Every Day The Same Dream (Browser)

"a short existential game about alienation and refusal of labor." according to creator, Paolo Pedercini. Yes, I'm getting to it.

If you're in anyways of a mentally fragile disposition, this isn't your game. If you, however, fancy guiding our nameless, faceless avatar through the crushing mundanities of modern life, such as loveless marriages, loss of identity and traffic jams, cosy on up, or adopt a funeral stance, or whatever way you cope with bereavement, frankly. It's a bleak one alright, dotted with bits of hope, and rather heavy doses of tragedy. It's quite short too, docking in at around 30 minutes-ish, depending on how much you want to linger about in the setting. I do like this game, by the way, if that impression is lost amid a sea of seemingly self-solicited discontentment.



On a sidenote, the jangly, swelling score is going to soundtrack a lot of vaguely miserable moments in your life. I figured I'd put that out there.



Every Day The Same Dream is free-to-play here, hosted by the creator.

The Path (PC)

Little girls, this seems to say,
Never stop upon your way.
Never trust a stranger-friend;
No one knows how it will end.
As you’re pretty, so be wise;
Wolves may lurk in every guise.
Handsome they may be, and kind,
Gay, or charming never mind!
Now, as then, ‘tis simple truth—
Sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth!

Charles Perrault

'Go to Grandmother's House and Stay on The Path' is the only prompt you're given when you begin the game. Follow the game's sole instruction, arrive at Grandma's house in one piece and what greets you? A fail screen. Okay...

What The Path actually tasks you with, directly influenced by the original tales of Red Riding Hood, is guiding six very different, very individual girls/young women through the forbidden forest, away from the eponymous path, in search of not only themselves, but the fated Wolf. Six girls, six wolves, not all of which are literal. Still with me?

I think I've well navigated anti-spoiler territory, but there are other bits of note, such as the score, which will soundtrack your descent into slight nightmares and heartbreak, coupled with the exploration of the forest and its inherent sense of melancholy, that'd be familiar to gamers who've experience with the Team Ico titles, leaves a package that, for whatever faults may be found, will never quite leave you.

For the curious and the brave, The Path is available here.

Playlist #2

Chrono Trigger (SNES):

I made a resolution at year's start to thrust myself headfirst into the world of SNES RPGs, that me and my peers missed out on by virtue of our handicaps, mainly our being European. This idea sort of branched off and forked when I got into the Mother series, as I'd become so enraptured that I went and finished the series, distracted from the original goal. Alas, RPG-less for the first time in a while, I decided to give the much-acclaimed, supposed genre-definer Chrono Trigger a spin.

This was a good choice.

I adore the time-travel element, being a massive Doctor Who nut, and its criss-crossing. The narrative, the characters and their interactions are kind of predictable, not detrimentally so, but the game's draw is within its mechanics anyways, where I found it surprisingly breathy and living, little surprising when taking into account it's a turn-based beasty.


The score is jammed firmly within my cranium, with gems like Gato's Song and Frog's Theme now on constant rotation in the House of Misc., to such an extent, my RPG-loathing, better-half can now heard humming the tunes about the place. The visuals too, they possess this hypnotic, pulply, anime-vibe that is extremely digestable, which is to be expected, considering they were charged by Dragonball's Akira Toriyama.



Fortunately, I came to realize my affection for the game quite swiftly, thus didn't rush it like a mad-thing, similiar to other titles I've burned through this year, and so far, have managed to savour it somewhat (25 hours over the space of about 3-4 weeks). It's been a thrill having it to come home to every night, waiting like a weighty, immersive tome. Sadly, I'm almost at the end and can't procrastinate any longer, time to party like it's 1999.

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Mother (GBA/NES)

I'm dying to find out who's responsible for this minor masterpiece. Any ideas, World?

Chronologically, this is actually the first game in the trilogy, and the last one I played. It's not all that important (a fanboy just died in indignation) as they're generally unrelated, minus a few character crossover, cheeky winks with one another and the occasional moment being made all the more relevant with a greater series knowledge, but they inform each other in different ways regardless.


This series barely made it to the West, save for its second installment making it as far as the U.S under the name Earthbound (rather confusingly, this was also the tentative title for the original Mother, thus the NES original has gained the moniker Earthbound Zero in fan circles) in the West and generally not going on to do as well as the creators would've hoped and thus, outside of Japan, the Mother games have been dependent on fan translations as the only way to enjoy'em away from their native tongue. Oddly, the original Mother was slated for a Western release, going as far as to get a full localization, but by the time it was ready, Nintendo felt its window of opportunity had closed as a result of it being a very late NES/Famicom title and their focus on the new SNES/Super Famicom, it went unreleased outside of high-priced auctions of the prototypes.



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Earworms #2

Les Sucettes- France Gall

When confronted with the prospect of propelling a young talent to stardom Serge Gainsbourg was faced with a quandary. Until, of course, he came up with the masterstroke of getting a teenage girl in the 60's France to unknowingly sing about oral sex. It caused a continued rift between Gainsbourg and Gall, who still maintains she was entirely oblivious.



Translated lyrics can be found here.

The World is Saved-
Written & Performed by : Danny Wiessner
Art by: Pandamusk, Benjamin A. Smith, and Michael Hruby.
Edited by: Sam Alegria

Wiessner's latest single is bolstered by dedication of a few inspired artists, willing to add to its awesomeness with an apt video. I find it serves as a fitting ode to any of us who've passed the heavenly hours, many times, in pursuit of the game-ender. Enjoy the epic-cheese.

Playlist

Just dropping in with a couple of titles that are currently on rotation. By the way, yes, I am aware there are genres beyond the versus fighter. I even play them too, sometimes. Kinda. And yes again, I even enjoy the fighter genre, even if its bosses are shaving years off my life. Such are the follies of having two left thumbs and the reflexes of an alcoholic tortoise.

Power Stone (Dreamcast):


When I got my Dreamcast, alot of folk pointed towards this game and swore it, in no small part, justified the Dreamcast's continuing legacy as one of the best and rewarding gaming systems in all creation (hmm, the smell of fresh hyperbole in the morning). Needless to add, I felt a bit anticipative as I loaded up the DC's suppossed, if not only, premier 3D Arena brawler. The feeling it left me with was one of someone throwing a ping-pong ball into the Grand Canyon and saying 'fetch'. I'm finding it a bit of a clusterbomb of a thing. While I've been having a fun on multiplayer, this doesn't extend to main quest where the CPU seemingly just wants to draw out my misery before it drops Gunrock and his gut on me from great, and completely unnecessary, heights. A grower, I hope.



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8 Bit Duane's Action Adventure World

Action Adventure World is the brainchild of geek/rap impressio 8-Bit Duane, a one-man rhyming phenomena focusing mainly on taking old faves such as Mario Land and the like and giving them a bit of a rap makeover. What tends to follow is some of the most inspired and funny bits of verse you're going to find in the dank, dark, squalid recesses of the interweb. If you're a fan of what you hear below, all this-and more-is available from here and, of course, here

Enjoy.

Super Mario Sunshine-The Series' Other Bastard Child.

Controversy typified Nintendo's approach during the Gamecube's lifespan. Whatwith Nintendo trying to reposition itself as a viable host for 3rd parties while also trying to shed its more child-friendly image whilst still appealing to the same demographic- The Sega Megadrive/Sonic the Hedgehog approach, if not slightly gorier. This approach manifested itself in numerous ways, be it in first party adult orientated titles such as Eternal Darkness, to slicker, almost Sony-esque marketing campaigns, or in today's case, taking old, established favourites such as Donkey Kong, Kirby and in particular, Mario and splicing their formulas to varying degrees, be it a shakeup into more difficult, 'hardcore' aimed games or indeed, a flatout genre transplant. Of course, leading us handsomely to today's post.

Let's see how long this one lasts.

Mario Sunshine debuted in late 2002 in an effort to combat the juggernaut that was Sony's PS2.Interestingly, the first main-series Mario title to not debut with its system. The game takes place on Isle Delfino, where Mario, Toad and the Princess are vacationing only to find that there's a Mario-like creature terrorizing the island with pollution and graffiti, and of course, guess who gets the blame? This calamity involves Mario being partnered with FLUDD,a sidekick come jet/waterpack that acts as friend, dousing-device, rocket and motor and charged with cleaning up the island. Fundamental gameplay change- Controversial, well, by Nintendo standards.

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Earworms

Continuing the tradition of shamelessly pilfering features from far classier reads than my own( ding-ding),I bring you the notion of an earworm, or a tune (indeed, CHUNE if you're from anywhere near my neck of the woods) that drills itself into your noggin and refuses to vacate:

1- Andrew Bird- Imitosis

Immediately, it appealed to me to be the aural equivalent of a chugger i.e. a trendy fuck you'd cross the road to avoid, but by golly, it latched and laid some whoppers for eggs.



2- First Aid Kit- Cover of Fleet Foxes' Tiger Mountain Peasant Song

Doing little to refute the misconception that I aspire to sell songs for use in beer commercials (well, those ones marketed to people who've taken to rolling up the sleeves of their blazers), I bring you yet another acoustic-o sibling duo in the trails of Tegan and Sara/Bert and Earnie and their ilk. Brilliant take on an already brilliant piece.



3- Stevie Nicks- Landslide

Inspired by the curveball that was the ending to South Park's 2011 mid-season finale, where it veers from left field wildly to deliver something almost approaching proper drama and uses this earworm as its soundtrack.

Street Fighter IV Series

Skip toward 2007, and outside of crossover franchises and anniversary editons, the 2D fighter had become a strictly hobbyist venture. Seen as a genre that had had its glory and at the end of its mass popularity. What changed that? Street Fighter 2, you say? Hold on.....

Yes, it was another installment of Street Fighter 2, this time Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for the download-only Playstation Network and XBoX Live Arcade. What came was rebalanced touchup, updated mechanics, glossier animation and online play. Surfing on a wave of nostalgia and still relevant gameplay, the release saw a record in download sales, reaching 250,000 altogether. A success, no doubt. To such an extent, it convinced Capcom that there may just be a market for the 2D Fighter afterall...

Debuting in 2009, revised mechanics, bringing it close to being an offspring of SSF2T and SFA games. Not quite as breakneck as the former but not as subdued and defensive as the latter, instead finding its niche somewhere between. Canonically set right after Street Fighter 2 and quite a while before Street Fighter 3, it sports a wealth of familiar faces in its cast, most prominently Street Fighter 2, with the odd sprinkle of fresh blood here and there.
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