Ghosty, by Shensetta, is about our fear of the unknown, our fear of death. Instructions of a most cryptic nature, like a riddle told quickly, sprawl upon the screen at a tortoise’s pace:
Your objective is to destroy the ghost and eyes that over populate the world.
Thus sprach Shensetta; and thusly it was received:
By now you’ve undoubtedly heard the news that is shaking the independent community at its core. Our holy scripture; our veritable Indie Manifesto as it were, as writ by one of the greatest (if not the greatest) gamesmiths of our time. I speak, of course, of Daisuke Amaya (real name: Studio Pixel). His masterwork, Doukutsu Monogatari (Which when untangled from the shackles of the Nihongo tongue, translates roughly as Cave Story), is the single document that liberated our lost souls from the tyranny of consumerist culture. Cave Story is, for all intents and purposes, our Declaration of Indiependence; the inciting force behind our rejection of ’British East India Gameplay’ for statements of ‘Haughty Artistic Merit.’ Amaya, the benevolent host of our Nintendo Tea Party.
Derek Yu. The mere utterance of his name conjures up images of the American pioneers; the first dog sent to space. The father of modern indie gaming. His career a figurative rocketship cast off into the heavens of indie stardom. Ah, yes, but as with a rocketship who’s exhausted its fuel, the slight curvature of the brow of Derek Yu suggests he has now made the stark realization of a force much greater than even his own. A force called Ironic Gravitation — a force recognized by a Sir Isaac Newton falling into a basket of apples. Derek Yu. Facing, as the French would say, his dénouement. Hurling towards abject failure (a thing the French are oft cited for as well).
Before a drug is properly introduced into the public for mass consumption and abuse, it must be certified by the FDA. Its dosages scientifically calculated so as to ensure lucrativity in a world of recreational drug use. This is why Crest White Strips are not natively sold in England because they contain too high a concentration of peroxide. This is why LSD is not natively sold in America, because it gives too much power to the seedy underclass oft associated with the distribution of this otherwise innocuous drug. Let it be said, however, that these restrictions are not arbitrary; these restrictions are so placed in consideration for the benefit and safety of all mankind.
The leaked beta of Spelunky is pre-FDA Derek Yu. Pure, unfiltered Derek Yu — unfiltered in the sense that NIGSource is “Independent Gaming News. Unfiltered.” as in, it is filtered only through the Derek Yu’s mind, the filtrous (Real word? It should be) opposite of an ordinary filter — letting through only large particles and holding back the small ones (The particles being a metaphor for indie games, as are most things in life). Spelunky contains a deadly concentration of Derek Yu, unfit for public consumption, or at least, human consumption.
Therein lies an unfettered look into the madness that is Derek Yu’s mind — a mind wrought with Cave Story ‘references’ (note the ‘quotes’ [heh, I paralyze myself with my own wit]), which, when scrutinized under the microscope of journalistic integrity, seems a little bit ironic. Ironic Gravitation.
The following is as objective a description of Spelunky’s gameplay. (more…)
Making games about being isolated (Knytt Stories, Untitled Story, hrmm, and OTHER kinds of stories) has become a bit of an indie games staple. But while these games ultimately boil down to platforming in really big, empty worlds with ambient music that fades between levels, JaJ’s Abandoned deftly avoids such comparison by removing any semblance of platforming from the genre. Hence, JaJ manages to create an altogether new genre — the “Mazexploratoidvania” genre.
Now granted these kinds of games have been done before — though Studio Pixel’s Ikachan (one of his last surviving indie works) only fails to meet this criteria due to its implementation of gravity of some sort (a rather clichéd game mechanic by now, to be sure) — but never has a game made me feel so isolated. Consider the fact that I spend most of my days alone in my room, listening to Ratatat and musing on the indie gaming community. Trust me, I know isolation.
Like conventional Metroidvanias, the game’s flow is ultimately determined by exploration — getting new items gives you the ability to explore new areas, and then you use the items you find there to explore even newer areas, and basically you’ll descend into the treacherous vicious circle of finding and exploring addiction, which is a lot like how I’ve constantly got to find a new fetish to arouse me in any way, which becomes normalized and thus the baseline to which I must find a new fetish — try to compare this to the games world and you’ll be pleasantly surprised, methinks.
The game starts off a bit slow, but give it bit of time and patience (just as you would the next “big” indie music album [oh the ironies of such a statement...]), and maybe you’ll find something you like. And even if you don’t like it, it’s still good to at least play it so you can pretend to like it.
Abandoned (Hi Quality Version Direct Link) (Low Quality Version Direct Link) by JaJ, 13MB and 6MB respectively