I am quite a big enjoyer of the genre of media that is "The wild will just fucking kill you". Especially when it comes to the cold stuff - there's a combination of comforting and creepy about tucking in bed with a cup of hot chocolate and something like Jack London's To Build A Fire.
And the Red Lantern is like halfway there. The story of the dumbest person of all time going out into the wilderness comically underprepared and succumbing to the elements and wildlife on the way to a cabin with her dogs. It is, on paper, a great framework for a little game like this as you live out the mistakes and choices that lead to your death.
Combined with minor roguelike elements with resource gathering, hunger meters and semi-random events, it kinda works. It's a very simple game system no doubt, and is mostly ancilliary to the vibes and doggie fun, but it holds up it's end of the bargain.
But the vibes themselves are a bit off. The Red Lantern is remarkably muddled when it comes to it's messaging and what it's trying to make a point out of. Many parts of it are cautionary, with our unamed protagonist getting injured, starving to death, having her dogs die, falling into ice, and all manner of other nasty things - but it's also clearly aspirational, having fun with her dogs, going to the cutest little cabin ever put to screen, and having a tone thats awfully light a lot of the time.
It really doesnt help that this might be, clearly unintentionally, one of the most annoying protagonists i've ever dealt with a game - legitimately Alex YIIK levels of frustrating without even YIIK's level of awareness and introspection. She's a clearly very privedged californian, who has been legitimately given everything she needs to live out in the Alaskan wilderness, who goes with her and her city dog, and 4 other poor dogs she adopts to go on a voyage that will most likely get them killed. She then murder a bunch of wildlife and basically tramples all over this beautiful bit of the pacific northwest. And despite never stopping talking, basically only one or two lines in the entire game will she admit she's a bit out of her depth - let alone that she's put 5 previously content dogs in mortal peril or killed like 5 moose today. And the game's tone never really addresses it.
I get the aspiration to live out in the wild. I dream of it sometimes. Looking out at woods i sometimes think of building myself a hut, living off the land, doing a bit of hunting and disconnecting from society. I imagine a lot of people do. And in many ways I wish i could do what this person could. But the callous disregard for nature and those she puts at risk in doing so makes her throuroughy unsympathetic when the game clearly isnt going for that and she's rewarded with a bunch of extremely cute puppies and the cutest shack, and her violent deaths are contextualised as nightmares.
It's a bit insidious, really. The Devs clearly see her as aspirational and relatable, but she's a horrible person who's in way over their head and worst of all, endangers others. And then gets rewarded for it at the end.
I feel sorry that Ashly Burch continually gets given the most annoying roles that seem to exist in gaming. Tiny Tina, Aloy and now this, fuck me.
There is plenty to like here, it's pretty, the dogs are cute and the minor roguelike/choose your own adventure stuff works well, but the framing is just so off. There's plenty of ways the devs could have put together a similar setup without making the whole thing so muddled. The protagonist being more forced into this situation rather than seeking it out alone would go a long way, or just having some introspection.
Because as it is this tonal weirdness not only ruins the game as the chracter is so integral, but also makes me questions the beliefs and values of the developer who made it. Which is a really bad conclusion for me to be coming out of a game that seems to mostly want me to think "wow, cute dogs".
And the Red Lantern is like halfway there. The story of the dumbest person of all time going out into the wilderness comically underprepared and succumbing to the elements and wildlife on the way to a cabin with her dogs. It is, on paper, a great framework for a little game like this as you live out the mistakes and choices that lead to your death.
Combined with minor roguelike elements with resource gathering, hunger meters and semi-random events, it kinda works. It's a very simple game system no doubt, and is mostly ancilliary to the vibes and doggie fun, but it holds up it's end of the bargain.
But the vibes themselves are a bit off. The Red Lantern is remarkably muddled when it comes to it's messaging and what it's trying to make a point out of. Many parts of it are cautionary, with our unamed protagonist getting injured, starving to death, having her dogs die, falling into ice, and all manner of other nasty things - but it's also clearly aspirational, having fun with her dogs, going to the cutest little cabin ever put to screen, and having a tone thats awfully light a lot of the time.
It really doesnt help that this might be, clearly unintentionally, one of the most annoying protagonists i've ever dealt with a game - legitimately Alex YIIK levels of frustrating without even YIIK's level of awareness and introspection. She's a clearly very privedged californian, who has been legitimately given everything she needs to live out in the Alaskan wilderness, who goes with her and her city dog, and 4 other poor dogs she adopts to go on a voyage that will most likely get them killed. She then murder a bunch of wildlife and basically tramples all over this beautiful bit of the pacific northwest. And despite never stopping talking, basically only one or two lines in the entire game will she admit she's a bit out of her depth - let alone that she's put 5 previously content dogs in mortal peril or killed like 5 moose today. And the game's tone never really addresses it.
I get the aspiration to live out in the wild. I dream of it sometimes. Looking out at woods i sometimes think of building myself a hut, living off the land, doing a bit of hunting and disconnecting from society. I imagine a lot of people do. And in many ways I wish i could do what this person could. But the callous disregard for nature and those she puts at risk in doing so makes her throuroughy unsympathetic when the game clearly isnt going for that and she's rewarded with a bunch of extremely cute puppies and the cutest shack, and her violent deaths are contextualised as nightmares.
It's a bit insidious, really. The Devs clearly see her as aspirational and relatable, but she's a horrible person who's in way over their head and worst of all, endangers others. And then gets rewarded for it at the end.
I feel sorry that Ashly Burch continually gets given the most annoying roles that seem to exist in gaming. Tiny Tina, Aloy and now this, fuck me.
There is plenty to like here, it's pretty, the dogs are cute and the minor roguelike/choose your own adventure stuff works well, but the framing is just so off. There's plenty of ways the devs could have put together a similar setup without making the whole thing so muddled. The protagonist being more forced into this situation rather than seeking it out alone would go a long way, or just having some introspection.
Because as it is this tonal weirdness not only ruins the game as the chracter is so integral, but also makes me questions the beliefs and values of the developer who made it. Which is a really bad conclusion for me to be coming out of a game that seems to mostly want me to think "wow, cute dogs".