saying is that the layman might find these generators a fun novelty, but they don't have an artist's eye. I mean look at fucking social media, everyone has a goddamn S-Tier camera in their pocket, how many pictures on social media are actually like... proportionate to the quality of the tool they're using? Because they don't have an eye for it. Then go look at a pro photographer's page and it's like... "fuck dude, you're magical."

So... if you're a creative too, don't sweat it too much? Is what I'm saying? And... remember that being an artist is more than just the products that you make... it's the process of exploring, the process of making, and the process of being in art mind. You are creating a story every time you work. You are painting an IRL scene of you at your work spot, painting or drawing or typing or carving or whatever it is. Like a little private movie that the consumer never gets to know about... unless you stream... ;) And that becomes... like a child of yours, your creation. That piece is part of your story, and you are part of its. That effect, that quality of being something created with purpose and passion by human hands is... palpable. And to me, it's one of the most valuable things in the world. Which is why I don't really like doing prints anymore, honestly. And also why I'm trying so fucking hard to get real furniture made by a real fucking person Jesus Christ why is this so hard!!! XD

Okay, I gotta get to bed. Just wanted to share some thoughts, I'm sure it was scrambled and incoherent but I think I got most of the key points there. Just... don't let fear of losing what you love stop you from doing what you love in the first place. I guess I'm saying that to myself as much as to anyone reading this. Fear doesn't deserve that kind of worship. Love does.

[esoterica-gallery]

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