2040: Perhaps We Should Stop Insulting Fans of Japanese Games

Earlier today (or possibly yesterday, I think), a former colleague posted a piece on a site I used to work for bemoaning, not for the first time, the amount of “ecchi” content in modern Japanese games, particularly dungeon-crawling RPGs. (I’m not going to link to it.)

The piece did have an interesting point to make, which was to conjecture that many creators are interested in making sexually explicit — outright pornographic — games rather than just flashing the odd pair of panties like they do nowadays, and that it’s the current strict censorship laws in Japan coupled with the platform holders’ stranglehold on what sort of content does and doesn’t get approved for sale that is holding this back from happening. I’m not sure I entirely agree with this — the nature of ecchi as opposed to hentai is to tease and titillate rather than be outright explicit, erotic, masturbation material — but it was an interesting point to consider.

Unfortunately, he then went off the deep end with accusations of games like Dungeon Travelers 2 — a game that, by all accounts from people who have played it and not pontificated for thousands of words about How Bad And Wrong Anime Panties Are, is very good indeed — being “borderline child pornography”. When called out about it on social media and in comments, he then took to his personal blog to wag his fingers and make some snide remark about the current situation with former “Face of Subway” Jared pleading guilty to numerous child sex-related charges and how, given that situation, people really shouldn’t be defending games that “advocate child molestation”.

For fuck’s sake.

I feel like I have written this post a thousand times over by now, but it seems that I need to write it again, if only to blow off the steam I’ve had building up inside my head all day. So this may get a little bit angry, and for that I make no apologies whatsoever.

For fuck’s sake.

The “child pornography” line is one that is usually trotted out by people who want to criticise Japanese media without knowing anything about it. Yes, Japan has plenty of morally questionable material — to Western sensibilities — readily available. Yes, Japan was somewhat “late to the party” when it came to legislating against this sort of thing. Yes, Japanese creators still produce media that would simply be illegal in Western countries. But Japan is also a different culture. And this isn’t excusing any of the things that I personally find morally repugnant — because there are plenty of things I want nothing to do with, just as there are plenty of aspects of Western culture I want nothing to do with — but it is worth considering when contemplating whether or not you should tarnish an entire country’s cultural output with as scathing a brush as “paedophilia”.

The assumption that “if you’re into ecchi games, you’re a paedophile” makes — mistakenly — is that people who enjoy this sort of thing cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality. I can guarantee you — speaking from experience — that a considerable proportion of people who like to take a walk on the ecchi side of life are doing so because it entertains them, not because it arouses them. Ecchi games are refreshingly frank, honest and open; ecchi games often have strong characterisation and realistic depictions of how relationships progress — including sexual encounters (or implied sexual encounters at the very least); ecchi games are completely up-front about what they are, and unashamed of that fact. More often than not, ecchi games are having fun with sex. They’re using it in a cheeky way, or in some cases as a means of exploring characters. (Criminal Girls is a great example of the latter, with the characters’ reactions to the light S&M scenes throughout changing as they grow and mature as people, and their relationship with the protagonist changes.)

What these games are emphatically not is a means for people who want to abuse children to get their rocks off. And this also means that people who enjoy these games are emphatically not paedophiles, or “advocates for child molestation”. Do you seriously fucking believe that because someone made use of a silly game mechanic in Omega Labyrinth that they’re going to go out and start squeezing the tits of random girls on the streets? Do you seriously fucking believe that someone finding a hand-drawn character in a game — with nothing whatsoever real about them except their voice actor, who is inevitably an adult — attractive in some way means that they’re going to be pulling up a dirty old van outside schools and kidnapping children?

In other words, if you must acknowledge them at all, how about you criticise things you don’t like without fucking insulting the people who do like them? That would be simply lovely.

I am absofuckinglutely sick of having to defend my hobby against people who take the lazy, “moral majority” approach and decry something they don’t like as being “sleazy” or “skeevy” or, as we’ve seen above, far worse. In my experience, the Japanese games and anime enthusiast community are some of the nicest, most articulate, most friendly, most passionate people I have ever met. Through my coverage of Japanese games back when I was on USgamer — I’m sure fucking glad all the time and effort I spent on that wasn’t a complete fucking waste of time — I’ve made some great and doubtless lifelong friends. And, moreover, I’ve been exposed to some really, genuinely great games — and not one of them has made me want to go out and fuck kids. Not even a little bit. How about that?

Compare and contrast with these puritanical fuckwits who just want to brand everything not on their Pre-Approved List of Things That Are Super-Rad!! as somehow Bad, Wrong and Problematic, and, well, I know which side I’d rather be on. I’ll be over here with my fellow deviants, thank you very much.

2039: He’s On the Manga

I decided today — and not for the first time — that with my interest in all things Japanese, it was high time that I got involved in manga: the print side of Japanese popular entertainment, and, in many cases, the original source of various series that go on to become popular anime series.

People who are big into manga are always going on about how the original manga (or, if you’re a real otaku hipster, light novel) is, more often than not, better than the 13-episode anime adaptation. And, to be fair, I can sort of see their point; while anime has a lot more immediacy about it thanks to the combination of colour, music, sound, voice acting and, you know, animation, the longer format of manga allows it by its very definition to go into more detail, to explore characters, themes and storylines further, and to provide a more “comprehensive” experience for fans. Plus it’s the otaku equivalent of watching a movie adaptation of a book and going “well, the book was better” (which it often is).

Anyway. The manga I decided to jump into are ones that I’m already reasonably familiar with the anime adaptations of. I considered picking up the Sword Art Online manga, but I kind of want to check out the light novels rather than the manga, since that was the original original version, and most people say that it explores the storyline at a much more manageable pace than the breakneck speed of the anime. Instead, then, I picked up the first volumes of Monster Musume and High School DxD.

I haven’t checked out DxD yet, but I’ve read the first couple of chapters of Monster Musume. So far I’m impressed with how true the anime has stuck to the tone and feel of the manga, though the manga itself is a bit more explicit in a number of ways — most notably with the presence of nipples, but also in another sense in that it fleshes out the storyline and characters’ inner thoughts a lot more. So far it hasn’t been vastly different from the anime, but I understand that differences between anime and manga tend to come a little later as a series progresses; anime often skip out large chunks of the manga with varying degrees of success, and I believe in Monster Musume’s case there are characters who are in the manga who aren’t in the anime. Possibly. Maybe.

The other advantage of reading the manga — assuming you stick with it through multiple volumes, of course — is that you can read further on in the story than the anime tends to go. A lot of 13-episode anime seasons end just as they’re getting interesting — DanMachi (aka Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) was the last show to do this — and then present their audience with a substantial and frustrating wait before they can see any more. Meanwhile, in many cases, the manga comes out first, allowing you to continue following your favourite characters’ (mis)adventures well before the adaptation hits the airwaves.

So far I don’t know how long I’ll stick with these series or any others I decide to pick up. I’ve enjoyed the couple of chapters of Monster Musume that I’ve read so far, and it’s a fun, different way to engage with a series that I’ve come to enjoy a whole lot since it launched. So we’ll see!

I should probably reorganise my bookshelves in anticipation, though…

2038: Vacation from Eorzea

Astute long-term readers will notice that I haven’t been talking much about Final Fantasy XIV recently. And the reason for that is simple: I just haven’t been playing it that much.

It’s not that I’ve gone off the game per se — I still see myself playing it for many years to come — it’s more that I’ve got out of it what I wanted to get out of it so far. The Heavensward storyline was exciting and dramatic — and, for my money, better than A Realm Reborn’s main quest — and the Alexander raid dungeon was an enjoyable challenge, though we’re still yet to clear its Savage incarnation.

Trouble is, outside of levelling alternate classes there’s not a huge amount to do at level cap right now.

This is the exact situation A Realm Reborn (and, I imagine, most MMOs) found itself in at launch, of course; the difference here, however, is that whereas it took me a good few weeks to make it to 50 in A Realm Reborn — I reached the level cap a while after the more dedicated players in my Free Company — I got through Heavensward pretty quickly. This was deliberate, of course; I binged on the new story content because it was enjoyable and interesting, and also because I wanted to see everything that the expansion pack had to offer. I also wanted to avoid inadvertently being spoiled on the storyline, since Final Fantasy XIV is that rare example of an MMO where the story is actually worth paying attention to and even told pretty well.

Consequently, I got to the “end” a lot more quickly than I did with A Realm Reborn, and consequently I’ve found myself with a lot more “dead time” with stagnant content. Sure, I could run Alexander over and over again to try and get some more gear sets. Sure, I could level other classes — I probably will do this at some point. Sure, I could run the current two level 60 dungeons over and over to get as many Tomestones of Esoterics as possible to gear up one or more classes.

Trouble is, I simply don’t have a lot of motivation to do so right now. And that’s sort of fine by me, really; whenever I play an MMO I always find myself in a weird place where I’m really enjoying the experience of playing the game and getting good at it — I maintain that Final Fantasy XIV is one of the few games I genuinely consider myself to actually be pretty good at — but also feeling a strange sense of “guilt” that I’m not playing any of the other million and one games that have been staring at me from my shelves for the last few years. Conversely, I play a game that isn’t Final Fantasy XIV and I feel a similar sense of “guilt” that I’m not playing Final Fantasy XIV more. I can’t win. Stupid brain.

On balance, though, this “dead time” is actually proving to be rather welcome, as since I have little inclination to log in right now for anything other than my weekly raiding commitments — and the group as a whole is pretty half-hearted about the whole thing at the moment, to be honest — I am having plenty of time to delve into other experiences. I managed to get the Platinum trophy on Omega Quintet. I’m working on the Platinum trophy for Hyperdevotion Noire. I am loving the shit out of Sword Art Online on PS4. And I’m also really enjoying Splatoon, Heroes of the Storm and any number of other games right now.

The trouble with any hobby that has a lot of different elements to it — be it gaming, music, reading, movies or whatever — is finding that perfect balance where you can enjoy all those different elements at different times and not feel like you’re neglecting any of them. Right now, even though I know that I don’t have much motivation to play Final Fantasy XIV, I still feel like I’m neglecting it because I’m not logging in to talk to my friends. So perhaps I still haven’t quite found the right balance there. But eh. I’m not going to worry about it for the moment — a new content patch for the game might rekindle my interest for a while, but in the meantime I’m going to cut right back and enjoy the other experiences I have on the go right now.

2037: I Killed a Volcano

Another Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment post, I’m afraid, but, well, deal with it; it’s good, I’m enjoying it, and I want to talk more about it.

I was describing the game to a friend earlier and the thing that struck me is how utterly different from your typical JRPG it is. It’s extremely non-linear at heart — that is to say, there are a number of parallel linear objectives to follow at any given moment, but it’s always entirely up to you which one you pursue at any given moment, or even whether you pursue them at all or just decide to grind out a few levels fighting powerful enemies.

So far the “main” quests I’ve encountered include the ascent of Aincrad, which is the way you “beat” the game; the storyline that unfolds as you unlock access to each part of the Hollow Area; the “Grand Quest” which mysteriously appears on one trip to the Administration Area; and a line of waifu-specific objectives that demand you go into the Hollow Area with a specific companion and complete a particular kind of Hollow Mission, the exact details of which are usually given in fairly vague terms, so you have to figure out exactly which missions will fulfil their criteria for yourself.

In my relatively brief session on the game earlier, I chose to forego the waifu quests I had previously been working on (largely because I couldn’t find a Hollow Mission that involved fighting kobolds or goblins to progress Silica’s questline) and instead continue with the Grand Quest. This part of the game — which I believe was added in a free update post-release on the original Vita version — involves entering a mysterious new part of the already mysterious Hollow Area, known as the Abandoned Area, and promises the reward of powerful new Sword Skills that you can’t get anywhere else.

The Abandoned Area is introduced to you with a beautiful garden, one end of which is dominated by an enormous pair of doors — doors which are, of course, locked. However, since Sword Art Online is well and truly aware that it is a game, it very much follows the rules of a game, and consequently there are two obvious depressions in the door where “something” most certainly fits. And, wouldn’t you know it, there are two pathways out of the garden, each of which leads to a different “dungeon” area — one in some fiery caves, another in the mountains. And oh! It just so happens that your map indicates that there’s a powerful Area Boss waiting in the furthest reaches of each of these areas. Guess what you have to do to progress the Grand Quest?

It’s not just as simple as wandering in and smacking the boss about a bit, though, not least of which because the bosses are challenging encounters with plenty of mechanics to figure out. In order to even get at the boss of the fiery cave area, you need to complete a number of different Hollow Missions that reveal some interesting facts about the local fauna — most notably the explosive bugs that become petrified when they die, and which conveniently explode with sufficient force to knock down walls when triggered by the correct catalyst. Once you’ve discovered this useful piece of information, you then have to scour the area for other instances of these petrified bugs, blow them up and see if they reveal a convenient pathway through to the boss.

The mountain area is similar in execution, though it is set up in such a way as to prevent you from progressing too far without completing the fiery caves first — you need a key item to melt open a door that is frozen shut. In this area, however, you quickly encounter the Area Boss without too much difficulty, who promptly screeches at you with a noise so terrible you’re forced to retreat. The challenge here, then, is to uncover a means of protecting yourself against his powerful sonic attacks. I’m yet to discover exactly what that means is, but it will almost certainly involve a convenient Key Item somewhere, because that’s how games work and, as previously noted, Sword Art Online is very much aware that it is a game.

The fiery cave area boss — dramatically known as Gaiard the Volcano — is a great fight that is far more than simple hack and slash. It’s a fight where you’ll have to pay attention to what moves are coming up — they are telegraphed in various ways — move carefully to avoid them, order your companion around (assuming you brought one with you) and take every opportunity you have to get in your most powerful attacks. It’s an intense fight that really doesn’t let up for a moment; opportunities to attack are short and easy to miss if you’re not paying attention, and you need to keep a close eye on your partner’s condition, too; letting them die is as instant a Game Over as if you died yourself. It’s extremely satisfying when you finally clear it, however; it took me a good few attempts, but like the very best boss fights, it never felt like I was being smacked around by cheap, unfair moves — I learned something every time and progressed a little further, until eventually I was able to counter almost all his earth-shaking attacks and take full advantage of the openings that were presented throughout the battle.

If you’re the sort of person who enjoys setting their own objectives and pursuing things in whatever order they like, then, Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment is something that will very much appeal. Plus I was delighted to see today that it appears to be a top-seller on PSN right now, which means that it’s a game that is getting noticed, played, enjoyed and promoted by people who like it. That makes me really happy; while it is far from the most technically proficient game in the world — the upscaled PSP graphics and somewhat inconsistent frame rate will be a culture shock for many — it’s a beautifully designed, enormously addictive and extremely playable game that I can see myself spending a very long time with before I move on to something else.

2036: Splattering

Been playing a bit more Splatoon, and I really like it for a number of reasons. Turns out that Nintendo’s first real foray into the dedicated online multiplayer sphere (as opposed to titles like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart, which include online but don’t make it a focal point) is a really solid effort that does things a bit differently from the norm and is consequently a better, friendlier, more accessible experience as a result.

Splatoon’s structure may seem restrictive to those who have been raised on more well-established shooter franchises. You can’t purchase any new weapons or other equipment (each piece of which confers a buff of some description, and which can be levelled up at least once to unlock additional abilities) until you hit level 4, and until you hit level 10 you’re restricted to playing just the “Turf War” battle mode.

In practice, though, this all works really well. Turf War — a mode where whichever team covers more of the map with their colour after three minutes wins — is a good introduction to the game, emphasising how it’s important to work together as a team. By the time you hit Rank 10, at which point Ranked Battles with different rulesets unlock, you should be pretty comfortable with how the game works and perhaps even have found a favourite weapon style.

The other interesting thing about how Splatoon works is that rather than throwing all the maps and modes into the rotation and making people either vote on them or set up their own lobbies, it simply uses a small, rotating roster: two maps for Turf War, two more for Ranked Battle, and one of the available game modes chosen for Ranked Battle too. Every few hours this rotates.

This is also an excellent system. It encourages you to familiarise yourself with the maps, and since there are only two in a given set at any point, if you settle down to play a few games, you’ll get the opportunity to learn their intricacies rather than being forced into always playing community favourite levels until the end of time.

So far I’ve only played the Splat Zones mode in Ranked Battle: a variant on King of the Hill in which you have to take control of one or more zones by painting its floor in your colour to score points. It’s a different experience to Turf War; while Turf War is usually on the move, often with a scuffle over the map’s middle ground, Splat Zones forces you to both go on the offensive and defensive according to the position you’re in. Taking advantage of the squids’ abilities to hide under their ink makes for some enormously satisfying stealth “kills” (sorry, “splats”) and there’s a real sense of fun when you manage to outwit an opponent who’s been giving your team grief.

I haven’t yet had the courage to jump into some games with the folks on the /r/splatoon Discord server, but they seem like a friendly bunch open to giving advice, so I may look into that in the next few days. After all, I am level 12 now; that’s at least a bit fresh, I think…

2035: I Pledge Allegiance

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “I Pledge Allegiance.”

“Are you patriotic?” asks the Daily Post today. “What does being patriotic mean to you?”

Hmm. My initial reaction to this would be to say “no”, but on a bit of reflection it’s a little more complex than that. I mean, I don’t consider myself patriotic in the sense that I’d be willing to die for my country or anything, and I have no desire to go into politics or the military or any other field that would allow me to represent Great Britain on the world stage.

But I do kind of like being British, even though there are things I hate about it and there are things about it that I am ashamed of. For a lot of outsiders — particularly Americans — stereotypical Britishness (such as that which I have a tendency to exhibit) carries with it a certain air of respectability and even authoritativeness, and that’s quite a nice feeling. Plus supposedly girls find British accents sexy, which is not something I’m particularly concerned with now I’m married, of course, but again, it’s quite nice to know.

Really, the thing I don’t like the most about being British is the fact that thanks to the international nature of the online age — the “global village” as I believe people used to like calling it — I have a lot of friends all over the world: some in Europe, some in Australia, some in Japan, some in the Americas, some in Canada. And while I welcome the opportunity to be able to talk to these people every day online thanks to places like this blog, Twitter and other services out there, it is occasionally a bit of a bummer that I only have relatively few friends who are actually local to me, and thus it’s quite a challenge to be able to get people together to do things that we’d all enjoy. I’m a little envious of those people who do live near friends that they’re able to see more than once every couple of weeks, to be honest.

This, of course, isn’t specifically tied to being British, but I think it’s a contributing factor in there. The things that I’m into, I feel, are not stereotypically “British” in nature. I’m supposed to be into football and cricket and motorsports, and I don’t like any of those things (except, in the latter case, in virtual form) — instead I relish geeky pursuits such as video games, board games, anime, writing, music, that sort of thing. All of these things “feel” like they’re more popular, more widespread, more accepted in places such as the States. And while there are small communities of people who get together to indulge in these things here in the UK, I feel like I’m yet to really latch on to any of them. Andie and I used to attend a regular board gaming get-together in a local pub, but for one reason and another (primarily the amount of time it took us both to get back from work at the time) we stopped going along.

I’m also trying to involve my friends in my enjoyment of anime, but this has proven to be a bit of an uphill struggle to date. Perhaps I just need to pester them a little bit more; the last time I mentioned it, there was at least a little bit of interest, particularly at the prospect of an “anime, food and drink” evening shamelessly stolen from my Canadian friends who hold such an event on a regular basis.

I feel like I’ve kind of got off topic a little bit here, but no matter. I guess, to return to the original question, no, I don’t especially consider myself patriotic, but I’m not ashamed to be British, either. I don’t try and pretend I’m something I’m not, but I’m also aware that the path I walk is a little outside that which we can call “normality”, for want of a better description. And I’m kind of cool with that; it’d just be nice to be able to share these things a little more easily with others, I guess.

2034: The Hollow Area

Been playing some more Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment for the past few days, and I’m thoroughly enamoured with it. It’s quite unlike any RPG I’ve played before, though I must say, it does a pretty good job with the whole “simulated MMO” deal, particularly as you can even play it in cooperative multiplayer.

I’ve mostly been exploring the “Hollow Area” part of the game, which is the vast new section originally added in the Vita version of the game; the original PSP version only covered the last 25 floors of Aincrad up to the final boss on Floor 100. Aincrad is a mostly linear experience; the Hollow Area, meanwhile, though gated by story progression in a few places, is much more non-linear in nature since you can freely move between regions, take on any “Hollow Missions” you choose or simply explore, fight monsters and seek treasure.

Interestingly, this aspect of the game is the one area where Re:Hollow Fragment differs from a real MMO: while the first time you enter a new zone in an MMO you’ll probably take some time to explore and map it fully, most MMOs design their areas in such a way as to be easily navigable by large groups of people, and once you’ve been everywhere, you’ve been everywhere; no further exploration needed. When it comes to dungeons, any kind of exploration is usually discouraged entirely in favour of a linear sequence of encounters culminating in one or more highly scripted boss fights. There’s nothing wrong with this; when it comes to herding a group of players towards their objective together — particularly when they might not be able to communicate with one another due to issues such as the language barrier, console players not having a keyboard to hand or people simply being unwilling to talk — it’s best to keep things as simple as possible so no-one gets lost, everyone can have a good time and work their way through efficiently.

Since Re:Hollow Fragment doesn’t have to worry about “real” players (for the most part — multiplayer assumes you’re already familiar with how the basic game works) it’s free to be a bit more interesting with its areas. So we have mazes, networks of caves, perilous clifftops (that you can fall off and die instantly) and dungeons with multiple routes and secret passages, many of which you’ll need to pay return visits to at a higher level to get the most out of. It’s an absolute pleasure to explore, and all the more rewarding when you come across a powerful monster to fight or a treasure chest containing an awesome treasure item.

The “powerful monster” aspect is worthy of some note. I’d heard a few people compare this game to Monster Hunter when it first came out; I haven’t played Monster Hunter myself so can’t comment with a huge amount of authority, but it never struck me as a particularly obvious comparison to make. That is, until I started ranking up some of the regions in the Hollow Area and coming across the “NM” (Named Monster) and “HNM” (Hyper Named Monster… I think?) encounters, which pit you against powerful, boss-tier enemies that demand a little more than just hack and slash. Now I kind of Get It… that moment when you think “That thing looks awesome… let’s kill it!”

That said, the game isn’t particularly hack and slash even with its trash mobs, anyway; it has an interesting combat system based around a combination of carefully timed button presses (Phantasy Star Online-style) and skills with cooldowns a la traditional MMOs. While Kirito starts a fair distance down the Dual Wielding path he’s depicted following in the anime, you’re free to change to any other weapon type whenever you like, and in fact if you want to farm Skill Points to learn new abilities, you’re going to need to do that, since Skill Points are earned most reliably by levelling up weapon proficiencies. What’s nice is that each weapon type has its own unique set of skills to learn along with its own unique animations and timings for “Exact Attacks”. Branching off each weapon type are support skills, too, ranging from healing and buffing to passive abilities that improve your overall position in battle.

Then there’s the Implementation system, which works alongside the skill system. While the skill system is presented as being part of the Sword Art Online game Kirito and his friends are trapped in, the Implementation system is the game’s equivalent of turning on Google Labs in GMail; it tasks you with “researching” various things during Hollow Missions (and only during Hollow Missions) and then rewards you with experimental game adjustments — anything from stat buffs to the ability to receive new item drops from NMs and HNMs — and even entire new game systems, such as the Original Sword Skill system, which essentially allows you to record a “macro” of your favourite skills and chain them together at will. The challenges you’ll be tasked with completing range from the simple (defeat 20 enemies) to the infuriating and time consuming (land 200 perfectly timed Exact Attacks) but the rewards are very much worth it, and this array of challenges — there are well over a hundred of them in total, I believe — give the game a great deal of variety as it becomes less about simply hacking your way through monsters as quickly as possible, and more about defeating them in specific ways in order to efficiently complete these research objectives.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things about Re:Hollow Fragment is the fact that all this stuff is technically optional. All you have to do to finish the game is climb to floor 100 of Aincrad, beat the last boss and hooray, you win. Any RPG player worth their salt knows that making a beeline straight for the final boss is rarely a good idea, though; sure, you might clear the game quickly, but you’ll also miss out on potentially some of its coolest aspects. As such, I’m unsurprised to have found myself well and truly captivated by exploring the Hollow Area, while my progress on Aincrad has stalled after just two floors. The Assault Team don’t seem to mind, though, and the game’s generous complement of waifus are more than happy to accompany me on my various adventures, so all’s well.

I can see myself spending a long time with this game, and I’m actually keen to play some more multiplayer (particularly as two trophies relate to multiplayer sessions — though you can play “solo multiplayer” in a party with your characters from single player) — it’s been a very pleasant, enjoyable surprise so far, and I’m looking forward to continuing to explore its hidden depths. And then jumping right into Lost Song when it comes out in a few months!

2033: #4favocharacters

As luck would have it, just as I was settling down to get this written, someone tagged me in one of those viral Twitter things where you post pictures of four favourite somethings (in this case characters) and then tag a bunch of new people to see what they come up with.

I responded relatively hastily, though I did make one substitution before I submitted. I kept mine to the world of games, largely because I think that was the intention, and also because if I start getting into TV series and anime I would have been there all night deciding.

Anyway. This seems like a good opportunity to expand on my choices. My picks were as follows:

Katsuragi (Senran Kagura)

I’ve already written reams of text on Katsuragi so I won’t delve too much into that again, but suffice to say that Katsu-nee is one of my favourite characters due to the fact that I think she’d be fun to hang out with if she was a real person. I question whether or not she’d actually hang out with a dude like me, of course, given that Senran Kagura rather strongly implies that she’s a bit gay — also the whole “I’m not a ninja” thing — but, assuming that sort of thing isn’t a consideration… yes, I think Katsuragi would be fun to hang around with.

The most appealing thing about Katsuragi is not her aggressive sexuality — though her self-confidence and willingness to pursue what she desires rather than moping around in the dark about it is something I can respect — but rather it’s that in her calmer moments, she’s the very model of the perfect older sister. She’s kind, she’s caring, she looks out for the people she loves and she’ll do anything to protect them — though she’s most certainly not averse to playing a prank or two to have some fun at their expense.

Senran Kagura as a whole is filled with deep and fascinating characters, and those who actually bother to give the series the time of day (rather than writing it off because boobs) all have their favourites, leading to frequently quite heated discussions online. I could have picked any number of the Senrans, but on balance, it’s Katsuragi that my thoughts keep returning to, so Katsuragi it is.

Noire (Hyperdimension Neptunia)

I love all of the Neptunia cast to pieces, but from the moment I “met” her for the first time, I knew that Noire was going to be my favourite. Twintailed hair, a tsundere personality, a propensity towards attractive but impractical-looking outfits with garters, belts and straps all over the place? Sign me up.

After spending a considerable amount of time with her over the course of a number of different games now (with more still to go), I realise that my connection with Noire goes somewhat deeper. It’s not just that she exhibits traits that I find attractive. It’s not even that she’s cute or has a figure to die for (man, Tsunako really knows how to draw curves). It’s that, amid the chaos of your typical Neptunia story, I find her to be probably the most relatable of the cast — with the possible exception of IF, whose world-weary exasperation with the nonsense she constantly gets caught up in nicely reflects the feelings of frustration and annoyance I often feel at the most stupid things our own world has to offer.

Noire, though, she’s an interesting one. Determined to always do her very best and prove that she “can only do everything”, she often falls foul of her own ambitions and desire to climb to the top of the heap. This is particularly apparent in Hyperdevotion Noire, where an impulsive act towards the beginning of the game throws the world into chaos — but rather than slinking away quietly to pretend like she had nothing to do with it, she takes responsibility and does her best to make things right, even in the face of constant and frustrating opposition.

Noire is lonely, too. She has a lot of what could be described as niche interests — though not quite to the degree of the yaoi-loving Vert — but doesn’t quite feel comfortable sharing them with anyone. The closest she comes to opening up to another person is with the player-protagonist characters in Hyperdevotion Noire and Hyperdimension Neptunia PP‘; it’s kind of sad that she has trouble being this honest with the people who are ostensibly her best friends, even as they’re honest with her. I suppose that, more than anything, is why I feel like I can relate to her somewhat; while I’m not a goddess running a country, I can most certainly understand the desire to shout about the things you’re passionate about but hesitating, not knowing what people will think of you if you do open up.

Maya Fey (Ace Attorney)

At the opposite end of the spectrum is Maya Fey from the Ace Attorney series, a character whom I don’t particularly relate to as such, but whom I find enormously fun to have around.

Maya is the perfect foil to Ace Attorney protagonist Phoenix Wright’s initially bumbling ways, and grows and changes with him as a character. Initially appearing to be rather childish, over the course of the Ace Attorney games she gradually shows herself to be a deep and complex character, holding enormous respect for her cultural traditions and a passionate belief in Wright’s ability to find the truth in even the most confusing of cases.

Maya and Phoenix’s relationship is kept somewhat ambiguous throughout the games. It’s clear that there’s a bit of a “spark” there between them, but whether or not it’s simply close friendship through shared trauma — they first meet as a result of the death of Maya’s sister Mia, which Phoenix ends up investigating and eventually solving — or something more is never quite clear. One can probably assume that Phoenix, being a few years older (early 20s to Maya’s 17 at the outset of the first Ace Attorney game) is understandably hesitant to even consider taking things any further, but frankly, I wouldn’t have been at all surprised to see them get together in one of the games. To my recollection, though, it hasn’t happened — though it has been a while!

Anyway. Maya is a fun character who is enjoyable to hang out with. Since the majority of the Ace Attorney games unfold from first-person perspective, Maya is the character you see most frequently, since she often offers observations and suggestions to “you” (as Phoenix) while you’re investigating the crime scenes. Spend that much time with a character — the Ace Attorney games aren’t short! — and you’re bound to develop some affection for them.

Hanako (Katawa Shoujo)

Games had captivated and emotionally engaged me with their stories before, but it was Katawa Shoujo that forged the tastes I have today. And, specifically, it was Hanako — though before we get into any arguments about “best girl”, I liked all the others; I just liked Hanako the best. And here’s why.

Again, like with Noire, I found Hanako to be relatable. And again, not because I’m in the literal same situation as her — Hanako has burn scars all over one side of her body due to a past trauma, and thankfully I am free of such readily apparent mementoes of tragedy — but because I recognise so many of her personality traits, her route in Katawa Shoujo was almost painful to play through.

Hanako suffers from dreadful social anxiety, much like I have done. Hanako’s is far worse than mine, at least at the start of the game — she literally can’t stay in the same room with people she doesn’t know — but her feelings of being trapped in an uncomfortable situation, of wanting to do nothing but bolt; they were all too familiar.

Hanako’s route is one of the most interesting ones in Katawa Shoujo because things sort of happen in a bit of a haze. When protagonist Hisao sleeps with Hanako, for example, it’s clear that the two of them were very much caught up in the moment, with Hisao unable to restrain himself, and Hanako unable to communicate quite what she was feeling. This leads to a gut-wrenchingly awkward scene after the fact where Hisao realises that technically Hanako never actually said “yes” to him. From here, the story can branch in one of two different ways: Hisao can either try and be overprotective of Hanako, which ends rather badly with her finally snapping and casting him out of her life, or he can quietly support her when she needs it, allowing her to work through her issues at her own pace, opening up when she’s good and ready.

It’s this last bit that I found particularly poignant. There are a lot of things with which I need help, that is most certainly for sure. But I’m someone who tends to prefer to have the satisfaction of at least trying to solve things himself. I don’t like asking for help, and I don’t like people interfering when I haven’t invited them — but I do welcome support and encouragement when I make it clear that I am in need of it. I understood Hanako’s frustration in the “bad ending”. I understood her sense of closure in the good ending as both she and Hisao come to terms with their own broken lives, accepting both themselves and each other as they both look forward to a future in which they no longer have to be alone.

2032: Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture

I’m never quite sure how I feel about so-called “walking simulators” — that subset of first-person games that first appeared with the original Half-Life mod version of Dear Esther, and which has subsequently spawned all manner of variants, including The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Gone Home, a remake of Dear Esther and The Stanley Parable.

The reason why I say I’m not quite sure how I feel about them is that reflecting on the ones that I’ve played, in some senses I feel like they’re quite an “easy” way for a developer to make a narrative-centric game — “easy” being very much relative, of course, since although walking simulators don’t need things like encounter design and balancing, they do need to worry about world design and pacing, arguably even more so than games with more conventional “mechanics” in place. But despite this, there are times when I experience a walking simulator’s story, and I wonder if a game was the best way for them to tell that story; if all you’re doing is following a path listening to audio logs or reading notes, why not just listen to an audiobook or read a book?

But then I think a bit harder, and I think about the subtle ways in which these games use interactivity to provide a distinct experience from reading a book, watching a movie or even playing a mechanics-focused game with a strong story. Sure, you can attempt to charge straight through to the end and “speedrun” the game, but why would you do something so dumb? These games are made to be explored and savoured like a work of art; some do it better than others, but most have at least some degree of exploration about them.

The most recent one I’ve played — Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, a new PS4 release from The Chinese Room, creators of Dear Esther — actually does, I think, the best job of creating a surprisingly compelling game out of its stories (because there are several) without resorting to putting in adventure game mechanics or anything like that. (Not that there was anything wrong with Ethan Carter’s investigation sequences, of course, but I can see them killing pacing a bit for people who have trouble figuring that sort of thing out.)

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture sees you arrive in an idyllic Shropshire village shortly after everyone has apparently disappeared. By following a trail of clues and memories deposited by mysterious glowy light… things around the village, it’s up to you to try and piece together what happened and why. Did the world really end? Well, no, because you’re still in it and it’s still there — but if that’s the case, where did everyone go?

A lot of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture involves following said glowy orb things around as they lead you to the next area of story, but the game unfolds in a seamless open world that you’re free to wander around and explore at your own leisure. In doing so, you might be able to uncover some mysteries, or more likely you’ll spend some time indulging in what the real joy in these games is: rummaging through someone else’s house.

Gone Home was great for this, and made good use of gamers’ propensity to open every cupboard, drawer, door, window, chest and toilet just in case there’s something hidden inside. By exploring Gone Home’s house, you’d discover a number of different story arcs, most of which were subtly told but came to their own distinct conclusions over the course of the game.

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is a little more explicit about its storytelling in that rather than reading notes, you’re witnessing blurry recreations of things that happened between the characters previously, but there’s still some brainwork to do: you don’t necessarily encounter these events in chronological order so you’ll have to figure out what happened when, why and with whom.

There are also lots of more subtle touches around the place. Poke around in people’s houses and you might find boxes of leaflets showing what they were up to, or the books they liked to read. The whole village is immaculately designed and really, genuinely looks and feels like a remote country village in England. It’s a pleasure to explore, and the game generally rewards you for doing so with fragments of stories to find; it’s entirely possible to finish the game without having seen all of the story arcs come to their conclusions, but if that’s the way you choose to play, it’s a valid option.

I’m conscious I’ve been talking very vaguely here, but really, there is no more point to Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture than its story, so I’m hesitant to spoil it while it’s still new. It’s worth experiencing; I don’t regret grabbing it and playing it through in a single sitting (which I would suggest is The Way to Play It — it’s not very long) but, like most walking simulators, I wonder if I’ll ever return to it for any reason other than to show people how gorgeous Cryengine-powered graphics can look. I somehow doubt it, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good or worthwhile experience; it was beautifully presented and told its story well despite getting a bit wiffly-waffly “oh, let’s be vague and let people come up with something for themselves” at the end, as these things tend to go.

Worth a look then, if you like that sort of thing. I doubt it’ll make many converts to the walking simulator fold, if you’re the sort of person who is staunchly against them or doesn’t get their appeal, but for those who do enjoy this style of storytelling, The Chinese Room has once again proven that they’re masters of their art.

2031: Delayed Contact

How would you get along with your sibling(s), parent(s), or any other person you’ve known for a long time — if you only met them for the first time today?

WordPress Daily Post, August 12, 2015

This is an interesting question! What it’s really asking, I guess, is how I’ve changed over the years. And I’m certainly not going to deny that I’ve changed over the years — in some ways for the better, in other ways for the worse.

Let’s consider the “big things” first. The first thing I’d want to address is my depression and anxiety. As anyone who has had a depressed or anxious friend will know, we can be a handful: prone to bouts of irrational emotion, having a tendency to back out of appointments and commitments because we’re not feeling up to dealing with people, in some cases full of seething rage or unbearable grief at nothing in particular, which is difficult for anyone not living it to truly understand.

Now, I address this because I tend to think of my depression and anxiety as a “recent” thing, though on reflection it’s something I’ve clearly been carrying around with me for a lot longer than I might have initially thought. It probably stretches all the way back to primary school, to be honest, when I was, yes, full of seething rage at nothing in particular and would often get into trouble at lunchtimes and breaktimes for the 10 year old equivalent of casting “Provoke” on a dinner lady or school bully.

Actually, to say said seething rage was at nothing in particular isn’t quite accurate. It was something of a vicious cycle. I wasn’t comfortable in who I was, and kids being kids would pick on me, sensing weakness. I’d then be upset — particularly when, as often happened, my friends abandoned me and sided with the “cool” kids (who were often also the bullies of the playground) rather than with me.

But this isn’t specifically about my history with depression, it’s about whether people I’ve known for a long time would get along with me — or if I’d get along with them — if we happened to meet for the first time today. And the depression and anxiety side of things is interesting to consider; these days, I’m a lot more open and honest about talking about it in most circumstances — sometimes needing a bit of a prompt or leading question — whereas in my childhood and adolescence, when, in retrospect, I was clearly suffering from both of these issues, I didn’t recognise them for what they were and consequently didn’t know how to deal with them. My first girlfriend even left me because she “couldn’t take my moods” — though she did also cheat on me at the school prom, so fuck her, basically.

I digress, but the point, I guess, is that anyone I met for the first time now would have to be able to deal with someone who is aware of their own mental defects, be willing to support them when necessary and be willing to leave them the fuck alone when they need to be alone.

Now, onto other matters also worthy of consideration. Let’s keep things self-deprecating and consider my personal appearance. At school I was fairly unremarkable-looking, though I had terrible hair (still do), bad skin (still do) and zits (thankfully long gone). I felt like I was a bit fat at school compared to some of my friends, but looking back at some old photographs, I really, really wasn’t. I steadily gained weight over the course of my time at university and beyond until I got to the point where I was so uncomfortable I needed to do something about it — hence my joining Slimming World back in February. (As of tonight, I’ve lost 4.5 stone in total, incidentally.)

Let’s be realistic: people judge each other on appearances, like it or not, and six months ago I was absolutely ashamed of my appearance. I didn’t like going out because people would see me; I didn’t like walking past windows because I could catch a glimpse of myself; I didn’t like wearing any of my clothes because none of them really fit properly any more; and mirrors, well, no. Just no. I’ve always had something of a lack of self-confidence — again, this can be traced in part back to my school days; at primary school I was taunted on a daily basis for having “big ears”, while at secondary school the aforementioned crap hair, bad skin and zits were picked on — but this was the absolute lowest point I’ve ever been.

Today, though, some 4.5 stone lighter, I know I still have some way to go, but I’m much more comfortable in myself and, when depression and anxiety aren’t laying me low, I can actually notice myself being more open, confident and less embarrassed to be myself. Just yesterday I successfully made some small talk with the store clerk in Game when I was buying Splatoon and didn’t come away from the experience thinking “they hate me” or “they think I’m disgusting”, which are things I’d thought following a passing interaction in the past. And while this may not sound like much, with everything I deal with in my head, this felt like a noticeable and significant victory, and worth celebrating.

I’m conscious I’m talking generally while the question implies I should be thinking about specific people, but I feel these points are relevant; self-confidence is something that is important in your interactions with anyone, and while I’m certainly not in a position where I’d call myself “confident” or “outgoing” — I’m still an introvert at heart — I am in a position now where yes, I feel like I could meet someone new, have a conversation with them and not make them never want to see me ever again.

Finally, then, there’s the matter of changing interests. My interests actually haven’t changed all that significantly over the years; I’ve always been into video games, board games, computers, music, reading and writing. Perhaps the biggest change is in the “subgenres” of certain aspects, specifically my enjoyment of Japanese games, anime and other popular media. As many of you will know, a lot of this sort of thing is enormously polarising and very much an acquired taste, so if there’s anywhere I think I’d struggle with if I were meeting an old friend for the first time today, it’d be with regard to these niche interests, and particularly a lot of the mainstream popular assumptions about what people who like that sort of thing are into. (That’s a rant for another day, of course.)

There are people I’ve drifted away from due to diverging interests. There are also new friends I’ve made as a result of these diverging interests, that happen to converge in different places. That’s how life goes; as much as we’d like to believe certain things last forever, sometimes we move on, we grow, we change, we become different people.

Ultimately I like to believe that I’m a decent person, and that anyone I’ve known for a long time I’d be able to at least get along with today. We became friends for a reason, after all, and in many cases friendships are struck up over that simple, indescribable “click” you get when you start interacting and realise that the person you’re talking to is someone absolutely on your wavelength. It’s difficult (though, sadly, not impossible) to get rid of that “click” once you’ve had it, and so, to finally answer the original question: I do think I’d get along with people I’ve known for a long time if I only met them for the first time today. Our relationship might develop differently to how it did in reality, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing; true friendships allow you to get along regardless of circumstances and regardless of differences.