I like surreal things, I like abstract things, I like slow things, I like reading, but man, there needs to be something for me to hold on to to make it through something like this. Vibes and themes alone aren't enough.
You'll see this compared to Lynch - it bears absolutely no resemblence to his work beyond the most superficial. Every second of anything he has ever done, no matter how 'dreamlike', is animated by the most powerful and clear emotional core. And that is, in fact, the point of the exercise. It's just as easy to tell what his stuff is 'about' as it is with this game, but he communicates it in feelings through image and performance - this game does it through dry, detached, opaque walls of text and deliberate tedium. Sorry, but one of those is a hell of a lot more compelling to me than the other.
You'll see this compared to Lynch - it bears absolutely no resemblence to his work beyond the most superficial. Every second of anything he has ever done, no matter how 'dreamlike', is animated by the most powerful and clear emotional core. And that is, in fact, the point of the exercise. It's just as easy to tell what his stuff is 'about' as it is with this game, but he communicates it in feelings through image and performance - this game does it through dry, detached, opaque walls of text and deliberate tedium. Sorry, but one of those is a hell of a lot more compelling to me than the other.
8 Comments
its sucks that i so strongly detest the “but the vibes” subgenre because its also easily the biggest one that you just look like a dickhead for hating. i say kentucky route zero is boring and pretentious and the strawmen in my head shout “not enough fight scenes?? too REAL for you huh??” and then im the asshole for giving it the time of day beyond “i felt like it wanted me to.” case in point, you had to preface this review by saying you arent just too stupid to understand it
@MultiGenre lol I know, I really just wanted to give this the very accurate one-sentence review you laid out for it there. But but but I'm not just a shooty-bang-bang dummy, honest!! I like VNs and walking simulators! I read really long books! I'm thinking of rewatching Cremaster! I'm promise I'm allowed to have this opinionnnnnnnnn
A game so far up its own ass, it's tongue-punching its colon.
People call it magic realism, but where's the realism? It just bombards the player with all manner of abstract shit and has precious little normalcy.
People call it magic realism, but where's the realism? It just bombards the player with all manner of abstract shit and has precious little normalcy.
dumbest review of all time
@Snegurochka was gonna agree but then I saw your Silent Hill 2 one
greatest of all time
You're right about one thing: comparisons to Lynch are superficial. People like to compare anything remotely surreal to him. I really struggle to draw any comparisons to Lynch beyond that in KRZ. There's dozens of better comparisons for the two. But it's a bit ironic: your criticisms of KRZ are actually the exact thing I've grown to feel with Lynch's work. The emotional core of Lynch's work is too abstract for me, and I'm left to coast on "vibes", which are always insufficient for something deeper. His work, as much as I do enjoy it, is largely filled with flat, exaggerated characters I can't feel any connection to. Perhaps they're not "dry", but there's a substrate of inhumanity. Meanwhile, KRZ's beating heart is deeply compelling to me, and I'm drawn to the humanity of each character you speak to, the mundanity of their speech, and how that transforms into the gravity of the tragedy.
to be clear im not telling you gotta like it or anything lol im just responding
to be clear im not telling you gotta like it or anything lol im just responding
@vehemently that is ironic! perhaps we are personally predisposed to/against deriving the emotional meaning from the two different methods of communicating it (performance vs. text)
MultiGenre
10 months ago