#my immersion was broken once i could no longer suspend any disbelief that these characters can exist divorced from him | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

whatwillyousing · 28 days ago

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i think ive finally come to a breakthrough on why i dont like isat all that much & its something much more fundamental than its clumsy execution or unsubtle juvenile writing like i think i simply just do not agree with its main point

#like. of course this is just my personal interpretation & takeaway from the game #but i dont think im far off in saying isats ultimate takeaway is that even at your absolute lowest #when you are the most cruel version of yourself possible that self isolates and lashes out and falls victim to vicious cycles of #self hatred that eventually even hurts your loved ones #despite it all you are still loved and cared for Always #because real friends and real family would not abandon you so easily #& like. while admittedly i think its a very very sweet message for its very specific target audience #and its one that i might even agree with in some capacity (depending on the angle its approached from)#its actual execution is just soooo. hopelessly facile & unnuanced & uncritical #i ultimately do not agree with what isat is trying to say at all bc of how its executed #and this really speaks to the heart of what i found so unsatisfying about the game wrt siffrins agency #and how at almost every turn it felt like he was being continually coddled and smothered and excused of any accountability #bc its not that siffrin is refusing to take accountability: its that its literally physically impossible for that to take place #the narrative is so completely revolved around him and focused on affirming him that the notion just simply becomes nonexistent #the matter of sif ''taking accountability'' dissipates entirely bc his suffering was so noble and extreme that we're meant to just #implicitly forgive him for his cruelty & instead accept his suicidality as enough recompense #the cast feels one dimensional by the end of the game bc of how their every action slowly becomes contingent on siffrins very existence #& kinda cease to exist outside of their primary role of comforting him #my immersion was broken once i could no longer suspend any disbelief that these characters can exist divorced from him #& the reason why isats timeloops ultimately felt so empty to me and failed to deliver any meaningful thematic punch #was bc as much as they were an overt representation of siffrin's suffering #theyre not meaningfully dismantled or confronted by siffrin themself at all #their dissolution hinges entirely on his friends taking action to pull him out of that dark place #and siffrin keeps on doing what he's always done-- nothing about his behavior has materially changed by the time act 5 rolls around #he just gets a mildly stern talking to and is asked to simply Not do that again.#like okay. its a sweet message. its affirming and attractive and i understand why its consoled as many people as it has #but like for Meeee. i just do not vibe with it #i just think the situation isnt afforded the degree of complexity that it seemed to try to initially approach

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