Astro Bot, The Culture, And What It Means To Always Celebrate Something
Is it cool to feel joy? I’ve been asking myself this for months.
The overarching narrative behind games analysis and critique lately has been one of exhaustion. Everyone is mad about something, and if you’re not mad about something you’re mad about someone being mad at something.
I’m tired. I work a lot these days. Last month I would come home from work, do chores, and sit down for an hour or so and play Astro Bot. I loved it. I loved running around the world, collecting little guys, and remembering how fun it was to be a PlayStation kid in the 00’s. Those days are gone, but Team Asobi wants to give you that glimmer of joy one more time. They delivered much more than I could ever want, almost effortlessly. Since games as a medium are still in their early days however, it seems that they constantly need to be critiqued. This means people had to put their thinking caps on and ask themselves:
“Is Astro Bot actually good?”
The answer was almost always a resounding yes but it almost feels like critics just don’t know how to enjoy themselves, myself included. I get the concerns. Would Astro Bot be in the same pantheon of it’s genre if it wasn’t for the nostalgic heart string tugs it delivers every few minutes? Would we care about the game if it didn’t have a level dedicated to Loco Roco? After a bit of deliberation I put my chips in at a solid “yeah.”
When I played Astro Bot I wasn’t waiting for the next character or PlayStation accessory to hit the screen. I was just enjoying the platforming. The references were a nice seasoning to an already delicious meal. I won’t lie though. The final sequence in the game had me more than a little teared up.
In an interview with Gamesradar Astro Bot director Nicolas Doucet hopes the game and it’s cameos inspires the “younger generation” to try out classic PlayStation titles for the first time. I may not be a part of the younger generation anymore, but one thing’s for sure: I never played Shadow Of The Colossus…
…until now at least.
My original plan was to play the PS4 remake exclusively but after days of bullying from friends I opted to play the PS2 original first, followed by the remake. As of writing I have not played the PS4 version yet, and don’t really see a reason to.
Clocking in at just a little over eight hours, Shadow Of The Colossus is a “get it done in a week and move on” type of affair. Every day I’d clear one of the 16 titular bosses, save for the last couple days when I would marathon six during a particularly uneventful day off. I saved the last two bosses for a late night discord call with the boys, and when I rolled credits spent some time thinking about the many games referenced in Astro Bot that will never see a modern re-release or sequel, but are still enjoyable through piracy or emulation. The children yearn for Devil Dice and Incredible Crisis.
GAMES DISCUSSION AND THE NEW VIOLENCE: A PRIVATELY ATTACK NOBUO UEMATSU WITH QUESTIONS SPECIAL REPORT
In just a little over a month fans the world over will have a new Dragon Quest game to play. Remaking Dragon Quest III and slapping it on every modern console will literally raise the value of the yen, so why are people talking about it as if it’s a politician who recently died?
Because they gave the female warrior shorts and a sports bra.
You know, I actually get it. The warrior in DQIII is pretty cool and hot. She’s not the only change coming to the game but she’s definitely the most talked about. The only real issue is how many bad faith “culture warriors” are using the redesign to clutch pearls about the late Akira Toriyama’s artistic vision, as if she wasn’t already censored multiple times before his passing this year.
Until about a week ago, there were talks about a potential boycott of the game to own the “woke mob” who pull the strings behind closed doors. Thankfully during Tokyo Game Show series creator Yuji Horii and former Shonen Jump editor Kazuhiko Torishima bemoaned the censorship and took a couple jabs towards gender ideology and swapping out “Male and Female” for “Appearance A and B”
…well guess what? Apparently it’s all bullshit.
“…The attached statement gives specific examples of mistranslations, such as ‘puritan’ being translated as ‘sex education’ and alleges that ‘parts of the comments made by the speakers have been deliberately cut out of context and quoted as if the speaker was expressing a negative opinion against a certain ideology or belief, and have been spread in a way that is far removed from the true meaning of the comments and the original content and message of the video in question.’”
The interview was not only mistranslated, but cut in such a way that it makes Horii and Torishima seem like warriors from within the sexless, genderless cult that is Square Enix. The reality is more likely that Horii is 70 years old, misses tits in games, and doesn’t understand non binary folk, but also doesn’t actively feel any hate towards them. I’m sure Horii is fine enough. He’s the director, not the composer after all.
So with the interview mistranslated and cut around, will talking heads online give a shit? Probably not. What does this mean for sales of Dragon Quest III? Shit for dick would be the best answer. Dragon Quest III will sell like crazy in Japan just like literally every other game in the series. DQIII will sell fine enough in America, thanks in part to the grassroots community of fans who have stuck with localization efforts over the years, NOT culture warriors trying to fill dead air on their YouTube channels.
Now, after dealing with these fucking people for several months now with their boycotts and “X game good, so game journos must hate it” mentality I’ve grown so, so tired. I’ve turned into the guy who’s mad at guy who’s mad. I’m the oroboros eating it’s own tail. I’m not celebrating anything anymore.
I need to be more like Nicky.
I didn’t know Nicky very long, maybe two years tops. After they passed I made a promise to them and myself that I would always celebrate something. I haven’t been keeping my promise, so a while back I went to their twitter and scrolled through their feed for inspiration. Everything they loved they loved fully. I need to fall back on track.
Atlus and Vanillaware’s 2019 Strategy/Adventure 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a game about the people who made it. You can actively feel the warmth of the love they put into this game. While the strategy RPG and point-and-click adventure segments of the game are divorced from each other, they’re carefully woven in such a way that prevents one from binging on one portion or the other. You’ll hit a wall in both modes that explicitly says to play the other mode, or to play as a different character for a while. My biggest fear was spoiling myself by playing one story over another, but I was knee deep in conspiracies wrapped in conspiracies until the very end. By the time I hit credits it all came to light, and after 30 or so hours with the game the emotions I felt throughout ignited in about 4 minutes of straight sobbing. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this alive after enjoying a story. 13 Sentinels is one of those games that you think about years, maybe decades after playing. I know I say this a lot but I implore you to go in as blind as possible when playing this title. Give yourself a month or two. Play a little a day. Feel the humanity that I felt, and maybe you too can know what it feels like to celebrate something.
The joy of curation feels like it’s constantly fleeting. Back and forth I think of the things I love and second guess myself. Too often do I have to step aside and think broadly about what it is to be a fan of something, what it feels like to love someone’s work. Then I remember Nicky. I remember their love for their love, and I match that love with my friends.
Nicky Austin, now and always, forever.
-PA
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