Video Games

The second bit of cheesecake I got in Go! Go! Nippon!

The first echi encounter with Makoto from Go Go Nippon! Clear version and foggy version.

Clear

Steamy

It begins.

Friend Wonderduck sends me a message: "Have you heard of a game called Doki Doki Literature Club? It's a free visual novel. You should play it. Don't look it up first. Just download it."

He neglects to mention that it's available on Steam, so I open up Bing and do a search:



I message Wonderduck: "What kind of prank are you trying to pull?" No response. (maybe because he was at work. maybe.)

I download the game, but don't start it. He asks about it later. I tell him I haven't started, yet. "Also, I mentioned it to my daughter. She's playing it, and said I should keep the games file folder open while I play. She won't tell me why." Wonderduck tells me to make sure I play at least the first chapter by tomorrow evening. Halloween Night.

The next night, I start up the game. This is what I see:



I am worried. The next screen is this:



And finally, the game pops up this screen:



I realize now that I've been had. But so many people are recommending this game, I feel I should continue. I am watching for tells now:



I know what I'm in for now. I feel I should also point out that "Doki Doki" is a Japanese onomatopoeia; it is supposed to convey the sound of a beating heart. The connotation is fluttery excitement, but it could most literally be translated in English as "Heartbeat Heartbeat Literature Club" or maybe "Excited Heartbeat Literature Club". Or "Pounding Heartbeat Literature Club".



I won't say more, to avoid spoilers. All I will say is that the warnings at the beginning of the game aren't misleading, and aren't facetious. I'm on my third trip through the game, now. I thought it was over after the first time. It wasn't. That was when the really horrible things started. I finished that trip through the story last night.

I won. I beat the devil. I deleted files to stop the story.

And then the game started over again.

I don't know when it will end.

I don't know if it even can end.

UPDATE: I've got all the videos uploaded to a Twitch.tv collection, too:

Watch live video from FourNerdFamily on www.twitch.tv

I've finished editing and uploading Blade Kitten: Episode 1. Please note "Episode 1" is the name of the game, not the first video. There is a DLC/sequel game named "Episode 2". It is, I am reasonably sure, 100% complete including all hidden items.



I am in the process of adding all of my videos to Twitch.tv, which I suspect may be the future of gaming/let's play/video game reviews and commentary. YouTube is just getting too hostile to content creators in this area. I made light of the accusations for a while, until several acquaintances started having severe problems with YouTube basically flagging every video they upload that has a name-brand mentioned in it as "inappropriate content". It's pretty clear YouTube doesn't want gamers anymore.

I have now completed the Emi, Shizune, and Lilly arcs; all with the good endings. I'm not, unless someone provides a compelling reason, interested in the bad endings. I've picked up some hints that some of the bad endings aren't "bad" per se, just not the best ending; but I'll let it lie unless there's a reason I should explore. This will contain spoilers, so the rest is below the fold for those who haven't played yet and still intend to.

So, the first story I do in Katawa Shojou features surprise buttsecks. I figured that had to be way out on a limb in "surprising territory." But here's what I encounter in the second story:

My girlfriend, her best friend, my girlfriend's little sister, their father. He's a "consultant".

In this arc, the main character (you) Hisao's dating Shizune on the left; who is deaf. Her best friend is Misha, and Hideaki is Shizune's little sister brother. Their father, the "consultant", offers to feed me bear liver when we first meet. This game.

(I'm not done with this arc yet, but I haven't enjoyed Shizune's story as much as Emi's. I like Hideaki, though. And in this game, that makes things creepy.)

Me: This is certainly a lovely, entertaining and charming game about making friends with and dating people at a school for disabled people. Despite being an unusual and non-traditional setting, the characters are charming and well-drawn and well-written and I'm just having an ever-so-delightful time talking


AND NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE ANAL SEX

I talked a bit about Highway Blossoms the other day. There was something I caught while playing it that I assumed was noticed by most people who played the game. But after pointing it out to a few others, I did some searching and didn't really find any evidence that was true.

If you'll recall; Highway Blossoms is set in the Desert Southwest/Mountain West of the United States. This is a huge area with several cultural hallmarks of it's own. There's even a well-known musical set in the Mountain West: Paint Your Wagon. Originally a musical written by Alan Lerner, a revised version was adapted to film and released in 1969. The film came along right at the tale-end of the popularity of big-budget musicals, and was widely panned by critics, but still became Paramount's six largest success, and was the sixth highest-grossing film of the year. Even then, it's earnings failed to cover massive production and advertising costs. This resulted in the film gaining a reputation over time as a failure, despite maintaining consistent popularity with audiences.

The stage production and movie both featured two songs that would become huge hits: Wand'rin Star and (They Call The Wind) Mariah. Particularly, "Mariah" being a reference to wind is a bedrock meme at this point; even people who have no knowledge of Paint Your Wagon have a good chance of understanding this reference.

Less well known are the rest of the lyrics:

Mariah
Mariah
They call the wind Mariah

A-way out here they got a name
For rain and wind and fire
The rain is Tess, the fire Joe,
And they call the wind Mariah

Mariah blows the stars around
And sends the clouds a’flyin’
Mariah makes the mountains sound
Like folks were up there dyin'

Mariah
Mariah
They call the wind Mariah

Before I knew Mariah’s name
And heard her wail and whinin’
I had a girl and she had me
And the sun was always shinin’

But then one day I left my girl
I left her far behind me
And now I’m lost, so gol-durned lost
Not even God can find me

Mariah
Mariah
They call the wind Mariah

Out here they got a name for rain
For wind and fire only
But when you’re lost and all alone
There ain’t no word but lonely

And I’m a lost and lonely man
Without a star to guide me
Mariah blow my love to me
I need my girl beside me

Mariah
Mariah
They call the wind Mariah

Mariah
Mariah!
Blow my love to me

Left to Right: Joe, Mariah, Tess

The names also inform the characters, but the game is in very "common denominator" territory so I'm not going to make the assumption that the writers based the characters on the song; just...likened...them to the song a bit. But the writers were clearly aware of what they were doing...this is no coincidence.

I've been a bit reticent to share backgrounds I've "created" by only doing minor editing, resizing, or color grading. However, I decided to finally upload this image to DeviantArt and instantly got a lot of positive feedback. Obviously, I have no interest in claiming this is "my" creation; I just played with it. The original art is called Hunting, by Jordan Kerbow.



My DeviantArt Page.

(Because it's not included with the soundtrack due to licensing reasons)



You can purchase the song OR the album it's on by following the embed. Also, their website is HERE.

The album is $5. FIVE DOLLARS. You can listen to every track on SoundCloud, and give them money if you like their stuff; the way civilized people do things. (HINT: It's worth it. Probably worth more, honestly; but the music industry is in the middle of revolution still, and figuring out how much a song is "worth" is still largely subjective.)

What does Leather Tramp sound like? Lessee; I see...I see a cello, an electric guitar, an electric bass, a trombone, a trumpet, a violin, a tenor sax, a xylophone, a keyboard/piano, a percussionist...and they switch it up sometimes. They advertise themselves as "folk meets symphony", "folkestra", if you will.